THFC probability-o-meter

Current order of probability for this week (1 being most probable, 10 least likely):

1 - Andre Villas-Boas announced

2 - Jan Vertonghen signs

3 - Gylfi Sigurðsson signs

4 - Ledley King announcement (re: retirement, future at Spurs)

5 - Investment / Naming Rights finanical injection

6 - Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Júnior signs

7 - Chirpy sex and drugs scandal

8 - Director of Football return

9 - dos Santos to be sold

10 - Harry Redknapp to not have an opinion on any of the above

Yes I know, it's not technically an o-meter, it's just a bog standard list. Deal with it.

D-Levy wants to D-List

Morning.

You'll have seen the financial results and club announcement from Spurs. We plan to 'de-list' the club from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and cease to be a public limited company, mainly for the reason that this (remaining a PLC) restricts us from gaining private investment in order to aid the NDP financially. A private company is the long and winding road we choose to skip down.

"It is clear to us that increasing the capacity of the Club's stadium is a key factor in the continued development and success of the Club and will involve the Company in considerable additional capital expenditure. Given this requirement, we believe that the AIM listing restricts our ability to secure funding for its future development. We are ambitious for the Club and have always taken the steps that we believe to be in its best interests." - Levy

The AGM is on December 13th, so the majority owners of ENIC will propose then that we are de-listed. Won't be an issue, ENIC own 82% of the shares (the remaining small shareholders will be able to sell their shares if they wish).

Long term, ENIC and Levy are positioning themselves for the money shot. Build a new stadium. Maximise potential profits. Sell the club.

No shocking revelation there. ENIC are an investment company with shareholders and as long as the club is left in a healthy state nobody is going to complain when the time comes for Levy to move on (other than myself as I'll have to register a new domain name and writing letters to Daniel will hardly be relevant if he's no longer at the helm). Although hopefully the caveat will stress 'do not sell to anyone with oil money and playboy traits'.

Point is, ENIC are custodians and there is little argument against the fact that we have (in terms of business) been run supremely well in recent years considering we are not a seasoned CL club and still play in a below 40k stadium. That's mainly down to Levy and the fact he has the Tottenham brand to play with and a massively loyaly fanbase to lean on. But that next step is imperative to the ethos of being unequivocally competitive with other clubs that are richer thanks to ticket revenue and over-priced Coca-Cola.

The following quote below doesn't quite inspire, although again this might simply be Levy's siege mentality on gaining the necessary monies the club needs to push the NDP into its phase of reality:

A financing package will need to include bank finance, enabling development and sponsorship. Quite clearly any significant, further investment by the Club would need to be in the context of a commitment by the public sector to undertake public infrastructure works in order to create the environment and confidence to commit further.These would include public sector improvements such as public space upgrades, improved public transport and public realm works, to be delivered in the surrounding area and to contribute to the general uplift of the borough, thereby creating an area in which the Club can justify an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds, secure funding and be a catalyst for further regenerative investment. We are continuing to hold positive and constructive discussions with local, regional and national government as we seek to move this scheme forward.

The rumoured £7.5M Boris has promised is hardly game-changing and we still await to see if a new tube station is forthcoming. A game of Thrones.

Fact is, the club (ENIC) need to push on. We need that new 55+ ground and I have no doubts that's what we'll achieve. Otherwise, there is no progression for Spurs or Levy and therefore nothing for ENIC's shareholders to feast on in the years ahead.

As for the financial results:

Champions League football revenue rose almost £44m to £163.5m

Operating profits up 42% to £32.3m

Costs of maintaining the squad up 35% to £131.2M (compared to 2010 £97.1M)

Club recorded a pre-tax profit of £400,000

More money made thanks to CL, more money spent on general costs and outgoings (new training ground, NDP, debt reduction, player bonuses etc), less tax wastage. It's all good. We're a slick machine in business operating terms, almost as slick as the manner of our football.

CL football will keep us happy and the chairman focused. For now, progress for the NDP is still lost in politics and posturing.

In amongst all the figures, worth also citing the obvious fact that the OS bid is dead. Dodo dead.

Losing to Utd, again

First it's Paul Barber, leaving us for the MLS. And now John Alexander, our club secretary, on his way out of White Hart Lane to pastures new. That's Manchester United, where all things Spurs end up, eventually. Daniel Levy's inner circle is in a state of flux. If you're wondering what John did, I'll let the boys and girls over at GG educate you on why this is a loss (although personally for John, its hard for him not to move on, as with Barber he's a career man). In a nutshell, Alexander is considered one of the best. Even if he's part of the furniture that you don't ever really find yourself sitting on, without it, the room is not complete.

Over the past 25 years Spurs have had the best secretaries in the league, Peter Day, Peter Barnes and John Alexander. Peter Day was head Hunted by the FA, Peter Barnes moved to West Ham and now we are on the verge of losing John Alexander.

The role of club secretary in very in depth. like the nerve centre  on a day to day basis of running the club. the responsibility of contracts, banned players notification to FA of bookings and discipline records. Application for work permits, visas for travel and the arrangements for overnight hotel stays for the team when playing away games. I can personally vouch for these three as very hard working people.
- sidtheyid

He is quite simply the best club secretary around...involved in pretty much everything which has seen us behaving like a top 4 club despite only having a 36,000 seat stadium and never having been in the Champions League...those manc bastards!!! they did this once before to our backroom staff, the chap's name slips me, but he was our marketing/merch chap in the early to mid-90s. he's the one who was seen as being responsible for building them into a true global brand and he revolutionized merching of stuff with those megastores. that would've been us...
- thfcsteff

Big loss this. Levy's inner circle for the past few years has been Alexander, Barber and Collecott. Alexander is also the 4th person who sits on infamous 'gang of four' transfer committee. Very well liked and hugely respected by all accounts. 
- Gutter Boy

The question (the obvious one) being asked is whether Alexander is going to take with him intimate knowledge of all our players contracts - and clauses - to a club that picks off our best players every couple of seasons. Knowing Levy (not personally, the court order would never allow it) I'm hoping that there are one or two legal stipulations that would protect us - but then again, Alexander is leaving us for a new job. Other than gardening leave, which he wont be on, there is next to nothing we can do if he wanted to share any information about the club.

Modric to Utd then. Done and dusted.

Bent is soz for his tweets

Everybody has covered the Darren Bent statement that’s been published on the official Spurs website confirming it was his account...and his mistake. Now if you’ve been following Darren’s Tweets, the first thing that will be obvious is that it’s highly unlikely he wrote the apology all by himself, if at all. We all know it’s always a representative of the club or the agent that does the written work. Obviously, because it’s all a PR exercise in making sure the club come out of it as the victim and the player the naive impatient fool. Which is exactly what’s happened. And it was always going to happen. You can’t slate the chairman in the papers, so slating him online via a social networking tool is equally a no-no. Still, I can’t help but smile at the apology.

This is it:

I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward and are often complex. However, after a long period of waiting following my withdrawal from the plane to China, I had become incredibly frustrated by the time these things take and I posted inappropriate comments on my Twitter site.

I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my better judgement. I regret my actions and did not intend to offend Daniel Levy or anyone with the nature or the content of my posting.

If Darren’s Twitter account was still active he could have micro-blogged his regret using a string of 140 maximum character sentences. But then if it was completely up to him he wouldn’t be issuing an apology full stop.

Let’s put it into perspective. He’s (for the sake of argument) on 50K per week. I wouldn’t mind the waiting around a little bit longer knowing that my employer over-spent to sign me and don’t want to (as best as possible) be short-changed when selling me inorder to make up for the mistake in the first place. Telling the world that you're upset by posting in the public domain that is the internet is a no-go. Unless you wanted people outside of your private Twitter account (which anyone could access because you accepted anyone who requested access). Or you simply didn't think. Which is a common trait, let's be honest, with most professional footballers.

Hang tough. You're leaving. It’s a given. It’s Spurs, you should know it’s never quick and easy.

It's a massive massive shame that Daniel Levy doesn’t have his own Twitter account, as I’m certain this would have been handled and sorted without all the unnecessary press coverage.

Spurs have nothing in reserve but plenty going forward

So no more reserve football for the Spurs. At least not during the course of the 2010 season. In its place, the club looks set to loan out players and have the rest competing in tournaments and privately organised friendly fixtures. Reasoning behind this is that the club believe it offers a better 'alternative in meeting the changing requirements of our players'.

This might just work out for the best.

Reserve team football can be a little bit of a cemetery of apologetic performances whereas if a player is out on loan, he has to be on top of his game and willing and able to impress at a far more competitive level. I'm probably being a little harsh on reserve team football because for some it’s the only way for them to prove their worth. But scoring a couple of belters in front of an empty ground isn't exactly proving much. Other than fitness and sharpness. There is no true gauge of development for a youngster because the result doesn't really matter that much and the tempo is far off being close to a proper football match.

La Liga have the right idea with their B team structure in their second division. None of the B teams gain promotion, but get to compete with other clubs.

We've enjoyed plenty of success with the kids and second eleven over the past few seasons. It's got relatively easy. So loaning some of them out is a positive step. It worked well for Adel who is a player that has to learn about composure and decision making, something that is unlikely in reserve team football. For QPR, he gets to test out the show-pony skills and learn a harsh lesson that it's not always possible to swan around thinking you are Zidane. Gunter had a successful time at Forest and Troy Archibale-Henville was immense for Exeter City.

More of these kids playing in the Championship and beyond helps them to grow in stature and us in understanding if they can ever make the grade in the Premier league. If they can't then they've spent time in the shop-window and we can move them along with relative ease.

The kids not loaned out and the players who sit on the fringe of the first team will benefit from the games organised by the club which should have more of that extra bite than a typical reserve team game played out at Orient. And please, no trips to Crawley and Stevenage.

The academy boys have already experienced plenty of success in tournaments the world over, although having them size up against other English academy sides was a good measure of progression that I'll actually miss seeing. And now they will have more time to travel.

More trips to Europe and South America rather than Watford and Southampton. Freedom to do as we see fit without the constraints of a fixture list.

Although the article doesn't reveal much at the moment about proposed schedule, I can't believe the club would ever consider pushing ahead with this without knowing that we won't have players sitting around listening to their i-pods and texting while they wait for an organised game or tournament. It will be interesting to see who makes the cut for the loans and the academy/first team fringe places.

So, in essence we are replacing the reserve team with our academy players (without the requirement of playing in the reserve league) and the older players (players on the fringe of the first team or returning from injury and academy players that are best kept close than on loan - like Obika) will play in organised games rather than die of boredom at Brisbane Road.

The up and coming players will be loaned out. The likes of Bostock, Parrett Mason and Rose.

It's a brave new world and makes complete sense. I'm sure David Pleat once upon a time suggested we do this. If so, it won't take long for him to mention how it was his idea.

Daniel Levy ready to seduce the devil

It was always going to happen. With the new stadium development in full swing, the club are fluttering their eyelashes at the corporate potential a new ground posesses, which financially (it would seem) is impossible for them to ignore.

Welcome Tarquin. I hope you enjoy your stay. Make sure you visit the club shop.

If you’re a member/season ticket holder you’ll have received a survey asking for your valued opinions relating to a lavish VIP area that will consist of all things non-football. You know, like wi-fi and padded chairs. And the hook? Long-term purchase of seats. 10 year ownership. The bane of the Emirates.

Welcome to the Tottenham Hotspur Founder seats. American Express Platinum at the ready.

Initially I actually thought it would be some sort of scheme for the common man to hold onto their seats for a decade. But then what common man could possibly afford forking out for these exclusive cinemaesque thrones? I guess just the common man turned self-made millionaire who wouldn’t blink at writing out a 20k cheque for the privilege of a few hours of luxury with around 90 minutes of football thrown in somewhere in the middle, if they’re actually interested in the football. With a free subscription to What Prawn? magazine they maybe otherwise engaged.

The stereotype alarm is ringing in my ears. Yes, rich people can enjoy football too, but its best enjoyed from a normal seat with minimum distractions. Anyone willing to sit on a corporate balcony with a waitress serving ribs is quite obviously missing the point. But there’s tragically a market for this type of thing. Football is no longer about just the common man with his plastic bottle of beer and pie in hand. It’s an entertainment industry and the plans Levy and co have is the next logical progression from the almost low-key in comparison, executive box. Bigger stadium, bigger scope. Plastics bottles replaced with plastic fans.

I don’t want to appear to be repeating the same things that you may have already read on the subject (NorthLondonPride has more or less hit the same nail on the head) so apologies if I appear to be echoing the obvious sentiments.

(Levy you can) Cater for this minority if you so wish if it helps pay the bills but do try to wash away the getting into bed with the devil ethics of giving them the benefits of priority applications to cup and away games. Not that I could possibly imagine any of them socialising with the Park Lane boys on a trip to Stoke. But still. Loyalty should be served up to the ones who have been here all their lives. Hopefully the survey results will be positive in our favour. Best to find another way of paying the bills.

So far all the development plans have been spot on. Crowd nearer to the pitch than other newly built stadiums is a nice touch for bread and butter supporters. Why would I possibly need a leather cushioned seat with extended leg room and pre-match hot buffet when a cheeky burger will do while I stand up for the whole game singing at full pelt? But the problem is, such a seat is not meant for the likes of me.

Founder members wall plaque that will be displayed publically? How about a statue of Sir Bill Nicholson? A wall full of Tarquins is vanity driven drivel. Although the ‘meet the chairman’ event isn’t something I would dismiss out of hand. Although the court order would.

I guess the question, to avoid an Emirates/Wembley style lack of atmosphere, is just how many of these Founder Seats are the club going to make available? If it remains a very small minority that isn’t detrimental to the rest of the ground, then I probably won’t bat an eyelid. Let alone flutter one.

Looking forward to the update on the survey results.

The 'New White Hart Lane' - Looking good on paper

The club have released more progress updates on the re-development plans for the new stadium. So far there is little to be critical of. Yeah, yeah....you heard me right. I guess this is as close as a pat on the back (that's just a single pat of hand to back) I will get to giving our esteemed chairman. Please do not take this as a form of weakness from myself. I'll still be greeting him with a water balloon, as per usual every Monday morning as he drives into work. No reason in either of us getting slack.

Snazzy

There's perhaps one or two minor design quirks (what's with the wavy upper tier?) and no apparent news of whether the Cockerel on the ball will re-appear on the new east stand but all otherwise looks good (isn't this also a good time to think about a statue for Sir Bill Nicholson?).

The general re-generation potential for the local vicinity will also go down a storm. Upmarket Tottenham, eh?

Here's a quick look through some of the updates below:

• 58,237 capacity - Wonderful. And with a possible 45k+ being made up of season ticket holders (meaning less of the corporate ilk), the new stadium will have no excuse to ever be on the quiet side.

• Fans being kept together to retain the 'camaraderie which has built up over the years' - This is a simplistic master-stroke. One of the most important ingredients and vital to retain the current atmosphere WHL is capable of. Have to say, of all the things announced by the club, this one makes me smile the most. Evidence that the club actually listens to the fans.
  

• Stadium 'bowl' tightened to maximise atmosphere (8.2m from the pitch) - Compared to Arsenal, City and Wembley we'll be far closer than the three of them to the pitch. Not as close as we are now, but close enough. Which is a nice touch.
  

• Re-location of the away fans - Interesting this, as the away supporters will be moved from the South-West corner where they preside now to the North-East corner of the new stadium which means the new North stand (or new Paxton if you want) will be, in-effect, the new Park Lane - as long as they move the Park Lane residents to the new North stand. That would make the new South stand a family designated area (as having them sat next to the away fans would not make sense). You dig?
  

• New public square on Tottenham High Road - Nice touch. Can imagine a sing-a-long or two occurring here.

• New supermarket with parking - Guess the locals will like this one, and might even mean an improved pre-match diet for me personally.

• Only concerns are the travel aspects where several 'hoped' improvements are subject to 'discussions'.

Check this for more info:

PDF Guide from Tottenhamhotspur.com

Or just visit the official site.

Juande the press will get it right

From the official Spurs site, via JuandeRamos.com, in response to several media outlets running stories suggesting Ramos was shaking his fist furiously in the direction of Levy, and then pointing and saying 'IT WAS YOUR FAULT'. This is Juandes response to the coverage:

"I understand that my comments regarding the sale of Keane and Berbatov have been misrepresented in the UK press. For the record Daniel Levy did not sell these players to make money. They were sold for footballing reasons. The players wanted to change teams because they had the opportunity to play in the Champions League. During my time at Tottenham I always received support from the Chairman regarding sporting decisions to make Spurs an even greater team: I maintain an excellent relationship with him and I am convinced that he is doing everything he can to lead Spurs to a successful future."

Lost in translation perhaps? Whether it's the tabloid newspapers or the broadsheets, it seems its quite acceptable to take a quote, slap a bit of make-up on it, and push it out to walk the streets where it gets picked up for cheap thrills.

I don't know any journalists, apart from one chap (a Gillingham fan) who covers football for a non-national (he has yet to be corrupted by the dark side) so I guess the editorial process allows for mistakes like this because cheap thrills will always be in demand.

Reminds me of one particular TV channel that ran a story about a Barcelona player, and that said player was in talks with Spurs, only to then remove it from their screens and their site and never mention it again, all in a rather zany 10 minutes.

Then again, we can hardly trust anyone in football either. It's not like they don't lie.

Rock. Hard place.

Let the Park Lane and Shelf live on forever

If you look down this thread over at Glory Glory you'll see something that I've always been a firm believer of. I'll quote:

Existing season ticket holders, and seat prices/stand names, to be transferred as closely as possible from WHL. So in the new stadium, everyone who's got a season ticket for the Park Lane gets a season ticket behind the goal at the Northumberland end for the same price (or the same price ratio in comparison with a ticket in the new West Upper), everyone who's in the Shelf corner gets moved to the corner next to that end, and so on, and on matchdays the cheapest tickets in the new stadium are in the bits which are cheapest now, and - well, actually this bit is architectural, put all the executive boxes and corporate crap in the mid-level and upper tier of the new "West" (i.e. actually now East) Stand.

- edam_anchorman

This is something I've always failed to understand when other clubs don't attempt to retain some form of structure when migrating us fans across to a new ground. Personally think this is vital for us. And Levy best listen to the voices of thousands because if he is genuine with his promises on atmosphere then this is simply the only way to achieve it.

More quotage (this time belonging to Danish White):

The key criteria apart from the obvious stuff like view, safety, catering, access etc should well be:

Acoustics: You really, really do some freaking research in the sound patterns of the pitch, simulated with "soft" background of the stands filled with fans in clothing and all. How hard can it be, seriously. Be an an avante garde for bloody once and be the club who creates a fans ground created for atmosphere !

Proximity: Spare space from touchlines and sidelines should be the absolute minimum allowed for excess pitch feet, space for warmups, add boards and stewards. No a single inch more, not a single.

Denseness of internal build: Upper tiers need to be as advanced to the pitch as possible and wherever possibly by any means should the design aim to allow for more seats upwards on the stand by tilting the stands as steeply vertically rather than horizontally to create space upwards above the pitch rather than outwards towards the streets. Anybody disagreeing with this part can impossibly have been to Bernabeu and felt the thrill in the upper ranks.

If Spurs get this right, then we'll have the best ground in the country, apart from maybe Old Trafford which retains its tradition by being an old stadium built new and expanded. If we get it wrong, you might just find yourself sitting next to Billy Glory-Hunter more interested in the half-time ribs than the action out on the field.

Our enemy will not be Levy, but more so the architects who have this mis-conception that the most vital thing regarding the football experience is comfort, plenty of leg-room and having the best view possible. No thanks. Give me White Hart Lane any day of the week. Compact, busy and loud.

White Hart Ashburton

Another Levy bombshell. Good or bad depending on whether you wish to get excited at this desperately early stage. How can a new ground possibly be bad I hear you ask? Make it into a replica of every new type of English stadium, soulless and detached. From the illustrations, its looking like a dome. Spurs are hosting some exhibitions as part of the consultation period. So locals and fans will be able to have a say. Although I doubt we could get them to change the design of the ground to something more practical, like this:

Now that's a proper football ground. But then the Germans know how to do football efficiently (booze, cheap season tickets, cracking atmospheres).

Click here for a press release (via the Hornsey Journal) that covers off the current plans for re-development.

And here's the first look at the prospective design and how we plan to shift away from White Hart Lane forever, and into the Virgin Media Dome, or whatever the fuck we plan to call it:

For the full technocolor pdf click on this link: http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/uploads/assets/docstore/Booklet_Web.pdf

Groovy.

National 'Levy-whoring-himself-to-the-media' Week

Whilst everyone is buzzing from the DVD release (available on pre-order, free Opus not included with purchase) of the North London derby score draw, Daniel Levy decided to ride the wave of open bus parade success by releasing news of the planned 60,000 all-seater to be built just off White Hart Lane. With obvious re-development of the surrounding area, I'm sure things will look spiffy when complete. As long as have a brand new spanking tube station built to help ease the traffic nightmare that will no doubt engulf N17.

So, a new home? Many traditionalists will be happy (who would want to use the stadium in Stratford?). Although we can all say goodbye to the 'Park Lane' and 'White Hart Lane' - selling our souls to whatever company pay top dollar to associate their brand with the new grounds name. Maybe we can name the tube station, WHL? Not pleased with the renaming of the stadium. Lacks class. But once again, football is a business. Sadly.

I haven't checked it, and will do so later but according to something I read, Daniel Levy has agreed to answer questions posted in the COYS forum. That's the forum that has closed membership and bans anyone for thinking outside the constraints of the admins. The COYS forum is like run by George Orwellesque admins, patrolling the threads and removing you if you dare insult one of the informed club insiders who shares ITK info about our latest transfer target. In fact, any deviance from the popular mainstream opinions is deemed unacceptable. Unsurprisingly, I'm not a member.

Unless I dreamed the above, I'll see if I can track down the questions and answers. It's possible its already done the rounds (and made the papers). I'm still playing catch-up.

Levy has apparently stated that there may not be money available in January. Which is a little cheeky. Are we now broke because of the stadium announcement? Considering we make almost us much money on selling our players than we do on new acquisitions, I'll be surprised if Levy has allowed the credit crunch to take a seat in the board room.

And to try and detract you away from that, he's now blaming Ramos (who wrote a rather sweet piece on his official website, wishing us all well - bless) for the Berbatov to Utd deal. Yes, Ramos wanted him out so Levy approved the transfer to Man Utd.

Considering the awareness - in and outside the club - concerning Berbatov and Utd from the time Jol was here, then I personally think Levy needs to take a step back with this positivity drive he is currently on and not be too forward with information, especially if some of it has been heavily dipped in bullshit. Everyone, from manager to DoF to chairman need to share the responsibility and the blame.

Going back over the Berbatov saga is a cheap shot.

His comments on Ramos losing the changing room are fairly common knowledge also. Its obvious, all you need to do is watch the Spurs games prior to the Bolton match to know the Spaniard was without a clue.

If all this isn't enough, he has also referred us all back to the alleged fact that Martin Jol spoke to Newcastle United whilst still a Spurs manager.

There's more deflection than a Frank Lampard 'Best Goals' dvd. Time we moved on perhaps?

RIP San Jose

We've formed an extensive partnership with the MLS soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes. This is an extract from the official site announcement:

The agreement will focus on football and commercial development that will see the implementation of a best practice exchange programme, with the objective of creating a lasting bond between the two clubs.

Tottenham Hotspur will invest time and resources into the development of San Jose Earthquakes on and off the pitch as well as working across charity and community based initiatives.

Invest time and resource into the development of San Jose? How about spending some time and resource in Tottenham fucking Hotspur? You know, bottom of the Premiership Tottenham. The announcement gets funnier, if you hadn't guessed already.

Our aim is to support the development of MLS by using our wealth of experience in the game on a number of levels. Football development will certainly be an integral part of the partnership, but other areas of our infrastructure will be beneficial models such as the work we do in the community with the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Ok, let me ask the question. What wealth and experience? Wealth, sure. All the money we make accepting bids for our top players. But experience? On a number of levels? Tapping up managers? Forcing clubs to make donations to the Tottenham foundation? Introducing a DoF system that undermines the coach?

Fuck me, are San Jose any good, because the shit is about to hit the fan for them?