However much it pains me to say this,I agree with you about that story being absolute ballocks.Prior to football being invented in 1992 there was a big 5.The journalist who wrote that story must have little or no knowledge of football prior to 92
The ****? This article tries to blame Levy for Spurs not being amongst the "elite", but prior to Levy weren't they finishing mid table most seasons? I just looked and the last 5 seasons before his appointment they finished 10th, 14th, 11th, 10th, 12th. Dont get me wrong, I think Levy is a penny pinching douche bag who certainly isn't without his faults, he releases the sack cannon on managers far too often (Thats something I can relate to, being a Chelsea fan). But seriously? Spurs were way off the pace ages before this guy came along. At least in the last 10 years they have been knocking on the door of the "big four" and even made it in twice (although sadly only getting CL footie once, thanks to UEFA). As people have stated, Spurs werent going to defeat the powerhouse that is United, the organisation and efficiency of Arsenal and the riches of City and Chelsea. So really the fact that they have been in the top 4 twice in recent memories is impressive.
You post a link to a story in order to wind us up and Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea all line up to point out how stupid the story is. I'd have thought it obvious?
I have to say that prior to Levy in the premiership era (1992/3 - 2001) we were relegation candidates who occasionally came mid table and once rose to the dizzying heights of 8th and had the occassional cup run and won the carling cup once and qualified for europe once. Since 2005/06 (9 seasons) we have come 4th twice; 5th four times; 6th once; 8th once (missing out on a euro place on the last day of the season) and 11th once (winning the carling cup) ... we have qualified for europe 8 times in those 9 years. On top of that we have stopped buying high and selling low ... we generally make money on our transfer dealings which was not the case prior to him being our chairman. He gets criticism for selling but the players all chose to leave...but he gets top money for them...and gives the managers the money to spend My criticism of him is that apart from redknapp his choice of managers borders on farce...and his treatment of martin jol still irritates me but to claim he has been bad for us is complete bollocks imo
Do you still think he's the right chairman to take you forward ? The last couple of years in particular have seen you go backwards in terms of squad and manager quality.
We all say we can't judge Ozil until his second season, for the same reason I'm not getting carried away with ruling out the spurds
He has definitely made mistakes (most notably sacking Redknapp and hiring a bunch of clowns subsequently), but I fail to see how anyone else could have done much better. He has had to contend with their best players wanting to leave (Sol Campbell, Michael Carrick, Berbatov, VDV and Bale) and like remembercolinlee said, they have always done good on the transfers (except Campbell, but that was particularly brutal). And for the most part, until AVB's shocking spree, have spent the funds well enough and stayed in the top 6, despite United, Chelsea, Liverpool and City all outspending them 10 fold. They are caught in that horrible position whereby they challenge for top 4 spots, but dont always get it, and as we all know, the ability to sign the best players is almost always dependant on being in the CL. So when they do unearth a gem (like Bale), they get itchy feet and want to leave. Not an enviable position at all. I think he has done better than most Chairman could have in his situation.
Apparently AVB didn't want to buy the majority of those players, they were sanctioned by Levy and Baldini. Also Spurs' transfer spending record is up there with Utd and Liverpool since the PL began.
What about since Levy joined? Surely they are no where near City and Chelsea or even Liverpool in terms of spending in the last 10 years? United had the good fortune of making pretty much a whole team of youth players in the 90's which has only began to dissipate in the last few years since Beckham left and Neville, Giggs and Scholes retired. Had they had to buy these players their spend would be a lot higher.
Our squad went backwards cos players demanded to leave... both Bale and Modric would have gone no matter if we had CL football or not (look at the players you've lost even though they were pretty much guaranteed CL football every season)....so he ain't responsible for that. I don't buy the fact that he chooses who is bought...if that was/is the case then AVB (for example should have the dignity to kick off). According to interviews given by AVB he was keen on us have a DoF and agreed with Levy's choice so all of that is a red herring imo. I think that it was understandable that he parted ways with Redknapp (I wish it had been different) as Redknapp's flirtation with england and refusal to commit to spurs by signing a new contract after the club stood by him during his tax trial ("the players don't care about my position" was his regular comment) then demanding a new contract ("its unsettling the players" was his comment on live tv during an England match) publically while Levy was in the USA at his mothers funeral was only going to end one way. However it was his choice of AVB as a replacement that was plainly stupid...as fans we gave him a chance but nearly all had severe reservations about him for obvious reasons. I am at a loss as to whether pochettino will succeed but the truth is that he needs to be given time ... I am willing to live with 5th and 6th place finishes and a good cup run while he builds a decent side as long as we play football that is good to watch. If Levy gives him time then he can take us forward...if he panics and sacks him then he should not be allowed to chose our managers in future...but I do not want him out IMHO those that want instant success should go and support city cos it ain't going to happen at spurs.
AVB wanted Baldini and praised all the signings...if he was against them he should have said so at the time. He was happy enough to slag of the fans; medical staff and the players to distract from his failings so imo this excuse is just more of the same **** shovelling.
Levy joined shortly before the premier league started so they are his spending figures. They are nowhere near City or Chelsea for obvious reasons, nobody is. But the idea that Spurs only spent a lot of money last summer is not the case, they are up there with Utd and Liverpool on transfer spending.
Forgot about Modric! And we did try to warn you all how much of a disruptive f**ktard AVB was, but no, everyone blamed Drogba and John Terry and Ashley Cole saying it was their fault he got sacked. The guy is inept, I mean how long did it take him to figure out that a high defensive line isnt going to work in the PL. It was tried and tested in Portugal, where the speed of play is much slower and built up. Teams break at break neck speeds in the PL and it was evident after half a dozen games we were going to run in to trouble if he didnt change tactics. The senior Chelsea players all tried to tell him this. The final straw came in a game where (and I cant remember who we were playing), we were losing 1-0 and the players ignored AVB's instructions and switched to the old Mourinho tactics, and we came out in the second half and won 3-1. AVB was furious with the players.
He only became Chairman in 2001 though didnt he? What role did he have at the club prior to that? I cant remember
