ENIC...

[Styopa]

Romero and Gill could both turn out to be superstars for us and Gollini our no.1 for the next decade. In which case we would look back on this window as being one of our best windows ever.

The real issue is that we have long, entrenched problems built up over several windows that can't be solved in a single window. We didn't improve from a position of strength 4 or 5 years ago and subsequently we signed too many players at significant fees and high wages who turned out to be huge disappointments. These were not even players bought for the future but players who were meant to improve us in the short term: e.g. Aurier; Sissoko; Ndombele; Lo Celso; Doherty. All of whom have turned out to be downgrades on the players they were brought in to replace. That kind of mess will take several windows to address.

Looking back at the spine of our most successful ever Premier League squad, it was built over several windows: Lloris; Walker; Rose; Alderweireld; Vertonghen; Dembele; Eriksen; Son. As well as others like Trippier; Davies and Wanyama. We made a considerable number of astute signings over a number of years and it all came together under Pochettino even though a number of the most important signings predated his appointment.

 

[SUIYHA]

I gave it a 3 or 4 and yesterday vindicates that for me.

Totally ill prepared for a few injuries. Building for the future is fine but this looks to he heading towards another trophyless and another out of the top four unless we have the best luck with Injuries.

If the plan was to trust in having Scarlett, Gil and co as our backups then that's fine - whether or not we agree with it, it's at least a strategy. What worries me is that it looks like they are still seen as too raw / not yet ready to come straight into the side as immediate backups when the first teamers are out so that we change the formation rather than use them. In which case, they may as well not exist and we have left ourselves well short...

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

It doesn't matter much what transfer window was better, which transfer windows we did well in or what issues we failed to address. Not really. When we have done well in that regard, when we have been in a position to push on, when all that hard work has been accomplished, we'll once again carry on sailing through with the (unstated) intention that that's good enough and pretty soon after, we'll stagnate and then regress. At the very point when some ambition and intent is required we'll sit back satisfied and watch instead of pushing on. Ultimately, the 'good' transfer windows will be spunked as has the fact that we've had the best years of the career of one of the best strikers in the world.

We reached the limit of or ambition when we were a top 4 club and that's the very very best we can hope for. The CL final was the culmination of a run that had Lucky McLuck, the luckiest bastard on planet luck blinking in disbelief. To dare is to do my arse.

 

[mpickard2087]

Don’t get why people keep trying to build some narrative of wilful negligence where the squad has been neglected with no transfers etc.

In the last two years we’ve brought in:

Gollini

Doherty
Emerson

Romero
Rodon

Reguilon

Hojbjerg
Ndombele
Lo Celso

Bergwijn
Sessegnon
Gil
Clarke

Skipp and Tanganga are new first team players.

Vinicius, Bale, Gedson and Hart have came and went.

Rebuild? We’ve had one. Look at all that churn. Some wheeling and dealing in a Covid world, but also often some big fees and wages paid out. The problem has been it's been splurged often with little thought and consistency to it.

Things will continue the same until we decide what sort of club we want to be, how we’re going to about it, put a plan in place, and the leadership to run it. It is all still totally lacking at the moment.

This Paratici fella, don’t know why people think he is the answer. He’s a bog standard “transfers guy”/schmoozer. Maybe part of the equation, certainly not the whole. His background seems to be scouting, see no evidence of his ability to run the whole thing – club identity, play style, choosing the right Coach, development, etc.

Who is running the youth set up now? who do they answer to, what are the objectives. What sort of players do we want to develop.

What is our scouting network, what are the parameters, what players are we targeting and why.

Many clubs now have a head of “methodology”, who is responsible for formalising the clubs playing style/ideas/training and so being able to teach this to the younger age groups and aspiring Coaches. Who does this for us?

Etc. Etc. Etc.


Looking from the outside in I just see a club with a lack of identity. Lack of money (compared to rivals) might always be a problem, but it will be less so if we have a clear and consistent vision and make better decisions – on transfers, changing the manager, or whatever - on the back of this.

The “Levy get the fuck out of the club” soundbites are pointless because it isn’t happening until somebody decides spunking circa 2 billion on THFC is a worthwhile (initial) investment, which likely isn’t going to be any time soon. The main thing we need from him is leadership and a new approach in 2021 for moving forward as a club and trying to gain competitive advantages to bridge the gap to the super rich. Start getting that right then the results and good football and transfer profits will come and he'll hopefully get his CL football and place confirmed at the top table. But not until someone gets a grip of the football club.

 

[ohtottenham!]

It doesn't matter much what transfer window was better, which transfer windows we did well in or what issues we failed to address. Not really. When we have done well in that regard, when we have been in a position to push on, when all that hard work has been accomplished, we'll once again carry on sailing through with the (unstated) intention that that's good enough and pretty soon after, we'll stagnate and then regress. At the very point when some ambition and intent is required we'll sit back satisfied and watch instead of pushing on. Ultimately, the 'good' transfer windows will be spunked as has the fact that we've had the best years of the career of one of the best strikers in the world.

We reached the limit of or ambition when we were a top 4 club and that's the very very best we can hope for. The CL final was the culmination of a run that had Lucky McLuck, the luckiest bastard on planet luck blinking in disbelief. To dare is to do my arse.

Your last sentence sounds like a proposition.

 

[wrd]

Don’t get why people keep trying to build some narrative of wilful negligence where the squad has been neglected with no transfers etc.

In the last two years we’ve brought in:

Gollini

Doherty
Emerson

Romero
Rodon

Reguilon

Hojbjerg
Ndombele
Lo Celso

Bergwijn
Sessegnon
Gil
Clarke

Skipp and Tanganga are new first team players.

Vinicius, Bale, Gedson and Hart have came and went.

Rebuild? We’ve had one. Look at all that churn. Some wheeling and dealing in a Covid world, but also often some big fees and wages paid out. The problem has been it's been splurged often with little thought and consistency to it.

Things will continue the same until we decide what sort of club we want to be, how we’re going to about it, put a plan in place, and the leadership to run it. It is all still totally lacking at the moment.

This Paratici fella, don’t know why people think he is the answer. He’s a bog standard “transfers guy”/schmoozer. Maybe part of the equation, certainly not the whole. His background seems to be scouting, see no evidence of his ability to run the whole thing – club identity, play style, choosing the right Coach, development, etc.

Who is running the youth set up now? who do they answer to, what are the objectives. What sort of players do we want to develop.

What is our scouting network, what are the parameters, what players are we targeting and why.

Many clubs now have a head of “methodology”, who is responsible for formalising the clubs playing style/ideas/training and so being able to teach this to the younger age groups and aspiring Coaches. Who does this for us?

Etc. Etc. Etc.


Looking from the outside in I just see a club with a lack of identity. Lack of money (compared to rivals) might always be a problem, but it will be less so if we have a clear and consistent vision and make better decisions – on transfers, changing the manager, or whatever - on the back of this.

The “Levy get the fuck out of the club” soundbites are pointless because it isn’t happening until somebody decides spunking circa 2 billion on THFC is a worthwhile (initial) investment, which likely isn’t going to be any time soon. The main thing we need from him is leadership and a new approach in 2021 for moving forward as a club and trying to gain competitive advantages to bridge the gap to the super rich. Start getting that right then the results and good football and transfer profits will come and he'll hopefully get his CL football and place confirmed at the top table. But not until someone gets a grip of the football club.

I agree with everything you're saying, we absolutely have spent but the club ethos is the mess and ultimately that is the responsibility of Levy when you say somebody needs to get a grip of the football club. He laid out a manifesto to the fans and then sought to put a structure in place which didn't align with a view to focus on what he told the fans. It's saying one thing and then doing another that leaves us in this pergatory in my opinion.

There was a lot of talk from fans about Levy stepping away from the football and appointing a DOF with a view to get the footballing ethos right and we hired a DoF who ultimately is not that and to Paratici's credit he seems to have given it everything in terms of what he brings to a club within his remit but still we're lacking that component which sorts the footballing philosophy in a way which I believe you and I both want.

I have a horrible feeling we will be waiting until this structure is discontinued to be on that path again.

 

[shelfboy68]

Don’t get why people keep trying to build some narrative of wilful negligence where the squad has been neglected with no transfers etc.

In the last two years we’ve brought in:

Gollini

Doherty
Emerson

Romero
Rodon

Reguilon

Hojbjerg
Ndombele
Lo Celso

Bergwijn
Sessegnon
Gil
Clarke

Skipp and Tanganga are new first team players.

Vinicius, Bale, Gedson and Hart have came and went.

Rebuild? We’ve had one. Look at all that churn. Some wheeling and dealing in a Covid world, but also often some big fees and wages paid out. The problem has been it's been splurged often with little thought and consistency to it.

Things will continue the same until we decide what sort of club we want to be, how we’re going to about it, put a plan in place, and the leadership to run it. It is all still totally lacking at the moment.

This Paratici fella, don’t know why people think he is the answer. He’s a bog standard “transfers guy”/schmoozer. Maybe part of the equation, certainly not the whole. His background seems to be scouting, see no evidence of his ability to run the whole thing – club identity, play style, choosing the right Coach, development, etc.

Who is running the youth set up now? who do they answer to, what are the objectives. What sort of players do we want to develop.

What is our scouting network, what are the parameters, what players are we targeting and why.

Many clubs now have a head of “methodology”, who is responsible for formalising the clubs playing style/ideas/training and so being able to teach this to the younger age groups and aspiring Coaches. Who does this for us?

Etc. Etc. Etc.


Looking from the outside in I just see a club with a lack of identity. Lack of money (compared to rivals) might always be a problem, but it will be less so if we have a clear and consistent vision and make better decisions – on transfers, changing the manager, or whatever - on the back of this.

The “Levy get the fuck out of the club” soundbites are pointless because it isn’t happening until somebody decides spunking circa 2 billion on THFC is a worthwhile (initial) investment, which likely isn’t going to be any time soon. The main thing we need from him is leadership and a new approach in 2021 for moving forward as a club and trying to gain competitive advantages to bridge the gap to the super rich. Start getting that right then the results and good football and transfer profits will come and he'll hopefully get his CL football and place confirmed at the top table. But not until someone gets a grip of the football club.

There is no leadership from him nor will we bridge the gap and as for top four no fucking chance there needs to be a dose of realism for many fans where this club and chairman are at.

 

[beats1]

TBH Levy is a fucking idiot and destabilised the club through his own arrogance

By sacking Mourinho before a cup final, he cost us another chance at our first trophy in years But to do it under the guise of he didn't fit our DNA is plain stupidity

Now you supercharged a fanbase so that whatever manager comes in, has to be attacking

Otherwise fans will want blood and cite the own remits Levy has set

If Nuno plays boring football this season, by the end of it, we will see anger towards the club and with ENIC and they will sack the manager to take the heat off themselves

 

[shelfboy68]

The difference between us and the other big clubs in the top six is that they have leadership and a plan we have neither.
What we have is a chairman who charges Harrods prices for Lidl products and rejoices in the fact he is getting away with it.

 

[ohtottenham!]

The chairman and the club have become indistinguishable. That’s a problem; a huge one! Especially in our case. 20 years and one league cup!

Levy both has and demands executive control in all areas. That’s a problem. He won’t take his “eye off the ball” for one second re ENIC priorities; everything else is secondary however much of a Spurs fan he is. Something isn’t/hasn’t been working

We still have a huge and loyal fanbase. ENIC wouldn’t be interested otherwise. It’s a passionate fanbase, but needs to show its passion and demand success. United, Liverpool, Leicester…and Arsenal do. Again, 20 years and one league cup!

 

[guiltyparty]

Lloris deserves a new deal but at 34 and no sign of a new contract suggest this could be his last season with us.

I had presumed he would leave at end of contact of his own choice, and that it had likely already been agreed. Nice big signing on fee somewhere sentimental after a decade at Spurs

 

[eddiev14]

It says a lot about the job Levy has done at disenfranchising the fans that someone like me, who has been obsessive about Spurs for a good 30 years, isn’t even interested to watch us play on TV now, let alone buy a ticket.

The job Pochettino did to make the club feel like a family, developing a squad of young players in an attractive style which everyone bought into, was criminally under appreciated by Levy. Failing to invest in the platform that man gave us was the worst decision he has ever made as a businessman. One he’ll be paying for 3X over in the coming years.

Rolling Nuno out in front of the cameras and getting him to repeat the Poch line that they are going to make us proud again was such a kick in the nuts, and a very sad moment.

I haven’t really watched us this season but I heard yesterday that he was negative and didn’t even try to attack Palace. I’m hardly surprised, Nuno isn’t known for the style Levy promised in his statement last year and it’s pretty obvious the guy was pretty low down the list of targets in our farcical managerial hunt.

I do feel for him though. That starting midfield 3 yesterday and the options on the bench just screams years of both underinvestment and poor choices in the market.

I don’t care if others disagree but this is all on ENIC and I won’t be spending money on the club until big changes are made.

 

[Saoirse]

As others have said, in terms of the squad, it's also if anything more to do with how badly we've squandered money than the amount spent. If the fees and wages are as reported, Ndombele and Lo Celso will cost us a combined £178,000,000 over their contracts. For comparison, Pogba's cost was £179m. If they start contributing to our team in the same way Pogba does at United, I think things will swiftly improve. If they continue not to do so, then that window goes down as one of the most extraordinary fuck-ups in football history. Considering that the year before was the infamous no-transfers window, that's a level of failure that really should have everyone questioning whether those responsible can seriously continue their jobs, no matter their previous track record.

 

[Lighty64]

Wonders off the pitch?

He borrows a billion pounds to build a stadium and that makes him a genius?

If he hadn't tinkered and changed plans half way through it wouldn't have been 2 seasons late and cost double the initial cost.

I would respectfully argue that 80% of people on this forum could get a stadium built for a billion quid with zero experience.

I don't buy the narrative he is a genius. He go the job through nepotism not ability.

Imagine if we had a David Dein in charge. Still no naming rights. A poor squad and a poor manager.

The buck stops with him.

Shame its our bucks which our fans will be paying for the next 30 years.

All the while Enic will be counting their cash from being landlords.

Sad.

if he hadn't made the changes it could have still been late, because with such big developments delays happen

if he hadn't made the changes we might have not actually got as good as terms with the bank, with what we have now we should actually be able to pay the debt off even quicker.

you seem to still also ignore the costs went up even more due to Brexit

 

[Lighty64]

And we see Ronaldo banging in two goals already. Why can't we just spent - on Conte, on Martinez/Vlahovic, on Coutinho, on Pjanic on Traore etc. The returns from such big purchases are so immediate but the few millions Levy saved can never stand the test of time. All fucking short-sightedness from the baldy. I feel like supporting this club is sometimes a big waste of time.

Just fuck off ASAP.

what f'ing planet do you live on.

a few million?

even with the sale of Kane and the money we cut down on our wages, your suggestions would have put the wages through the roof with Conte, Coutinho/Pjanic and would have seen an extra 50-100m spent when the club hasn't earnt diddly squat since the pandemic

 

[ohtottenham!]

e

It says a lot about the job Levy has done at disenfranchising the fans that someone like me, who has been obsessive about Spurs for a good 30 years, isn’t even interested to watch us play on TV now, let alone buy a ticket.

The job Pochettino did to make the club feel like a family, developing a squad of young players in an attractive style which everyone bought into, was criminally under appreciated by Levy. Failing to invest in the platform that man gave us was the worst decision he has ever made as a businessman. One he’ll be paying for 3X over in the coming years.

Rolling Nuno out in front of the cameras and getting him to repeat the Poch line that they are going to make us proud again was such a kick in the nuts, and a very sad moment.

I haven’t really watched us this season but I heard yesterday that he was negative and didn’t even try to attack Palace. I’m hardly surprised, Nuno isn’t known for the style Levy promised in his statement last year and it’s pretty obvious the guy was pretty low down the list of targets in our farcical managerial hunt.

I do feel for him though. That starting midfield 3 yesterday and the options on the bench just screams years of both underinvestment and poor choices in the market.

I don’t care if others disagree but this is all on ENIC and I won’t be spending money on the club until big changes are made.

Well, we all know the game’s screwed and our ownership has its own responsibility in that process. The acronym “THFC” itself has different meanings in the scheme of things these days. It’s almost better to type out…”Tottenham Hotspur Football Club” in full just to remind ourselves that we’re Tottenham, a football club first, and supposedly foremost, with…actual, real football fans.

Nuno, whom I like, and yesterday’s result, which doesn’t matter, have nothing to do with this apart from being just the latest catalyst in turning the focus on where it residually matters…Levy/ENIC.

The “be careful of what you wish for” argument that some posters here use is pathetically weak because we’d be sold in a heartbeat if the price is right to whomever. We’d still have won fuck all in decades at the point of sale. We’d all be wringing our ethical hands as to whether we could still support the club but ENIC would move on quite happily.

 

[yankspurs]

what f'ing planet do you live on.

a few million?

even with the sale of Kane and the money we cut down on our wages, your suggestions would have put the wages through the roof with Conte, Coutinho/Pjanic and would have seen an extra 50-100m spent when the club hasn't earnt diddly squat since the pandemic

You have to spend money to make money. Yeah we just built a massive beautiful stadium & this is alot of peoples first time getting in there thanks to covid. But the glitz & the glamor of it will wear off before the end of the year & then its just a beautiful stadium with a fledging product that a ton of fans wont go out of their way spending quite a bit to go see. That is the problem & that is precisely what Levy does not understand. Also, saying the clubs hasnt earned anything in the pandemic is simply not true. We have quite a few sponsors & the tv deal is MASSIVE & ever increasing to the point that even being in the PL for 1 year is worth £250m. Our financial problem is the stadium debt that we keep borrowing on at very low rates. If it indeed payable over 30 or so years then what the fuck are we doing here? Are we banking on full stadiums to just pay it back sooner? We had a £30m net spend on fees this year but slashed £40m off the wage bill. Covid is just a convenient excuse for ENIC to do what they have always done. Spend nothing & expect the world. We arent in La Liga, Ligue 1 or even the Bundesliga. We are in the Premier League. The only league in the world in solid financial positioning. We are a top 10 club financially in the world(thanks to the success of Poch & also the tv money + sponsorships) but we are the only one of the PL clubs in there that does not act like it.

 

[Lighty64]

They were the problem if the money spent on them results in forward and midfield areas being short.

If we get nowhere near top four nuno is gone. This squad looks a million miles off top four.

Liverpool suffered for 8-9 years building a team that struggled to even make the top 4 (with the exception of the Gerrard slip) and they are a big club

unless you have the funds sometimes you have to invest in up and coming, which is what we did to get into a position that finishing 7th is a disappointment. Yes we needed a back up striker, we needed strengthening in midfield and had we got a fee for Aurier, had we sold Ndombele, and Winks we might have tried to do so, whether the talent could have been bought no one knows, and whether they would have worked yet again know one knows.

until the stadium is drawing in what is needed to fund silly transfer fees with silly wages we all have to be patient just like we had to be at the start of the PL, where just getting to any European comp was a dream

 

[ohtottenham!]

Liverpool suffered for 8-9 years building a team that struggled to even make the top 4 (with the exception of the Gerrard slip) and they are a big club

unless you have the funds sometimes you have to invest in up and coming, which is what we did to get into a position that finishing 7th is a disappointment. Yes we needed a back up striker, we needed strengthening in midfield and had we got a fee for Aurier, had we sold Ndombele, and Winks we might have tried to do so, whether the talent could have been bought no one knows, and whether they would have worked yet again know one knows.

until the stadium is drawing in what is needed to fund silly transfer fees with silly wages we all have to be patient just like we had to be at the start of the PL, where just getting to any European comp was a dream

Liverpool have won FA Cups, the PL, a couple of CLs since Enic/Levy took the reins of our club. 20 years mate, and still won fuck all...there are several mammoths in the room you need to notice.

 

[shelfboy68]

Liverpool have won FA Cups, the PL, a couple of CLs since Enic/Levy took the reins of our club. 20 years mate, and still won fuck all...there are several mammoths in the room you need to notice.

Fucking brilliant mate