Surely He's Earned Some Slack Now?

[BelgianSpur]

Spursex - 27/5/2017 11:41

BelgianSpur - 27/5/2017 07:47

Again, I fail to see the logic. If chairmen were paid based on what their actions were worth to the club, someone like Ed Woodward at Man U, who has negotiated a 10 year, 750 million deal with Adidas, and a 10 year, 500 million deal with Chevrolet, among others, has done just as much comparatively. Yet his salary is lower.

The fact that our club has increased in value is partly down to Levy, but also partly down to the fact that the PL as a whole has dramatically increased in value over the last 17 years. Show me one club in the PL in that time that hasn't gone up in value.

I don't know why speaking about morals is weak; the fact is that the while football industry as a whole pays obscene amounts of money. We know that, but that's besides the point: player transfers and wages may be obscenely high, but at least they are ruled by a market, and the notion of market value should come into play. There is a market for football chairmen too, but for some reason Levy's pay is the highest in that category, despite him having far from a flawless record.

In its most basic form, football is a sport and the players are the heart and soul. Support functions, no matter the level, will always be just that to true football fans.

I know fans think there should be; but there are simply no such thing as morals in the professional football industry - they don't exist and anyone who tells you they do is lying or living in cloud cuckoo land.

It is absolutely true that club values have increased incrementally - if they are still here (in the PL), and if they are financially sound.

It's also true that as we look today, in a marketplace that is even more haywire than I could ever convince myself was possible (and believe me when I say that selling my stake in a player agency is probably the worst investment decision I've ever made!), his transfer and market achievements look simple and easy - but I well recall the gasps of horror and amazement at what he rung out of Manure for example of Berbs and out of the Bin dippers for Keano....

There wasn't anyone in the industry that wasn't gob smacked at what he'd pulled off, the same is also exactly true of Bale; when I was saying that he'd go for upwards of £60 mill - posters here were saying I was nuts and at best he was worth perhaps £40mill....and then we go and sell him for over £80mill...

So everything is relative; some in a performance related industry would say that Levy has shown himself to be worth every penny and then some (most in it do) , others of course (almost always fans) will simply look goggle eyed at his remuneration and shake their heads - and I understand why.

No question that his hardball tactics have coerced impressive fees out of rival clubs. Yet these same tactics have also annihilated the chances of completing multiple incoming transfers over the years too. Looking at player sales is only half of the picture. Between the aborted deals and the necessity to settle on "plan Bs" because option A was deemed too expensive (despite the fact that the difference in valuation was far from impssible to overcome), we have missed several opportunities to improve the team.

Jeremy Peace called Levy the hardest person to deal with that he had ever met, and not in a good way. At some point, being difficult to deal with becomes counter productive. Levy has tread that line multiple times.

 

[Spursex]

BelgianSpur - 28/5/2017 19:41

Spursex - 27/5/2017 11:41

BelgianSpur - 27/5/2017 07:47

Again, I fail to see the logic. If chairmen were paid based on what their actions were worth to the club, someone like Ed Woodward at Man U, who has negotiated a 10 year, 750 million deal with Adidas, and a 10 year, 500 million deal with Chevrolet, among others, has done just as much comparatively. Yet his salary is lower.

The fact that our club has increased in value is partly down to Levy, but also partly down to the fact that the PL as a whole has dramatically increased in value over the last 17 years. Show me one club in the PL in that time that hasn't gone up in value.

I don't know why speaking about morals is weak; the fact is that the while football industry as a whole pays obscene amounts of money. We know that, but that's besides the point: player transfers and wages may be obscenely high, but at least they are ruled by a market, and the notion of market value should come into play. There is a market for football chairmen too, but for some reason Levy's pay is the highest in that category, despite him having far from a flawless record.

In its most basic form, football is a sport and the players are the heart and soul. Support functions, no matter the level, will always be just that to true football fans.

I know fans think there should be; but there are simply no such thing as morals in the professional football industry - they don't exist and anyone who tells you they do is lying or living in cloud cuckoo land.

It is absolutely true that club values have increased incrementally - if they are still here (in the PL), and if they are financially sound.

It's also true that as we look today, in a marketplace that is even more haywire than I could ever convince myself was possible (and believe me when I say that selling my stake in a player agency is probably the worst investment decision I've ever made!), his transfer and market achievements look simple and easy - but I well recall the gasps of horror and amazement at what he rung out of Manure for example of Berbs and out of the Bin dippers for Keano....

There wasn't anyone in the industry that wasn't gob smacked at what he'd pulled off, the same is also exactly true of Bale; when I was saying that he'd go for upwards of £60 mill - posters here were saying I was nuts and at best he was worth perhaps £40mill....and then we go and sell him for over £80mill...

So everything is relative; some in a performance related industry would say that Levy has shown himself to be worth every penny and then some (most in it do) , others of course (almost always fans) will simply look goggle eyed at his remuneration and shake their heads - and I understand why.

No question that his hardball tactics have coerced impressive fees out of rival clubs. Yet these same tactics have also annihilated the chances of completing multiple incoming transfers over the years too. Looking at player sales is only half of the picture. Between the aborted deals and the necessity to settle on "plan Bs" because option A was deemed too expensive (despite the fact that the difference in valuation was far from impssible to overcome), we have missed several opportunities to improve the team.

Jeremy Peace called Levy the hardest person to deal with that he had ever met, and not in a good way. At some point, being difficult to deal with becomes counter productive. Levy has tread that line multiple times.

It's interesting some of the suppositions you make; the evidence of which is very skinny to almost being non-existent, but again I can see why you'd make these assumptions as fans tend to make sweeping statements without an eye to the detail(s).

The construction of a deal let alone a successful conclusion is hideously complex at times, and as I've said before you won't be surprised to know that only around 1:10 deals that are mooted publically even get close to being done, let alone done.

I've spent much of my business life in a senior position or running a business and when you have budget constraints and rules it always surprises me how little others think they mean and that their in place simply to make life awkward for the business/particular stakeholders/project managers etc etc

I understand the budget making process and the absolute need to adhere to the business plan wherever you can when you're reliant on a pretty much fixed forecast income (as the business of football is) of course there can be variables - but you can't or at least shouldn't plan a business on that basis - that is why you see so many historic 'big clubs' languishing for year/decades in the lower reaches.

No doubt we have missed opportunities to improve the improve the team, but we shouldn't rule out the fact that not all transfers - as great as they look on paper - work out the way fans think they will (you only have to take a recent example such as Sissoko, a player whom many here thought would transport us into the best squad around and enable us to win Trophies)...

For every negative you or I can find or the weaknesses in the management approach of the budgeting model their is a contra that adds up to being where we now are.

I know Pearce; he is as much of a hard arse as levy is said to be and protected every penny he's ever earned; like Levy he bought into a club, West Brom and set about installing fierce financial restrictions and absolutely refused to do deals that the clubs wage roll couldn't support - which is why he too took them private and out of the public shareholders eyes - he's tough, single minded and was at odds with his supporters at his refusal to spend beyond their means.

He and Levy were/are peas of a pod, anything he said about Levy has been said many times about Pearce.

I really wouldn't take any comment from Jeremy about anyone in football as a serious critique - there are an awful lot of agents/clubs and players who were relieved to see him cash in....(even if he is still sitting in the background....)