Would Paratici have quit Spurs if Levy didn’t show ambition
By Don Scully
In some journalist reports (SpursWeb & The Telegraph, to name but two), Paratici “might” have quit Spurs if he didn’t get his way.
According to The Telegraph’s Matt Law, some of his sources think Fabio Paratici would no longer be at Tottenham were it not for the appointment of Antonio Conte. When Conte arrived to replace Nuno Espirito Santo last November, Fabrizio Romano (journalist) revealed that Paratici proved influential in bringing him to the club.
Conversely, this was subsequently contradicted by The Athletic website/ paper, which claimed that Daniel Levy drove the deal to appoint Conte.
Matt Law has now reported that Paratici may have walked away from Levy and Tottenham had he not been reunited with Conte, who he worked with at Juventus. He also said in his newspaper that the “Italian will often ‘forcefully’ voice his opinions in the boardroom during meetings.” He alleges that the Tottenham managing director of football has even been known to shout and offer his resignation in protests if decisions go against him.
In their article, Spurs Web concluded: “All the top executives in any field are generally not shy about voicing their opinion. It is understandably why Paratici would not be happy if decisions go against him, given that he is supposed to be the head of Tottenham’s football department in his new role.” The article ends with, “I have a hard time believing that the Italian would have resigned if not for Conte’s arrival.”
I’m afraid I have to disagree with that ending conclusion. Paratici is an ambitious man. By joining Tottenham, any successes or failures would be linked to him. Success would mean a gold star; failures would have dented, if not destroyed, his reputation.
Paratici did not join Tottenham as Director of football so that he could help Daniel penny-pinch and put profits before success. Paratici would have also known – before he joined – that some sections of the Tottenham faithful hated Daniel Levy and the board. He would not want to be part of that hate campaign, which has been growing year-by-year.
According to some of my sources, Levy realised that if Paratici walked, he would have been damaged even more and probably made his position untenable. A hated board would have hurt his pride and joy (the stadium) and affected his empire’s more total area/ profits – not just football.
I have to agree. Nobody goes into a job – incredibly high-flying people/ambitious people – to be a scapegoat or be part of failure. That would have happened had Daniel Levy reinforced his philosophy of profits before success on the field.
You can bet any money that when Paratici walked into the Tottenham Stadium, he knew what he wanted, and what he wanted was to be associated with success, not Daniel Levy’s ideal of how he sees success (through the stadium, not the football team).
Once he was firmly at his desk, feet under the table, his next step was to appoint a winning manager. Levy went along with it, believing that he could dictate to Conte where he should get his players from (or partly players from); Levy’s pride and joy, the Tottenham Academy, thus saving on transfer fees and wages.
As reported in various football articles, Conte speaks his mind, no matter who his boss is. He was supposed to have said to Levy that there was no way success could be brought to the club either on the cheap or through the Academy. He would have walked if Levy got his way, along with Paratici. Levy had no choice but to kowtow to those more ambitious for the team over the stadium’s wealth-making.
My Conclusion
Conte has made himself very popular with the fans (all love him for what he has achieved so far). If the Spurs team becomes a success under Paratici and Conte, this will pressure Levy to continue with their project. If he should sack the pair or they walk, followed by failure on the pitch, then the pressure on Levy & Lewis would be untenable.
If, on the other hand, Paratici and Conte fail to bring silverware to the club, he might feel justified in sacking the pair; however, all that would mean is that Levy ends up going back to square one. The shouts will become louder from the fans and press for Levy/ Lewis and ENIC to begone. But the fans won’t see it as Conte and Paratici’s failure but Levy’s failure to invest in the team.
As things stand now, I see Paractici and Conte as a successful team at Tottenham, wishing to bring us success. And may that success continue. Did Levy and Lewis… or just Levy open pandora’s box, or was this Levy’s intention once the stadium was on an equal footing?
I do not doubt that the knives are being sharpened if Levy should slip… as all roads lead back to Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis/ ENIC.
Sadly – for Levy – if success does come to the team, I have no doubt where the finger will be pointed/ or credited.
What are your thoughts?
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.
I think the conclusions reached in this article which I have just read in my own honest opinion are a fair reflection on what is happening at our great club
There are many interpretations of what is going on behind the scenes, however, I think Don Scully comes close to the truth.
It’s always hard to know exactly what is happening behind the scenes. People have their own agendas and will release little snippets that they want out there for fans to digest. However my gut feeling on this is the Paratici would have walked and Levy was somewhat backed into a corner given that his standing with Spurs fans was somewhere between zero and zilch. Although I think I am right in saying that Nuno was Paratici’s appointment, albeit with a shrinking pool to chose from by the time he got to him, which I think most of us did not see it working from the get go.