I Love Daniel Levy
Friday, February 13, 2009 at 3:05PM Firstly, I’ll apologise in advance for anyone who is browsing into this blog for the first time ever. This is an editorial written especially for the girls and boys of the official Tottenham Hotspur forum. I would have signed up to it myself and posted my response there but unfortunately to sign up you need to include info relating to your season ticket or membership. Which means, if I did, I’d be giving away my identity. The thread that has inspired me to write this article is probably no more than a ploy by Daniel Levy to catch me out. I wasn’t born yesterday Mr Chairman, no sir.
So, don’t judge me on the basis of this vanity enriched rant.
To be honest I don’t care whether people like me or this blog. I write for myself and for people who have followed my letters to the chairman over the past several years. Blogging is a bit like Marmite. My articles range from long winded rants to match reports and caption competitions. It’s not a run of the mill everything in black and white website. You’ll have one reaction from one person for a blog entry and a completely opposite reaction to the same entry by someone else. And I love that. Everyone has a differing opinion. Nothing ground-breaking with that.
Opinions aside, it all depends on how serious you take yourself and whether you have an ability to read between the lines. Ironically, I get it that I’m taking myself too seriously by writing this up. But I can assure it has more to do with the fact that I have ten minutes to spare than it does ego.
So this is my reaction to the thread on the official forum that had one brave chap post and tell everyone he likes my blog. What a mistake to make. The reaction, overwhelmingly, was that (according to the residents there) my blog is utter crap. I’m not going to lie. I felt all warm inside. It’s been called worse.
The thread then turned into a pro/anti Levy ‘discussion’ (which included an invite for one of the members to meet up outside the pub to continue the discussion face to face – I guess moderation isn’t a key element in their community).
There are various sound-bites about Levy being a leader and one that we can be proud of and that he makes mistakes but usually gets it right. And that basing our opinion on our league position and transfers is very childish. Levy is apparently a good businessman and one that has made us profitable and respectable. Blaming him is possibly a kneejerk for wanting to place blame on someone, anyone. Probably because we live in a blame culture.
Talking of which, I don’t blame anyone for thinking I’m loony tunes if they glance quickly at my blog. I guess most will browse off and never return because they take every word literally or simply dislike my style. In fact I've changed my mind and I’m not even going to explain myself on this. People who can be arsed will work it out for themselves. If you don’t or can’t then that’s cool. Plenty of forums and blogs out there that I’m sure are tailored just fine for you. I’m not everyone’s English cup of tea. This whole blog was birthed from Glory Glory.co.uk. Maybe it should have stayed there.
Now to attempt to answer one or two of those sound-bites, I’d like to state that Daniel Levy has made some major errors in judgement. Critical ones.
He has already admitted that the reason he appointed a Director of Football was because he needed to entrust someone to take care of the footballing matters because he knows nothing about football. His words. And it turned out great for him because he could blame the Ramos appointment on Comolli and use him as a scapegoat when it all went tits up and then play the PR game by going back to basics with the Harry appointment.
For a club that is so financially stable and quite obviously has money to waste, we don’t actually make any progress. In the true sense of the word. I guess that’s fine in some ways. We are not a yo-yo club like West Ham and we are not shambolic politically like Newcastle. We have our soap opera elements that the press love to hate on us for. But so has every club. But is that a good enough excuse to hide the cracks (the ones purely related to football management) that constantly re-appear no matter how many times we plaster over them?
Back in the day, fans on the terraces never spoke that much about the chairman and the board of directors. It's not lost on me that Irving Scholar messed the club up. And it's not lost on me that to be able to compete in the transfer market you need a foundation.
The foundation is here. It’s holding us up with strong ENIC bricks. We just don’t want to turn the bungalow into a high rise. We want to build on the foundation. We talk the talk. We bring in the builders. They just turn out to be cowboys and the roof caves in.
The footballing side of the club is not run with any cohesiveness. Whether there’s a plan in place or a transfer policy (why nobody dared question the ‘buy them young sell them for a massive profit’ tactic employed by Levy still astounds me) it’s always seemed a little superficial. And now it's almost desperate with the Redknapp appointment and his choice in transfer policy.
When I look back at the summer, so blinded by the Berbatov saga, I actually initially supported Levy's stance until it dawned on me pretty quickly that his actions and delays cost us heavily. But that’s ok. Because we can spend £15M a time on any player we wish because we got no debt, innit. So much so, we no await planning permission for a new stadium.
What? You waiting for me to slate him for that too? Hmm. Nope. But the point is one of overall responsibility.
Maybe, in some ways, expectations from the media and fans, pressure the chairman. Maybe our impatience plays a part. Maybe the chairman is weak.
If you look close enough, you’ll understand the in-joke.
Sorry for being pretentious and cryptic. To be honest, I could be writing a blog article about Darren Bent and his latest whinge, and I’d much rather be doing that. But I guess ego does play a part after all.
Reader Comments (46)
Stop with the cultured fishing Spooky.
I know you don't give a rats arse about what people say.
Levy is a good consistent chairman, prone to making major fuck ups. Not sure what the answer would be.
If we had him dealing with the money side, who would work as the footballing man?
I dont agree with many of your opinions but most of them have an underlying agenda I guess making a joke out of other Spurs fans who over react. But then I've been reading your work for 3 years.
And please do write up something on Darren Bent.
Levy is in it for the money. All business. Not an iota of football in his blood.
That official spurs forum is more limp than a alcoholic tramp.
Maybe in time, our 'arry could move upstairs and become the Football half of Levy's brain, and a new manager come beneath him? or does that sound too much like a repeat of David Pleat???? Oh dear, what's plan B?
do you want to take this outside?!
Spooky and his ego. The best online partnership blogging can find.
im sure that took you more than 10 minutes
11 minutes.
You have one thing right about chairmen: the one that f---ed up all the good work of nearly 25 seasons was Irving Scholar.
Well said Sir. I don't think Levy can be faulted for giving it a good go, but like you, I believe he consistently makes major errors of judgement. Another peice of evidence for the prosecution is the continued absence of any decent players coming through the youth system. I can only think of Deadly Ledley in the last 10 years?
I know Levy is not out there scouting, but as the man at the top there must be something wrong with the structure he has put in place.
Irving Scholar is the reason we are so far behind now. Dramatic statement I know, but its factual. The fallout leading all the way to the Sugar/Venables court case and the ENIC take over. It's been a heart transplant on the club and one we're still attempting to recover from. But in all honesty, with the money side working very well you have to question the football aspects.
Spooky touched on it with the culture of failure at the club. I think Levy should have been stronger and stuck with Jol but we all know that consistency is not something we do well at all. And that pressure from outside of the club and the fans means we have a culture of chop and change as a reaction to a dilemma or crisis.
Hate to end it like this, but look at Arsenal and how they have been run since Wenger took over.
has nobody else noticed that The Association of Real Spurs Enforcers Neutralising Antichrist Levy spells our the ARSE! this guy can't be a proper Spurs fan!
Sssh! I don't think he knows!
-Dave
speak to the silent majority, spooky. love your work, keep it up.
I find it strange that so many people - especially those that like to hang out on the internet - view the world in such an extreme/extreme fashion with no middle way or without taking a bit of this and a bit of that. I've been reading this blog since I stumbled upon it sometime last season and I find some of your comments to be inspired genius and some to be utter bollocks but I find every post worthwhile and entertaining - I'm pretty certain that if all the naysayers took a few days to read through your back catalogue they'd feel the same. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you to keep it up but KEEP IT UP SPOOKY!
"the ARSENAL LOL"
I had a look at that thread on the official site and it was very scary like a football equivalent of the Stepford Wives.
Great blog. The simple fact is that levy came into this knowing nothing about football by his own admission but knew everything about business. If he learns about football as well as he learnt business, he will get it right I guarantee it. We will never get a chairman with this potential again and when Newcastle, West Ham and Blackburn are bankrupt while we're entertaining 60000 fans during a global depression, people won't even question mr levy. Right now, league position is absolutely secondary to financial health so luckily we have the right guy.
This blog is always worth a read.
Middle of Feb and we could potentially be bottom come March and the comment above is talking about a 60K seater stadium!
Until this season ends and we are out of the brown stuff let's not start laughing at other club's potential misfortunes. That could be us.
As for Levy.
If he had of chosen somebody who could make the correct football decisions then we would not be 3 points from bottom after 25 games and having spent so much money. A lot of it on over inflated transfer fees.
He got rid of Jol and bought in Ramos, passing the blame elsewhere is a poor excuse.
And does anybody else think that signing players in this transfer window who we were owed money on was a way to avoid using any hard cash?
Well I am somewhat the cause of all that hoo haa on the offical forum. I'll be going back there to fight on with the sheep. I'll maybe even firm up that "lets meet at the pub for some good old skin head bashing" invitation which I must say seemed like an idea until I found out that it was a women that made the fighting offer. What kind of people are these?
Thanks for posting this anyway, good to know I od not fight alone.
Cheers
ARCHIESBALD
Scary people it seems.
they make me tremble. Anyway, the battle on the official forum continues. Have a read, just to keep abreast of events. I am expecting a torrent of abuse in due course.
Why would any want to sign up to an official Tottenham forum? Plenty of more vibrant message boards available to fans, without the prying eyes of the club looking over you.
well because I am a club member and therefore have the right to post on the official site and because I hope that that is where the people/players in the club would read up (if they ever dare read any forums that is). I also follow other forums, just sometimes those holier than thou club members who by the way feel they are better than any other fan(not all, but some) need some ass kicking once in a while.
Fair enough. Had a look around it. Some decent posts but all a bit too stale for me.
"he's actually called spooky on another website.... he's the author of all the bullshit above which you mention . he's as much of a wanker as i keep telling everbody that you are.... ohh and someone else who's on that website & on this (not me) has told him so..." - traciebigtits
You absolute melter. Someone on the interweb has called me a wanker. Dear God, what to do. I need to see a therapist to recovery from the humiliation.
Who's this person who has 'told me so'? Need to add him to my Christmas Card list.
"Sorry, registration has been disabled by the administrator"
How is one able to sign up to the official forum then?
So basically, suziebigtits thinks you're a wanker and someone on another site (GG???) has also called you a wanker, which means you are without a shadow of a doubt a wanker.
There. You just got told Spooky.
You wanker.
:)
It's traciebigtits Oops, pay attention. Although she's more traciebigbollocks the way she stomps around that forum like she owns it.
What a swamp of a forum that official board is. Thank fuck they are closed in on their own in a corner away from the places that really matter. Utter c*nts. Calling Spooky a arsehole is the height of hypocrisy as they seemed to value their opinions above anyone elses. Bunch of self-righteous bullies.
COYS
ummm, I believe it was I that was called teh arsehole and wanker, especially by tracie man bra. Please dont steal all my thunder.
soz , I see we were both called wankers by that man bra wielding freak.
How do I sign up?
I need to sign up to it too, so anyone who can link me to the how to do so, let me know.
Just had a look at the thread again. What in blazes is this about:
rdless:
I READ ALOT OF WHAT HE SAID AND FOUND MYSELF GETTING ANGRY THAT MOST OF HIS DROSS IS UNSUBSTACIATED. HIS ARGUMENTS ARE LIKE THE RANTS OF A SPOILT CHILD. "WE HAVEN'T WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP, QUALIFIED FOR THE CL, AND THIS SEASON WE ARE IN A RELEGATION SCRAP, SO I WANT A NEW LEADER"
That's about me apparently. I'm confused. Have I actually ever said that? Or is that meant to be a generalisation?
Honestly.
Also the comment about how rdless will criticise anyone who gets something wrong - sorry, but do one mate. Speak to 20 random Spurs fans and you'll get about 12 different opinions on a topic Spurs related, whether its about Jenas or the chairman.
Levy is astute financially consistently makes the wrong knee jerk decisions when it comes to footballing matters.
And if you actually bothered to do your research, you wont be critical of what I write for several reasons, but again, I'll let you continue to make assumptions because you appear to be far more comfortable all the way over there on your soap box.
Also, the 'Tottenham Hotspurs' comment you made - stop being such a pedantic prick.
Ta.
http://forums.tottenhamhotspur.com/showthread.php?t=5802&page=2
This is the link to register or at least the explanation how to. I think you need to be a club member to start. The normal process doesnt work (go figure) so us this link and Mr Levinson will get you connected. This is what I had to do.
Below please find all the relevent info as posted above to gain access to the official forum.
To all,
We understand that some people have had some trouble signing into the forum or registering to the forum. To gain access to the forum, you must have BOTH of the following:
1. A username and password for the Tottenham Hotspur official website. If you do not have this then please register at:
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/regi...istration.html
2. An active paid-for membership with the Club i.e. a One Hotspur Membership.
If you are a Club Member and cannot access the forum, please email alex.levinson@tottenhamhotspur.com and quote your:
a. Website username
b. One Hotspur Client Reference number
We will then get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you for your patience and co-operation,
Tottenham Hotspur
"The thread that has inspired me to write this article is probably no more than a ploy by Daniel Levy to catch me out. I wasn’t born yesterday Mr Chairman, no sir."
Spooky just thought I would point out that paying to use the services of http://domainprivacygroup.com/" REL="nofollow">Domain Privacy Group does not mean that you identity is protected.
It simply means there is a little bit more effort in obtaining the information.
While I am not bothered either way if you wish to remain anonymous I do feel I should make you aware that you are anything but anonymous.
A good rule of thumb you can use is that if your information is held on a server then it is accessible by anyone who has a computer (and no I am not talking about hacking as that would obviously be illegal).
Was Spooky just threatened?
I'll put the kettle on then.
Behave.
Anyone else waiting for the traciebigtits /spooky war on the jermey kyle show ??????
Lie detector tests
JK: we asked spooky if he loved spurs - he said yes - he was lying
ooooohhhhhhhhh gasp
JK:we asked traciebigtits if she had that user name to try and get a little attention from blokes - she/it said yes - she was telling the truth
LONG LIVE SPOOKY
http://forums.tottenhamhotspur.com/showthread.php?t=9546&page=6
carbootgolf:
“I think this thread has drifted from the original post. It has become a cockfight, abuse, foul language and popshots being taken at each other. it would be nice if a debate just stayed a debate.
What i think of the weblog is that it is just one person thoughts and thus unbalanced. So is this the best Spurs website? well thats a big no.
Now the owner of the site is taking potshots at the members of the forum but refuses to join up. instead he says
"I would have signed up to it myself and posted my response there but unfortunately to sign up you need to include info relating to your season ticket or membership. Which means, if I did, I’d be giving away my identity."
I see that quote only 2 ways. firstly he is not a member or season ticket holder or secondly he think his comments are so controversial he is embarrased by them.
The other thing about the website is that there are some gooners on there, i believe there is one guy who loves posting
"The Association of Real Spurs Enforcers Neutralising Antichrist Levy"
But ultimately there is no such thing as bad publicity and this thread has probably given his website a boost in his ratings. “
< The cockfight is in-house, nothing to do with me. Seems both sides are not that capable to debating. As for your thoughts on my blog. Of course it’s not the best Spurs site on the web. There is no such thing, IMO. As for it being unbalanced, not sure why you would choose to use that word. A forum with let’s say 500 users is also unbalanced because you’ll find varying degrees of opinions. A forum where everybody agrees with each other would be pretty much unbalanced, much like a blog written by one person. I say what I say just like you or anyone else does. It’s your right. Don’t agree, thats cool. I don’t agree with a lot of people. Doesn’t mean my reaction would be to abuse them for being a little leftfield.
Taking potshots? What like you lot calling me a wanker etc just because you spend half a second looking at my blog and deciding it wasn’t for you? Honestly mate, think before you mug yourself off.
As for the ‘not a season ticket holder’ just because I won’t sign up to your precious forums, do me a favour. Initially, I couldn’t see how, until someone posted instructions – and still it’s a pain in the arse to register. But that’s not the reason I won’t sign up. I use about 4-5 different forums. I don’t need another football forum in my weekly online fix. Especially one that doesn’t allow anyone who is not a member, as if suggesting people who do not have membership are not valid supporters. Guess they are still good enough for a few quid in the Spurs shop, right?
As for the final comment you made - you obviously find it easy to assume and point your finger without actually doing your homework first. I won’t even bother explaining this because it’s so bloody obvious. Take your time brother.
rdless:
“Another Quote from Le Twat...
The thread that has inspired me to write this article is probably no more than a ploy by Daniel Levy to catch me out. I wasn’t born yesterday Mr Chairman, no sir.
So, don’t judge me on the basis of this vanity enriched rant.
To be honest I don’t care whether people like me or this blog. I write for myself and for people who have followed my letters to the chairman over the past several years."
The geezer is clearly a whacko. Anyone who has been writing to someone for several years and actually believes that Daniel Levy has created a thread to catch him out, suffers from dillusions of grandeur and is probably a stalker.
Bald Archie, if the site is not dedicated to the hating of one man, then WHY IS THE SITE CALLED "DEAR MR LEVY"???”
< Ah. Le Twat. See. You give it the billy big bollocks about discussions and the like, and you lot resort to name calling. I’m telling my mum! The rest of it is quite simply the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Cheers. Keep up the good work chief.
boonerd:
“Can we take this thread down as this is promoting a anti Spurs site, full of plastics and sad gooners.
Moderator do us a favour please”
< Yes. Mods! Please lock this thread and then sticky it. It’s a perfect illustration of what happens if you disagree with each other on the official forums. Superb advert for anyone who is considering signing up.
Merry Xmas to all.
You must have got a shit load of traffic from this!!
I never really liked Spurs as a club; being a Man Utd fan myself and I have no idea how I ended up here.....something to do with that forum post...i dunno.
Anyways, gotta say, the official site does nothing to enhance the Tottenham rep in my eyes.....seems to be a bunch of very sad, cave dwelling individuals. You take it to them!!
I think there are posts on both sites relating to this debate that I would consider non-constructive.
While I don't agree with everything written in Spooky's blog I can also take it for what it is.
There are some valid points and also some interesting views which is what makes reading blogs interesting.
Looking at the official forum I think some people have been painted with the same brush and not all the people on there are slaging the site or name calling.
Open debate only works if both sides respect the others opinion, if they agree with it or not, it seems this has not happened.