Matt Law is such a prick. Bet he loved using Levy here to have continued digs at the club. Completely unnecessary.
Every time staff leave Spurs, their career improves – it wouldn't be a surprise if Cristian Stellini is the next to go
www.telegraph.co.uk
Daniel Levy laughed momentarily when he was asked by an audience member at the Cambridge Union "What do you think of Tottenham?" before firing back: “It’s the greatest club in the world.”
The first part of Levy’s response is currently more accurate than the second because, right now, Tottenham Hotspur, the supposed “greatest club in the world”, are a laughing stock of his making.
The resignation of Fabio Paratici means Tottenham are now “the greatest club in the world” with no permanent head coach, no managing director of football and an acting head coach who many supporters would like to see sacked.
It was apparently on the advice of Paratici, in what would have been one his last acts as a Spurs employee, that Levy agreed to retain and promote Antonio Conte’s trusted lieutenant Cristian Stellini into the hot seat for the Premier League run-in.
Now Paratici has gone and it would not be a huge surprise if Stellini and the rest of Conte’s old staff, who are probably wondering why they are still at “the greatest club in the world”, followed him before the end of the season.
Last week’s defeat at home to Bournemouth left those with knowledge of Tottenham’s inner workings speculating whether or not Stellini himself could be sacked if the team lose to Newcastle United on Sunday.
Another defeat for “the greatest club in the world” will leave Spurs six points behind Newcastle, having played a game more, and still trailing Manchester United, who will have two games in hand and a six-point cushion.
Stellini has confirmed himself to be Conte-lite, which is no bad thing and completely understandable but is not what the Tottenham fans, or some players, wanted and it certainly has not resulted in any sort of bounce. Some even rate his promotion as Levy’s worst-ever decision, but there is plenty of competition in that field.
Should Levy travel to St James’ Park on Sunday, then he will be reacquainted with a former employee, Darren Eales, who once convinced him to sing Crocodile Rock by Elton John at a Karaoke evening in Moscow.
Eales has established himself as one of the most highly-respected chief executives in football, firstly at Atlanta and now Newcastle, since leaving “the greatest club in the world” and Paratici can at least console himself that, once his ban is served, exiting Tottenham has not exactly proved to be a career killer.
On the same weekend that Newcastle, where Eales works, can put a huge dent in Tottenham’s Champions League hopes and take a step closer to confirming their own qualification, Paul Barber, another former employee of Levy, will be watching Brighton at Wembley in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Barber and Brighton have become envied across the Premier League for their superb work and could yet finish above “the greatest club in the world” in the Premier League table, as well retaining the dream of finishing the season with a trophy.
Next weekend will be a big one for ex-Levy employee Damien Comolli. He is now president of Toulouse, who are looking forward to a French Cup final against Nantes.
And what of a certain Jose Mourinho, fired by Levy a few days before a League Cup final Spurs then lost and shortly before the arrival of Paratici? His Roma team on Thursday night qualified for the semi-finals of the Europa League and are fourth in Serie A, on course to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Over the past 20 years, Levy has hired 10 permanent coaches, who, between them, have won 61 trophies before and after managing Spurs. Between them all in that time, they have won one trophy at “the greatest club in the world.”
With Scott Munn not due to start work as Tottenham’s chief football officer until July 1, Levy will lead the search for his 11th permanent head coach himself. The Premier League’s longest-serving chairman remains the one constant at the club he still tells himself is the “greatest in the world” while everybody else, just as the Cambridge Union audience did, laughs along.
