Bentaleb is crap. Kan is decent but he'll never be a world beater. Caulker doesn't even play for Spurs.
What are you on about, Kane and Bentelab are average. Livermore, Carroll and Caulker aren't playing in the spurs team and the other two nobody has heard of. Is this is Levy's 'exciting future' for the club that you were talking about ?
Anyway getting back to who will manage Spurs, I can't see a top manager wanting to take the post. They would inherit an average squad with little or no chance of more money to overhaul it again. Plus the chairman expects miracles otherwise you're out the door.
I know that, also Livermore and Carroll are on loan. Along with the two nobodies who aren't in the first team either, that leaves Kane and Bentelab as the 'exciting' face representing the Spurs Acadamy.
I said only one isn't currently a Spurs player, and he was the one. Still a product of our academy (which is what we're talking about). Rumour has it he will be back with us next year. I'm surprised none of you know Tom Carroll. Played a lot for us and been on loan at QPR. Going to be a top player.
Amazing that you criticise a football club chairman for approving the investment of the club's resources on players rather than keeping cash in the bank....
No, I'm criticising Levy for HOW he has spent that money. You're trying to convince me that Levy has invested well, brought stability to the club, developed a wonderful academy and has great plans for the club. Yet the reality is that your academy isn't producing the players (why else would you go out and spend so much on so many new players?) The players that you have bought have been largely ineffective, especially for what they cost and he spent 110m to finish a place lower than last season. There is no stability at the club as you have a disjointed squad with players wanting to leave and Levy is now looking for his TENTH manager after sacking two in the space of one season. You can't sell Gareth Bale again, so what happens the next time Levy wants to throw cash at the problem ?
He won't have to because the investment in the youth and the squad will pay off in the long run. Having some good young players coming through doesn't mean you have no need to invest in established players. And one season going a bit backwards is not evidence of anything wrong. Our net spend was zero so whey would we expect to have improved? Almost everyone around us had a positive net spend. Since you don't seem to understand this I will spell it out: zero net spend - the squad doesn't improve, positive net spend - the squad gets better. The issue isn't Levy its just that we had a long way to catch up after being out of the CL when it started. No-one has dealt with my point that no other club has gradually improved and played in the CL without a massive cash injection. Which other chairman has achieved that?
Actually, your net spend since Levy took charge is +£92.5m, so it seems I understand this net spend equation a little better than you. The tired old spurs excuse about net spend doesn't wash, you are just behind Liverpool and Utd in terms of net spend since Levy has been at Spurs. Also, whatever way you want to try and dress it up, Spurs spent £110m on the squad last summer. You want to sweep it under the carpet by saying that the majority of that money came from selling Bale, and claiming that it therefore negates any requirement to improve the squad. But the fact remains you spent £110m for no improvement and you actually went backwards. If that's what a competent chairman achieves, then all I can say is long live Levy at Spurs
We were miles behind Liverpool and United when Levy took over and have finished above both of them under Levy despite spending less on transfers and much less on wages, so your comment supports my point that Levy is doing a good job. And there have been loads of seasons where Arsenal have 'gone backwards' under Wenger but that doesn't make him incompetent: Arsenal have got a smaller version of Spurs' problem: other clubs have more resources.
Liverpool and Utd along with Spurs have some of the highest spends in the transfer market since the PL began. The fact that Liverpool slightly outspent you and performed almost as badly in the league is nothing to shout about. They do though have a Champions League trophy to show for it. Also one season of a poor Utd doesn't account for the fact that you have spent almost as much as them in the market, as again they have a raft of trophies to show for it. You can't try to claim that because you just finished above a crap Utd side after spending £110m and finishing 6th, worse than last season that this somehow demonstrates that Levy is doing a good job. Make no mistake, Spurs are just behind Liverpool and Utd in terms of spending, including net spend since Levy took charge. As I've said, you have a £92.5m net spend in that time. If you want to compare it to a team who have shown how to challenge the top teams on a budget then look to Arsenal who have a £17m net spend in the same period
Is it really so hard to understand. If you start in the CL (where all the clubs you mention were when Levy took over) you've already got a strong squad (which you pay massive wages to retain - which you always ignore) and its relatively easy to pick up players as they come to the end of their contracts and or sell off players as they get past their best. If you were not in the CL the you have to invest to overcome these barriers. £92m net spend over more than 10 years is nothing compared to the wages spent by all of our competitors. And yes Arsenal have done a good job with your restricted resources - mostly because of Wenger's brilliance as a manager.
Except that the CL is worth around £50m to a team that qualifies, whereas you spent more than double that in one transfer window and still finished 6th. You rightly praise Wenger for his brilliance in negotiating the Premier league and champions league on a budget, but to put this in perspective again Spurs have outspent Arsenal in the market since Levy took charge by a margin of 300%
Or to put it another way Spurs average league position in the 10 year's prior to Levy - 11th Spurs average league position over the last 10 years - 6th. The first was massively under-performing, the second is about right when you compare our resources with others. Levy has presided over that improvement - I give him some credit for it I think Arsenal are the best run club in the PL with Spurs second.
