Tottenham Hotspur are at a crossroads in many respects. In the wake of the Super League fiasco, Tottenham’s ownership is the most unpopular it has ever been and with Mourinho gone and no new manager in sight, it seems the future is uncertain.
Recent events have led to many calling for the chairman’s head, but I am confident that wouldn’t be the wisest choice and I want Levy to stay at Tottenham. Let me explain why…
Levy joined the club in 2001 and taking us from where we were then to where we are now, despite recent dips, is an incredible achievement.
The club Levy took over hadn’t finished above 7th in the Premier League era and had a sole League Cup to our name over the same period. Conversely, since 2005 we have only finished below 6th three times, the previous two coming before the start of the 2010s.
We have had European football every year for the last 10 seasons and when Levy took over, that was not something to be taken for granted. Now, anything less than Champions League football is seen as unacceptable.
High expectations are natural after a period of success; however, it is important to note that the expectations can be high due to his success.
A key criticism of Levy is his tight grip on the purse strings. Not only have Tottenham never spent big but they have missed out on signings that have done well elsewhere.
Sadio Mane (Daily Mail, 2017) and Jack Grealish (Birmingham Live, 2018) are just a couple of examples where Spurs could have signed star players for what now seems like a bargain price, but Levy wouldn’t raise his bids.
MORE SPURS STORIES
His failures in this area are much publicised but his successes are far more frequent. Just this past summer, he essentially signed Hojbjerg for £3m plus Walker-Peters, despite Everton rivalling Spurs with a £25m bid (Talksport, 2020). Levy stood firm and left money in the bank for other positions.
Matt Doherty was in the top five right-backs in the league the season prior but was secured for under £15m. Regardless of his form for us, that was a bargain at the time.
There are countless more examples included looking at sales. Levy always has a price that he will not settle for less than. Kyle Walker, Dimitar Berbatov and most notably, Gareth Bale were not allowed to go until the clubs hit Levy’s number.
As well as transfers, keeping key players signed up to long-term contracts has been another key success, with this summer being a key example.
Harry Kane is very unlikely to leave no matter where Spurs finish, Tottenham and Levy hold all the cards due to constantly giving Kane pay rises in exchange for a longer-term commitment.
Levy’s crowning achievement has to be the stadium. The club owns a world-class stadium, funded in a sensible way without plunging the club into financial turmoil.
Whilst the Glazers pay huge dividend payments into their own pockets at United, Levy has worked tirelessly to secure Tottenham’s future.
We may end up with nothing to show from our golden generation of players and that will be a great shame and a failure of Levy’s tenure, but that stadium will be our club’s future for the next century as a source of revenue, a lure for the best players and a monument for our fans.
The stadium was the Levy project and we have him to thank for that incredible structure.
Levy has made mistakes, the Super League included, but his benefits have always outweighed his negatives and he is by far, a better option than the devil you don’t know.
Keep up to date with all the latest Tottenham news and opinion by following SpursWeb’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
