‘Not the chairman’s fault’ – Ledley King comes to the defence of Daniel Levy

Ledley King has said that Daniel Levy gets unfairly criticised at times, insisting that it is not the chairman’s fault that Tottenham have repeatedly failed to win semifinals and finals over the last decade.

Spurs look set to miss out on any European football for the first time in well over a decade this season and many have pointed the finger at the club’s hierarchy for the mess that the team finds itself in.

Daniel Levy
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Chants of ‘Daniel Levy, get out of our club’ have been heard increasingly frequently in recent matches (Daily Star) and the club even had to resort to blasting out loud music during the players’ lap of honour on Saturday in what was seemingly an attempt to drown out those chants.

The main criticism often aimed at Levy is the fact that the club have not got their hands on silverware since 2008 but Ledley King believes that the lack of trophies cannot be laid solely at the chairman’s feet.

The former Tottenham captain pointed out that the current Spurs side is a lot more competitive than it was when the 61-year-old arrived at the club.

When asked about the criticism aimed at Levy, King told Kammy and Ben’s Proper Football Podcast (as relayed by Football.London): “It’s important for me to say that I think he gets a bit of tough criticism at times.

“When I first joined the club, we were a mid-table team. You know, over the years we’ve kind of bridged that gap.

“We’ve kind of tried to be a team that’s trying to compete and win things. We’ve come close, you know, we haven’t been able to do it, but that’s not the chairman’s fault that we’ve lost the finals or why we haven’t won a trophy.

“I think if you look at the spending, we are probably up there in the top four or five. So, probably the recruitment has maybe been a bit of an issue in terms of the players that we’ve brought in over the last few years not…probably not hitting the ground.”

When asked if Levy is not responsible for the deals that the club get over the line and ultimately don’t work out, the Tottenham legend responded: “Yeah, people have a job I suppose to bring in certain players and I don’t think it’s a talent issue with the players.

“But, if it doesn’t work and they don’t perform then that’s tough.

“And, you know, you’re again then searching to kind of bridge that gap again where you’re trying to be a team that’s from the top four or five to a team that’s competing.

“And until we kind of get that right in terms of bringing in the next phase of players to help us to do that, then it’s going to be tough. So that’s where we are at the moment.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Cynics will say that King has no choice but to praise his current employers, given that he is serving as a club ambassador but I think the 42-year-old’s defence of the Spurs chairman is a fair one.

There is no doubt that Levy and the Tottenham hierarchy deserve criticism for some of the decisions that they have got wrong since 2019 but it is clear that they made those decisions because they wanted to win trophies.

There is no reason for Levy to bring Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte in if he did not care about winning silverware and was merely satisfied with finishing in the top four.

Fans also have to stop pretending that the club have sunk to a new low under ENIC and Levy. In fact, despite the issues we have had over the last 4 years, we are far better equipped (both on and off the pitch) to succeed than we were under Alan Sugar.

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