Daniel Levy is a character who will always provoke debate but the Spurs chairman’s latest comments are especially controversial.
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Self-praise is no praise. A well-worn cliche that has it’s place but one that is rarely paid attention to in football in a sport where everyone loves to talk themselves up.
A rarity in the modern game is the departing Tottenham Hotspur legend Son Heung-min who, despite a stellar career at the top of the game, remains as humble as ever amid all the debates over his status amongst the club’s greats. Of course, there is a need to be self-confident and borderline arrogant, this doesn’t have to be verbalised to all and sundry though.
Daniel Levy misses the point with Spurs job praise
In a recent interview with The Overlap, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy took a rare step out of the shadows in an attempt to defend his record and to deflect recent criticism. That his appearance comes after winning a major trophy hasn’t been lost.
One parting phrase stuck out though and it is one that former Premier League footballer Andy Townsend to umbrage to on Talksport’s Breakfast Show: “’I'll get the credit I deserve after I've left’. Look, what Daniel Levy has done, he's given the best years of his life, he's dedicated to that club, of that there is no doubt. I find it quite strange that he's coming out now because he's never put his head above the parapet with the press.
“Has he, Jeff (Stelling)? He's never come out and said anything. And yet, all of a sudden, he's wanting to establish a few facts and a few points right now, why that would be.
“Perhaps he is coming to the end of his chapter at that club. Look, it's a great, it's anyone who goes to watch a game at Spurs nowadays, you can't deny the fact that it's, apart from getting out of the place after a game, but you can't deny when you're there watching it, it's a fabulous facility.
“But I think for him to be asking that sort of question, you know, perhaps people will realise the job I've done when I'm gone. I'm not so sure, Daniel. I just don't think it works like that in football with Chairman.”
Levy needs to loosen the purse strings if he wants to leave a legacy
Townsend is right. On too many occasions Spurs have been a consistent member of the top four or top six in the Premier League and all that they needed to do was loosen the purse strings or make a more concerted effort in the transfer market to push on to the next level.
Barely a penny of the money that was made from the sale of Gareth Bale was spent wisely and the players bought for Ange Postecoglou just didn’t suit how the big Aussie sets his teams up.
There is no point hiring a manager and then not signing players who can adapt or fit into their system and philosophy or backing someone like Mauricio Pochettino after he guided the club to a Champions League final.
The core of a title challenging squad was there; all it needed was one or two top level players to supplement what was already a good team. Townsend’s point about Levy judging success as a businessman is a valid one, on that level it is hard to argue, but if you asked fans if they would swap the new stadium to win the Premier League this season, the chairman would maybe understand better what their priority is.