Since the transfer window has closed, I've been reading many comments from disgruntled Spurs supporters. Many of the vibes have been aimed at either Daniel Levy or Damien Comolli.
Now, I'm no big fan of Comolli, as I think he still has a lot to prove, but I am a fan of Daniel Levy. Here's why:
In the Beginning
When Levy and ENIC first took over they made every Spurs supporter happy by:
1. Getting rid of George Graham
2. Bringing in Glenn Hoddle.
I still remember standing in the shelf watching Hoddle's last match vs. Oxford, and seeing him score an exquisite goal when he nutmegged the last defender just past the half way line, ran inside the box, feint to shoot then, as the keeper was clutching grass, he let the ball continue its momentum and slid it into an empty net.
So this was every Spurs supporters dream.
Those wonderful memories of Hoddle as a player were not duplicated as manager though. However, Levy delivered by bringing in the one man every Spurs supporter wanted and chanted for.
More Recently
In more recent times he's secured the services of one of the best managers in Europe. There's no doubt that Junde Ramos is a class act. Here is a manager whose philosophy is built on passing and attacking football.
Can you remember the last Spurs manager that had those ideals?
Right now, as you're thinking about it...I bet you're struggling! However I bet you can remember a whole bunch that liked to sit back on 1-0 lead!!
But this article is not about Juande Ramos and his many virtues, it's about Levy and his dogged pursuit of a man he believes can take Spurs to the top. Sure, it could've been done with a little more finesse—but he stopped at nothing in order to get his man, a man that has a proven ability when it comes to taking on the "big boys". A man that other players want to play for.
But getting him was never going to be easy. Firstly, the mould of not paying big sums for a manager had to broken. Premiership players were the ones getting the big bucks, not the managers. This always seemed strange to me—but nevertheless this was always case.
Levy was prepared to reverse this unusual practice.
He was also prepared to put his money where his mouth was. In 2007/08 Spurs spent a surplus of £28m on new players. Regardless of who those new players were, he made the funds available—Levy did his job.
In the last few weeks, we have seen two of our "big players" go, and this has frustrated many Spurs supporters. And some have taken that frustration and pointed it towards Daniel Levy.
But this is not Daniel Levy's fault! In fact, I for one was very pleased and impressed by the way he dealt with both situations.
Keane
I was never a huge fan of Keane. As skillful as he was, I always felt that he played in a sort of no-mans land position which disrupted the team shape. But he was producing and scoring goals—so I guess that's all that matters.
When it was clear that Benitez had been tapping up Keane—and Keane wanted to go—Levy had no option but to make them pay top dollar.
1 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
David Jacobs 9 months ago
Daniel Levy held berbatov for too long. All that frustration for fans and tantrums in the dressing room over a poxy £5million difference in the price. That's not what a chairman, whose concern is the club and not money, would do.
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