One of the easiest things in Football as a fan is to criticise the board, very few escape the wrath of the supporters and in most cases, it is justified.
But in my humble opinion, that should not apply to Daniel Levy and ENIC, not now anyway.
It is so easy to demand the billionaire owner to splash the cash like Man City and Chelsea owners but the thing is this, there are levels to being a billionaire.
Almost every Premier League club owner is a billionaire, however, some are far richer than others and have a lot more cash to splash.
Joe Lewis, according to the real-time Forbes rich is list is worth $5.2 billion, whereas Roman Abramovich of Chelsea is worth $14.3 billion and City’s owners are worth no less than $1 trillion as a family.
Owners like Lewis and even the Kroenke’s at Arsenal and Glaziers at Man Utd cannot compete with the Oil Sheiks and Russian Oligarchs, that is a financial fact.
The reason why United can compete in the transfer market and pay the wages they do is that they have the income and infrastructure through the club to do so and that is what Levy is trying to achieve at Tottenham.
If you cannot battle it out with the Sheiks and Oligarchs with cold hard cash then you must compete with them in turnover, United do that, Arsenal are starting to do that and Tottenham will be able to do so eventually and the reason is because of the new Stadium.
The only way to increase income is through a Stadium and that is where Spurs will have the advantage in the long term over all their rivals. Arsenal’s Emirates cannot attract other events in the way the Tottenham Stadium can, neither can Old Trafford, the Etihad, Stamford Bridge and so on.
It may not feel like it right now but in 5-10 years Spurs will be generating far more income than they do today and probably more than any other club in England.
A lot of that extra income will be invested in the squad and wages and that is the long term goal of Levy and ENIC.
It is easy to look back in time and attack the board for lack of investment but what did one expect when White Hart Lane just was not generating enough money and let’s be honest, was not fit for purpose, it was dilapidated and needed pulling down.
Levy is investing for the future and that is what Spurs need because this is not football manager, we simply could not compete on a level playing field with these ridiculously rich clubs whose owners could afford to drop hundreds of millions annually risk-free.
The majority of Lewis’s money is tied up in real estate and his other businesses, he does not have the ability to just drop a billion on a football club like Chelsea and City’s owners can and that reality should be recognised.
Levy is doing the groundwork right now and as fans, we have to make the sacrifices in terms of on-field success because if we do not do it now, when? Because if we did not invest in a new Stadium then the chances of us ever being able to lift major silverware on a regular basis would have been zero.
Only the very super rich can throw hundreds of millions around because if your “average billionaire” could do so then the billionaire owners of Wolves, Villa, Fulham etc would be doing it.
No, the only clubs that can do that are the ones that are worth tens and hundreds of billions, not those single figure billionaires.
I know this is an unpopular opinion because of the unpopularity of Levy and of course, the long history of appalling transfer recruitment but that was always going to be tricky to navigate when you are buying players and paying wages below the superstar level.
I do accept that Tottenham is one of the most indebted clubs in football but it should also be acknowledged that they are also the most valuable club in England, well, according to some sources..
Daniel Levy is finally doing it right and that should be recognised. The Stadium is a good thing and the club is going in the right direction and we should all be applauding that.
Would you mind if I copied and pasted this I. Another Spurs forum ?
Because forking out £15 million on Jose is cheaper than rebuilding a dilapidated squad.
Daniel Levy is doing a good job and that should be recognised – Rebuttal.
I have long noted that Daniel Levy’s performance as a businessman is pretty top-notch and as a businessman he is indeed doing a good job. However as a Football Club chairman I don’t think so.
He might be able to barbeque a decent burger or paint his bathroom to a seriously good standard, but that is not what we are looking at when we say the Chairman/Board are doing a good job – what we are concerned about is that he is doing a good job as a football club chairman.
He’s not!
To illustrate with a metaphor, he’s like a restaurant owner whose bought into a premises at the top end of town, the furniture, décor, menus, wait staff are all great – you can even buy merchandise to show you are a patron of this uptown establishment. However the more of a patron you are the more you see what goes on in the kitchen and the less satisfied with the dining experience you become.
This restaurant, let call it THFC, has turned over so many chefs its embarrassing and a major part of the problem is that the chef is asked to meet cordon bleu standards but the meat and fish and vegetables are always bought on the cheap. Supplies are quick sale items or just about to pass their use by date, fruit with blemishes, fish with cloudy eyes and meat with too much of a sheen.
Add to this that on occasions no new fresh food is bought and the chef has to labour on with yesterdays or last weeks left-overs, which have to be used first.
Luckily the Restaurateur has a very loyal clientele: not to him but to the THFC brand. The eating experience deteriorates and eventually the regulars grumble loudly so the restaurateur sacks the chef as if it was the chef to blame – not his skinflint penny-pinching attitude.
Is he a good businessman? He minimises outgoing and keeps the prices on the menu high and is profitable, cleverly managing the overheads including the cost of the premises….so Yes.
Is he a good restaurateur? He has all the trimmings but a restaurant is about the food and chefs can only do so much to present poor food as gourmet…. So No.
The fact that his benefactor is a lesser multi-billionaire means what? Lewis can’t be that far from a trip to the celestial plane and he can’t take it with him. However there are seldom calls for Lewis to dip into his own trousers, just be prepared to underwrite what should be/should have been, predominantly good pieces of business providing our current and last manager with the people (fresh produce) they need to meet their objectives.
Levy has been serially at fault – what other common denominator can you suggest for so much failure. We change the managers, we (too infrequently) change the players, we change the scouts, we change the ground, we change the training facilities – but we don’t change the chairman –anyone else seeing a pattern emerge here?
As noted at the start, Levy has set the business side of the club up very well – I am not worried about the debt; it is an structured debt on a capital overhead, well within our each to service and tax deductible methinks. But he has not extended that business verve to the pitch.
No matter how close we get, we end up having failed and many think myself included, that this is due to Levy’s parsimony and inability to prioritise the ends over the means – haggling for better prices over 2 months trumps getting what we want and need to succeed.
Levy is doing a good job? Yes in some spheres but NO not in a football club.
Can anybody tell tottenham they are not wanted as so called anchor Tennant’s anymore? Who do way pay our rent too? I’m dying for an answer. You must think we’re west ham
With a billion pound team and the best facilities in the business.
Bla bla fkin yawn.
I did when I wasn’t happy with sugar. I made big noise. Police station noise. You did nothing but moan
Over quarter of a century. Billions gonna pass through Tottenham in that time. Keep up. The stadium will stand for 100 years plus
Not even 2 years of “fishing. Keep up
22 years and counting and still no fish in the keep net, how many more decades of fishing to go?
44 years to come to fruition… Marvellous! 😂
Paying of almost 1bn of debt I would suspect…
Yep.
If you’re lucky…
At least we never done a Leeds’ eh? 🤔
Meanwhile ‘little’ Leicester win the league and take our place in the top four.
They have good owners, they’ve achieved in about 5 years what ENIC have pretended to to want for the last 22 years. ENIC are just a f*cking joke, and a sick one…
Right, so every single supporter who isn’t happy with ENIC needs to take a banner to every game they attend? Or what? They’ve go no right to an opinion? Total garbage.
Besides wouldn’t be fair, there’d be so many banners, nobody would be able to see the game… 🤔
Winning is definitely in their interest.. After the stadium was built Levy said the focus now is improving the squad. We had one good window, the other three not so good… We need deadwood shifted out quicker and more decent to come in.
You thought ENIC were nicking all our money and did fck all about it apart from moan. Says it all really.
Never even when there with a ENIC banner
You thought ENIC were nicking all our money and did fck all about it apart from moan. Says it all really.
Never even when there with a ENIC out banner. Joker
ENIC are the proprietors, and Spurs will simply be the most frequent event.
So that Jam is still coming, only an other 5-10yrs. Great👀
I know that ENIC are investors and time wasters. Wasters of everyone else’s time…
Some valid points Bruce.. Fair shout… I see exactly where you and Tappa are coming from.. Alot of what others are saying is also true though….. What will happen next is so important.. We have to sort our scouting and squad this is crucial.. We have to start winning…. Will we become a superpower? Or will we ‘do the Leeds’? I really don’t know personally. Covid has certainly thrown everything up in the air. The future is tough to predict.
What were we supposed to win the past 20 years then? What myth? Nothing wrong with S and M to spice things up.. Much more satisfying than your mrs who just lies there like a plank.
Apart from the Leicester winning year, which year does any spurs fan think we should have won the title in the past 20 years? With Sir Alex at manure, Roman and Joses Chavskis, and the super rich Saudi City… When were we supposed to beat these? :….. No chance…… Our big chance the foxes took.. We had the golden boot boy and the best defence in the league! Tintin Dele Winks Son all bottled the crunch games and the name ‘Botch’ was born.
It’s in their interest to though. A winning team with valuable player’s makes them more money. Is that so hard for you to understand? What else can the income be invested in now? Oh yeah joe’s nicking it😂😂
If we are anchor tenants who do we pay our rent to? Ourselves? Oh yeah you think we pay Joe😂😂😂
14 more letters, nfl RENT OUR STADIUM. when we’re not using it. It’s business.
3 letters…
N
F
L
They expected us to buy BIG players and pay BIG wages to win BIG things while broke at the little old lane. Then they expected us to spend BIG while while building the BIG new lane. Now we’re where we are they’re still banging on about what they didn’t understand 😂 the futures bright.
We may be anchor tenants but we have a £1B debt to ourselves.
Whilst some of the decisions regarding player recruitment have been off, i think Levy is someone who genuinely cares about the club otherwise why even bother forking out £15 million a season on Jose when there are loads of other cheaper options.
Other than Leicester’s title most the trophies over recent seasons have been won by clubs that have invested heavily, but Spurs haven’t had that ability and things haven’t quite worked out with players that have signed.
The infrastructure at spurs is now there. Stadium, top level training facilities and the academy is developing some quality players. People keep going on about the stadium being a shopping centre but that is the way football is going. Revenue streams have to be found if the team doesn’t make the champions league. The Spurs stadium is pretty unique and should be a gold mine when/if people are allowed back out. Hopefully those funds will be used to keep the football team competitive.
Where’s the revenue gonna go then? Oh yeah you think ENIC are nicking it😂 nothing to base that on.
Let me tell you something, clueless Brucey.
My career is running multi million dollar facility and infrastructure construction jobs for a branch of the military. If I had schedule and/or cost overruns on those projects that were even a tiny fraction of the budget busting, inept, micromanging clownshow Levy ran in building the stadium, I’d have been fired a decade ago.
That ineptitude alone cost us more than any of the so-called positives Levy’s achieved, or ever will achieve. This opinion is “unpopular” because it’s wildly, obviously, embarrassingly wrong. Levy is a parasite on this club, a clueless chump, a nepotism baby who couldn’t run a #@%ing chip shop. Wake up and stop apologizing for this wee bald waster.
No entertainment complex on the planet makes serious money without regular non-stop events. Without football, the stadium is not viable and it is not sensible to assume that Tottenham FC is anything but the core money earner. Spurs are not anchor tenants, they are the owners and even if there was NFL football every week for 16 weeks (the length of their entire season and never going to happen) it would still not make anywhere near the money that Tottenham FC generate. No Tottenham FC no sky/bt/amazon money, no merchandise, sponsorship, marketing etc. It is a fallacy to think that the stadium and Tottenham FC are not one and the same.
Why arent Newcastle one of the most successful clubs then? Or why has Arsenal gone backwards despite making over a million a game for 10 years or whatever?
Im fed up with having to think we are at the start of a 5 year plan!
Levy needs to back Jose. That is it.
I never said the money was tight, I said there is a plan in place that involves the stadium to make us competitive with the super-rich clubs and as for naming rights, they are clearly working on that, hardly going to happen overnight in the midst of a global pandemic when most businesses are suffering financially.
Ask yourself one question Bruce , if money is so tight for ENIC why no naming rights to the stadium ? Surely Dan ain’t planning to sell the football club to pay for the stadium whilst the London Hotspurs NFL team pays for the World class superstars of tomorrow to come to Tottenham Hotspur
I endorse your comments that ENIC is looking to create an NFL entertainment multiplex source of additional revenue streams. I however do not share your confidence that those revenue streams will flow in the direction of THFC(anchor tenant). I still believe that our little Napolean complex micro-managing Chairman will still continue to operate the sell Player A( for more money) to buy Player B(for less money) ideology and to operate on the periphery of success on the football pitch that will maximise the money in from football activities and minimise the money out. Good business for the balance sheet but a desert of success for the football club and its supporters who will continue to pay top dollar for everything in line with the most successful clubs in the world.
If ones opinion is based in fantasy then what else can you call it? I’m not saying fantasy is always negative, it can become reality, if in 5 years the club is winning and building a dynasty I will admit being wrong, but that, when looking at the last 20 years and how these lot operate coupled with the situation now, seems to be the realms of fantasy. I’m not opposed to a bit of fantasy….
They just love hating. I’ve heard them call Tottenham all sorts. They AIN’T Tottenham.
*both those times cited were while at WHL when City and Chelsea had the same finances as now. Harry and Poch’s sides were competing and beating them.
Such a shame that one is a fantasist because they have a different opinion
They keep furloughing me, so no
I share your frustration, that is why I am glad of the change in direction from the club, as for Redknapp, he cost us because his head got turned by the England job, we had no choice but to sell Walker and 325m back then was still an impressive amount but I do agree player recruitment is lacking, i said so in my piece
Can you get me on the payroll Bruce? 😜
That’s what I said the Sky deal money wise is very democratic, every club gets the same amount. United just used theirs better, we didn’t.
You may not be a fantasist generally, but in this case if you believe Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis are good for THFC, you’re a fantasist. If you believe you cannot achieve success without a big corporate stadium, You’re a fantasist. Look at the club down the hill….
The title is correct in context though. Levy IS doing a good job. For ENIC investments.
How long will you wait? Been 60 years since a title, I suppose that is all on ENIC as well. It must have been a huge sigh of relief when Spurs failed in the UCL final because that would have negated all the attacks on ENIC, I mean, what would you do if you did not have Levy to paw at for all the ills at the club.
Well, neither a fantasist nor on ENIC’s payroll so I think you will need to come up with another word to denigrate my opinion.
Spurs have never been prolific winners, 2 fa cups, 1 league cup and 1 UEFA cup in the 20 years previously to ENIC is hardly setting the world alight. Man City and Chelsea have won more in the last decade than we have in 50 years, in fact, if City win in Europe this year they will have won more in just 3 years than we have done in 50 years. It is not Levy or ENIC it is systemic and Levy is trying to change that now. When ENIC bought Spurs the value was roughly £100m, it is now worth over 3 billion according to Kevin Maguire and it is that increase in value that has finally enabled ENIC to make that structural change that was impossible to achieve previously.
Twice in the last decade this club have been 1 or 2 quality additions away from a league title and other silverware. Nothing to do with riches and billionaires. It was well within the financial capacity of the club to get those players….but they didn’t. Not only that but they showed unprecedented neglect peaking with 2, that’s T W O consecutive windows with zero business. It’s never been about the football and it never will be, I think that should be abundantly clear by now.
THFC are anchor tenants in an NFL/events arena. The ENIC top brass have made that too abundantly clear. Only fantasists and those on the ENIC payrole back these reptiles.
Mike, grow a brain, mate
Hey, Yakuzo Morimoto Shinakawa,
This is my place of work.
Would you like me to bring this to yours?
What would you know Mr missionary
Hahahahaha
Wow, you really are sold on the myth aren’t you. How long will this take, another 22 years? 🤔
Levy’s doing a great job, for the investment company.
The job he’s been doing running the football has been an abomination. One League Cup in 22 years, what is it? 14 managers?
Over two decades of complete failure on the pitch. Some fans still suck the myth up, they should get into S&M. Same experience but I would imagine a whole lot more satisfying? 😂
Levy is taking a different route though, United are marketable purely through football, that will not be the case with Spurs, they will evolve into an entertainment behemoth, Old Trafford cannot offer that long term. Success on the field would bring extra income but not essential, for United it absolutely is.
I do take your point and I’m rationale enough to realise that when it comes to wages and transfer fees, Spurs are in a different sphere to those clubs. Whats frustrates the hell out of me is when we appear to be on the cusp of something there’s always an excuse not to back the manager. With a bit of investment Redknapps team of Bale, Modric, Van der Vaart, King could have won some silverware. Pochs 16/17 team finished the season 2nd with the best defence in the league and rather than build on that we sold the best RB in the PL for £50m and replaced him with somebody for £25m. I’m not expecting Spurs to be challenging for the league every year, but I do expect that to be the goal with the odd trophy thrown in to give me a night out.
Shopping centre with only food and drink. Tell your misses your taking her shopping then bring her here, see if you don’t get a bo770cking😂😂😂 where’s the shops. Top stadium mate
It’s on Jim 🙂
Spurs floated too and benefited from the TV riches, Utd are more marketable because of their success on the pitch.
Indeed but that was before billionaire owners, whole different ball game now. City and Chelsea could never have won what they did without crazy spending, something we cannot do and neither can Arsenal and other clubs, they need to bring in increased income to compete and that means bigger infrastructure and that is what Levy has created now.
Not exactly all by themselves. United’s rise in modern times coincides with the riches of the Sky TV deal, the era of clubs issuing shares clubs as Plcs, it’s not the whole story of course and fair play to them for taking advantage.
“lmao?how is the “YYs (young yids) losing funny?
“The reason why United can compete in the transfer market and pay the wages they do is that they have the income and infrastructure through the club to do so and that is what Levy is trying to achieve at Tottenham” – Bruce, Man United engineered this position themselves by building a successful football team to win trophies team then incrementally building Old Trafford from a 30,000 seater to a 72,000 seater without having to knock down rebuild a single foundation.
A disgrace? for what? having an opinion that is opposite to yours? You must be a very angry man with the world full of opposite opinions
lol, Turncoat? I have never ever even mentioned the word shopping centre, at least pick on the right author when throwing out insults
“A lot of that extra income will be invested in the squad and wages and that is the long term goal of Levy and ENIC.”
Pal Levy has you on a string. You have been absolutely duped.
While the point about the stadium is true, you only have to look at our pre covid figures all else is nuts. Enic don’t never have invested any of their own money ask rangers its not the Enic way to spend your own encourage others to spend theirs. Truth be told I don’t envisage at Enic time when we will be a Manchester, a Liverpool or a Chelsea. We will always be them three players short it’s the spurs way.
Very plainly.
“more pricks than kicks”
It’s plainly obvious that the above piece was not penned by the usual incumbent.
Yeah they will go around discussing Samuel Beckett.
Oh dear
Come on you u18’s. One down at Fulham
This is an absolute joke of an article. You’re a disgrace pal.
YMS
Get the tin hat on Bruce, “in coming”.!!!! 😁
Can’t get your nut round it can ya. That’s coz you’re still at the old place.
They’re coming out of the woodwork H. 😁
Get a room. Tappa/bruce/Harry. a padded room. Deluded.
🎼 where were you when we were skint? Backing my club mate
Are you saying, cough cough, that Bruce Grove doesn’t exist.
Do you or your blog receive any direct financial donations from Levy or Enic? Or is this a completely un-bought-for viewpoint?
Wow, you turn coat, what happened to panning the “ shopping centre” Levy had built , that piece is some 360 !!!
YIDZ
We’d already be on the way to raking in the riches but for Covid, it does seem the Gods are against Tottenham. What upsets a lot of fans is that Spurs seem tantalisingly close to success and it wouldn’t take major investment to close the gap, much like Liverpool have done without breaking the bank.
I agree that even with the debt Tottenham are a highly attractive purchase. They are in the best financed League in the world. The “product” is the most popular in the world of football. The club is situated in the capital city and that city is an attractive place to live for players and players wives and any potential owners.
The club has a fine history and a reputation for playing attractive football. The fan base is worldwide and growing. Add in on field success (the hardest bit) and the sky is the limit. The club will be self financing long term, who knows what political changes will happen in the oil and gas countries and what that would mean for their unaccountable owners.
And best of all there is no other Tottenham Hotspur, only one, the one and only Spurs.
You’re wasting your time bruvabruce. They don’t get it. Those who know know. Fish hand outs they want instead of fishing rods. Second half of this decade £0££€nham gonna be serious players.
I blame the relaxation in the licensing laws 😆
I expect HH to ban you in the next few hours! :-O
Will the real Bruce please stand up ?