Spurs moving to a different level on and off the field

Spurs moving to a different level

Regular readers will know I am a buoyant chap.

Let me recap for all you new readers.

We played Basel on 3 April 2013 and were played off the park by them. We escaped from that game with a 2-2 draw after being 2-0 down.

I wrote after that game that we needed to get a manager in who will get a group of young players together, teach them to play a set system throughout the club, keep them together and have readymade replacements from the Academy to step into any players shoes who leaves.

That way they would know the system, know their role in it and know the role of the other players. I suggested if we keep a group together they will grow together and the bonds with the club will be strong, particularly for any Academy players coming through.

Six years later and we have just reached a Champions League final and embark on our fourth consecutive season of Champions League football with the very outlined I penned.

While everyone else was panning Daniel Levy, I looked at what he was doing, I looked at how you build a club to be successful in a sensible sustainable way that doesn't rely on a Sugar Daddy.

Money talks. You either have it and compete or you don't.

So the solution was simple, we had to find a manager who actually improves players and doesn't just buy a team

While that was happening the infrastructure of the club need to be built to generate the income required for where we wanted to be, not where we were.

Act like you are successful and you will be, act like your a failure and you will be.

Top players want top facilities. If you are earning millions a year, you want the surroundings to match, not some run-down facilities. A run-down stadium and facilities doesn't attract anyone, quite the opposite.

Build it and they will come, they don't come before you build it, unless you pay stupid wages of course, which we couldn't afford.

Daniel Levy said we want to challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid on and off the pitch. That is where we want to get to. Fans laugh at that, it isn't possible, we shouldn't even try. That is the voice of failure.

The voice of success believes it is possible and figures out a way to achieve it. A long process, but still just a process all the same.

Levy also said building a new stadium would be a game-changer for us, meaning be would be in a different financial league once it had started generating revenue.

It didn't take a genius to work out that once that was built and the infrastructure was in place we would move to a different level in the transfer market, that there would be investment in the team. It is the natural progression.

Those complaining simply doesn't understand how success is built in the football business, because it is a business.

Sir Alex Ferguson said that you have to have a successful business off the field before you can have success on the field and by success, he didn't mean a one-off Cup, he meant the regular lifting of trophies.

Why would you want out the one man turning this club around and turning it into a success of the field?

Given that is essential to success on the field, it would be insane to remove someone marching the club towards the trophies he and we want.

The club is not in a position where we can invest in the team and pay higher wages.

We tried to sign top young talent last summer but couldn't bring in Anthony Martial, Malcom or Matthijs de Ligt. Pochettino didn't want alternatives, he wanted his top targets.

A year on with a Champions League run to the Champions League final and confirmation of the income the new stadium brings, allows us to upwardly adjust our budgets and go after our top targets once again.

The ill-informed press and Newsnow regurgitation website have been throwing everyone at you this summer, I have largely concentrated on our main targets, the players I knew we were absolutely determined to get, Tanguy Ndombélé, Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, plus centre-back Joachim Andersen if Toby Alderweireld left.

I have been excited all summer because I knew all three were sealed in May and early June, after the international break, before the Copa America and European Under-21 Championships began.

Yes we tried for Gareth Bale, yes we tried for Dani Ceballos but the intransigence of Real Madrid has put paid to both those potential transfers.

It has shaped up to be an even better summer than I was envisaging with the news of new contract offers for Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

Troy Parrott is further down the development line than I expected but we'll see, I still think he has another years development to do before he could be considered a backup for Kane.

We have offered Llorente a one-year deal on lower wages but I hear we are also looking around to see who we might be able to pick up. He has said no to the deal offered in the last few days, hence names starting to appear in the media.

It is a time to relax and enjoy while the busy summer continues, especially in this glorious weather.

We have a naming rights deal which we should see signed by the end of the year and AIA are renewing their shirt sponsorship with us for the next 8 years at around £40m (€44.83m - $49.90m) a year (£320m - €358.67m - $399.23m in total) in a deal comparable with Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

Our original deal was for around £16m (€17.93m - $19.96m) a year.

This is further evidence we are moving to a different level sponsorship wise now that we are regulars in the UEFA Champions League. It is important we maintain that while starting to win trophies.

NFL fixtures start this season and the stadium can now be used for non-football events so everything is looking rosy. All grow the income, allow for wage increases and even more investment in the team.

We are in the process of going to the next level. It might be quick, there might be errors along the way that slow it down. It is uncharted territory for us in the modern game as we muscle in on territory once reserved for London rivals and Manchester.

Liverpool with greater resources than us have returned to the top table under Jurgen Klopp, an example if ever there was one that the right manager does make a huge difference.

Chill out one and all, enjoy life, enjoy Spurs rise.

DescriptioIván 

Iván morales