Daniel Levy – A blessing or a curse?

A debate I see rage every transfer window, is Daniel Levy the clubs hero or a villain?  Is he the reason we are now challenging for major honours? or is he the reason we are not winning these honours?

Normally with any debate there are two sides to an argument and only one is actually correct but when it comes to Daniel Levy and his impact on Tottenham it can be argued that actually, both sides of this argument are correct.

Daniel Levy was appointed by new club owners ENIC as club chairman following their purchase of the club from Alan Sugar in February 2001 and during that time the club has improved with Premier League performances becoming a consistent European football team.  It has not been a straight line of improvement but life rarely is but the club has moved from potential relegation candidates / mid table mediocrity under Daniels stewardship.

Spurs League History

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On the flip side however despite obvious improvements on the league performance the club have lifted only one major trophy under ENIC.  A league cup win in the 2007/08 season.  This means despite investment and improvements that is the same trophy tally as Spurs under Alan Sugar who also picked up a League Cup win in the 1998/99 season.

It is the lack of on field success that concerns people but the common notion that Tottenham never spend any money is not actually true.  When ENIC first took control under Daniel Levy Spurs spent more money on players every year than neighbours Arsenal however were not able once to actually become competitive for a major honour.

From this Daniel Levy has said he learned some lessons, speaking to the supporters trust in 2010 he said; “…we invested heavily in players and it did not guarantee success so we learned from that experience that its about the right player and the right deal….”

It is true, the club has backed every manager with money to spend and always have.  Daniel Levy however can shoulder some of the blame there having pulled the trigger on many a manager at White Hart Lane so new managers coming in would often need to change the squads, the most embarrassing change was Juande Ramos who came in and sold many players just for new manager Harry Redknapp to demand they were re-signed.  Amusingly the winner of the one and only trophy in the ENIC / Daniel Levy Tottenham era? … Mr Ramos.  However was very much the team put together by Martin Jol.  (Who I loved and he loved me…).

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Finally Daniel Levy has settled on a manager (at the time of writing this anyway…) and even awarded him with a new improved deal, the first manager to earn a new contract from Daniel Levy during his tenure at the club.  That man of course is current manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Under Pochettino Spurs have competed in two title races, something many Spurs fans didnt see happening any time soon but are yet to lift a trophy.  Why?  Well can the blame be directed at Daniel Levy?  Many would argue yes and that is because of our signings.

Pochettino is a manager who wants certain players, they must be willing to work and also must fit certain positions for him – must also have an attitude that fits in with the squad.  To help him get the players he wanted he brought with him from Southampton Paul Mitchell has head of player recruitment.  The two worked well together but Mitchell resigned from Spurs in anger over his frustration that players he identified and Pochettino wanted were lost to other clubs.

A good example is Moussa Dembele (no not that one) who was playing at Fulham and was out of contract at the end of the season.  The player was linked with a move to Celtic meaning Fulham would get no compensation, so Mitchell worked on a deal that would enable us to sign him for just £3m but Fulham wanted the player to remain with them until the end of the season on loan.  All was well, it was a similar deal to that what we did with Dele Alli just a year earlier but at the last minute, after the player passed a medical and was ready to sign (pictures of him with the shirt were even taken) Daniel Levy refused to allow a loan back.  Fulham knew they could get £3m now or risk getting nothing at the end of the season BUT they stuck to their guns and kept the player.

This young striker is now a Celtic player and linked with moved to top European sides on a regular basis for £30m+ and it was things like this that led to Mitchell deciding he could not work with Daniel Levy.

When something like this happens Daniel Levy is frustrating.  VERY frustrating.  However when he does it to other clubs when we are selling players he’s great.  The recent sale of Kyle Walker of course is a great example.  Man City believed as the player and Pochettino no longer wanted to work with each other they could get him for £30m but Levy would not be moved, in the end getting not only £50m but add ons taking it higher, these add ons were last minute – another Levy move.

ENFIELD, ENGLAND - JULY 05:  Tottenham players perform shuttle runs during the Tottenham Hotspur training session at Tottenham Hotspur Training Centre on July 5, 2017 in Enfield, England.  (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)

So in conclusion, so as not to ramble on for hours, the club under Daniel Levy have developed a world class training centre and academy, have progressed in the league competing in Europe on a regular basis and now are close to delivering one of the best stadiums in the world.

However the trophy cabinet is still collecting more dust then it is trophies.  When fans look back on the glory glory days did anyone care about ground capacity or where the players trained?  No.

The club has a whole have improved for sure under Levy and that is why he can be praised however until trophies are won there will always be the justifiable argument that he is a hindrance as much as he is a help.

 

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