Daniel Levy - Former Chairman

[kb 1984]

That is an extremely revisionist analysis... as a proper statistical analysis confirm


View attachment 20449

did you let your kids play on the computer again.

 

[Mikey10]

If Danny Kelly and his podcast are the barometer then we truly are fudged.

I find him overly emotional - it’s ok coz he’s a fan, innit? - and struggle to listen to it after we lose - a game or transfer - as he can be unbearable. Contrast that with TGIAG, where I’m tuning in regardless, even if I don’t agree with everything…

Jack PB is largely pretty reasonable / nuanced though, which does help to balance things and allow me to challenge my own views.

I like Danny Kelly (he was a very good editor of the NME in its heyday) but he’s obviously there to provide the more passionate/extreme views that the others can then respond to in a more reasoned manner - classic TV/radio set-up.

As Dave says, Jack Pitt-Brooke, and also Jay Harris, Charlie Eccleshare (who still drops in occasionally) and James Maw, then provide the balance and nuance, quite often showing Kelly’s views to be questionable at the least.

It’s a great show, I think, and the king of Spurs podcasts for me.

 

[harr1984]

most clubs never win anything, its the top 1% who do, you can't say "not winning trophies" means the chair is doing a bad job

there are 92 pro clubs in England, only 20 of those are even in the PL, there isn't anything the other 72 can win

This sort of comment just sums up @Jurgen the German point. He never said Levy was doing a bad job. Some people believe that we are in a position to kick on, and yes that is down to the good work Levy has done but at the same ENIC are not the guys to push us on.

Again have people claiming how balanced things are on here, but anyone dare suggest an injection of something/someone else is needed to kick on and compete at the top and people jump on said poster as if he's said Levy has been terrible. Just like in any workplace, some people are scared of change, unfortunately Levy was never going to be here forever and this looks to be a damn good time to have a change in direction as we are well placed on and off the pitch and that in no small part is thanks to Levy.

But its ok to think Levy has done well to get us to the point and want a different owner to have a crack at elevating us further, and it shouldn't have to end up in these ridiculous back and forths as if something outrageous has been said.....

 

[Mikey10]

Eh?....that was just Dan Kilpatrick passing on a comparison that a mate once said to him.

Which was at the centre of a discussion about how many feel his way of operating became somewhat outdated, and like Mourinho, he lost his way in his latter years (starts at 32 minutes and runs on for 10 minutes or so).

 

[Grays_1890]

Only if you ignore the seismic changes in the sport. And even then, the average is close. We've only won 18 trophies in 143 years. 2 in 17 is a rounding error difference.

At what point does a club become a not "smaller club", and have their chairs performance graded solely on trophies?

The stats are something like, we have been in the business end of more cups in the last 25 years than anytime in our history without being able to walk through the door. As I keep saying, thats a shared blame between owners/managers/players.

We celebrate and discuss the rich history of players for winning stuff in our history, Hoddle, Villa, Parks, Gazza etc, not the owners, so its amazing that everyone seems so laser focused on Levy as the reason for failure.

The bloke made mistakes, was risk adverse which if you listen to interviews now comes clear because others were pulling the strings. And the guy was not perfect, but equally for those that are honest about our club and know and study the history the club he took over was one that was stuck behind others who stole a march on the PL early years because we spent the best part of the early 90s fighting financial issues. Sugar did a great job, he stablised the club, took over the mess from Scholar and left us in good health, but having to spend more time in court getting the club sorted and not having his own wealth to put in to the levels others had, we were miles behind anyone else mildly successful When they took other it w as a club that thought a Cup run was a good year and 7th was fairly consistent for a side that could easily flirt with 16th. Anything else is a romanticising the club we ere when they took over#

The time was right for him to go, never more so than now, the nature of the game and the club we are DOES need more dynamic action in the playing side and as a man that did not hate him as a person and chairman, I think the supporters base of abuse, emails and wanting to turn up at his house means he should go because he deserves better than that IMO.

 

[Mikey10]

This sort of comment just sums up @Jurgen the German point. He never said Levy was doing a bad job. Some people believe that we are in a position to kick on, and yes that is down to the good work Levy has done but at the same ENIC are not the guys to push us on.

Again have people claiming how balanced things are on here, but anyone dare suggest an injection of something/someone else is needed to kick on and compete at the top and people jump on said poster as if he's said Levy has been terrible. Just like in any workplace, some people are scared of change, unfortunately Levy was never going to be here forever and this looks to be a damn good time to have a change in direction as we are well placed on and off the pitch and that in no small part is thanks to Levy.

But its ok to think Levy has done well to get us to the point and want a different owner to have a crack at elevating us further, and it shouldn't have to end up in these ridiculous back and forths as if something outrageous has been said.....

Agreed!

I think people on here have almost, to a person, at the very least recognised his achievements as a bedrock for a further push. There’s been little to no dwelling on the missteps (his initial enthusiasm for moving us out of Tottenham to the Olympic Stadium, the furlough nonsense during Covid, the Super League, for example) and a lot of praise for his business acumen.

As I said earlier in the thread, I’m not sure that it should be a shock that any CEO is replaced after 25 years running a company. The real shock (and achievement) is that they lasted so long in the first place.

 

[Jurgen the German]

What are the 4 trophies?

PL
FA cup
League cup
Europe

 

[Grays_1890]

PL
FA cup
League cup
Europe

Ok, The League Cup came in in 1964, so thats 61 years not 40 so I wasn't sure on what was being got at. Cool

 

[kb 1984]

But its ok to think Levy has done well to get us to the point and want a different owner to have a crack at elevating us further, and it shouldn't have to end up in these ridiculous back and forths as if something outrageous has been said.....

nothing wrong with that at all but we haven't got new owners all Enic have done is change the face of the club. it's now VV if we don't sell or spend nothing changes. yep you are 100% right we are going around in circles for no apparent reason except we can

 

[Jurgen the German]

The stats are something like, we have been in the business end of more cups in the last 25 years than anytime in our history without being able to walk through the door. As I keep saying, thats a shared blame between owners/managers/players.

We celebrate and discuss the rich history of players for winning stuff in our history, Hoddle, Villa, Parks, Gazza etc, not the owners, so its amazing that everyone seems so laser focused on Levy as the reason for failure.

The bloke made mistakes, was risk adverse which if you listen to interviews now comes clear because others were pulling the strings. And the guy was not perfect, but equally for those that are honest about our club and know and study the history the club he took over was one that was stuck behind others who stole a march on the PL early years because we spent the best part of the early 90s fighting financial issues. Sugar did a great job, he stablised the club, took over the mess from Scholar and left us in good health, but having to spend more time in court getting the club sorted and not having his own wealth to put in to the levels others had, we were miles behind anyone else mildly successful When they took other it w as a club that thought a Cup run was a good year and 7th was fairly consistent for a side that could easily flirt with 16th. Anything else is a romanticising the club we ere when they took over#

The time was right for him to go, never more so than now, the nature of the game and the club we are DOES need more dynamic action in the playing side and as a man that did not hate him as a person and chairman, I think the supporters base of abuse, emails and wanting to turn up at his house means he should go because he deserves better than that IMO.

Fair point. But it’s equally strange how much credit Levy gets for elevating us when it was a team effort of him, managers, coaches and players.

 

[Baleforce]

This sort of comment just sums up @Jurgen the German point. He never said Levy was doing a bad job. Some people believe that we are in a position to kick on, and yes that is down to the good work Levy has done but at the same ENIC are not the guys to push us on.

Again have people claiming how balanced things are on here, but anyone dare suggest an injection of something/someone else is needed to kick on and compete at the top and people jump on said poster as if he's said Levy has been terrible. Just like in any workplace, some people are scared of change, unfortunately Levy was never going to be here forever and this looks to be a damn good time to have a change in direction as we are well placed on and off the pitch and that in no small part is thanks to Levy.

But its ok to think Levy has done well to get us to the point and want a different owner to have a crack at elevating us further, and it shouldn't have to end up in these ridiculous back and forths as if something outrageous has been said.....

My original comment, which Jurgen has taken exception to, is that some people do think Levy did an exclusively bad job, and that Levy deserves no credit for anything.

You don’t have to look very hard on SM to find them.

I called these people, thick as brick.

 

[Jurgen the German]

No doubt on that. I’m not criticising at all (just observing), but it’s very clear that this forum is quite an outlier when it comes to views expressed on Daniel Levy.

I’ve listened to a lot of Spurs podcasts over the past 48 hours. I’ve yet to find one which thinks that change wasn’t overdue.

The View From the Lane is, for me, a pretty good barometer of opinion; it’s populated by professional journalists, a couple of whom are Spurs fans, and a few who aren’t.

They produced, for me, a very balanced programme post-Daniel’s sacking. It acknowledged the great things he’s done, but talked about how he’s come to be viewed within the game, for some time now, as ‘The Mourinho of chairmen.’

He arrived into a world of clubs owned by sports company and carpet warehouse owners who also happened to run football clubs; he was the young disruptor who did things differently.

But the football landscape has completely changed during his 25 years at the helm, and he has latterly operated in a landscape peopled by nation state and (actual!) gangster owners - and he has struggled to deal with that (see this summer window, where there is plenty of evidence that he was completely played in the Eze transfer and, possibly, the MGW one too).

He has struggled to adapt. Other chairmen dealing with him used to be wary and fearful - of late, they just thought that he was a pain in the arse that they’d rather avoid dealing with.

The main thing said to me by fans of other clubs that I know over the last few days is, “You must be happy Levy’s gone.” To them, he had become (rightly or wrongly) a symbol of all those times we never quite got over the line. Time will tell whether they are right to suddenly be feeling a little bit more fearful.

Almost all of my Spurs supporting friends and family feel like me; grateful for what he did off the field, but happy to see change and a new approach to things hopefully coming into play - feelings which are very largely echoed on the other Spurs forums that I’ve dipped into over the part couple of days.

I’m not quite sure why this forum is so different in its opinion on him. One of the many quirks that makes this place interesting to me and keeps me coming back!

Indeed. And even in the mainstream media, the opinion on Levy is fairly balanced. Lots of pundits and ex players go out of their way to applaud him but acknowledge that he’s probably not the person to take us to the next level. Simon Jordan has always been a staunch defender of Levy and even he admits Levy may not be the man to take us further.

 

[Grays_1890]

Fair point. But it’s equally strange how much credit Levy gets for elevating us when it was a team effort of him, managers, coaches and players.

To a point yeh

Because the infrastructure that has seen us move forward to consider huge clubs as main rivals now is massively visual and its something you can touch and feel as in the stadium etc so he rightfully get praise for that because footballers don't build things. SO he rightfully gets raised for what he did do and gets criticism for what he didn't do. I think thats fair

 

[Jurgen the German]

To a point yeh

Because the infrastructure that has seen us move forward to consider huge clubs as main rivals now is massively visual and its something you can touch and feel as in the stadium etc so he rightfully get praise for that because footballers don't build things. SO he rightfully gets raised for what he did do and gets criticism for what he didn't do. I think thats fair

I don’t think we’re a million miles apart. The part I don’t agree with is that he doesn’t need to take any responsibility when we don’t get over the line. He gets credit for building the foundations but isn’t responsible when we don’t win. It’s a bit having your cake and eating it.

 

[Grays_1890]

nothing wrong with that at all but we haven't got new owners all Enic have done is change the face of the club. it's now VV if we don't sell or spend nothing changes. yep you are 100% right we are going around in circles for no apparent reason except we can

Exactly this VV in given the fact Levy didn't have his own wealth to invest and VV doesn't they should be judged the same, in fact probably gets a harsher time based on logic, because he hasn't got 20 years under his belt building the club up

Regardless it will be interesting how people view him. For the record I will state now, he will get my backing because unlike many, I think footballs a fcuking hard game to manage at that level and success is not easy, neither is getting transfers right etc like we love to think.

 

[Grays_1890]

I don’t think we’re a million miles apart. The part I don’t agree with is that he doesn’t need to take any responsibility when we don’t get over the line. He gets credit for building the foundations but isn’t responsible when we don’t win. It’s a bit having your cake and eating it.

I have never said that though, I said its shared and I think it is............I think you even said the same yourself??#

The last sentence is exactly what I said haha

 

[harr1984]

nothing wrong with that at all but we haven't got new owners all Enic have done is change the face of the club. it's now VV if we don't sell or spend nothing changes. yep you are 100% right we are going around in circles for no apparent reason except we can

Yes, for the time being that's correct - can only hope it means new owners coming in at some point.

I have already said would have preferred Levy to remain with new owners on board, but can at least take some comfort in knowing some of the Lewis family are Spurs fans so wouldn't just hand over ownership to someone not with the clubs best interests at heart....

 

[braineclipse]

This sort of comment just sums up @Jurgen the German point. He never said Levy was doing a bad job. Some people believe that we are in a position to kick on, and yes that is down to the good work Levy has done but at the same ENIC are not the guys to push us on.

Again have people claiming how balanced things are on here, but anyone dare suggest an injection of something/someone else is needed to kick on and compete at the top and people jump on said poster as if he's said Levy has been terrible. Just like in any workplace, some people are scared of change, unfortunately Levy was never going to be here forever and this looks to be a damn good time to have a change in direction as we are well placed on and off the pitch and that in no small part is thanks to Levy.

But its ok to think Levy has done well to get us to the point and want a different owner to have a crack at elevating us further, and it shouldn't have to end up in these ridiculous back and forths as if something outrageous has been said.....

I think your description of what contributes to "ridiculous back and forths" is rather one sided.

The narrative from some here, in the meda and elsewhere in the Spurs community seems to be Levy did really well on the business side, not so well on the football side.

Some, including me on here, are saying that we also improved a lot under him on the football side. In part as a result of what he did on the business side, but also other factors.

I think the biggest difference of opinion comes down to trophies and to what extent trophies are the measure of how well we do on the football side.

 

[glasgowspur]

At our level football clubs are businesses.
Clubs don't suffer the fate of Leeds, Blackburn or rangers because of bad football decisions, it's because of bad business decisions.
Since dodgy roman was allowed to rock up and splash cash at obscene levels English football has been fudged, doubly so now with city.
We could have thrown money around trying to compete, but it have been a huge risk as any money we can spend they easily beat.
Levy took the sensible and secure way, in fact the only way for THFC.
Our club is sustainable.
We are not awaiting the outcome of any inquiries.
We are not hoping a risky financial strategy comes good.
There's no hint of dopping in our victories.

I'm not naive enough to think we will get our reward for doing it correctly, but I do know that our victories, small as they may seem, are ours, no one can take them away from us or cast shade on them.

For that Daniel Levy will always have my gratitude.

 

[Baleforce]

Considering the stated aims of both THST and CFT, I’m surprised neither pay any attention to our rating here,

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