There is a narrative doing the rounds that Harry Kane is a mild-mannered gentleman and without a bad bone in his body; as we saw from the interview with Gary Neville, there was no evidence of the usual fork-tongued footballer, just a very open-faced character discussing how he felt. For me, this is precisely how Kane is, but that does not make him by default a nitwit.
Daniel Levy has form for selling his best players, but it is difficult to recall an instance the sale was either swift or smooth. Indeed, part of the dance in these matters to do ones’ best to try and ensure that the perception of the selling club is not one of having been ‘robbed’. Recent examples of this dance would be Southampton taking a disproportionate amount of time to part with Højbjerg, for a price so low that most observers were surprised by it. Whereas Doherty was acquired so fast it made your eyes spin.
Certainly when Berbatov and Modric were trying to exit there was talk of players feigning injury and generally playing up. Both players were mocked by fans and the nicest jibe aimed at the Croatian was the ‘No Like Chicken Badge’ letter.
The way this situation is setting itself up, with even the mild-mannered Kane having to ‘go public’ in order to nudge his concerns before Levy’s eyes, I can see nothing but tears on the horizon. Levy neglected the team for a prolonged period of time when the stadium was being built, and now he has one might argue, significantly more on his plate. Supporter protests, record-breaking debt no sponsor, no manager, and no proper European football. Kane wanting out is the last thing anyone in his position would want on top of all that.
Has Daniel been answering his phone this week, or has he been ghosting certain numbers? I couldn’t possibly comment, but if Kane is treated with the same enormous respect he has always shown the club, then this situation could deteriorate in no time at all.
ENIC have no respect for the fans or anyone who gets in their way of a making a quick buck.
They are nothing but parasites but that doesn’t mean one can’t criticise a player if they do something wrong, which Harry did with his interview. Any player that runs to the rats at SKY to spill the beans is not being respectful to the club or fans. The fact he did it with a week of the season left is bordering on a disgrace.
Yeah he got big money for transfers and p*sseed it up the wall buying Chiriches, Stambouli, Fazio,and on and on.
The furloughed staff were treated with respect by the ever so respectful chairman.
I couldn’t agree more. Levy has had several chances to make several good teams into very good or even great by investing at a critical moment and by backing the manager. The two most obvious moments were when he neither backed Redknapp nor Poch. He has always sold our best players and you don’t build trophy winning teams by doing that. The only thing that interests Levy is the pursuit of money and it his overweening vanity that has cost us dearly in the transfer market by ignoring the professional advice of managers and other staff on therecruitment of new players and by deciding to play football manager himself. I wonder how long Keith Burkinshaw would have lasted with Levy? Burkinshaw will be 86 yrs old on the 23rd June. Great man and great teams under him.
Good post. I don’t get this idea that Levy is a tough negotiator and gets more money for Spurs. Big effing deal. I didn’t give a crap about his getting, say, 5/10 million more for Berbatov or Modric or Bale or anyone else for that matter. All he’s really done by selling those players, is weaken the team. I didn’t like AVB’s style but I couldn’t help feel sympathy for him when I read recently that Levy put pressure on him to make the team more competitive while simultaneously selling first Modric and then Bale to Real Madrid, our best players.
Although we can’t be 100% sure on what goes on behind the scenes, I can’t believe that Kane wasn’t promised the club would invest in strengthening the team in order for it to properly challenge for honours. I reckon that Spurs have been the worst run club in the country over the last thirty years or so with echoes of Burkinshaw’s: “There used to be a football club over there.”, as true today as it was in 1984 when he said it. When we unearthed a diamond from our youth team in Glen Hoddle, Burkinshaw brought in great players like Ardiles, Villa, Crooks and Archibald to complement him. If we’d done the same thing with Kane, he’d have won trophies at Spurs and wouldn’t dream of leaving.
Sorry this is Tottenham Hotspur not Harry Kane Hotspur. Spurs have treated him with great respect by making him our highest paid player of all time and he couldn’t sign the 6 year deal fast enough. He showed great respect to the fans and club (note I don’t say ENIC here) by running to the rats at Sky and their mouthpiece in chief G Nev, during the season, to talk about his future and pretty much cause chaos before the Villa game. No different to what Danny Rose did with The Sun, although at least that was in the off season. Respect is a two way train and he’s not shown any to the fans with his little golf interview.
Anyhoo ENICOUT
What concerned me a lot in that documentary was Rose going to Levy to moan. Herein lies part of the problem where players at the club think they can bitch and complain about the manager because they aren’t getting game time. Levy should make it clear team issues are not his concern and that’s why he employs a coach on huge wages.
Sorry, but I think the whole “Levy sitting around in the canteen with the boys” thing was a shameless act for the cameras.
I really hope this will get sorted without Kane having to go fully against his boyhood club. Let’s let him leave with dignity.
Not sure I agree with this. I’ve read accounts from former players who have all said he has stuck to his word regarding letting players go. He just doesn’t want to make it easy for the buying club.
We saw with Eriksen in the documentary, he was reluctant, but agreed.
I’m not sure he would sit in the canteen with the players if there wasn’t a certain level of mutual respect there. He won’t want to sell Kane at all, but if this “gentleman’s agreement” exists I think he would honour it, providing his valuation is met, and that, for me, is the crux of the situation. If Kane believes he is worth £100m and that bid comes in, what happens if Levy says “I’ve rejected it because the price I’ve set is £120m, that’s where I think it could get ugly.
I imagine you meant in your last sentence” if Kane is not treated with the same respect by the club”. I don’t think Levy knows the meaning of the word, along with “a gentleman’s agreement” amongst other things. Levy is motivated by the pursuit of money at all costs and the any consideration for his fellow human beings is immaterial. He has shown contempt for managers, players, fans and ST holders over the years so why would that change with Kane?