Levy’s longevity – Why Daniel Levy must get this summer right to save his Spurs legacy

In the wake of an eighth consecutive FA Cup semi-final defeat, the hierarchy at Tottenham Hotspur and the club as a whole have had a poor month from a PR perspective, releasing the most expensive season tickets in the country, playing down the importance of the FA Cup before being dumped out of the competition and looking set to lose key players due to a wage infrastructure Daniel Levy could be set for his most important summer during his tenure.

Daniel Levy has divided opinion ever since taking over from Alan Sugar as Spurs chairman back in 2001. On the one hand, Tottenham have moved from mid-table mediocrity to a Champions League mainstay in recent years as well as the club moving into a beautiful brand new home on the turf that was once walked on by legends of yesteryear. However, it hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows at Spurs for the 56-year-old, sacking manager Martin Jol at half-time during a game he was winning, trying to relocate the club into Stratford (where West Ham would eventually move) and failing to back fans in a political debate over what is appropriate to sing at football and what isn’t have been particularly disheartening amongst some of the White Hart Lane faithful.

Season Ticket Pricing:

The gloss of Spurs’ brand new 62,000+ seater stadium has been dampened somewhat by the ridiculous inflated season ticket prices released this month.

Spurs’ cheapest season ticket price has been priced at an eye-watering £795! To put that into context, Manchester United’s most expensive season ticket is priced at £950, just £105 more than the cheapest seat in the house in N17.

This is disgraceful to say the least, yes in order to reach the superclub status that we have aspired to become we must spend money, and one way of generating the required funds is through extra gate receipts. We are beginning to tick all the boxes required to become a real powerhouse of English football, yet we are missing just one thing, a trophy. Yes Pochettino has done an exceptional job and maybe an FA Cup won’t change the complexion of the club, yet we need to start having a physical accolade to show for the incredible job that he has done.

Manchester United are able to retain *somewhat* sensible season ticket prices, the fact that from a fan perspective we are charged more to watch our beloved Tottenham (who have won two major trophies in the last 18 years) than United (who have won three major trophies in the last two years.)

United are the biggest club in England and perhaps the biggest club in the world, so maybe they do not rely on ticket allocation as much as a club like Spurs do.

Keeping best players.

Charging fans astronomical prices to see their side does not reflect well on the club, especially in the same month where key players such as Danny Rose, Mousa Dembele and Toby Alderweireld are reportedly set to leave the club due to the club’s tight wage-infrastructure.

Serge Aurier should be used as an example to Levy, the club sold Kyle Walker for over double what they paid for Aurier, and as the season has progressed we have seen why the fees correlated. Selling Toby Alderweireld because of an inability to loosen the purse strings is quite frankly a dumb move. Who could Spurs sign that is better than the Belgian, without breaking the £100k per-week ceiling set at Spurs.?Yes, Davinson Sanchez has been an excellent acquisition, but does look raw on occasions.

During Levy’s reign at Spurs, we as fans have seen our best players move on to greener pastures all too much; Stephen Carr, Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Kyle Walker just to name a few.

The wage-infrastructure has been relatively successful thus far, but it is time for change, a lack of silverware could be used as a stick to beat the club with when trying to negotiate with potential new signings, add to that a tight payment method and suddenly the club look somewhat weaker in the market.

Now it almost feels like Pochettino has maxed out all the tools at his disposal, and that it is time for Spurs to join in the radical spending spree in order to remain competitive amongst the top teams in the country.

This could be the defining moment of Daniel Levy’s era. Big spending is needed in order to kick on and advance to the next level. You have set the precedent off of the pitch with inflated season ticket prices, Mr Levy, so it’s time see the same mentality adopted in the transfer market.