The doom and gloom at Spurs feels as if it has lifted a little after the North London Derby win, and it could be the fact the players are regaining their fitness, or that the gravity if the situation is beginning to hit home.
Eric Dier’s contract extension, we are told, caused ripples of astonishment in Lilywhite House as the boy demanded that his wages were doubled to £120,000 a week. Tottenham have spent the last few years hitting Deloitte headlines galore as Levy’s fancy fiscal footwork made Spurs a money making machine.
For all the gripes about the clubs’ lack of trophies, Spurs’ ability to “compete” as Pochettino called it, was in fact an ability to rake in competition money consistently, season upon season.
COVOD-19 struck and Tottenham’s money world has come horribly unstuck. While all the world’s clubs had their income stopped overnight, only Spurs were into the banks for over £600million. Daniel Levy was forced to get a further emergency loan from the Bank of England.
Spurs are currently 8th in a 7 horse race for a European cash boost that they have never needed quite so badly. The worse news is that both Wolves and Sheffield United show no signs of slowing.
The Athletic also make a great point about the probable impact upon sponsorship deals.
A deal might be structured in the sense of, ‘We’ll be your noodle partner come what May but if you do well in Europe we’ll pay you a higher amount per game.
Charlie Eccleshare reveals an interesting point in his piece, that relates to a very common caveat in Levy’s sponsorship deals…
Tottenham are not understood to have commercial deals that would be at risk were they to miss out on Europe, but being in the Europa League would give them greater leverage when negotiating new deals. And clauses like these do exist — Manchester United are believed to be at risk of losing 30 per cent of their income from Adidas if they fail to qualify for the Champions League for two successive seasons.
Spurs, as ever, have left it all to the last minute, their fate is the hands of others.
On an upbeat note, Mourinho has confessed to not being in love with the Europa, but he would love to play in it. After all, is a professional.
The question remains, how far can this dysfunctional squad progress in more than one competition?
Well, I guess it’s been a while since the physio room at Hotspur Way had full occupancy.