Daniel Levy is an easy target. He is tasked with operating Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in a responsible financial manner in an age where transfer fees and player wages sky rocket. He has an uncanny resemblance to Dr. Evil of Austin Powers fame and rarely engages the fans in any meaningful way. I understand why he frustrates us and becomes the punch line of a variety of jokes. The man even deserves serious criticism for a variety of his choices as Chairman (red on the kit, bowing too much to corporate interests, etc) but I am sick and tired of the venom directed at his negotiation tactics.
I am writing this on the eve of our match against Stoke and the story dominating Spurs at the moment is the possibility of Arsenal swooping in to hijack our long rumored purchase of Clinton N'Jie. This has produced a wave of anti-Levy sentiment citing his penny pinching as the reason for us losing out. The truth is we as fans are likely correct that Levy refusing to cave in on some relatively minor point of negotiation has caused this stress in the deal. Where our fan base is wrong, is when we classify this as some horrible character flaw of Daniel Levy that exemplifies his lack of ambition.
Let's face some facts here. We are not blessed with the financial advantages of our competitors at the top of the League Table. ESPN recently released their kit valued for the season and we finished sixth in the revenue produced from sponsors. Our stadium size limits our revenue. We are not owned by an individual obsessed with winning at all costs. For us to have the type of success we want (aka competing for League titles and regular Champions League appearances) we have to punch above our weight. This isn't a death sentence but it is a reality we must recognize. It's part of what makes us Spurs.
Daniel Levy realizes this. He, more than any of us fights against this financial reality on a daily basis. He and the Club have taken very logical and systematic steps to address these issues. We built one of the finest training centers in the world to attract young (and therefore relatively cheap) talent. Whether we sell them for a profit or incorporate them into our First Team they help us compete financially. We are moving forward with plans to build a new stadium that will drastically improve our capacity for ticketing and sponsorship revenue. The stadium plans likely hamstring Levy's spending even more than normal in the short term but still will provide financial benefit in the long term.
So why do we repeatedly curse Levy's financial conservatism? It's not as if we are not investing money we save on transfers and/or wages back into the Club. Our training facility and upcoming new stadium are the clear benefits of our conservative finances. The millions of dollars that Daniel Levy saves the Club on multiple transfers throughout each season add up and pay for these things. The shirt sales that Khumalo sold in Africa? Those sales may have paid for the physio room in the training center. The money we got out of selling Lewis Holtby after just one season? Perhaps that's a concession stand in the new stadium. The point is that these "little negotiating points" add up to things that Levy sees are crucial to the future elevation of Tottenham.
Him working hard to save us money has undoubtedly cost us players who could have helped our squads over his tenure. Maybe an aggressive bid for Morgan Schneiderlin would've secured us a Champions League place last year. Those criticisms are fair and I will often join other fans in them. What isn't fair, is to paint Levy as a Chairman who doesn't care about winning. He likely cares more than you or I but sees a different path for long term success. He sees a new stadium as the key to making us financially strong enough go challenge any Club in the Premier League. That is why he is a miserly negotiatior. His savings go to strengthen the Club's foundation; not to the pockets of ENIC.
If after the new stadium is built and paid for we still lag behind our competitors in transfer fees and wage structures then by all means, let's fire away at Daniel Levy's ambition. Right now we don't have any reason to doubt his desire to help the Club we love be the world's best. Moving forward let us appreciate the cut throat negotiations that Daniel Levy presides over because each one gets us one step closer to an even playing field.
There are plenty of justified reasons to criticize Daniel Levy. Lack of ambition for Tottenham just isn't one of them.
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