The Good, The Bad and The Levy

Article by Jonathan Ruskin

e-Spurs Twitter
e-Spurs Facebook

As sure as one can be that the evenings will grow longer and the parks will become fuller, it appears another certainty of summer is a managerial merry-go round at Tottenham Hotspur. Such is chairman, Daniel Levy's, patience with seemingly forever being on the perimeter of Europe's 'top table', that over recent years, quick fix after quick fix has been employed in order to finally get the North London club finding the same top four consistency as their bitter rivals a few miles down the road. As experienced heads make way for fresh faced leaders time after time, one things must play on the mind of the new hope – 'It's only a matter of time'.

But it is the question of why, when the top four has been dominated by either the cash rich, or those who have given their managers ample time, is Levy still desperate for that over night sensation, when foundations have already been laid. During his tenure he has wished the 'best of luck with their future endeavours' to proven league and cup winner George Graham, who had steadied the all to often leaky Tottenham defence and delivered the Worthington Cup, club legend and former England manager Glenn Hoddle, who was only a short while into a 5 year plan set out from day one, Martin Jol, who had picked up the pieces from Jacques Santini's shambolic reign and was a well cooked meal away from 'serving up' Champions League football for the first time in the clubs history, and Harry Redknapp who finally took Tottenham on a very respectable run to the Champions League quarter final before Levy decided the face didn't fit in with the clubs new European direction and sent Redknapp packing under the guise that he had postured too hard for the vacant England Mangers role.

Now, he has turned his attention to Mauricio Pochettino. A young manager, whose footballing morals sit well against the history of the club. A manager with a keen eye on protecting the back four and allowing freedom of expression in the final third. A manager capable of putting a team out to play a brand of football which is well suited to European football. Haven't we seen this all before though... Andre Villas Boas was given the same task, had the same footballing ethics, set the team up in the same style, and conducted himself in the same media savvy way. So why, when AVB was obviously struggling to fit the panic purchases of Franco Baldini into a cohesive unit, was he not given time. Spurs weren't struggling – if anything they were still over achieving slightly. Mumblings from the South Stand lower contingent complaining that the football was boring to watch need only cast their minds back to a pulsating North London Derby, in which Goals from Bale and Lennon sent the Park Lane faithful into raptures. And who would have though that the man in charge when 3 goals in 6 minutes against Manchester City was enough to create one of the best atmospheres inside White Hart Lane in recent memory, would later be deemed to cautious to support.

Tottenham have famously worn the motto 'To Dare Is To Do' on their hearts for many years, before it was recently emblazoned around the famous old ground for all to see. However, with minimal net spend from chairman Levy, where is the daring to do? And in recent years Modric, Berbatov, Bale, Keane, Van Der Vaart and Carrick, who have all been critical to the club, have all been allowed to walk out the door. The return is always greater than the layout, and no fan wants to see their side fall through the leagues like Leeds United, Portsmouth and Glasgow Rangers because of poor running and a financially crippling situation, however the fact that Levy deems financial security over taking plunge and offering more lucrative contracts as his priority is starting to wear thin with the faithful. As fans we want glory, we want the days out to Wembley, we want to be mixing it with Inter, AC and Real Madrid again. But we won't see this achieved until Levy gives his full backing to a manager, allows him freedom of expression in the transfer market, gives him time to build his squad and find the square pegs for the square holes.

Tottenham are, currently, the 5th or 6th team in the league. It's hard to argue that we're better or worse than that. It is, however, far easier for us to slip back down to the grim days of finishing 10th and 11th than it would be for us to consistently finish ahead of Arsenal and Manchester United. If Levy is going to insist on selling his best assets for profit, we'll never get there. If he's prepared to take some educated financial risks and stick with Pochettino through the tough times, he might just find himself enjoying some of the good times with him. It really is about time someone was given just that – time.

© e-Spurs 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Spurs

Share on Google Plus