.. blaming Levy !! :-
By Matt Law
7:35PM GMT 26 Oct 2014
Daniel Levy will not wake up on Monday morning and blame himself. After all, he did not decide to drop midweek hat-trick hero Harry Kane to the substitutes’ bench or switch off at the start of the second half to allow Newcastle United to equalise.
However, with every managerial change, every false dawn and every step backwards, it is becoming increasingly clear that the root of Tottenham Hotspur ’s problems lie at the door of chairman Levy.
Spurs fans no longer look at the dug-out when they boo a result. Most turned around to aim their frustration at the directors’ box after Newcastle secured their first Premier League victory on the road since March 1. A growing number of supporters do not think anything will truly change until Levy has gone and they are right.
He may like to play up to the image of being the Premier League’s toughest negotiator, the man other chairmen and chief executives hate to deal with. But, at this rate, Levy’s legacy will be as the man who messed it up, the man who negotiated his way into a corner, the man who simply tried to be too clever.
On and off the pitch, Levy is failing. Tottenham are yet to reach agreement on the remaining land to build a new stadium, have not secured the money to finance it and do not know where they will play when it is finally being built.
Across London, West Ham United are looking forward to moving into the Olympic Stadium and sit fourth in the Premier League table after the co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold stuck by their manager, Sam Allardyce.
Tottenham have got progressively worse with each of Levy’s last three sackings. Harry Redknapp secured fourth place, Andre Villas-Boas could guide Spurs to only fifth in the following season and the club slipped to sixth with Tim Sherwood in charge.
Under Mauricio Pochettino and after the defeat at home against Newcastle, Tottenham are in 11th place after nine games. Of course managers, head coaches and players are responsible for results, but Levy is to blame for the continuing decline.
Pochettino insisted that he did not regret leaving the second-placed Southampton to work for Levy and claimed that he must change the weak mentality of his players.
Those are the players on whom Levy spent the Gareth Bale money, the likes of the record signing Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli, Étienne Capoue and Christian Eriksen.
Tottenham dominated the first half against Newcastle, taking the lead through Emmanuel Adebayor’s header and seeing Chadli squander a great chance moments before the break.
Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager, sent on Rémy Cabella and Sammy Ameobi at half-time to stunning effect, and Spurs simply wilted. Ameobi levelled the scores just six seconds after the restart by latching on to a long ball from Jack Colback that caught the Spurs players snoozing and beating Hugo Lloris.
Then on 58 minutes, Cabella crossed from the left and the 21-year-old striker Ayoze Pérez marked his first Newcastle start with a goal by heading into the corner of the net.
“It is impossible to go to the pitch not ready to start to play," Pochettino said. “I think there was a lack of concentration from us. We need to work hard on our mentality because it is not tactical, physical – it is concentration and mentality and this is our challenge to improve.
“It is not something where you can analyse the action, sort the tactical situation and move the players. With mentality, we need to work hard. It is not easy. We need to be more strong, like a team. This is our challenge.
“We need to speak, we need to create a different situation on the training ground and work. We know how, but always you need to spend time to work in this area. It is not the same as in physical or tactical situations. It is a different area."
Pardew revealed that he changed his team’s mentality with a half-time blast that helped secure a second successive victory and ease the pressure on his position.
“There were a few strong words," he said. “It’s not nice as a manager to go in and bark out orders, but sometimes it’s necessary just to shake people up because we needed shaking up.
"I was pleased they took on board what we talked about because the easy thing in football is talking. You need to show. I have not hidden from the criticism.
"We still have a lot to do in this Premier League season. But today I am going to smile and I am going to enjoy this victory because it’s a big, big win for us."
Levy will no doubt be looking for somebody to blame. It is time for him to look in the mirror.
Telegraph Article...
posted on 27/10/14
Moutinho was left until deadline day mate where we made a pathetic bid that was rejected. Levy and his pathetic deadline day dealings which has only once ever come off with VDV. Are you forgetting the time we sold the best striking partnership we had in years in Berbz and keane only for us to desperately sign Frazier Campbell on deadline day. It's madness mate with this guy in charge
posted on 27/10/14
Good read anyway -OP
However I don't see us getting shot of levy due to him being Joe Lewis's nephew and making profits like he does.
Certainly has a lot to answer for it we finish below 10th but it's still early days of the season.
Who's to say that M.P didn't say to levy see how i get on with the current squad until January and I'll make my assessment and recommendations then.
Bad result yesterday - yes....
OTT knee jerk reactions - yep.
In the kind words of them bin dipping mousers... Calm down , calm down !
posted on 28/10/14
comment by Chicken - Mr Consistent✔ (U1043)
posted 19 hours, 30 minutes ago
===============
I'm sure Harry, AVB and Poch wanted Messi, Ronaldo and Pique too, but if the club point blank refuse to sell the player, they are too expensive, or is owned by a Third Party making them ineligible to play then there is nothing Levy can do. Plus there is the new Fair Play rule which prevents us paying £30m per player and signing 5 new ones.
There is not a lot wrong with this squad (or the squad we started the season with I should say) but so far it is being mis-managed. It may not be oozing with the class we might like but it is certainly better than Newcastle’s, West Brom’s and Sunderland’s.
Many posters on here told me at the start of the season that new signings mean better, yet they get given new signings and all of a sudden its back to blaming Levy. The buck stops with the manager and this situation is no different. Poch needs to have a good hard look at his selections and start making improvements before we become a bigger laughing stock.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
First things first, Messi, Ronaldo, and Pique too? I was talking about realistic targets coming to the club, not Football Manager/Fantasy ones. Our targets were realistic and would have made a difference to the club, as the Manager had clearly requested them. No one is saying we should pay over the odds for anyone, however we have to be realistic in this day and age and pay the going rate for players we need. If we try to haggle or try to reduce the player value, then another club steps along, of course we will miss out on them.
As for the current squad. No one is saying we have a poor squad, I think we have a talented squad. But it's not strong enough to challenge for a top 4 slot. There are certain players that are not strong enough to be playing in their respective positions, we are lacking very simple things like a strong leader at the back, a strong and creative CM player, and a top class striker.
Now the blame can easily be shifted on Pochettino. The same way the blame was shifted on Sherwood, the same way the blame was shifted on AVB, the same way the blame was shifted on Harry, etc.... If the Managers are wanting to build a squad with players they feel ideally suited to take the club forward, the board should be backing the Manager. It's no good saying, "you can't have Batman, but you can have Robin". The Manager has identified who his strong players are and who his weak players are. We purchased players like Fazio and Stambouli, both 2nd choice players. No way am I writing off both players, as they both need a chance to prove their worth. But if they are not playing consistently in the first team, it proves that the Manager feels they are decent back up options rather than first team starters.
I like Pochettino, the same way I liked AVB. But I can understand that when trying to work with a group of players that are not strong enough to challenge for a top 4 slot, and when the expectations of the fans and the Board is exactly that, the Manager sure has his work cut out.
posted on 28/10/14
Hugo, exactly my thoughts
posted on 28/10/14
Don, I definitely have mixed feelings about Levy. On one hand, he is always watching us play, like a fan would, has us financially stable, and does care about the club. But then on the other hand his business head comes into it, this means the results on the pitch do not reflect what us fans want, we so often miss out players what we want, with excuses galore on why we miss out on them, and Levy is quick to just fire the Manager and replace him, as this is the quickest and easiest option for him. It's like a vicious circle, the fans don't see the output, some fans boo the team, Levy reacts and sacks, then we get a new Gaffer.
We all care about this club and we all want us to not go down the City, United and Chelsea route, where money dictates over football. But we also shouldn't be cutting corners and leaving ourselves in a position where things are more difficult than imagined.
posted on 28/10/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 28/10/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 29/10/14
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 30/10/14
Chicken,
Again mate I think we have very talented squad. I just personally think that in order to take this squad a level up we need to add that extra steel, that's all. I do have high hopes for this squad and it is the strongest we have had in many years, but can you honestly say that we could be serious top 3 contenders?
As for Lamela and Townsend, you're right they do divide opinion. Watching Townsend has been a major disappointment over the last few months. I simply find him predictable and his output is non existent. Ok Lamela loses the ball, but he is full of excitement too and makes things happen. 3 Assists in the league, 3 cup goals, his confidence is just growing and I can see an inexperienced lad turning into a a superstar.
posted on 3/11/14
Hi Hugo
I accept that Lamela has assists to his name but he has also cost us goals by giving the ball away in silly areas - the most notable being against Arsenal, one against City (or 2 if you include the clumsy penalty challenge).
As for being Top 3 challengers, I don’t think it has to be "Top 3 (or 4) or nothing", there are other positions between where we are and those positions.
Obviously Top 4 is always the aim but at the moment we are not looking like the 5th or 6th best team in the league.
I know yesterday's result has changed our league position quite a bit but we are still playing a lot worse than we were last season under an inexperienced manager (supposedly clueless and a "chancer" ) and the squad is better than what I am seeing.