Daniel Levy has taken Tottenham Hotspur to a point where the move to the elite level of football is within reach. Covid has set us back and taken any opportunity that a manager who needs money to win away.
So where do we go from here?
What assets do we have at our disposal?
- The Academy
- The world class stadium
- A winning manager
- 3-4 young players to build a team around
What liabilities do we have to be concerned about?
- 300 million in additional debt
- An owner with no distinguishable strategy for the football playing side of the business
- A miserable manager
- A micromanager running the entire operation
- No winning pedigree (current)
The first thing that needs to happen is a clear and unalterable direction that the football style should move toward. This should be maintained and the entire organization from top to bottom should be populated with people who have this style ingrained in them. Including the scouting staff.
Secondly, a DoF should be employed who can implement this style and the culture necessary to deliver it. While the DoF may change, the mandate associated with the position should never change. Personnel will change over time but our direction shouldn’t. The DoF should expand our international scouting operations to look for international flair players. As we are all aware, this will help with building our global brand.
Included in this is Levy’s removal from football operations. And I include negotiations on contracts here because I feel we have lost potential players over exasperation more than anything else. Levy can set budgets. That’s all the control he needs.
Once this is accomplished,we can start to move forward and stop looking at players and other personnel who don’t fit the mould. At that point, we hire and fire based on performance but without having to overhaul the squad to move forward.
We do need to deal with the accumulated Covid related debt issue. Massive wage increases for the players will have to wait for at least 24 months which will mean we will lose some of our 27-year-olds who need that big contract.
The UK is close to coming out of Covid restricted football. Mourinho will not likely survive the in-stadium wrath of a lot of supporters. Whether or not you want to keep him (as I would) it has gone too far to remedy. UNLESS, MAYBE, we make top 4. CL football with fans back in the stands will accelerate our emergence from the burden of additional Covid debt much more quickly than anything else. However, Mourinho is a short-term issue. He either does the job or he doesn’t.
Doing this would set us on a path that everyone understands. And if everyone buys in they will have the patience to see it through, supporters included. Setbacks would be taken in stride. Accomplishments would be the result of a plan so as such, well deserved.
That’s all I want. Direction with the right people to make it happen at the top. Without that direction it’s groundhog day. After 20 years you would think Daniel Levy would have figured this out.