Daniel Levy: Spending in Premier League 'totally unsustainable'

[SpursEagle]

Anyway, I didn't mean for this thread to go off topic like this. Sorry folks, I've said my piece and it will take a lot to change my mind.

 

[Removed at own request]

You can still play hard without betraying good football instincts, and you don't need a loud mouth in charge to do so either. I don't have a problem with grinding out results, but parking the bus aint for me. I did mention the dross we've had to watch from Poch's team this past year to 18 months. I'm not about to accept another guy serving up a different brand of dross.

What do you realistically think we'll win with Mourinho? League Cup? FA Cup? Is one, possibly two minor trophies worth sacrificing the club's identity over? And how did that work out in the past? Did you enjoy the football we played under our last two trophy winners Graham and Ramos? I've never heard fans talking fondly about those days. Was it worth it then?

What if he wins nothing?

How about its one of his own signings that keeps making the same mistakes? Is he gonna get shot of him too? I bet Levy will love that. He's not exactly trigger happy with his cheque book, no matter how much anyone speculates we are going to spend.

If we are already expecting trophies from him because of his past, then his track record should also tell us this bloke won't be around long enough to build a team that can really challenge or leave us with some sort of legacy. This is a bad appointment that's all about a quick fix and some personal prestige for Levy in my honest opinion.

I admire your optimism and wish some could rub off on me, but I just don't feel it.

All the best managers in recent times have had an absolutely ruthless and nasty streak, what Mopo has when he first started which makes his actions over the past year so disappointing.

What identity? Being serial losers? The butt of the joke? Having a term for bottling named after us? Ask City/Chelsea fans if they mind

If he doesn’t win, so be it it’s the ambition of appointing a winner who in his first presser says he wants to win the league next year, compare that to the “we need 5 years” line we have been hearing and his weak “that’s football” when we lose.

Legacy managers are done, in the same way players careers have changed over the past few years managers have.

He’s shown in the past he’s willing to bin his own players as well.

 

[Harry-Kari]

You can still play hard without betraying good football instincts, and you don't need a loud mouth in charge to do so either. I don't have a problem with grinding out results, but parking the bus aint for me. I did mention the dross we've had to watch from Poch's team this past year to 18 months. I'm not about to accept another guy serving up a different brand of dross.

What do you realistically think we'll win with Mourinho? League Cup? FA Cup? Is one, possibly two minor trophies worth sacrificing the club's identity over? And how did that work out in the past? Did you enjoy the football we played under our last two trophy winners Graham and Ramos? I've never heard fans talking fondly about those days. Was it worth it then?

What if he wins nothing?

How about its one of his own signings that keeps making the same mistakes? Is he gonna get shot of him too? I bet Levy will love that. He's not exactly trigger happy with his cheque book, no matter how much anyone speculates we are going to spend.

If we are already expecting trophies from him because of his past, then his track record should also tell us this bloke won't be around long enough to build a team that can really challenge or leave us with some sort of legacy. This is a bad appointment that's all about a quick fix and some personal prestige for Levy in my honest opinion.

I admire your optimism and wish some could rub off on me, but I just don't feel it.

Mourinho was asked whether his team will play the Spurs way..his answer was along the lines was that we will play the way we need to play to negate the opposition’s strengths, exploit their weaknesses and win the game taking into account the skill sets of the players at his disposal....a breath of realism and fresh air at last.

 

[SpursEagle]

HK and Kiny, I'm gonna answer you both (even though I said I'd said my piece lol) in the Mourinho thread. No point in hijacking this topic.

 

[Spursex]

You can still play hard without betraying good football instincts, and you don't need a loud mouth in charge to do so either. I don't have a problem with grinding out results, but parking the bus aint for me. I did mention the dross we've had to watch from Poch's team this past year to 18 months. I'm not about to accept another guy serving up a different brand of dross.

What do you realistically think we'll win with Mourinho? League Cup? FA Cup? Is one, possibly two minor trophies worth sacrificing the club's identity over? And how did that work out in the past? Did you enjoy the football we played under our last two trophy winners Graham and Ramos? I've never heard fans talking fondly about those days. Was it worth it then?

What if he wins nothing?

How about its one of his own signings that keeps making the same mistakes? Is he gonna get shot of him too? I bet Levy will love that. He's not exactly trigger happy with his cheque book, no matter how much anyone speculates we are going to spend.

If we are already expecting trophies from him because of his past, then his track record should also tell us this bloke won't be around long enough to build a team that can really challenge or leave us with some sort of legacy. This is a bad appointment that's all about a quick fix and some personal prestige for Levy in my honest opinion.

I admire your optimism and wish some could rub off on me, but I just don't feel it.

All anyone can ask at this time is to remain open-minded about what he might bring; if he does succeed we will all be thinking how this unholy alliance will end or at least should because of the carnage he seemingly leaves in his wake at every club he's been at.

The evolution of the club was always going to come as part of the project that Levy started 15 years ago - and that was to build an infrastructure that could allow us to become one of Europe's elite in a self-sustaining way, that no other club has done since the busby babes - that is Levy's dream.

He is getting old, achieving the best academy/training facilities in Europe took him far too long and cost too much, just as the stadium has done, and he knows it, he has grown impatient.

He knows he had to do this first to be able to make sure that the legacy is not a one-hit-wonder and a cup here or there, it was to be continually competitive against the best and to do that in the absence of subsidized millions and billions which has continually conspired against us and without the sort of corrupt practices we have all witnessed and grown up within Italy, Spain, Portugal, and even Germany, still sticks in his craw. It's an Unfair World.

He's nearly there - the last part of the jigsaw was the assured revenues that can now be brought to bear where it matters - and now this is when that level of fiscal prudence he has harbored can begin to be loosened.

It was always part of the plan, as it was that one day we'd have to employ horrible, nasty winners who will do and say anything to win.

That's why we've got Mourhino - and whether it was him or someone else equally as distasteful was simply a question of context, the opportunity was there, it was now and he had to act.

The chances are in year one, he'll have to park the bus, we will hate it, but could well get the job done, in year two, he'll run us through its gears and probably in year three, he'll be chucking the players under it, and probably the supporters too, that's what he does, and we'd be naive to think it will be any different with us.

By the time his contract is up, Levy will be retiring and Mourinho may well be the 'special one' again that fittingly is the final overture to his dream as Tottenham use the platform he's built to carry us into the future as one of Europes elite.

For us, it should be a hell of a ride; which of course may well end up a car wreck.

But that's how even the best well-meaning decisions can always end.

Embrace it!!

 

[Spursex]

HK and Kiny, I'm gonna answer you both (even though I said I'd said my piece lol) in the Mourinho thread. No point in hijacking this topic.

The two topics are now hand in glove!

 

[SpursEagle]

All anyone can ask at this time is to remain open-minded about what he might bring; if he does succeed we will all be thinking how this unholy alliance will end or at least should because of the carnage he seemingly leaves in his wake at every club he's been at.

The evolution of the club was always going to come as part of the project that Levy started 15 years ago - and that was to build an infrastructure that could allow us to become one of Europe's elite in a self-sustaining way, that no other club has done since the busby babes - that is Levy's dream.

He is getting old, achieving the best academy/training facilities in Europe took him far too long and cost too much, just as the stadium has done, and he knows it, he has grown impatient.

He knows he had to do this first to be able to make sure that the legacy is not a one-hit-wonder and a cup here or there, it was to be continually competitive against the best and to do that in the absence of subsidized millions and billions which has continually conspired against us and without the sort of corrupt practices we have all witnessed and grown up within Italy, Spain, Portugal, and even Germany, still sticks in his craw. It's an Unfair World.

He's nearly there - the last part of the jigsaw was the assured revenues that can now be brought to bear where it matters - and now this is when that level of fiscal prudence he has harbored can begin to be loosened.

It was always part of the plan, as it was that one day we'd have to employ horrible, nasty winners who will do and say anything to win.

That's why we've got Mourhino - and whether it was him or someone else equally as distasteful was simply a question of context, the opportunity was there, it was now and he had to act.

The chances are in year one, he'll have to park the bus, we will hate it, but could well get the job done, in year two, he'll run us through its gears and probably in year three, he'll be chucking the players under it, and probably the supporters too, that's what he does, and we'd be naive to think it will be any different with us.

By the time his contract is up, Levy will be retiring and Mourinho may well be the 'special one' again that fittingly is the final overture to his dream as Tottenham use the platform he's built to carry us into the future as one of Europes elite.

For us, it should be a hell of a ride; which of course may well end up a car wreck.

But that's how even the best well-meaning decisions can always end.

Embrace it!!

Well said, and I will try.

 

[SpursEagle]

The two topics are now hand in glove!

Thanks for the permission!

 

[SpursEagle]

All the best managers in recent times have had an absolutely ruthless and nasty streak, what Mopo has when he first started which makes his actions over the past year so disappointing.

What identity? Being serial losers? The butt of the joke? Having a term for bottling named after us? Ask City/Chelsea fans if they mind

If he doesn’t win, so be it it’s the ambition of appointing a winner who in his first presser says he wants to win the league next year, compare that to the “we need 5 years” line we have been hearing and his weak “that’s football” when we lose.

Legacy managers are done, in the same way players careers have changed over the past few years managers have.

He’s shown in the past he’s willing to bin his own players as well.

I completely agree with you below:

All the best managers in recent times have had an absolutely ruthless and nasty streak, what Mopo has when he first started which makes his actions over the past year so disappointing.

Poch lost that ruthless streak, adopted favourites it seems and this contributed to his downfall.

What identity? Being serial losers? The butt of the joke? Having a term for bottling named after us? Ask City/Chelsea fans if they mind

The amount of gleeful banter I've had since he was announced is insane! Jose will bring this to a new level if he fails. As for identity: I kinda, sort of see where you are coming from, but a club's identity, traditions, fingerprints if you will are everything. If it were all about just winning, we'd be City fans right now ... or NBA fans, who follow LeBron from team to team just for the sunshine. As it stands we have a tradition for trying to play the game the right way, something that I've always been proud of and I'm guessing I'm not alone in this.

Being serial losers? Yep, that's got to change. No arguments there.

If he doesn’t win, so be it it’s the ambition of appointing a winner who in his first presser says he wants to win the league next year, compare that to the “we need 5 years” line we have been hearing and his weak “that’s football” when we lose.

He's a silver tongued devil, Kiny, he's absolutely a master at it.

He’s shown in the past he’s willing to bin his own players as well

Maybe that's okay at bigger clubs with massive financial clout. But Levy will want to know why the new 60 million pound guy is scratching his arse on the bench. That kind of situation is gonna end up with butting of heads.

 

[SpursEagle]

Mourinho was asked whether his team will play the Spurs way..his answer was along the lines was that we will play the way we need to play to negate the opposition’s strengths, exploit their weaknesses and win the game taking into account the skill sets of the players at his disposal....a breath of realism and fresh air at last.

In other words, park the bus!

Sorry, just kidding. Seriously though that man could persuade the devil to get baptised. It sounds great, Harry. I actually want to believe it myself but part of me is screaming BS!

 

[Harry-Kari]

In other words, park the bus!

Sorry, just kidding. Seriously though that man could persuade the devil to get baptised. It sounds great, Harry. I actually want to believe it myself but part of me is screaming BS!

Hopefully it will pass Eagle...but you could be right...I read the statement not necessarily as park the bus, although that may be necessary from time to time. or within games, but rather as having specific plans for each opponent rather than just continuing to play a certain way irrespective of whether it works or not...anyway, we shall see but I’m optimistic and the positive vibes have started...I just hope it gets through to the players.

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

All anyone can ask at this time is to remain open-minded about what he might bring; if he does succeed we will all be thinking how this unholy alliance will end or at least should because of the carnage he seemingly leaves in his wake at every club he's been at.

The evolution of the club was always going to come as part of the project that Levy started 15 years ago - and that was to build an infrastructure that could allow us to become one of Europe's elite in a self-sustaining way, that no other club has done since the busby babes - that is Levy's dream.

He is getting old, achieving the best academy/training facilities in Europe took him far too long and cost too much, just as the stadium has done, and he knows it, he has grown impatient.

He knows he had to do this first to be able to make sure that the legacy is not a one-hit-wonder and a cup here or there, it was to be continually competitive against the best and to do that in the absence of subsidized millions and billions which has continually conspired against us and without the sort of corrupt practices we have all witnessed and grown up within Italy, Spain, Portugal, and even Germany, still sticks in his craw. It's an Unfair World.

He's nearly there - the last part of the jigsaw was the assured revenues that can now be brought to bear where it matters - and now this is when that level of fiscal prudence he has harbored can begin to be loosened.

It was always part of the plan, as it was that one day we'd have to employ horrible, nasty winners who will do and say anything to win.

That's why we've got Mourhino - and whether it was him or someone else equally as distasteful was simply a question of context, the opportunity was there, it was now and he had to act.

The chances are in year one, he'll have to park the bus, we will hate it, but could well get the job done, in year two, he'll run us through its gears and probably in year three, he'll be chucking the players under it, and probably the supporters too, that's what he does, and we'd be naive to think it will be any different with us.

By the time his contract is up, Levy will be retiring and Mourinho may well be the 'special one' again that fittingly is the final overture to his dream as Tottenham use the platform he's built to carry us into the future as one of Europes elite.

For us, it should be a hell of a ride; which of course may well end up a car wreck.

But that's how even the best well-meaning decisions can always end.

Embrace it!!

If the stadium was always an integral part of the long-term plan, why did he go after the Olympic Stadium? Was it a smokescreen to force the hand of the Council et al.? The club seemed very committed at the time and spent quite a bit of money on it. But had they been successful, it seems totally at odds with the financial model they are hoping to create.

 

[Spursex]

If the stadium was always an integral part of the long-term plan, why did he go after the Olympic Stadium? Was it a smokescreen to force the hand of the Council et al.? The club seemed very committed at the time and spent quite a bit of money on it. But had they been successful, it seems totally at odds with the financial model they are hoping to create.

The council had dragged their feet and done nothing for almost 10 years, and it had come to a point where we were being blocked by them at every step - so a new stadium was never going to get permission - at least that was the prevailing wisdom being spouted by all the local smug smartarses and nimby's who didn't want to see the area change.

At that point, the club / the board knew they had to keep looking for a new site (three had been proposed over the years, but all were uncertain to ever have building permission granted)

When the London Olympic Area became a possibility; we were urged to bid for it and were at the time pretty much told that our bid would win - then Levy had the stadium assessed and knew that it was #400-500 mill cost to turn into an amazing football stadium - it was total rebuild, it was a radical solution and then when the local politicians like Lammy and the council realised he was serious, they shate themselves and finally after years of blocking and intransigence - they started to move - it forced the council to come up with a regeneration strategy that the then government and the one before had been pressuring them to adopt - up until then the labour controlled council simply refused to do anything for anyone at anytime. They reflected the worse of our political system.

Levy stuck to his guns, and after huge pressure from the Mayor, locals and central government it became unblocked. People incorrectly assumed that the 'bluff' from us was to get a paltry #20 mill for the S107 (local infrastructure improvements) - it was never about that, it was always about putting a gun to the labour led anti-business councillors that had refused to co-operate.

If you could speak to our Chairman, you'd hear what I've heard many times over the years; his vision and his absolute determination not to give in/ give up and not be swayed from it.

He would be the first to tell you that the fight to get the academy/training gorund built was exhausting and took 5 years longer than it should have and 10 - 15 years longer than it should have for our new stadium.

His ability to last the course, to me, is amazing.

You don't have to agree with his vision - but you will have heard Mourinho speaking about it in his first interview yesterday and also saying what he thought of that vision and why ultimately it led to him being appointed.

We are almost in the home stretch of a vision that Levy, a Spurs fan long before he was part of owning the club, had for the club.

I actually think as much as I've criticied some of his decisions, ultimately his grit, his determination against all the odds and all the forces aligned against him, is and has been truly remarkable.

IF Mourinho is the last (successful) part of that vision, that puzzle, I wouldn't care if he is secretly the devil himself!

 

[Spursex]

He went up in my estimations this week. He sacked his buddy, and brought in the biggest manager name out there a few hours later.

That's showing some balls and most importantly a mentality change.

All he needs to do now is bring in a Sports Director, DOF or whatever you want to call it and let them deal with transfers.

Levy the businessman has never been a problem. He knows how to make shed loads of money and knows what it takes to keep the club healthy financially. But he has always had a blind spot on how to get us to the next level.

Hire the best in the areas he is weakest and levy should come out smelling like roses in the next few years.

As I've said here before, never become close friends with someone you work for as the possibility that you have to walk them to the door is always a possibility.

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

As I've said here before, never become close friends with someone you work for as the possibility that you have to walk them to the door is always a possibility.

I doubt if they were ever 'buddies' as such. But they did seem have a good working relationship and a shared vision (financing that vision aside). So I would imagine there were no hard feelings when it ended. Poch, I'm sure, would have seen it coming. And he may be relieved to be out. He looked like he was carrying the world on his shoulders for the last few months.

 

[rackny]

Just read an article that listed the team that we put out the week after Levy took charge.

Sullivan
Austin
Doherty
Judas
Thelwell
Clemence
King (yes in midfield)
Freund
Sherwood
Booth
Ferdinand

Not surprisingly we lost 2-1 to Derby ??

We have come a long way since 2001 when you look at the infrastructure of the club but the truth is that we have 1 trophy to show for it and we are now on our 10th manager in that time trying to get it right (not including Pleat and Allen as caretakers).

Maybe Levy is looking to set up a sale. Best Stadium in the world, Best training complex in the world and now the highest profile manager at the helm. Is it now the perfect package for some multi billionaire???

 

[Gary Onedaysoon]

Just read an article that listed the team that we put out the week after Levy took charge.

Sullivan
Austin
Doherty
Judas
Thelwell
Clemence
King (yes in midfield)
Freund
Sherwood
Booth
Ferdinand

Not surprisingly we lost 2-1 to Derby ??

We have come a long way since 2001 when you look at the infrastructure of the club but the truth is that we have 1 trophy to show for it and we are now on our 10th manager in that time trying to get it right (not including Pleat and Allen as caretakers).

Maybe Levy is looking to set up a sale. Best Stadium in the world, Best training complex in the world and now the highest profile manager at the helm. Is it now the perfect package for some multi billionaire???

But we are in a much stronger position now to consistently challenge for trophies than we have been for a very long time. We just need someone to get us over that winning line for the first time.

 

[Spursex]

Just read an article that listed the team that we put out the week after Levy took charge.

Sullivan
Austin
Doherty
Judas
Thelwell
Clemence
King (yes in midfield)
Freund
Sherwood
Booth
Ferdinand

Not surprisingly we lost 2-1 to Derby ??

We have come a long way since 2001 when you look at the infrastructure of the club but the truth is that we have 1 trophy to show for it and we are now on our 10th manager in that time trying to get it right (not including Pleat and Allen as caretakers).

Maybe Levy is looking to set up a sale. Best Stadium in the world, Best training complex in the world and now the highest profile manager at the helm. Is it now the perfect package for some multi billionaire???

Every owner of any asset I have ever known at some time or another wants to cash in unless it's a family legacy that they absolutely believe in.

I have no problem with ENIC selling at a time that suits them, but I think it's probably more likely to be a generational legacy that he hands over to his son - we will see in the fullness of time.

Levy wants and has always wanted continued success for Spurs, as a Spurs fan long before he was part of owning the club, that has been his dream. He knew better than most that without a fairy Godfather he'd have to build the club's resources the hard way, and that's what he's delivered.

I believe he now clings to that dream now more than ever. I believe that for very good reasons, which I know to be true.

As always, he'll be judged by what the new infrastructure will now allow him to do, and shouldn't be judged by what the past restricted him to.

 

[Big Chiv]

Anyway, I didn't mean for this thread to go off topic like this. Sorry folks, I've said my piece and it will take a lot to change my mind.

Say what you like mate, it's a forum, differing views make for good discussion

 

[Removed at own request]

I completely agree with you below:

Poch lost that ruthless streak, adopted favourites it seems and this contributed to his downfall.

Yep - I concur.


The amount of gleeful banter I've had since he was announced is insane! Jose will bring this to a new level if he fails. As for identity: I kinda, sort of see where you are coming from, but a club's identity, traditions, fingerprints if you will are everything. If it were all about just winning, we'd be City fans right now ... or NBA fans, who follow LeBron from team to team just for the sunshine. As it stands we have a tradition for trying to play the game the right way, something that I've always been proud of and I'm guessing I'm not alone in this.

If he fails he fails, I dont see how the banter can be worse than giving a pen away in the first minute of the CL final lol - im 36 - so the first season I really remember was 90/91 and the majority of the time we have not played good football, nor have we tried.

Being serial losers? Yep, that's got to change. No arguments there.


He's a silver tongued devil, Kiny, he's absolutely a master at it.

Ive fallen for his charm

Maybe that's okay at bigger clubs with massive financial clout. But Levy will want to know why the new 60 million pound guy is scratching his arse on the bench. That kind of situation is gonna end up with butting of heads.

I dont think Levy actually gets involved in that, think of all the wasted money we had not even in the squad over the years.

well that was a mess haha