Thursday
Jun072012
Levy Mathematics
Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 3:38PM Sign a player for £2.5M. Sell him for £7M.
Goodbye Niko, we didn't see enough of you in a Spurs shirt. That wasn't always your own doing. Graceful with flair and wonderful hair. Wasn't to shabby to look at either.
Good luck at Dynamo Kiev.
We'll have to wait and see if Levy has more maddening skills this summer with pulling in more than the £4M he wants for dos Santos and forcing Everton to buy back Pienaar for more than they sold him for.
All more likely than signing a centre-back.
Reader Comments (54)
He'll drive us mad again this summer Spooky, but absolutely insane if he retains Redknapp.
Spurs cannot really map out their future with any real confidence until the stadium is under way with the financing secured. Although a 56,000 stadium would yield more income we do not know how much of that will be available for team building without knowing the annual interest charges on any new debt. Hopefully the deal will allow for increased net income for the team - Spurs can then plan ahead with confidence. At that time would favour a youngish new manager with us for the long haul. Until then happy to continue with Harry Redknapp, who's doing a series of one-off jobs, almost one season at a time.
We've lost Niko and it was all so unnecessary. He could have played many more games if we had a proper rotation policy - then Bale and Modric might not have looked so knackered by the end of the season. Niko's gone. My wife is heartbroken...and we STILL have Bentley and Jenas here!
Maybe a miraculous showing by Niko and Croatia at the Euros will show Levy how hasty he was in getting rid of Niko - and maybe, just maybe, it will prompt him to bring in Slaven Bilic.
"Sweet dreams are made of this..."
Niko---A real loss. He was absolute class and could shoot as well. Like Pienar the club never really used him intelligently.
Not given the right chance (like Gio) and so went for a better life ... Levy does not always get it right (Redknap, only 56000, Director of football etc.) but in this case i think getting a profit for a player who will only be bit part (if we keep the wally in charge of team selection) is good business ...
Phase 1 complete - waste time on negotiations for Vertonghen.
Phase 2 underway - fingers crossed players we`ve been linked with (yawn) excel at Euros, therefore increasing their stock, therefore pricing us out of the market.
Phase 3 - the unmentionable - Niko excels at the Euros and is immediately worth more than we just flogged him for.
Phase 4 - bulk order of Cuprinol to preserve the dead wood, it may have some antique value someday. Or car boot value. Failing that we`ll donate it to the air ambulance charity.
Phase 5 - snout around local hospices and care homes for affordable loanees.
Peter4Spurs is right about only 56,000 stadium. Would have preferred 60,000 + as suspect that could be a minimum capacity for a future European Super League.
hat a waste was made of the player at spurs,never given enough run of games,a cool business done with him though. Wish him the best in his newly found club(dynamo kiev) as well as euro which could either see his price rise or fall. Welldone Niko
Elegant but lazy player. Didn't really have a position that we can fit him in.
Levy's done well not to sell him to a Prem team.
This Vertoghen thing will work itself out. Have faith in Daniel.
We need to start a Levy must go and bring in a new system. He has taken 5 years to long over the new stadium, it wont be big enough at all anyway and its the same old same old from mr ego!!! He is a rubbish ego orientated chairman. Is there a website where I can start a petition me thinks!!
This Summer...as usual we will undeliver in the transfer window as usual.Buy the players after the seasonhas started and miss out on valauble points!!! We will make more than we spend!!! He is a two bob C u Next Tuesday
Can someone tell me why it is taking the club so long to sign a quality striker? We have been crying out for one since the days of Berbatov and Keane and yet we are still waiting despite all the media saying we are in for this player and that player but all we end up with are players at the end of their shelf life. I am getting the impression now that Levy and company are not that interested in the football side of things and are prepared just to try and get away with spending as little as possible. Was Saha, Nelson and Friedel really Harry's choices or were they the best he was allowed to get? This has been going on now since we first made the Champions League and I see no way forward with Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy in charge. I really wish they would get out of the club and lets have someone who really is behind Tottenham to come in and bring some quality to the club like we had in the 60's. At the moment the club are a joke. We have some outstanding players but we are missing that vital link of someone who can put the ball in the net. Adebayor was a good player but not as our out and out striker. He loses control of the ball when passed ot him and is not a prolific scorer. His quality is receiving the ball in the air with good vision for a pass but he does drift wide too much. I want someone like a bigger defoe but who can spot a good pass but most of all will finish the passes into him by our great midfield.
Haven't signed one since Robbie Keane came back.
Chris - all chairmen are powerful men and therefore walking egos. Let`s just hope Levy`s ego is sufficient in the Redkrapp negotiations.
What`s infuriating is that Levy`s such a nearly man. Yes we need financial stability - especially with Redkrapp at the club. But Levy is so clenched I bet he can have the top off a bottle of beer with his ring piece.
And unless a buyer turns up out of the blue, any petitions or demonstrations are pointless.
Always underestimated is our Daniel. True Nico never got enough playing time but despite his flair when the 1st eleven is fit who would you drop for him ? Not really a tackler, no real pace but just good enough not to be on the bench all the time so best option let him go at a profit. Daniel may come across as tight and thrifty but dont forget this is the man that played the government, the media and a majority of spurs fans into thinking he wanted to move to Stratford but used it to get the funding for our new stadium and told Chelsea where to go when they pushed for Modric. He may be tight in the undercrackers but theres golden balls inside and I for one am glad hes our chairman. Following the sad loss of his mother im sure he will come back even more determined to do what is best for the club long term, sorting the Arry farce out and completing the signing of Vertonghen. Keep the faith
The only reason we didn't sign an effective striker is that ENIC has a money shortage. ENIC couldn't afford to spend money in January even when they knew that it would have helped significantly the team to consolidate its position and safeguard participation to the CL and a revenue of 35-50m. Until Spurs will have a new and richer owner we shouldn't expect much from Levy and company.
Also until the issue of the inadequate and insufficient transport infrastructure at the area of the Northumberland Development Project will be solved there is no chance that any construction work for a new stadium will start. That may take some time.
loanX is porbably right about ENIC and the new stadium. Problem is sheer scale of investment involved compared to current value of the club - club maybe worth £300 million now, but new stadium costs around £400 million - just shows scale of investment involved. Liverpool look like expanding Anfield now, rather than building a complete new stadium, and I wonder if that might just happen at Spurs too
Yidster - totally agree with the Stratford business - if it`s as it looks - with the added bonus of pissing the pikeys off!
I don`t buy into this `will never be successful until new stadium is built` line.
I`m no businessman but surely the way forward is to invest in players capable of qualifying for CL and filling a bigger stadium before building the thing.
Wet Thursday night, Europa league v Shamrock Rovers. 56,000? No way, not without 30 odd thousand away supporters.
A half empty ground would be a huge financial liability, as many clubs have discovered.
Look at L`arse - last season playing in CL, qualified once again for CL playing in front of bin bags on empty seats.
And those saying 56.000 isn`t big enough - don`t knock the thing before it`s built, the plans are said to reflect Levy`s wish to maintain atmosphere, which must be a positive when you look at new Wembley and the new Library - souless concrete hulks.
Let the gooners sneer when it`s built that it`s not as big as theirs - that`s the kind of senseless nonsense we`ve come to expect.
As for a Euro super league - let them have it. It`s the antithesis of what true football fans want. And when one of them doesn`t measure up and gets voted out by Europes elite, let them come crawling back and charge them a fortune for the honour of rejoining our league - after a public questioning session designed to humiliate them, starting with questions like `What happened to you then? What makes you think you qualify to play in our league?`
Daniel is a great chairman but we are right 56,000 is too small but I think they are playing it safe. Great players, we certainly do not have but with positive intervention -Great players will arrive. Redknapp always buys old donkey players past their sell by date, Install Mr. Blanc after France's exist from Euro 2012. Vertonghen is our Captain sooooooooooo Please Sign him now as he is the only player to say he wants to play for Spurs.Gaston Ramires needs to be signed immediately along with Milos AS COMPETITION for places needs to heat up.
Luuc De Jong is a great talent for the future and one to drive in goals but his partner needs to be great as well. The Premier League is won by fit, strong, pacy players and frankly Spurs don't have too much pace. We need Quality passes and quality ball control to win the League not what we have. Lucas Moura is the pacy winger we need to dazzle defences week in and week out. Daniel please invest in Quality Young Talent because 1st.Team football is what they are all after not the crap Redknapp
I wish Niko all the luck in the world, real classy player and a real gentleman but just couldn't get any games for us.
Also it drives me absolutely insane when people speak out against the chairman, some of you just don't know how good you've got it bunch of spoiled kids!
"Levy is so clenched"..Ha..truer words were never spoken He'd better unclench himself and sort matters out with Harry ,like yesterday if not sooner.
I ave been on hols....come back and you lot are still bloody moaning.....4th..5th..4th......want to be big clubs like villa..pool...not me...all for a bit of player wishing coments and generally pleading for a sheikh or three but if he manages to get funding underway for a new stadium in the Beverly hills of haringey that we call home then young daniel is a bleeding genius....I demand that you all drink 4 pints minimum tonight have a smoke and lighten up a little....
P.s. I keep reading "undisclosed fee"...is the 7m u mention for nico fact and if so where's it from...?
New stadium maths
Cost £400 m - borrow money over 20 years - repay £20 m each year. Interest on borrowing at 5% - would be lucky to get that low ! - £20 m per year - so total outgoing £40 m each year.
Income 20,000 extra seats - say £25 m per year.
Deficit £15 m each year to be covered by naming rights, other income.
Otherwise less money to spend on team with a new stadium !!
hugh james - think Liverpool did a similar calculation which is why they may expand Anfield rather than completely rebuild a new ground.
Yidster-great post.
Moe-You don't need to charge the rejects anything, just do to them what any team needs to do to join the league...Start in the 4th Division (showing my age there)
Tamst-nailed it about Niko. Wish him well, glad to see he won't be biting us in the a.r.s.e any time soon.
Daniel Levy has done a lot since he became Chairman. He has overseen the arrival of some fantastic players, built a world beater training facility and bought up most of the property around the stadium privately and through compulsory purchase, fought the local authorities 'tooth and nail' to get imperative support for the scheme, negotiated a very favourable Section 106 agreement with Haringey Council and got planning for the new stadium. On top of that he brought success (of sorts) back to Spurs. Compare that with what Alan Sugar (Our Fucking Saviour Supposedly). He rebuilt the West Stand, made it clear that Arsenal, Liverpool, Manure and Cheslea were absolute fools, spending big money. He was going to do it the Amstrad way. Only he didn't and furthermore he had a different agenda. He took over £100m out of Tottenham when he left and still retained £30m worth of shares. And he called Venables a con man !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would prefer Daniel Levy any day. Okay he turns a profit too, but he's a Spurs supporter and I think his heart is in the club as much as the business side of it. He brought Arry in and Arry has abused his authorith in the Media. The England debacle was the last straw. He's past his sell by date, served his purpose and it's time for Levy to dispatch him.
Also sympathy to Daniel Levy and Jermaine Defoe of the loss of their Mother and Father respectively.
Ha ha! Got to laugh at those who think ENIC/AEG weren't serious about Stratford.
Levy did use the botched bid to our advantage afterwards, but it set the NDP back a year. The money gained through Levy making a nuisance of himself is less than one season of extra income in the new stadium. He couldn't have the gypos getting a new stadium for nothing though, so fair play there.
With ENIC as the owner, we won't compete until the NDP is built; the extra capacity (I reckon 56000 is about right) enabling us to pay competitive wages, or unless, like in recent seasons, the teams which have more money than us continue to underperform.
ENIC refuse to use any of their own money.
Botched bid ? Rubbish, He played them all along. The clue was in the running track. All were insisting it be kept and that a legacy to athletics was maintained, he was the only one saying he would definitely rip it up and wouldnt entertain athletics at the stadium. Made our bid impossible to accept. Barry Hearn sussed it and nearly gave the game away in the early days but luckily more was made of the west ham part of his statement. Complete masterstroke by Levy
That picture you posted Spooky made it all clear to me.........Roy Hudd is really running the club and he's having a laugh!
TMWINN - I intentionally ignore the possibility that Levy was serious about Stratford - it gives me the strength to carry on!
On the subject of a new stadium, I hope that our author here is a man of means. `Spooky Stadium` is much more catchy than ENIC arena!
jack wilshere drugs cheat within news in next few days
Can't believe criticism of DL. Great business selling Krancjar for a profit. Too slow and never a first team player. Let's hope the rumours ae true and he is followed out the door by Gomes,Corluka, Bassong, Dos Santos, Bentley, Jenas, Pienaar. That would clear some serious wage bill and raise a few quid for transfer kitty. If we had finished third then DL would already be out there restructuring the squad but, without CL income, we need to sell before we can buy more than one or two. In Levy I trust, unlike HR. that hiatus isn't helping either......
Nonsense. If anyone was played, it was Levy. To make the bidding process more competitive, and beneficial to the OPLC, he was given assurances that the running track wasn't the be all and end all of a successful bid. Where is the 'leverage' otherwise? 'Give us money to help build the NDP or we will enter a bid we will definitely lose.'
@moe
In my mind, sacking rent-a-gob would instantly redeem Levy of the whole sorry affair.
It really irks me that he believed he would win the OS bid.
We have to learn around three things from the Gooners stadium development/disaster. Yes, everyone said it was a blueprint for building your own stadium, but Arsenal have been repaying around £30m a year in interest, plus allowing a contingency for failing to qualify for CL of about £40-50m. Net result Arsenal have been trying to keep a £80m cushion, and consequently no trophies for 7 years. Lesson 1, don't negotiate a crappy deal with main sponsor. We get around £12.5m for shirt sponsorship, The Gooners get around £10m a year for shirt sponsorship and naming rights combined. Poor deal or what- they short changed themselves by about £100m over 10 years. Lesson 2, the main shareholders shouldn't be too greedy. The likes of Hill-Wood, Dein, Bracewell-Smith etc were not prepared to dilute their shareholding by selling part of the club, to reduce the debt burden, even though the completed stadium doubled the value of the club. The Telegraph wrote a piece which claimed the reason for leaving the stock market was to obtain a main sponsor who would also buy a 25% share of the club for around £100m, in addition to shirt sponsorship and naming rights. Lesson 3, don't go into property development alone. Arsenal did and paid the price. Dein claimed Arsenal expected to make £100m profit fro m developing Highbury, but because of the propery crash made just above break even. So, get a partner who will take more of the risk, and accept a slightly lower profit level on building appartments- but at least you make a profit. By learning these lessons Levy is likely to keep down out debt burden well below the Arsenal level.
Lesson 4 - a new stadium should be viewed as a natural progression from success on the pitch - not as the magic wand that will wash all our troubles away.
Levy was played ? Originally the govt wouldnt chip in, thats why Stratford came up in the first place,few months stirring the cauldron and all of a sudden the govt are paying up and Daniel is skipping up the yellow brick road back to N17 happy as larry with a suitcase of wonga not giving a stuff where Stratford even was. And you think HE got played ? lol. Never underestimate our Daniel, he'll bend anyone over and roger them in business before they even realise what day it is
i sat next to his family and sort of a mrs 1 game, im afraid a casualty of harry's lack of rotation with the players!
While I'm happy for Kranj for getting away from Redknap, I would have preferred it to have been the other way around. With Knap on sky sports news, marching on out of the lane towards the horizon never to be seen around N17 again. Alas we are still "close to signing Vert." All the while are still without a striker and as previously mentioned we are still in need of a competent manager. Levy's some sort of sadist, torturing my poor, lost soul at the moment.
Harry and levy alright doing best they can..........
Football is like any other business. It is a three pronged mechanism. You need good Directors, good Management, and good workers. I don't think there is much wrong with Levy and co. We haven't done a Leeds. There is certainly nothing wrong with the work force. It is the best we have had in donkeys years. That only leaves the Management.
Levy should take a hit on HR's final years salary and get rid of him, unless Levy knows something we don't. Who can guarantee that something, anything, will not pop up over the horizon next year to add to HR's distraction. 2 out of 3 aint bad if you never want to get into the top flight year in and year out. But to win things on a permanent basis you need 3 out of 3 year in and year out. Mathematics don't lie, we just aint good enough at the moment, mathematically speaking.
I want success and I want it now! I want some billionaire to come in and buy Messi et al. I really want to get rid of a stable chairman and become a plaything for some middle eastern /Russian/ American oil tycoon..... I want to get rid of Redknapp as well - he messed it up - despite us playing the best football in the league last year and taking us to the best positions in the last 3 successive seasons for decades. I really want to get rid of everything and start again. I do not want to try and keep abit of stability - the most successful managers are never the ones who have been there for the longest.
tusuboy - word.
boris, the govt, harringey have all danced to DL's tune. DL said in his end of season message that sainsburys will stick a spade in the ground later this year. NDP is defo going ahead. all that remains is for DL to announce the naming rights sponsor and the interest rate we'll pay on the loan. i expect sponsor to be at least 200m - maybe even more - over 20 yrs. we'll be ok.
Anyone who saw Niko's last game for Spurs, home to Stoke in April, would see the problem Harry has with rotating.
On that day Niko was utter rubbish. Gave the ball away constantly, ineffective in possession, slow and unable to affect the game. We dropped points at home that costs us, not all Niko's fault but he contributed nothing. How could he be selected in the next game after that?
Maybe it was the wrong game/opposition to select Niko. Ferguson rotates a lot but his teams are usually picked with the opposition in mind. May be Niko was never going to flourish vs a physical Stoke team. However, Niko picked up an injury and was not available for the remaining 9 games.
All this rose tinted "Kranjcar is class and should play more" is a bit of an overreaction. He actually had classy skills but was flawed in that he did not have the skillset to play CM, or the discipline to play wide
The Levy lovers will have to face up to the fact that ENIC will eventually sell THFC to whoever offers the most money, so there's a fair chance that a billionaire 'middle eastern /Russian/ American' will buy the club.
Levy has excelled in book balancing. The club will be in excellent shape financially, but perhaps with a huge but serviceable stadium debt when they do decide to cash in the chips. Running the club to a stringent business plan will also ensure we're in good stead if the FFP regulations are ever enforced.
However, let's not for one minute pretend that the football side of things has been a raging success under Levy's watch. In his 11 years as chairman we have won one league cup. The last decade was the least successful since the '40s. The current "success", i.e. 2 4th places, is more down to the poor form of scumski and especially Liverpool, rather than Levy or that tit, Redknapp. We've failed to capitalise on their poor form, and will find it much more difficult next season.
ENIC/Levy have done a great job of clearing up Sugar's mess, and Scholar's before him and will no doubt benefit by walking away from the club with their pockets full of cash too. They are interested in money, not tin pots. The two aren't inextricably linked as we will see when they sell. Their only regret will be that they failed to grab the land in Stratford and the extra value from the possible commercial activites that went with it.
For those who thing the 56,000 seater stadium is not big enough are you diluded,
The original plan was to build a 60,000 I tear stadium, to do this they would off cleared everythingand then started from scratch, the council said no to this because of the 4 grade 2 listed buildings so the plan had a be changed to include all 4, 4000 spaces were removed and the positioning of certain aspects (Shopping Centre, Hotel etc) was moved to meet the stipulations, Success, new stadium apporved. We have signed a deal with Sainsbury's and they will be the main shopping centre which is already being constructed as I type. all the land is bought and the basic things are being done,
we will go from Just over 36000 to 56000 seates with a 25000 Season ticket waiting list it wont take long to fill up and wont take long to bring in the money.
Stadium was originally planed to be ready on the 2014/15 season but because of delays it will be the season after. 3/4 will be completed (42000) and then WHL will be knocked down to build the final end, Sounds like a plan to me and it has all the backing in the world COYS!
It seems many are keen to bestow Levy with the mantle of a business genius in much the same way as some see Harry Redknapp as an astute manager. But to imply that the Stadium bid was just a smart piece of manipulation to get some public money for the stadium development is taking it too far. Levy, having no emotional connection with the club, saw a huge opportunity to elevate the business far, far quicker than by natural growth if he could get the Olympic and in particular its prime location. He went for it full tilt to the neglect of all other options. He falsely believed that little matters like buying off the athletics community and tearing the whole stadium down could be negotiated solely on a financial basis just as he does with his transfer dealings. He failed and failed badly. The 3 year delay in getting the new stadium going meant that it was now going to have to be done in the eye of a recession. And of course the revenue benefits will be correspondingly delayed. Sure as part of the fallout he has got some concessions out of the mayor, but anybody who has ever dealt with public finances will know that this will be delivered at a snail's pace with loads of burocracy attached.
From a footbaling aspect he is hampered by having a manager who is largely incapable of devoloping players, but instead relies on buying them ready-made. So our chairman will continue in his quest to screw everything he can out of buyers and sellers alike, but when it comes to big achievments under his watch he has yet to deliver.
Bloody hell, was anyone watching Spurs when our big name signings were Ruel Fox and Jason Dozzell? It might not be perfect, but 80% of last season was incredibly enjoyable, certainly the best that I can remember as a Spurs fan. Yes, that made the disappointment of missing out on Champions League all the worse, but if we were offered 4th on the first day of the season, how many Spurs fans would have said no. The fact that they went on that amazing run in the middle of the season raised expectations, but over the course of a season 4th was a good result.
If Levy and Harry could have a do-over, it would probably be the January transfer window, but even then, there was logic in what they did. They would have assumed (as did most of us) that CL was pretty much a lock, especially as no-one thought Chelsea would win it. Given that, it made sense to "strengthen" the squad with players whose contracts are up in the summer so that you can buy the players you really want in the summer. It didn't pan out for a variety of reasons that no-one foresaw, but that doesn't make them incompetent for doing it. It would arguably have been equally bad if they had signed three squad players on high wages, qualified for CL and then had to clear out those players before buying decent ones, especially as we already need to clear out Bentley, Jenas et al.
One final point, can we please all stop moaning every time Levy or Enic make a profit or even a sensible business decision. Spurs is a business and a very well run business and we should be glad to have someone like Levy at the helm. New rule - if you want to complain about them trying to balance the books and make a profit, you have to walk into work the next day and tell your boss you are now working for free, or even better, you're going to pay to come to work.
He's not the messiah he's a very naughty boy.
Pozza - can`t agree with you. Levy`s lack of investment in January is the only excuse that actually stands up in Redkrapp`s favour.
I moved away from the London area some years ago and so am `out of the loop` a little.
However, at the turn of the year, I discussed with supporters from a variety of clubs our predictions for the new year. Mine was that Spurs would struggle for top 4. The reason I gave was that Redkrapp was not good enough to guide us thriugh our remaining fixture list. They all thought I was bonkers. I stuck with my prediction and view on Redkrapp and was repeatedly told I was off my trolley.
I sought therapy in blog sites like this one. I had never visited them before and lo and behold they were full of people with similar views to mine.
January was a time to invest in one or two quality players, not squad players.
On the one hand you say Levy is a shrewd businessman, on the other you say he took it as read that 3rd was a certainty and in any case assumed Chelski wouldn`t win the CL. Both turned out to be false prophesies, therefore on that occasion his business nous was found to be wanting.
None of us dreamt of top 4 - but we should have finished 3rd. And if you review our actual results last season we have nothing to lose from letting Redkrapp walk. Any decent manager could achieve those results and build on them with commitment to the club and the project. Arry`s only interested in his pension fund now.
A repeat of last season`s results probably wouldn`t see us in 4th place again as we were assisted by a poor chelski side, on league form. The Arry lovers need to be aware of our results rather than league position if we bring in a new man.