A mastermind at work in Daniel Levy
Peter J Arnold
I have just read Glenn R’s article on Daniel Levy, called “Shame and Scandal”, and I totally disagree with his prognosis. I look at it from a different perspective. To be fair, I shall put Glenn R’s article here for you to draw your own conclusions; click “HERE” for the article.
When Daniel Levy came to our club with Joe Lewis, he had a long term project in mind. That was to first build a stadium that will stand head and shoulders above the rest and make huge profits. Once that has been completed, the next step would be to fill it with all sorts of entertainments to attract large and various audiences. This will bring in the money. After that, the next step will be to create a team that challenges for top honours along with the likes of Chelsea, the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid etc. But this project was not going to be fulfilled overnight. I heard from friends within the club that Levy is looking at a 10 to 20-year project.
In the meantime:
We cannot splash out like the other top clubs in the world do, no, we have to look towards our academy for players and only occasionally delve into the transfer market for experienced players. So I am not surprised that Levy has called off talks with Antonio Conte. According to the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick, it has been revealed on Twitter that Spurs were left concerned by some of Conte’s demands during negotiations which also saw him express his reluctance to work with younger players. When going into the negotiation with Levy, he must have realised that one of the job requirements was to work with the Spurs academy (where he was expected to get the bulk of his players from).
Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Conte wanted to bring in more than four members (bloody cheek) of his own backroom staff, but Spurs were reluctant to allow this (good on Levy). At the same time, there was also some ground to be made upon salary expectations. In both cases, where did he think he was going? Barcelona? Chelsea? United? City? Daniel never would pay out large quantities of money when he could get somebody like Ryan Mason, Parker or the Brighton manager for next to nothing. You would have thought that Conte would have done his homework. Now he has egg on his face. Where Levy stands proud that he kept his cool in the face of such foolishness.
I also hear that Conte wanted a large money chest for transfers! Levy does not work that way. To purchase we have to sell and of course get from our academy. We may be a top financial club like the other big five, but we are not a big club where purchasing players are concerned (at least for the moment). Any profits the club makes must first go to our investors, then the board and finally to Daniel Levy. Levy might be a Spurs fan, but first, he is a businessman, and his focus is on profit and future business deals.
Yes, we have been left without a head coach since Mourinho’s failure at the club to get the team into a fit state. And the reason he was sacked before the League Cup final was that we were in a lower position in the league, and his payout was linked to his league position. If the club started to rise up the league table, it would have cost Levy more money to get rid of him.
Once we have got our new manager, I can see us going for the Europa Conference league and winning that trophy. Remember, we are a top-class team who only recently came out of the Champions League, while the other teams in that Conference League are no match for us (they are from the lower echelons of their own leagues). Then there is the FA and League Cup. I accept that the European Champions League, Europa League and even the Premier League title is beyond us, at least for the next 10 or 20 years. The trophies I have mentioned (Conference, domestic trophies, etc.) are within our scope, and therefore is enough for the time being and would appease our fans for now, at least while we build Levy’s Empire.
We should not be looking to now, but the future. Remember, Daniel Levy has only been at this club for 20 years, and in all that time, we have won the League Cup, build a magnificent Cash cow stadium and erected a brilliant Academy for young players. On top of all that, Levy has bought and is purchasing the land on the surrounding sites of the stadium to eventually build on it and, in the process, gentrify the area.
Whether you agree or disagree with me, Daniel Levy will continue marching forward, focused on our/ his 10 or 20-year project, and nothing will stop the man’s determination. He will not be going anywhere any day soon. So let us get behind him and back him. After all, we are all Spurs fans. So let us support each other in supprorting Daniel Levy and the Board’s 10 or 20 year project.
By Peter J Arnold.
My name is Peter, and I have just joined this wonderful Spurs website, and I am looking forward to writing down my football thoughts and then presenting them to you. Agree or disagree; all views are valid and should be respected.
It was the famous philosopher Voltaire who said, “I might not agree with you, however, I will defend your right to say it”. Free speech. I am a journalist by trade for a local news outlet. I’ve been a Spurs supporter since the 90s.
Only 20 years…give me a break. It’s time for him to step aside on team building decisions and allow someone with proven experience to take over. His job is done, he’s brought us to the doorstep of elite, it’s time to move forward.
Totally agree with you. But it takes all sorts and Levy does have his supporters. I’ve been criticised for saying things against him.
What a terrible take..
What a load of nonsense, conte left with egg in his face? It is levy who is left with egg on his face, surely he should have done some research on how Conte works. I’m merely a football fan and could see the appt being a disaster, too similar to the mourinho appointment. Now so much time has been wasted persueing a manager which did not fit the profile set out by Hitchens & Levy. Leaving all spurs fans far and wide feeling let down and a laughing stock of the premier league. Also your comment about winning the Europa conference abs stating we are only recently a team that hit the heights of a champions league final. Though you are right in regards to time frames the team we have now is a shadow of the one we had then and a complete rebuild is necessary. We don’t even know if we are going to have our world class striker in Kane and we have no manager. Your entities to your opinion but you are definitely looking at it with Rise tinted glasses. Or Peter J Arnold is an alias of Daniel Levy and it is he writing your article.
Is this some kind of joke? “Only 20 years” wow.. look at Chelsea what they have done in those “20 years”.
Believe it or not, Levy does have his supporters.