The stadium build literally doesn't affect the money for transfers unless it goes a lot over budget. She wasn't lying about that. The reason we didn't sign anyone was because we couldn't sell anyone.
I have no idea when it will be ready but I do not see the point in the club deliberately stringing fans along...ie lying. As for the Avatar bet ... how about if we play at the new WHL before 1st April you have this photo of Ledley King holding the league cup trophy after we beat you in 2008 as your Avatar and if we do not play there before April 1st I will carry this photo of Eden Hazard from the 2015 Chelsea team who beat us in that seasons league cup final...avatar change til end of the season? Deal or no deal?
you're on. Lol i would have liked to pick your one but that will do. I hope Levy does what i'm expecting levy to do
would never agree to a picture of Terry or Campbell The stadium opening is nothing to do with Levy...for people to claim a man who is supposedly tight with money is willing to pointlessly lie and pretend there is a chance of the ground opening when he has known all along that it won't (therefore costing money by fans becoming too irratated to attend matches and therefore the club missing out on all forms of match day revenue) is bizarre to me. The contractor has obviously not delivered as agreed and continues to do so...this ain't deliberate on their part as it will cost them in contractual penalties but these things happen. I get fans are disappointed...I am too. I hate Wembley but am lucky enough to be able to afford to go quite a bit to see spurs this season so I have only missed 2 matches there...the ground is a mood killer as a home but the wait is worth it imo.
Not saying hes deliberately lying. That was a bit hard for kingy but hes losing his credibility everytime he thinks a date is going to be hit. Where the fans are pissed is that oct?? Was meant to be the date, he sold loads of season tickets and now you have at least a 6 month delay. Dont promise what is not in your control.
That's the point Bobby...he ain't promised...The construction firm are the issue not Levy imo. He is giving the information he has and is being accused of being too seceretive...makes no sense to me. He has guided us from being a lower table relegation threatened club with a stadium that was too small to being almost permanently in Europe and regularly in the top 4 and we will have a fantastic ground which will raise even more money and hopefully help us improve on the pitch. Football has lost it's patience and it's memory in my view.
No one is immune to criticism mate. No one is saying levy is doing a bad job either. Hes done a fantastic one (best thing hiring poch and being strong on not overspending). However as head of the project of course hes going to get the flak for bollocksing that up.
No club has tried to do anything like this - knock down an existing stadium and build an entirely new, multi-purpose, state of the art, one on the same site. Add in the fact that it's on a busy main London road and it was always a monumental task. That also means expensive, very,very expensive, very, very, London expensive. The stadium wasn't built with state money or from dodgy sources. It's been borrowed from proper banks and there's interest to be paid. It's in English football's interests to have a stadium like our new one. It sets a precedent for top notch facilities internally and in our profile around the world. Spurs don't have the money to build it and let it lie empty and idle when finished. If we get into financial trouble, who will ever build anything so great again? I think that the PL was prepared to cut Spurs a bit of slack and that some slippage from the Liverpool game was seen as possible and acceptable. We had a contingency with Wembley until the end of December, going back well before delays were suggested or rumoured, let alone confirmed. It's not possible that the PL knew nothing of this. Wembley's owners leak like a sieve, even if we wanted it kept quiet. I doubt that anyone,including Daniel Levy thought that potential slippage would extend this far. The Wembley December extension contingency date suggests what was considered a long stop of a reasonable length. We've hit a more major problem. That's very bad news for us financially and our reputation is getting a kicking from the gutter press. However, the terms of the ST contracts made very clear that they were for the new Stadium ONLY and that would necessitate refunds if the intention of the contract was frustrated. It's a legal obligation with terms and conditions working both ways, not "a promise". Any undertakings give to the PL would have had the usual caveats, that Spurs are in the hands of contractors (lots of them) and subject to the vagaries of the weather and other potential difficulties. Levy was in no position to make the chairmen of the other clubs any promises. I'd be amazed if any asked for such a thing and expected to get it. These are experienced businessmen, not small children. Labelling any undertaking as a promise and suggesting that failure to meet projected completion dates Levy's fault devalues your point. Spurs are meeting their legal obligations but they're not covering themselves in glory by continuing to be secretive about a regular feature of major, ground-breaking construction. The true issues are who ****ed up on the security system (Levy's not an electrician, site supervisor or anything of that nature) and how have Spurs made such a terrible bollocks of the PR of what is a stunning project?
Tbh I have no problem with for criticism and there is some that Levy deserves but I do not think the stadium is his fault. Roman Abramovic has changed Chelsea beyond all recognition but deserves some criticism...however anyone slagging him off for no longer wanting to rebuild Chelsea's ground would be wrong imo.
With that in mind, would you agree it's fair to say that the initial target was always overly optimistic?
I'm going with "very tight" at the outset. That there was a back stop of December, from the off, indicates that it was anything but a given we'd hit the intended date. The benefit of going in part way through the season would have to be weighed against the potential for negative publicity and the now significantly increased costs of Wembley. We're now paying much more for Wembley, with gates capped at 51,000 and that cap was always coming. Any of us that go regularly can attest that it's a ****ing drag to go there and it's costing the club a fortune in lost attendances, sponsorship, concessions, rental costs, excessive staffing, etc,etc. Wembley for 2 seasons was an option only in the case of a really bad delay that was seen as unlikely. Now, we're potentially staring down that barrel. For one moment, I don't believe that the club thought that likely. I hope it doesn't happen,
The initial target was absolutely ridiculous. From playing at the old whl in May 2017 to being in a brand new stadium in September 2018? For me the club has ****ed up big time.
There were 2 options... 1. Commit to Wembley straight off for 2 seasons. That might have put off a lot of people who put up with it for most of last season. I don't know if you go to Wembley, but people are ****ed off with it. People who are long-term fans, like one of my brothers. He stopped going in March. He isn't going back, despite having been a season ticket holder for decades. If he thought it was going to be 2 seasons, I reckon he'd have given up with it well before that. By not going down this route we have incurred more costs in hiring Wembley post-December and had a pasting in the press. 2. Have Wembley as a back stop and to have gone for the earliest possible finish. This would have made for significantly happier fans. We would have pulled in a load of money from Season Tickets/higher attendances/sponsorship/NFL/ Concessions on drink food, etc./concert money. If we didn't make it by the season end , no 1. applies by default. The club will have done risk and cost benefit analyses and decided to go for it. Why you think we've "****ed up big time", I don't know? We took a shot and missed. To Dare Is To Do, mate. It's our motto...
I dont dare to know the intricacies but. Surely people are more pissed off having to make plans for wembley after buying a season ticket than if they knew you were going to wembley for 2 seasons and all the money you have made for this year will need to be refunded, bad pr, paying extra costs for wembley etc. Im wont debate on the original decision on trying to get the stadium in early as you quite rightly say, if you had made it on time it would have been better for all. Fans, finances etc. Knowing what has happened though you would surely not approve of this decision now though?
