Daniel Levy: the inside word

Discussion in 'Tottenham forum' started by Josh Bolton, June 25, 2018.

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  1. Josh Bolton

    Josh Bolton Active Member

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    New stadium, new contracts, new signings (erm, still in progress that one), a new era approaching: chairman Daniel Levy is currently in the kernel of his most decisive summer yet at the helm of the Tottenham hierarchy.

    An elusive, private figure, much is written about 56-year-old Cambridge University alumni — mostly by those who have never met the multi-millionaire businessman and ENIC overlord. (Author included.)

    Who, then, can we consult to get an accurate depiction of the man, the myth, and the toughest negotiator this side of the Atlantic since the banker off Deal or No Deal? The only way we know possible: by taking the word of those who have crossed paths with the man himself. And when we say cross paths, we mean “probably owed him money”.

    Here’s 10 to negotiate…

    1) Mido, reflecting on signing for Spurs on loan in 2005:
    I will never forget when Levy came to sign me from AS Roma and we had to travel back on an EasyJet flight! When we arrived at the airport he asked me to run, and I said ‘Why?’… He replied: ‘To get a good seat’… I couldn’t stop laughing.”

    2) David Moyes, on Levy’s £500,000 offer for Phil Neville in February 2011:
    "That was £250,000 now and £250,000 paid in a year's time. There is no reaction to that. I think an offer like that for Everton's captain is a disrespectful offer to the club… I think it is as surprising an offer as I have known in my career.”

    3) Alex Ferguson, recalling transfer negotiations for Dimitar Berbatov in 2008:
    That whole experience was more painful than my hip replacement.”

    4) Florentino Pérez, chairman of Real Madrid, on his correspondence with Levy, 2017:
    Every time [Real Madrid] win a European title, he sends me the same message: ‘Congratulations for the European title you have won with my players.’

    5) Steven Caulker, remembering his run-in with the chairman before being sold by the club in 2013:
    “[Levy] just said to me: ‘The way you act is unbelievable. You either sort yourself out or go but I can assure you, if you leave, you’ll be going down, not up.’”
    5ii) Caulker, again, on returning to White Hart Lane as a QPR player a year later:
    In [QPR’s] second game we were thrashed 4-0 at Tottenham. That feeling coming off the pitch at White Hart Lane, knowing we’d been embarrassed and that Levy was sitting up in the stand thinking: ‘I told you so.’

    6) Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas on negotiations for Hugo Lloris, 2012:
    We had people speaking all night with Daniel Levy. He talks a lot and goes back on what we’ve agreed in writing. Agreements have not at all been respected. The Tottenham board’s theory is to explain that the economic market is very hard and so we have to get used to renegotiating… This is very rare in the football world. The negotiation with the Tottenham directors has been the hardest I have ever had to undergo in these 25 years [in football].”

    7) Former Tottenham director of football Damien Comoli, 2016:
    [In negotiations Daniel] never raises his voice, never gets annoyed. He can be very cold… [but] Tottenham must be the club that has moved forward most in every respect in the last 15 years in Europe, it’s thanks to [Levy]. He's obsessed with the desire of improving Tottenham. When you see where the club was when he arrived and what he has done with it, it's absolutely fantastic."
    7ii) Comoli on how Levy secured Luka Modrić’s signing in 2008:
    We felt that that the longer we waited, the more chance there was of losing the player… So that is when Daniel worked his magic: Daniel being Daniel, he just put the phone down, got his stuff, jumped on a private jet and flew to Zagreb. He called me that night at 3am saying he had done the deal. We had Modrić.”

    8) West Ham chairman David Gold, after failing to acquire Emmanuel Adebayor from Spurs, 2015:
    "No matter how hard you tried there are people out their [sic] that you just can’t do business with.”

    9) Tim Sherwood, on the chairman’s approach to contract renewals, 2017:
    “Daniel Levy is a master [at tying down players], he’s a great operator. Gareth Bale, for instance, possibly had seven contracts when he was at Tottenham… Daniel is a good operator and a very good example of nailing players down very soon.”

    10) MP David Lammy on Levy’s impact on [the area of] Tottenham, 2014:
    I have been MP for 14 years and, to Daniel Levy’s credit, he is doing much more for the community then Alan Sugar ever did, not just in Haringey but they take their relationship with that North East corridor very seriously.
     
    Last edited: June 25, 2018
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  2. Overcspurs Guest

    Still can't please all spurs fan
     
  3. Glospur Guest

    Levy's problem is that he wants to do everything, he gives every appearance of being a control freak incapable of delegating. And that's a problem whenever he ventures outside his area of expertise, and the reason we end up with players like Sissoko on deadline day for a silly amount of money and silly wages. So much for his business acumen.
     
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  4. Jam Guest

    Very good Josh.. would have been even more amusing had you added a Redknapp quote about what a strange man he is

    Levy used to be a source of great frustration but I don't tend to give him much thought in that regard anymore.. seemed rather pointless and I don't think you could ever consider him to be grossly irresponsible or incompetent (okay the Berbatov transfer)

    He has made mistakes of course.. has been too prudent.. cautious.. greedy.. and it has cost us on the pitch in the past.. but if I had to trust his acumen on one thing then it would be economics

    If the financial transition to our new stadium is mostly seamless then the years of negative net spend will have been justified to some extent

    The next few seasons will be telling
     
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  5. Cheshuntboy Guest

    I can't say I feel particularly enlightened after reading that. So Levy's tough, untrustworthy and deceitful - what a surprise. I suppose some people take pride in that, in the same way a pit-bull owner boasts about his dog's aggression, but it hasn't put anything in the trophy cabinet lately, however much it might eventually boost ENIC's profit on the sale of Spurs. Every season some of us say that this time we MUST win something (but we don't) while others say that progress off the field is bound to lead to success on it (but it isn't) - Groundhog Day has got nothing on the joys of supporting Tottenham.
     
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  6. simon simon New Member

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    Levy wins samll battles but always loses the war. He is penny wise pound foolish , He blows minor gains buying players like Sissoko at the last minute. How many terrible windows have we had?

    But Levy's biggest mistake so far : the retractable pitch , £150m to host two NFL games a year. Even the most optimistic scenarios say it will take 80 years just to get our money back. It is just a Levy vanity project. Pennywise , pound foolish. On the pitch he is the least successful chairman we have had .
     
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  7. barney Guest

    Levy hasn't put anything in the trophy cabinet lately because Poch will not play our best 11 in the domestic cup-ties only the C/L games were we have more chance of getting struck by lightning than winning that o_O
     
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  8. Felon82 Well-Known Member

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    Daniel Levy

    Managed to recruit 3 decent managers in 17 years, hired and fired countless managers/Dofs/Scouts/Heads of recruitment etc, until now has sold every world class player we've had, has put relative peanuts into the side from an investors point of view mainly stripped us of all our assets and played with that, has strangled us with a Stadium Build Bill Pre & Post cost, acquired duds to good players at a rate of about 5/1 and that's being kind, has overseen 1 trophy win in 17years the worst return of any owner in our history post war, has failed miserably to back Managers properly at the most of crucial times and when he has prized open the coffers and gone on a splurge hes mainly failed miserably.

    Now the guy can't be faulted for making the most of crumbs and it can't be argued that as a Brand and our rise up the Table has improved , even if at a snails pace.
    But it's clear it's Buisness he cares and is interested about the Football Club is just a vessel for him to extract as much money as he can for Himself/Lewis/ENIC present and long term.

    What I want to Know/See is are we going to see significant increases in Wages and Transfer Fees to Seriously go for Trophies so that it's all been worth it?
    How much longer can he/we play the plucky underdog card 'look how clever we've been'

    Time the Club started following it's own Motto and if Levy isn't going to step it up then he and ENIC need to hand the reigns over to Someone that will !
     
  9. Big fran Guest

    Levy has not signed a single world class player and when we needed a couple of signings to push us on to win a title signed Louis saha and Ryan Nelson.
    Also sold Keane and berbatov in the same window and signed us frazier Campbell.
     
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  10. guesty Guest

    ....to be fair......the Mido line...if true...is bordering on genius comedy!
     
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