Today's Programme notes from Levy. | Vital Football

Today's Programme notes from Levy.

Spursex

Spursex

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“This season, for many reasons, we have not met our raised expectations on the pitch.
“Everyone had high hopes with the squad we had assembled. Unfortunately, despite sitting top of the Premier League in December, we have not been able to sustain this position.
“We reached the Carabao Cup Final, however we had a disappointing exit from the Europa League and now find ourselves fighting to qualify for Europe, having competed in European competition for 14 of the last 15 seasons.

“We are absolutely clear that central to our ambitions is a successful football team – it is what we all crave. We have come close over the last seven seasons and everyone’s focus is on a return to regular Champions League participation and competing for honours.”

“We are acutely aware of the need to select someone whose values reflect those of our great club and return to playing football with the style for which we are known – free-flowing, attacking and entertaining – whilst continuing to embrace our desire to see young players flourish from our Academy alongside experienced talent.” Levy concluded.

“I want to give my thanks to Ryan Mason and the coaches, Chris Powell, Nigel Gibbs, Ledley King, Michel Vorm and Perry Suckling who have stepped in to lead the team through to the end of the season – and to our players – they have had to continue to perform and be professional during times when they and their families have also been affected by the pandemic,” he said.

On the club’s disappointing campaign, Levy added: “This season, for many reasons, we have not met our raised expectations on the pitch. Since we lost the Champions League Final in June, 2019, we have invested in excess of £250m in new players.

“Everyone had high hopes with the squad we had assembled. Unfortunately, despite sitting top of the Premier League in December, we have not been able to sustain this position.

“We reached the Carabao Cup Final, however we had a disappointing exit from the Europa League and now find ourselves fighting to qualify for Europe, having competed in European competition for 14 of the last 15 seasons.

“We are absolutely clear that central to our ambitions is a successful football team – it is what we all crave. We have come close over the last seven seasons and everyone’s focus is on a return to regular Champions League participation and competing for honours.”
 
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“I have said it many times and I will say it again – everything we do is in the long-term interests of the club. I have always been and will continue to be ambitious for our club and its fans,” Levy said.

“As a club we have been so focused on delivering the stadium and dealing with the impact of the pandemic, that I feel we lost sight of some key priorities and what’s truly in our DNA. Our work in the community and with the NHS is an example of when we get it right, but we don’t get everything right. It has never been because we don’t care about or respect you, our fans – nothing could be further from the truth.
“We have announced we shall establish a club advisory panel that we believe will provide wide, authentic representation and ensure our fans are at the heart of club decisions, with the chair to be appointed annually as a non-Executive of the board with full voting rights, a first for any Premier League club.”
 
Spursex said:
If I got appointed as a non-exec, what would the posters of VitalSpurs most want to hear about and have a policy influence/voice on and why?
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lol - firstly, convince Levy to give up with the condescending and defensive comms from him to the fans. I mean, mentioning the £250m player investment before thanking the fans for their support this season. Amateurville !!!
 
Nothing new in that narrative, just fancy words re-iterated.

Let's see how he follows through with:-

Timely appointment of coach/manager
(restructuring of footballing hierarchy)
Timely re-shaping of the squad.

If we are not ready for a pre-season with a refined squad, all his fancy talk will mean not a jot.

May be he is pre-empting his thoughts in readiness for confronting the THST.

I never take a CEO's statements on face value!
 
It's good to see him take this first step, a first for the Premier League, so kudos to him for that. People can say whatever they like but it's a positive move which should help build bridges with the fanbase once again.

I would place a lot of emphasis on the academy & youth. We can't afford to pay exorbitant fees or wages on players & why on earth should we? We have the structure in place, use it to the best of our abilities & we will reap the rewards in good time.

Paying over the odds never guarantees success anyway. Our most successful talent has actually come through the youth ranks. This in a time of austerity is the only way forward.
 
First and foremost - pricing across the board. Not sure what concessions are available to young people and families..I certainly would need to think carefully about spending 200 quid plus to take the girls to a home game.
I'd like a more joined up approach and better transparency between how the youth set up fits into the first team.
We are always clamouring for new signings.
I am sad to say I don't know who is in the youth squad who has the potential to step up and be a success.
It would be good to get excited about players coming through the ranks.
I get the idea of not putting too much pressure on young shoulders - and that many don't make it.
But it would be great as fans to be able to get behind the youngsters. That way we may not be so focused on the next Carlos Kick a Ball.
Free to view youth games on the website for example.
 
Firstly I'd tell Levy and the clubs PR department to stop treating fans like just customers! There is so little personality within this club, it literally pains me to see these bullshit, passive-aggressive, corporate statements from Levy and the club.

The average fan doesn't give a shit about the stadium or how it is going to drive future revenue. They need to stop going on about it. For 20 years we have heard it over and over. We just want to SEE it now.

Fans will also look at Levy saying "we expected better from £250m in player purchases" and think that, clearly, whoever has been in charge of footballing decisions needs fucking sacking!

I think I'd want answers to these questions. Just a fan rep who asks the difficult footballing questions and makes it clear that the club may be a business, but it shouldnt forget that it is much more than a business to a lot of people.
 
Matic said:
Firstly I'd tell Levy and the clubs PR department to stop treating fans like just customers! There is so little personality within this club, it literally pains me to see these bullshit, passive-aggressive, corporate statements from Levy and the club.

The average fan doesn't give a shit about the stadium or how it is going to drive future revenue. They need to stop going on about it. For 20 years we have heard it over and over. We just want to SEE it now.

Fans will also look at Levy saying "we expected better from £250m in player purchases" and think that, clearly, whoever has been in charge of footballing decisions needs fucking sacking!

I think I'd want answers to these questions. Just a fan rep who asks the difficult footballing questions and makes it clear that the club may be a business, but it shouldnt forget that it is much more than a business to a lot of people.
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The real £250m.

If you take Levy's 34% share of the club and multiple it by its £2b valuation, then you get £680m. Remove Levy's share of the debt plus his initial investment 20 years ago and you probably get to about £250m of equity he's made from us fans.
 
I've always tried to see both sides to the Football Club, and be fair in any criticism I previously had of Levy. The commercial/Stadium side of it versus the Football side.

No more, though. This statement is bile to me and the final straw. He can fuck right off, and like RD said on the Villa match thread, this club aint getting another penny from me until he does.
 
Another thing I've noticed... how many clubs removed the seating covers in the stands to allow their fans to sit closer to the pitch/action?

From what I can see, we were the only ones that shoved our fans up out of sight. Whether it was due to the fear of bad optics with fans determined to protest against Levy and ENIC (the stadium cranked up the sound system after the game when the ENIC/Levy out chants started apparently) or whether it was simply about money as a lot of those seat covers have advertising on them... you decide.

Either way, it makes Levy's programme notes sound even more hollow and tone deaf than they already did. £60 our fans paid for that game last night, not to mention the extras spent on food/drink/spurs shop goods. The club may be going through real financial troubles but it is proof that the club REALLY do not see the fans as anything more than pound notes.
 
I would want to know why he is coming out with all this now .

I would want to know how every fan , and I mean EVERY fan , and many many supporters , knew that the club had lost its focus on football , and the people that it needs to support it , but the people in the Ivory towers didn’t .
How exactly did that happen ?
Because it can only come from one person ,

There has to be a decision made , after a series of meetings with some of the best brains in the business , (allegedly!) , about what to take on board and what to reject .
Is he saying it was a collective decision to lose to focus , because I don’t believe that . .
Is he saying that it was a mistake , or that he couldn’t cope , or he decided that the football side of it all was of less importance .

How did the club lose its focus on the one thing it was set up for ?

Was he taking the club in a direction that suited the business side of everything and treat the fans as pawns . , but got his fingers burnt .

To me , that is what I would want to know .

He has put himself in the position of ignoring what the fans want , irrespective of the amount the club put into the transfer market ,,,,.... if he hadn’t done that , he wouldn’t have the position he has .
Speculate to accumulate.

Go for it Ex ..

Go get our answers .
It would probably mean you wouldn’t be able to post on here though .They couldn’t allow the truth to be told , could they !!!
 
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Matic said:
Another thing I've noticed... how many clubs removed the seating covers in the stands to allow their fans to sit closer to the pitch/action?

From what I can see, we were the only ones that shoved our fans up out of sight. Whether it was due to the fear of bad optics with fans determined to protest against Levy and ENIC (the stadium cranked up the sound system after the game when the ENIC/Levy out chants started apparently) or whether it was simply about money as a lot of those seat covers have advertising on them... you decide.

Either way, it makes Levy's programme notes sound even more hollow and tone deaf than they already did. £60 our fans paid for that game last night, not to mention the extras spent on food/drink/spurs shop goods. The club may be going through real financial troubles but it is proof that the club REALLY do not see the fans as anything more than pound notes.
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That scum bag took 80 loyalty points off me for not going to a game for a season. Loyalty points I had earned over 15 years.

He is scum. Always has been always will be. Everything he does is to make more money for himself and ENIC.

They have proven this season and last he will literally do anything. He would sell his mum up the river to make a buck.
 
Gary Onedaysoon said:
From what I've read Burnley allowed their fans in last night free of charge. Now there's a gesture. They probably needed the money more than any other PL club.
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I read that as well Gary .
Now that is what I call thanking the fans . Giving a gesture . Doing something for them that they will actually appreciate .

well done Burnley .

We , on the other hand , direct attention to our work with Charities and the NHS .
Very important as that may be , don’t get me wrong , we still charged more than any other club for admittance .
Sixty pounds !
Now that is focusing on the fan base !
 
I think it is 100% safe to say that our board, especially Levy, have zero personality and are robotic in every way possible. Can you imagine them arranging any sort of gestures for our fans? After the Super League bollocks and with how fucking hard this year has been for so many people, those fans deserved so much more from the club last night. It probably ended up being the better part of a £100 bill last night and then a merry ol' "fuck you" from both the club AND the players.
 
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