So finally Daniel has emerged from his hi-tech bunker, and it was worth waiting for, wasn’t it? At first glance – which, at this stage is a very jaundiced and weary one – any Spurs fan with a keyboard and twenty-five minutes of time could have formulated a similar emollient. But like everything he does, […]
Your people are suffering, speak to us Daniel
So finally Daniel has emerged from his hi-tech bunker, and it was worth waiting for, wasn’t it? At first glance – which, at this stage is a very jaundiced and weary one – any Spurs fan with a keyboard and twenty-five minutes of time could have formulated a similar emollient. But like everything he does, the statement has been calculated and parsed within an inch of its life.
It’s not exactly Humphrey Appleby stuff, but he’s managed to cover his arse so well he could get a job at Mothercare. Nothing in there could really come back to haunt him.
The stadium opening date of summer 2017 is merely said to be “feasible”. It’s also entirely feasible (and entirely “Spursy”) that Tim Sherwood could keep his job. You couldn’t exactly throw Levy’s stadium assurances back in his face.
Nobody would disagree with him about “how critical the new stadium is over the long-term to our raised expectations” but cynics might wonder just whose expectations he is referring to there – ENIC’s or the club’s?
[linequote]Levy does not and could not know what is going to happen in the summer, especially as this is a World Cup summer[/linequote]
What is of most interest to transfer-hungry fans is Levy’s comment that the club “shall not look to a summer of major upheaval, but rather to strengthen in key positions – to play the style of football for which we are famous”.
Well, first of all, let’s chuck out the last bit as it is utterly meaningless at this stage. He does not foresee a summer of major upheaval. I’m pretty sure he has said this kind of thing many times before. In fact, it would be irresponsible of any club chairman to say otherwise. The head of any company is unlikely ever to say “we are looking for a complete overhaul of administrative and managerial staff during summer, which will entail a subsequent transitional period….”
The reality is that – with one exception – Levy does not and could not know what is going to happen in the summer, especially as this is a World Cup summer when sunburnt clubs and managers often suffer ruinous collective Shirley Valentine moments.
The exception is that Levy knows there is not going to be a repeat of the Bale situation. Although a club coming in with a blockbusting bid for, say, Kyle Walker, would be fantastic, it’s simply not going to happen. So the club can forget about a single, massive transfusion of cash.
[linequote]There’s nothing wrong with a transitional period at all, as long as the manager is backed to the hilt and given the chance to see the project[/linequote]
Outside of this certainty, what will actually happen is anyone’s guess.
It seems feasible (thanks, Daniel) that Lloris, Vertonghen, Kaboul and Naughton will leave in the summer. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that they will be joined by Capoue and Paulinho.
Different arguments could be made for the departures of Dawson, Lennon, Chiriches and Sigurdsson. Even if only half these players leave, they would have to be replaced and – hey presto! – it’s another summer of upheaval, another transitional period.
There’s nothing wrong with a transitional period at all, as long as the manager is backed to the hilt and given the chance to see the project (cf Andre Villas Boas) through to the end. If anyone can make a coherent and reasoned argument as to why Tim Sherwood should be given this kind of backing I would love to read it.
Levy can’t win in a way. When he says nothing the fans demand to hear from him; when he speaks everyone thinks it’s at best, PR guff, at worst a load of cobblers. Either way, Daniel Has Spoken. We can expect a very similar message from him at the end of “a difficult and disappointing” season and then silence, as he flits between the Bahamas, Brazil and Europe on a now familiar hunt for the next guy to oversee the Next Big Plan.
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11 Comments
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03/04/2014 @ 9:45 am
Great article and I agree with all but one of the potential transfers out. But I have one question, why would Chiriches be sold at this point? He hasn’t played or proved enough for a big move to an established CL club but has certainly showed massive potential to improve on the near future.
I hear a lot about us buying a left back, center back and striker with PL experience. But he one position we still have not filled is the deep lying passer. After Luka and Hudd left we were left with no one to pass the ball from the base of midfield, instead we have two box-to-box midfielders and two holding midfielders, but no passer! Perhaps Carroll is being thought of for this role next year, and I know for sure that Van Gaal will want someone of this type if he were to come in.
03/04/2014 @ 9:53 am
You’re right he can’t win, but the stadium issue seems clear enough, they’ve been waiting a year for CPO of the last bit of land to go through. Despite that many fans seem to think the stadium is a sham and won’t be built.
Why there is all that flattened and cleared ground next to the ground is anyone’s guess then.
03/04/2014 @ 10:19 am
Total bias. Pro AVB and anti Tim. I am no Tim fan but he hasn’t been worse than AVB. They are both bloody useless, and the author seems to forget AVB walked as much as he was pushed.
We are in a mess, the chairman sacks our best manager for twenty years and we end up within two seasons with a squad that is unrecognisable.
This summer will see another new manager and another team overhaul.
We have become a joke.
03/04/2014 @ 1:51 pm
Indeed, AvB looked like he was on the verge of cracking up after the Liverpool debacle. I suspect he had lost it totally and this would not have escape Levy’s attention, putting him in a rather difficult position. I think I might have likewise concluded that AvB was not in a fit state to continue. He was crying, pretty much.
03/04/2014 @ 10:54 am
Being anti Sherwood does not necessarily follow that I was pro AVB. The football under AVB was poor. Nevertheless I thought sacking him was a complete knee jerk reaction, mainly to the LFC thrashing, which basically ended the season there and then. Essentially he wanted to recreate Portp – and wanted Contreao, Moutinho and Hulk – he got none of them and some players he did not want at all. We’re moving dangerously into Redknapp territory here but you’d have to wonder what was the idea behind appointing AVB if the club never shared his vision in the first place? I am ‘pro AVB’ only insofar as he had a plan. Sherwood has absolutely no plan.
03/04/2014 @ 11:21 am
I’ve read the report just like we all have. It’s a carefully worded document which promises nothing, but creates images of what can be. The way the report puts over the idea about the critical need for a new stadium, makes it sound like without it we are doomed, so you’d better get behind us or who knows how bad things will get.
Yes it’s a positive move that at last Mr.Levy has spoken, but it’s mainly a strategic move, his adviser are hearing the discontent among the citizens, based on the disaster of how last summers transfers have delivered on the pitch.
Enic have had to put something on the table pointing people to the future, recreating some images and dreams, and away from the present, without actually committing to delivering anything they have mentioned in the report.
This is standard stuff from the PR department when a project, deal investment, or in footballing terms your transfers have been a disaster, ie there’s always the future.
One thing I will say regarding the the transfers is this, I know it changes nothing this season, and I accept probably some, may be most of them are duds. But I recall other key transfers in recent time for example Carrick, Modric, and lets not forget Bale and his 20 game run of never being in a winning league team, so may be there might still be a gem in there somewhere next season………bloody hell look them got me doing now with the old PR and look to the future BS.
………note to self, I must get a life soon.
03/04/2014 @ 12:16 pm
Why do we have to know every minor detail of what the board or chairman is thinking at all times? I’m not a shareholder, I am a fan of a shirt and the history and hopes that come with it. I don’t own any part of the business, and contribute financially what I choose to in terms of tickets and merchandise. I also subscribe to Sky, and go to the cinema, but I don’t need or want to hear justification for every decision these entertainment providers make. If Sky decide to have a 3D channel I will never use, so be it, if the cinema decides to show a rubbish film 7 times a day, good for them, I will choose not to watch. it Spurs are entertainment, nothing more, nobody forces me to “support” them. I don’t know any of the players, they don’t represent my opinions or upbringing, they don’t owe me anything. I watch because I choose to, because I want to be entertained, and for the most part I’d say that the board have provided the entertainment I seek, maybe not all of the time but which football club truly does? Spurs are a top ten team in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, are in no danger of going bust any time, and to be frank I’m happy with that. Yes I love the European nights and don’t enjoy it when things are going wrong, but that doesn’t mean that the business needs to explain in detail every intention they have for the next 5 years. What business that wishes to remain competitive would ever reveal all of their strategies to public scrutiny? I’m guessing actual shareholders will attend an AGM and get more details, so if I wanted the information I would go and buy some shares, if I could.
03/04/2014 @ 12:49 pm
All part of the soap opera. You’re a modern-day Stoic.
Probably the best philosophy for any football fan.
Didn’t the delisting of the club preclude anyone buying shares anyway? The club is privately owned.
03/04/2014 @ 12:50 pm
I dont know why im commentng, im fed up with it all.
My season supporting spurs was over when they sacked avb due to the fact eluded to by the author in reply to teh accusation that hes anti-sherwood…
At least avb had a plan, he wasnt supported in it, so why bother hiring him??? Standard let-down at board level.
Soooooooooo fed up with all the failures since redcrap. Missed opportunity. Im gonna support basingstoke.
04/04/2014 @ 5:23 am
So Levy has said some stuff that may or may not happen, while in other news, lots of players potentially may or may not leave.
What an inciteful article, I can’t wait for the next one.
04/04/2014 @ 9:05 pm
Insightful