Home » Opinion: Levy Allegedly At It Again, This Time With NDombele, But Will Mourinho Wear It?

Opinion: Levy Allegedly At It Again, This Time With NDombele, But Will Mourinho Wear It?

By Joe Fish -

Daniel Levy and Jose Mourinho are apparently at loggerheads over the future of Tottenham midfielder Tanguy Ndombele.

Football Insider reports that Mourinho wants to get rid of the Frenchman after his disappointing first season in the Premier League, during which the manager publicly criticised him for a lack of effort at fitness.

Selling Ndombele would create more funds for Jose to spend on his own players. ESPN understands his summer budget currently stands at £25m.

However, Levy has put his foot down and insisted that Ndombele will stay as he is confident the 23-year-old can fulfil his potential at Spurs.

Daniel Levy, that famous prophet for spotting talent.

MORE: Daniel Levy’s Transfer Market Free Pass? [Opinion]

The chairman’s job is to get the best available and affordable players the manager wants, and get the best possible price for the ones he doesn’t.

He shouldn’t have a say in who stays or goes, unless for economic reasons. Who is Levy to tell Mourinho, one of the most decorated and celebrated managers of his generation whether Ndombele is going to make it or not?

If this is true then Levy has completely overstepped his boundaries.

Whether you’re an Ndombele believer or not, the decision over his future should lie only with the coaching staff, and of course the player himself.

Tags daniel levy Jose Mourinho NewsNow Tanguy N’Dombélé
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East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  ronan1882

Jose will be gone soon enough…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  ronan1882

ENIC are a waste of everybody’s time! 😂

Both Levy and Jose had something in common when they decided to join up. They were two desperados scratching around for options when there weren’t any…

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago

That’s a fair point but how many players from abroad have spent the first 18 months or so being bang average or very poor? They need time to adjust, you could be right and Ndombele might be overhyped and overpriced.

I just think it’s too early to say and the more pertinent question is, is Jose the right coach to back, play and develop a 23 year old French player who’s never played outside Lyon in his life before?

Jose has no record of developing younger players, it’s the same with LoCelso and Sessingnon to an extent. If Levy wants to continue with the signing of quality ‘prospects’ and put them straight into the first team then surely he should employ the right people to do that?

Chavs have an under 21 team of real quality and have had for years yet most of them had been loaned out during Jose’s two spells there. That policy was largely down to Jose’s working methods, same with Conte, only now is Lampard putting them in the team.

Jose is clearly the wrong man for the wrong job under the wrong chairman… he must have been desperate.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

Levy thinks all managers can take a low cost young team and do what Poch did with them. Not all coaches work that way.

No problem for Levy, as you say, much cheaper than buying a squad of quality in depth and you’ve always got someone else to blame and sack. I think Levy is still the chairman with the highest manager turnover in the Premiership, back to more of that $hit probably…

JimmyGrievance
JimmyGrievance
3 years ago

So, the bloke who know naff all about football tellS the bloke who does, he’s wrong, the player will come good.

Just shows how broken our club is ….

ronan1882
ronan1882
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

It made no sense from day one. A coach who’d been fired for taking a team to midtable after spending 400m (and saying it wasn’t enough) expected to achieve top 4 under enic austerity conditions. Just feels like a huge waste of everybody’s time.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

Do do I remember Jose was offered a 2M bonus for a top four placing over and above his 15M salary.That’s where any money might be going.Mourinho’s salary is a joke based on his recent history,but as I have said previously it is a lot cheaper than buying the quality players we desperately need.
Also as you say the salary structure is a big problem,but with bonuses being performance related of course Levy is saving money because there are no games being played.

Eddie
Eddie
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

N’Dombele is hardly bargain bucket,I suspect Lyon had Levy’s trousers down on this one.There looks to be talent there,but perhaps he’s just not suited to the PL.

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  ronan1882

Let’s face it, apart from Liverpool and Citeh very few clubs have a ‘joined up’ and cohesive transfer policy. Especially where the manager gets to call all the shots.

Managers (or ‘head coaches’ to use the modern parlance) are probably used to it. The thing is, at Utd Jose may have not got all the players he wanted but he must have been happy at the time with getting Pogba and Sanchez for example. Proven players of quality.

He was there some time and a lot of players came in during that period. Surely had he objected to every signing then he surely wouldn’t have hung around that long.

When he took the Spurs job we got all this ‘amazing squad’ stuff from him. Suddenly after an initial upturn we then slumped from 5th and within a point of 4th to 9th. Now it’s isn’t good enough anymore? Perhaps it isn’t but stop changing tact just to suit your situation then.

He moaned more and more at Utd when he couldn’t get them winning and he’s probably at it again with Ndombele. We saw him call him out in the press after a poor game at Burnley.

To me this will only end badly, if signing players like Pogba and Sanchez doesn’t do the trick then how will selling Tanguy and buying three 28 year old journeymen improve things to any meaningful extent?

Remember we are now competing with City, Liverpool who are both streets ahead. Chavs are clearly backing Lampard, Leicester are progressing well, as are Wolves.

I just can’t see a transfer strategy that Levy will think of, imagine or most crucially fund that will be effective to the point where a manager like Jose will be able to make any serious headway. Our wage structure is also a massive problem.

Jose was brought in an attempt by Levy to salvage a top 4 place. On that basis Jose may have been promised a reasonable budget. Now that’s gone and our ‘multi use entertainment space’ has no entertainment to put in it for the rest of the year, the budget now looks even worse.

This whole thing is dead as a Dodo, it’s only a matter of time, Jose won’t last…

ronan1882
ronan1882
3 years ago
Reply to  East Stand

I doubt anybody will give late Mourinho a big budget after what happened at Man U..

East Stand
East Stand
3 years ago
Reply to  Spurfect One

I agree on the individual case of Ndombele, the fee (a significant chunk being add ons I suspect) was substantial. That doesn’t make him a great player but this wasn’t Levy trying to pick up his usual bargain bucket Frenchman.

He looks talented to me from what I’ve seen, there could be an attitude problem but this is down to the coach to overcome, especially after only one season. I’m no fan of Levy but expecting him to sell Tanguy 12 months after signing him is a bit of a stretch, for any chairman.

Levy should just give Jose extra funds to get his players in, Levy offers a big budget manager a job and expects him to work on a shoestring?

Look, this will not work out, Levy will sack Jose and blame everyone else for it not working and a Director Of Football and a yes-man coach will be employed and Ropey League football will ensue for the next decade.

ENIC OUT.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago

It’s becoming the donald trump show.. Even the majority of fools are seeing through levy now.. If half the reports about this man are true then he just begs belief.

Steve KillerCushion Williams
Steve KillerCushion Williams
3 years ago
Reply to  Spurfect One

Great players can run. Great players fight to win. Great players play 90 mins consistently.. Club record signing. Levy got robbed I’m afraid brother. Jose knows his football, Levy clearly doesn’t.

Spurfect One
Spurfect One
3 years ago

I am actually with Levy on this. Ndombele has the potential to be great. Levy as normal though picks managers at the wrong stage of their careers. Like now with Jose. Only 2 ok managers since their first investment since 2001 highlights the problem.

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