Daniel Levy - Former Chairman

[thfcsteff]

Cheers matey

Yes, I'll 20th that mate (there's been at least 19 other people ahead of me quite rightly offering praise of that fine piece)...

 

[thfcsteff]

That Qatari's have hundreds of billions, Abu Dhabi a couple of trillion, they've only spent back of the sofa money on City so far.

I just looked down the back of my sofa BTW. More dust and crumbs than I imagined, a couple of toothpicks and three old receipts. No cash. Bummer.

 

[mudshark]

You see my take is different from yours. I believe Levy would have sold (at a great price) to anyone that he thinks would make spurs better/ more successful including nation states.
But he wouldn’t to anyone like the Texans (taxmans) at Utd who would suck the club dry. I think Lewis would absolutely sell to the likes of them if they were the highest bidder.

levy saw spurs as a legacy… lewis sees us just as profit

I'd certainly give some credence to this POV.

I don't have any reason to think the Lewises have any interest in the club per se: in its history, in the hopes and dreams of its fanbase, or in what happens to it after they've cut and run with their 2bn or whatever it may be. They've wanted to "understand" the business, is the way I expect they would put it.

I'm certain that would have been Levy's position as well in the early days—he would have been happy just carrying out Uncle Joe's instructions for growing the investment.

Over the years, on the other hand, with his daily involvement (something I note they've been keen to point out Charrington will not have), perhaps he has been guilty of going native. Did he end up with a degree of emotional investment that the Lewises now only claim?

It's quite conceivable to me that Levy's ultimate undoing—his unforgivable crime—may actually have been an abundance of concern for his legacy.

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

You see my take is different from yours. I believe Levy would have sold (at a great price) to anyone that he thinks would make spurs better/ more successful including nation states.
But he wouldn’t to anyone like the Texans (taxmans) at Utd who would suck the club dry. I think Lewis would absolutely sell to the likes of them if they were the highest bidder.

levy saw spurs as a legacy… lewis sees us just as profit

Fair, maybe it was that. I don’t know the man, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a difference in ideal outcome between Lewis and Levy. My only question is if they were open to a nation state, why has that not been done yet?

 

[SissokoWasGood (BoL)]

I'd certainly give some credence to this POV.

I don't have any reason to think the Lewises have any interest in the club per se: in its history, in the hopes and dreams of its fanbase, or in what happens to it after they've cut and run with their 2bn or whatever it may be. They've wanted to "understand" the business, is the way I expect they would put it.

I'm certain that would have been Levy's position as well in the early days—he would have been happy just carrying out Uncle Joe's instructions for growing the investment.

Over the years, on the other hand, with his daily involvement (something I note they've been keen to point out Charrington will not have), perhaps he has been guilty of going native. Did he end up with a degree of emotional investment that the Lewises now only claim?

It's quite conceivable to me that Levy's ultimate undoing—his unforgivable crime—may actually have been an abundance of concern for his legacy.

Could well be that. I also wouldn’t be surprised if his attachment grew over the years and he came to see it as something more than the Lewis’s saw it.

It’s funny, I feel like my view has shifted even today. Previously I was thinking DL wasn’t the man to take us forward, but maybe a less centralised structure would allow different decisions to be made to get us there.

Now I feel more like DL is gone, and it’s about keeping us as competitive as possible, and being as valuable as possible, so that we’re still a valuable purchase for some buyer.

Maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. Still certain thought that the Lewis’s will sell in the relatively near term, and everything we’ve seen in the last couple of days is posturing. If the Lewis’s genuinely think that they have an equal care as DL about THFC’s role in the community, and they just needed to remove DL as the impediment to more success…I’m not buying that. They could have helped DL out at any point more than they had done over the last 20 years.

 

[metalgear]

still no message from levy? so strange
doesn't seem like he is in the mood to share his feelings then
considering that video interview recently that appeared he was firmly entrenched in the club's future, it feels like a sudden falling out of sorts.

maybe the banning of that fan for his social media comments, perhaps the very last minute nature of our dealings (and kolo possibly without a buy option), missing out on MGW and Eze. Whatever it was, winning Europa Cup wasn't significant enough.

 

[Grays_1890]

still no message from levy? so strange
doesn't seem like he is in the mood to share his feelings then
considering that video interview recently that appeared he was firmly entrenched in the club's future, it feels like a sudden falling out of sorts.

maybe the banning of that fan for his social media comments, perhaps the very last minute nature of our dealings (and kolo possibly without a buy option), missing out on MGW and Eze. Whatever it was, winning Europa Cup wasn't significant enough.

He hasn't been removed for any of that stuff.

The club are still sending fans messages on twitter warning them of legals too

 

[glasgowspur]

Surely the reason it hadn’t happened already was because of DL?

I agree the money is out there. I also agree the Lewis’s don’t have the cash to invest for sustained success to get us into the 5bn+ valuation range. I think they have enough to invest to ensure we don’t fall too far behind, but that’s about it. Maybe Viv Lewis is willing to take a little more risk with the money than Daniel was, but again as people who know these people have said, it was Daniel managing Joe’s investment. What Daniel did, he did under Joe’s guidance and with Joe’s constraints. If it was going to be massively different now, it would have been different many years ago.

My lukewarm take: the removal of DL is about being able to sell the club. DL had an idea of what type of owner would be acceptable in order to be a custodian of the club’s long term interests (see his comments to Simon Jordan about how the newer owners today have different interests, nation states) and he cared deeply about Tottenham’s role in the community. Offering the interview to Neville and his comment about being more respected once he’s gone play into this.

I think the Lewis’s think they can get the most money from a nation state, where as DL would have preferred owners like FSG. What we’re seeing now, denials about the club being for sale, it’s all posturing to drive the price as high as possible. The Lewis’s don’t have the money to invest to get us into that 5bn range, it’s would take too long and it’s too much of a risk even if they did want to do it. They’ll sell, not too far into the future. There’s no point spending the time or the energy dragging it out too far into the future when the bulk of the profit they will realise from their investment can be taken in the nearer term.

City owners have pumped a lot of money into the community, a nation state buying spurs could well do the same.

 

[Diamond Lights]

as someone who's been fairly vocal on Levy, glad he's gone. Not saying he's done nothing good, of course he has, but he's also been at fault for a lot too.

Speaks volumes that the Lewis family took a deep dive into the club from a third party and the review outcome is the Chairman has to go, quite telling.

 

[DTA]

as someone who's been fairly vocal on Levy, glad he's gone. Not saying he's done nothing good, of course he has, but he's also been at fault for a lot too.

Speaks volumes that the Lewis family took a deep dive into the club from a third party and the review outcome is the Chairman has to go, quite telling.

The only positive thing the Lewis family ever done for this club was getting/letting Levy be the Chairman.

Levy had reached out to them on multiple occasions for cash injections some he got, some he didn’t.

It hasn’t got “better”, It’s got much worse.

 

[Diamond Lights]

The only positive thing the Lewis family ever done for this club was getting/letting Levy be the Chairman.

Levy had reached out to them on multiple occasions for cash injections some he got, some he didn’t.

It hasn’t got “better”, It’s got much worse.

maybe you're right, though i do think the default opinion is always "what if it gets worse" but rarely "what if it gets better", can go either way right?

Also, this is where the fanbase has to show up. Change for Tottenham were consistently trying to put pressure on the board to act differently, if the fans are willing to pay the highest prices in the league whilst bargain basement shopping, then the club will do that. If we dont like it, stand up, take action, play a part.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

Surely the reason it hadn’t happened already was because of DL?

I agree the money is out there. I also agree the Lewis’s don’t have the cash to invest for sustained success to get us into the 5bn+ valuation range. I think they have enough to invest to ensure we don’t fall too far behind, but that’s about it. Maybe Viv Lewis is willing to take a little more risk with the money than Daniel was, but again as people who know these people have said, it was Daniel managing Joe’s investment. What Daniel did, he did under Joe’s guidance and with Joe’s constraints. If it was going to be massively different now, it would have been different many years ago.

My lukewarm take: the removal of DL is about being able to sell the club. DL had an idea of what type of owner would be acceptable in order to be a custodian of the club’s long term interests (see his comments to Simon Jordan about how the newer owners today have different interests, nation states) and he cared deeply about Tottenham’s role in the community. Offering the interview to Neville and his comment about being more respected once he’s gone play into this.

I think the Lewis’s think they can get the most money from a nation state, where as DL would have preferred owners like FSG. What we’re seeing now, denials about the club being for sale, it’s all posturing to drive the price as high as possible. The Lewis’s don’t have the money to invest to get us into that 5bn range, it’s would take too long and it’s too much of a risk even if they did want to do it. They’ll sell, not too far into the future. There’s no point spending the time or the energy dragging it out too far into the future when the bulk of the profit they will realise from their investment can be taken in the nearer term.

I think that's close to it.

And little did many know that DL is a decent fella with our very best interests at heart.

Here's hoping that Joes son and daughter being 'Spurs fans' really does count for something?

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

City owners have pumped a lot of money into the community, a nation state buying spurs could well do the same.

They'll for sure do that. When you have bottomless pits of money it's easy to win hearts and minds.

 

[DTA]

Fair, maybe it was that. I don’t know the man, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a difference in ideal outcome between Lewis and Levy. My only question is if they were open to a nation state, why has that not been done yet?

well two things:

PSR is coming into play now, our main advantage over buying a cheaper club with big potential like Newcastlè is the fact that Levy gave us so much head room in Terms of PSR. So it is only relatively recently it make sense for a nation state to want to buy us.

And

Saudi Sportswashing Machine have the Saudi’s and City have UAE that leaves the Qataris but they have PSG who finally have seem to set themselves up correctly for dominance…

Which nation state should we be showing our ankles to?

 

[SpurMeUp]

So much conjecture on here, both from those who want to paint Levy as failing (clearly he wasn't), and from those who want to paint Levy as a Saint.

We don't know why he has left now. It wasn't planned, at least now from within the club. That we do know. It could have simply been a clash of styles with the Lewis 'kids'. Or a planned change in approach from them. Or something that happened in the transfer window. Or the issue of his shares being dilluted by Lewis investment. Who knows.

Change is a generally a good thing. New people bring in fresh ideas and approaches. DLs foundation is in place. Hopefully Enic can lean on Levy if and when needed and there isn't too much bad blood.

 

[DTA]

maybe you're right, though i do think the default opinion is always "what if it gets worse" but rarely "what if it gets better", can go either way right?

Also, this is where the fanbase has to show up. Change for Tottenham were consistently trying to put pressure on the board to act differently, if the fans are willing to pay the highest prices in the league whilst bargain basement shopping, then the club will do that. If we dont like it, stand up, take action, play a part.

Well not really… because even if the Lewis (60 year old) kids want to spunk their inheritance on shiny new players, they are not cash rich… certainly not premier league owner standards. So they can’t… I doubt they would want to do that anyway.

The best we can hope for now is that we are sold to nation state who wants us as a play thing.

 

[DTA]

So much conjecture on here, both from those who want to paint Levy as failing (clearly he wasn't), and from those who want to paint Levy as a Saint.

We don't know why he has left now. It wasn't planned, at least now from within the club. That we do know. It could have simply been a clash of styles with the Lewis 'kids'. Or a planned change in approach from them. Or something that happened in the transfer window. Or the issues of his shares being dilluted by Lewis investment. Who knows.

Change is a generally a good thing. New people bring in fresh ideas and approaches. DLs foundation is in place. Hopefully Enic can lean on Levy if and when needed and there isn't too much bad blood.

Daniel is a saint …. Shut your mouth

 

[kb 1984]

start watching at 3:30 if you don't want to watch all of it

 

[metalgear]

as someone who's been fairly vocal on Levy, glad he's gone. Not saying he's done nothing good, of course he has, but he's also been at fault for a lot too.

Speaks volumes that the Lewis family took a deep dive into the club from a third party and the review outcome is the Chairman has to go, quite telling.

i am levy out but at the same time feel that a better, nicer departure could have been managed by the owners.
feels like a sudden falling out that prevents it

 

[Baleforce]

Surely the reason it hadn’t happened already was because of DL?

I agree the money is out there. I also agree the Lewis’s don’t have the cash to invest for sustained success to get us into the 5bn+ valuation range. I think they have enough to invest to ensure we don’t fall too far behind, but that’s about it. Maybe Viv Lewis is willing to take a little more risk with the money than Daniel was, but again as people who know these people have said, it was Daniel managing Joe’s investment. What Daniel did, he did under Joe’s guidance and with Joe’s constraints. If it was going to be massively different now, it would have been different many years ago.

My lukewarm take: the removal of DL is about being able to sell the club. DL had an idea of what type of owner would be acceptable in order to be a custodian of the club’s long term interests (see his comments to Simon Jordan about how the newer owners today have different interests, nation states) and he cared deeply about Tottenham’s role in the community. Offering the interview to Neville and his comment about being more respected once he’s gone play into this.

I think the Lewis’s think they can get the most money from a nation state, where as DL would have preferred owners like FSG. What we’re seeing now, denials about the club being for sale, it’s all posturing to drive the price as high as possible. The Lewis’s don’t have the money to invest to get us into that 5bn range, it’s would take too long and it’s too much of a risk even if they did want to do it. They’ll sell, not too far into the future. There’s no point spending the time or the energy dragging it out too far into the future when the bulk of the profit they will realise from their investment can be taken in the nearer term.

I’m not talking about us, I’m talking generally, sports washers want some runway to success, existing regular winners don’t have anything that benefits them.