Daniel Levy’s video interview (contrived)
By Don Scully
I watched the interview with Daniel Levy, which he orchestrated with a staff member, in which it told you nothing other than what he wanted you to hear.
If it was a proper interview, it would have been done by an independent journalist (who doesn’t work for him) with really tough questions. Instead, this interview was manufactured to placate the viewer.
Click “HERE” to see Daniel Levy’s interview
In a rare interview, Daniel Levy takes a firm stance on Kane departure and says the club will spend on transfers, but what does that mean? That he isn’t going or that he will, and that money will be used on transfers? It was a pointless no-nothing reply.
He says he is a private person in the interview, but a person who is the head of a big company/ football team should be open and honest to its fans and not keep things close to his chest. It is our club as well.
This interview is regarded as “rare”, but even that statement tells you a lot about the relationship between the fans and himself. We don’t want a private” person who doesn’t have any correspondence with those that pay his wages.
Levy didn’t single out individuals or admit to any mistakes over the past few weeks and months (including the European Super League); it was what he implied between the lines that will make the headlines. So the question is, was that his intentions or is he just playing games?
He doesn’t really tell us anything about the Harry Kane affair, only that the club will take a firm stance on the departure of Kane. Which tells you nothing. He then says that Paratici will be involved in player transfer decisions and that Kane’s situation will be made with the club’s best interest at heart. His comments were, “I am never going to talk specifically about an individual player in public. All I would say is [Kane’s] frustrations of us not winning is shared by me, and I am sure all the fans and the players. Clearly, we all want to win. I think one of the items that Fabio will have to deal with when he comes in is which players are being retained, which players will be asked to look for other clubs. But obviously, there is a market out there and what we want, and what somebody else wants, is not always possible to achieve. We will do whatever is right for the club.”
Right for the club, suitable for himself or acceptable for the fans? I think he means right where money is concerned; that is how I read it. Money is the priority, not the fans, the team or even trophies, but money.
As I said, the interview was done with prepared questions from Tottenham’s own in-house media interviewer; it’s not surprising that all Levy was prepared to say was on his own terms and not enlighten the fans/ media further, thus leaving more questions unanswered. The questions were easy. Which tells you everything you want to know about Levy’s deviousness.
Levy seemed to use the pandemic as a get-out card, no doubt, if that wasn’t around, then there he would have another excuse. He describes how the global pandemic affected Tottenham’s bottom line, however, he did make a point to say that since the club’s debts are structured for the long term, the club’s financial picture is not as dire as others in Europe. However, that hasn’t stopped the other big clubs from investing heavily in winning trophies.
He says on that subject, “The financial consequence of buying and selling players, that’s one area that if you don’t get it right it can have dire consequences. We have to be realistic as to where we are today. We’re still in a pandemic, the consequences for this particular club have probably been more severe than for any other club in the Premier League. Over £200m in lost revenue, that we cannot recover. Our timing on opening a new stadium could not have been worse.
We have the most expensive stadium in Europe, the highest level of debt of any club in Europe. But luckily for us, it’s all long term. We’re in a good financial position in that sense. But we’re not getting the revenues that we hoped for from our stadium, and as a consequence, we’re going to have to be careful over the next coming years.
We need to be prudent because our duty is to protect the club, even though obviously we want to win.”.
What Levy finally says about money, fans and criticism towards the Board and himself. “I often read in the media from some of our fans criticizing that we don’t care about the club, that we just care about money. What I’d say to them is that every single penny that goes into this club, whatever the revenue source is, whether that is purely football or whether that is third party events like conferences or concerts, it’s all going back into the team. All we want now, having spent all these years getting the infrastructure at this club into the most fantastic position, is to invest in the team. We take a long term view. We have to protect this club. We are custodians of it. Everyone on this Board, we are fans. When we go to a game, and we don’t win, it ruins a complete weekend. We feel the pain when we don’t get success. We also say that patience is a virtue, and that’s something that we definitely need to have in football because things can change so quickly, positively and negatively. We all know where we were two years ago. Are we satisfied where we are today? Absolutely not, and we need to turn it around. But we need to make sure that this club is still in a sound financial position in the years to come. We need that success on the pitch now. My view is that we’ve got unfinished business.”
My concerns
This interview would have been a lot better if he was interviewed by an independent journalist or a spurs fan, rather than somebody who was on the club’s books. It was pre-planned and well thought out. He spoke a lot and told you nothing, other than that he has total control over everything.
He says he and the Board are fans, that may be true, but first, they are businessmen who put profit before Glory and Trophies. And don’t forget, the same applies to all the other big clubs throughout Europe, but they still manage to invest heavily in the clubs’ they manage. And it hasn’t stopped the Board/ Chairman from giving themselves large incomes.
Basically, nothing is going to change under his leadership.
Now, some of you will say that I have interpreted what Levy said, wrongly, and you see things differently, and that is the problem; the interview was left to interpretation. If we had a robust interviewer and independent he (or she) would have asked more vigorous questions that would leave no doubt in what is what.
Reading social media and what has been written about this interview, it has created just that, interpretation, arguments and disagreements. He must have known this or is so out of touch with how the fans think and would react.
I learnt nothing, other than business as usual.
By Don Scully
I have been following Spurs since the sixties and work in London. My current job is as a professional writer (working in the media), and I have work connections to the club and had previously worked for them. Including working at the old White Hart Lane stadium.
I also have my own blog and have written for the SpursWeb app & its website.