Well I have to say I was surprised at the message left on my voicemail this lunchtime.
"Hi this is *** from Spurs press office. Daniel's offering to answer questions from a couple of the fan sites and I wondered whether you'd like to arrange a time to talk to him?"
Hmmm, that's a toughie! HELL YEAH!!!
I've been talking to a couple of people at the Lane over the past few months with message board related items so I suppose that's where they got my number from but this was a total bolt from the blue.
So what to ask? Had a couple of ideas, like stadium questions and was he selling up, until I read his EGM speech on the Official site. http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/chairmansaddress261107.html
No point wasting what's likely to be a few minutes on things he's just told a room full of people.
So back to the message board for some aid. Needed rapid responses as no idea exactly when the call was going to come in but also needed SENSIBLE questions.
Fortunately we do have a few sensible members so here we are. My conversation with Mr Daniel Levy at 5.30pm on November 26th 2007.
Evening Mr Levy, thank you for sparing me some time on what is obviously a busy day.
DL – Yes, very busy.
I’ll try and be as brief as I can then. I’ve taken a few questions from people on the website. Having read your EGM address I won’t be asking anything about the stadium or selling the club rumours.
How’s Juande’s English lesson’s going and how long before you reckon he’ll feel comfortable enough to do his own TV comments?
DL - I can sit and have a conversation with Juande and understand exactly what he’s saying but with interviews you are expected to reply quickly and he doesn’t want to be put in a position where he says the wrong thing that gets twisted. He’s probably a couple of months away from conducting his interviews.
Some fans are curious as to why you weren’t on screen during his initial press conference.
DL – Because if I had been the majority of the questions would have been about Martin Jol’s leaving as opposed to looking forward with Juande signing. Besides that’s the Sporting Directors job. The same reason as I wasn’t present during the unveiling of Martin and Frank Arnesen was.
I saw the interview with Juande pre-match on Sky before the West Ham game and he seemed very non-committal regarding Berba’s future. Subtitles were – “Ask him”. Has his introduction had a settling affect on the squad with regards to being any closer to contract negotiations with Berba and Defoe? How much of a worry is it for you that Sky Andrew is Defoe’s agent after what he persuaded Sol to do?
DL – There aren’t any tensions in the squad. Berba is already on a long contract and he’s signalled he’s happy. As for Jermaine, he’s publicly stated he wants to stay and I reiterated in today’s EGM our wish that he does stay. Now it’s pretty much down to him. Sky Andrews – Draw your own conclusions.
Do you ever ask for or get offered feedback from the players regarding the coach?
DL – I never ask for feedback but any I do get comes back via players agents rather than the players themselves.
What is the criteria for signing new players if the manager suggests them? Any truth in the tabloid gossip that 3 of Juande’s targets were disregarded because they were “over 26”?
DL – I can categorically say there is no truth in that rumour what-so-ever.
Has there been any progress on the goal keeping coach position? Has anyone thought of offering Paul a trip to a clinical hypnotist to ease any self doubts he experiences and try and get him back to full confidence?
DL – There is no progress as yet. And if you saw Paul’s display against West Ham yesterday I think he had a good game and his confidence is there for people to see.
Fan’s really don’t want to share with West Ham. The travel connections are even worse than WHL. Are there any truth to these rumours &/or alternatives should we have to move away from WHL for any rebuilding work?
DL – If we should, and I’m not saying we will, have to ground share at all then theoretically how would people feel about sharing with Arsenal. Which would they prefer?
Me – Well I actually did an article on this, asking people to think with their head rather than their heart and you’d be surprised to percentage of people that said sharing the Emirates would be the preferable short term option with regards to increased capacity meaning more revenue and an increase in season tickets. http://www.glory-glory.co.uk/blogs/dazzalondon/archive/2007/11/06/groundshare-use-your-head-not-your-heart.aspx
Have there been any “culprits” identified for these continuing leaks that appear to be coming from the club?
DL – We’ve investigated and found nothing. If you look at the way things transpired with Martin then it’s possible there was no leak. Firstly it was rumoured he’d resigned before the game, then that he’d been sacked at half time but no final decision was made until after the game. With regards to the leak about the ground expansion. I’m sure that came from somewhere other than the club. The reason why I’m so sure was that only a handful of people knew anything about that and most of them were from outside the club.
Finally, on a personal note, do you have any spare tickets for the Anderlecht game that I can buy off of you, I’ve already booked my travel????
DL – (laughs) I’m afraid not.
Well thank you very much for sparing me this time to answer questions. Good luck.
DL – You’re welcome
So there you have it folks. I have to say he was a very nice guy to talk to. He was far more forthcoming with his answers than I expected him to be.