If only the reason for our decline was merely the two barren transfer windows under Poch. What made it worse was that Levy assured the fans that the finance for the new stadium would not impede our ability to spend in the transfer market which was a blatant lie. To rub salt into an open wound, he then proceeded to ask season ticket holders for their money for the new stadium in the knowledge that it was not going to be ready. If I ever had any doubts about the moral compass of ENIC, it was dispelled by the furloughing of the THFC staff which was only reversed under severe pressure and by other clubs rescinding their original decision to perpetuate the same mistake.
The facts remain that we have had to suffer twenty-two years of ENIC and Levy with the sacking of thirteen managers, (how much compensation did that cost the club?) and our sole triumph being one League Cup. Every time we had the makings of a very good team, Levy didn’t back the manager, and to complete the felony, he then decided to sell our best players.
Every observer opines that football is a business these days, but being the custodian of a professional football club is much more than that. You carry the hopes, aspirations, and emotions of the fans who support their clubs through good times and bad and spend their hard-earned money by buying tickets and travelling to away matches. You are not there purely to enrich yourself and your company at the total expense of bringing success to the club.
Levy has a reputation as a shrewd and hard-headed businessman and if you analyze the asset growth of ENIC as a business, it is hard to argue with that. What is not debatable is his track record in bringing success to the football club which is an unmitigated disaster as he clearly knows very little about the running of a successful football club as opposed to an investment company.
I hold no brief for Mourinho, but if we cloned a mixture of Billy Nic, Bill Shankly, Jock Stein, Brian Clough, and Don Revie and appointed our clone as the new manager, he would inevitably fail as the manager of Spurs under the anally retentive eye of our chairman.
Nothing will ever change at Spurs until ENIC sell up or finally decide that they can do without the stewardship of our incompetent leader.