Daniel Levy gets the height of abuse on X and I never see anybody fighting his corner. The Tottenham journalists do stand up for him a little bit in their podcasts but they never nail their colours to the mast for fear of wrath from the fans on their socials if they utter a word of praise to the man. Levy has been vilified by Spurs fans for a long time now and this reached a peak against Leeds on the last day of the season in 2023 where Spurs fans booed the chairman while he sat in his seat in our magnificent stadium that he had built. Conte had been another disappointment and basically blew up the club on his way out the door to leave Daniel and his board picking up the pieces. Having to sit through the fans ire was uncomfortable even for me watching at home while his wife gave him some moral support in the stands. Never again would he appoint a "win now" manager who thought that they were bigger than the club. As Spurs fans we have to be some what realistic about where we should be in the great scheme of things. I think many of the purple / yellow brigade on social media who flock to the platform if Spurs have a bad day at the office. Case and point being the Fulham away in March. Granted Spurs have not won a major trophy in years but not many clubs do actually win trophies. Aside from Liverpool and Man City and the odd FA Cup win from Arsenal , and Man United , I can only think of Leicester and Chelsea that won a major trophy outside these 6 clubs in the last ten years. It's even worse in Germany with Munich, PSG in France and Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. Trophies are won by just a few elite clubs. In todays world it is all about winning and winning and winning. One loss is a disaster. But the question is where did this come from with Spurs fans? Were we ever any good in the first place for the fans to demand so much now?
League Position Since ENIC took Over
I remember growing up and Spurs were a cup team. A mid table team that used to go on good FA cup runs. Our last FA Cup win was in 1990/91 and I remember I was watching the match while I was making Lego, a Robin Hood hideout. We won and the father came home pissed and was lifting me up on his shoulders, running around singing . He eventually threw me into a bath which my mother was running for me. The mother cursed him while taking off my soaked clothes.
But I remember we were hopeless in the League and we were broke as a club as well. If you compare us to a club in this Premier League now , I would say we were maybe an Everton or a Brentford. Sometimes I think the purple / yellow Spurs fans would do well to look back on the decade before ENIC arrived. Spurs finished top 6 only once in the entire decade of the 90's and that was the 89/90 season when we finished 3rd.
ENIC took over in 2001 and set about setting Spurs up on a financial footing. It is no secret that Tottenham were near broke on a number of occasions especially in the Irving Scholar days. Sugar stabilised the club but Levy set out to bring the club forward commercially. With the new Premier League starting in 2000, it was the ideal time to be getting in. Levy soon got rid of unpopular George Graham but it was not until Martin Jol came along in 2004 that Spurs got motoring. The 2005 season was their first top 6 in 15 years. Since 2005 Spurs have finished in the top 6 , 16 out of 20 times. To put it another way Spurs have only been outside of the top 6 on only 4 occasions since ENIC took over. One of those being last year 2023 which was an absolute disaster from start to finish.
Tottenham's League Position History
Money Spent on Transfers
Contrary to popular belief Levy isn't all that tight. He likes a good deal like most millionaires and Spurs fans aren't long about boasting how much the club got for Bale. Levy is seen as a tough negotiator when it comes to business and he is the man you would prefer to be in your corner rather than against him. I always remember Fergie cursing him in his book. What was he meant to do Alex? Lie down and let you tickle his belly and let you take his best player because you are Man United?? Do me a favour!!
I think of Leeds back in 1999 when they spend lavishly on players wages and enjoyed a good run in Europe only to implode on them. It took them years to recover. This would never happen at Spurs. Levy also keeps a good wage structure in place and our player salary's to turnover is one of the lowest ratios in Europe. When I look back now at Old Trafford and the state of the stadium in dire need of a refurb and when I look at how much the Glaziers have taken from the club over the years. They actually take millions every year out for themselves. If this money was pumped into Old Trafford then maybe they might have had a stadium as nice as Tottenahm's.
Tottenham Net Spend Since 2013
Transfer expenditure: €1.17billion
Transfer income: €694.02million
Net spend: €480.91million
Liverpool Net Spend Since 2013
Transfer expenditure: €1.22billion
Transfer income: €769.67million
Net spend: €451.86million
Arsenal Net Spend Since 2013
Transfer expenditure: €1.38billion
Transfer income: €386.05million
Net spend: €995.72million
As you can see from above we are not that far behind the other clubs in spending. I will not include Man City for obvious reasons as a court case is pending in May. I quite like the fact the chairman has a tight reign of things. I have heard stories of other players demanding that they are on more money than the other guy etc etc. Take Man United for example. The highest wages in the world and they are dismal. One mistake in the wage structure could ruin your club especially if that player is not performing.
FPP & Commercial Revenue
The new stadium is Levy's pride and joy. It is the best stadium in the world. I was in the Puskas Stadium in Hungry and it's not all that. Spurs generate £4 million revenue on match days in their new stadium which is one of the highest in Europe. That coupled with the NFL franchise, the pop concerts , the F1 carting and a host of other commercial streams , the club are looking very very healthy for the next 50 years. As other clubs struggle with FPP revenue , Newcastle, Everton, Wolves and even United are having major issues, Tottenham have lots of breathing space here to expand and pay higher wages and spend more money if needed. One of Tottenham's former ex Director's of Football said in 2020 that there should be a statue of Levy at the club , he has done so much for it. The stadium is the best on the world and sets Spurs up for the next century. The training ground in Enfield is voted the best in Europe. The commercial revenue is sky rocketing and the naming rights for the stadium are still up for grabs. There are rumours that the actual name "Tottenham Hotspur Stadium " is actually generating its own brand revenue appeal and it can be seen in the new NFL video games in the PS5 / Xbox. So maybe it's best to stick with this than to call it the Google Stadium for example.
So Why Isn't Levy Spending The Big Bucks On Players?
Levy is not afraid to splash the cash as seen with the likes of Ndombele for £64 million . Turns out he was our most expensive flop as well. Tottenham's strategy is to spot young players and make them £100 million players. If they stay then great. If they leave then we expect to be paid handsomely for them. I would much prefer to buy a Micky Van Der Ven than a Virgil Van Dyke right now. Imagine how much hassle an Mbappe contract is, the player demands, the image rights, the mood swings from the player. Allegedly Mbappe was practically picking the transfers and who took what kicks at PSG. No no no I would much prefer a younger player to be moulded into a great player. I don't want a Ronaldo or a Neymar throwing their toys out of the pram or attending their sisters birthday on match days. We need to build a young team, not a team around 1 player whose form decides whether we win or lose. I think Spurs actually had this scenario for the last 5 years in Kane. There was outrage last week when Ange said we would not buy a £100 million pound player. I'm delighted we are not. Let's take a look at the list the top 10 £100 million transfer. How many of these were a success. Not too many.
- Neymar Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain - ❌
- Kylian Mbappé Monaco to Paris Saint-Germain ✅
- Philippe Coutinho Liverpool to Barcelona 💀
- João Félix Benfica to Atlético Madrid ❌
- Enzo Fernández Benfica to Chelsea ⚖️
- Antoine Griezmann Atlético Madrid to Barcelona ❌
- Jack Grealish Aston Villa to Manchester City ⚖️ ❌
- Declan Rice West Ham United to Arsenal ⚖️
- Moisés Caicedo Brighton & Hove Albion to Chelsea ❌
- Romelu Lukaku Inter Milan to Chelsea ❌
- Ousmane Dembélé Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona ❌
- Paul Pogba Juventus to Manchester United 💀
- Jude Bellingham Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid ✅
- Eden Hazard Chelsea to Real Madrid 💀
- Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid to Juventus ❌
- Harry Kane Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich ✅💀
- Gareth Bale Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid ❌
Judging by the above I would not be rushing out to buy many £100 million players. When a player is on a massive contract some of them lose the hunger and being famous takes over so 2 x £50 million players any day thank you.
So what is Levy to Blame For ?
Recruitment is a major area. Other clubs have bought better. Levy always gets grief for not spending an 18 month period in 2018/2019 season but we have to factor in the enormous cost of a stadium during this time. The recruitment was wrong and one window saw the likes of Jack Clarke , Los Celso , Sessegnon and Ndombele come in. When Jack Clarke at Sunderland looks to be the most successful of the 4 then that is really saying something. Los Celso still has a little time to prove himself but I think he will go this summer while he is still a saleable asset.
Levy's biggest weakness is his people in high positions such as the scouting and his people in the football recruitment. Only until he got Fabio Paratici as his DOF did things improve and it looks like a more contemporary recruitment structure was put in place by the Don. Some say Levy has been let down by some he put trust in and I would agree with this statement which is probably why he finds it so hard to hand over the reigns 100% when a new director comes in. Levy does have faults but I think he is Spurs through and through and i would prefer him to the likes of Boehly, the Saudi backed clubs and the Glaziers for that matter. Yes I get it , nobody likes the owner unless you are Chelsea but I think it is time to give Daniel Levy a break. He appointed a great new manager which took some balls considering the predicament we were in. Now it is not as if we had bad managers before this. He was paying Conte £15 million a year while Conte was making his little speech under the stairs at St Mary's. Again nothing tight about this. I think our time is going to come soon. With the uncertainty over FPP rules , the departure of Klopp , the legal issues with Chelsea and Man City and our financial clout , it will be an interesting few years for Tottenham.
Imagine if Spurs had won that Champions League Final in 2019 which Spurs were the better team. There would have been a statue of him outside our club.