Spending - Fan Minority at odds with Club Majority
7 min read
Spending - Fan Minority at odds with Club Majority
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| Levy and Pochettino are on the same page |
Good morning and welcome to Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN) today.
Can I, first of all, say thank you to all those who have retweeted, liked and commented on the recent article. It was very encouraging and your support is appreciated.
If you haven't read it yet, here it is:
One tweet prompted me to think further and generated this article while I was tweeting a response, so thanks Kenneth.
See no reason why they won't. You assume Levy won't spend, I'd argue that he isn't a dumb businessman, he'll spend to help growth and is misunderstood. Yes, of course, winning the first trophy is important, but you don't jeopardise the plan to achieve it, you do it within the plan
That prompted:
We lost a UCL FINAL not because of spending but a poor performance against a poor Liverpool performance too, So for me we are not far away and I'm not anti levy but you must see when to invest Now is that time for me while its close thanks for reply
While typing a response to that though I thought it might be an idea to expand a little.
The most important goal is the end goal, winning the first trophy is just a step, albeit an important one along the way.
The first trophy, the first Premier League title, first Champions League trophy are all important steps along the way when we get to them.
Remember that set of stairs.
Each one of those trophies is another step and you have a plan to achieve them that doesn't detract from the overall goal. Winning a trophy has to be within the overall framework and with qualification for the Champions League each season. That is essential to growth.
No growth and no regular trophies will be won.
Of course, qualification for the Champions League will change in the coming years and it will be a closed shop basically, that thanks to the building of the club under ENIC and Daniel Levy, Spurs will be a part of now.
Ten years ago, five years ago, we wouldn't have been.
Our off-field investment has been key to improving us on the field. With the greatest facilities, that attracts players and when you search for the right coach, as we have been doing since before Martin Jol was appointed, then that attracts players too.
Pochettino isn't at Spurs by luck, Daniel Levy hasn't got lucky as his detractors claim. Our chairman sets exacting standards and if he feels you can not reach the standards he has set for you then you are on your bike.
We saw that when a Commercial Manager was sacked after a year, basically he hadn't brought in the business expected of him so out he went.
It has been the same with managers. When the new stadium started to come to fruition, getting the right manager, one who could improve a team through coaching and develop a youth system that produces top-quality young players who are played within the team, was vital.
Not every boss plays youth though.
In 2013 I suggested gathering a group of young players and keeping them together. I suggested playing the same system throughout the club so when a player decided to leave, as will always happen, we have a readymade replacement from the youth system who knows the role backwards and can just slot in knowing his role and the role of everyone around him.
My argument was that developing players gives them an added bond with the club and they are less likely to want to leave, the pull at the heartstrings for the club will be stronger which will help keep a team together and improve together.
Basically, that is what we now have but finding the right manager for that was no easy task. Thankfully we got there in time because we couldn't have a manager leaving just as we were opening a new stadium and wanting half the team sold and another half bought.
We needed to find a manger to take us into the new stadium.
We chose Andre Villas-Boas and it didn't work so he went and the next appointment was of monumental importance.
We then undertook the biggest research on Mauricio Pochettino that we had ever done for any managerial appointment. We sent people to talk to his family and friends in Argentina to understand his character. We didn't just study his coaching ability, we studied him as a character, as a person too.
It wasn't luck he was appointed, it was through a lot of painstaking research.
Daniel Levy didn't just get lucky.
Anyway, back to answering that tweet! (New readers, you'll get used to me running off at tangents)
Spurs lost the Champions League final because we had nobody to break the first line of the Liverpool press after Mousa Dombélé left and therefore getting Tanguy Ndombélé was absolutely essential. He was deemed a player we could not fail to get and one that we must do whatever it takes to sign.
The other point there is suggesting I am anti-investment and arguing against it, which isn't what I wrote in the original article at all, indeed I wrote the opposite. I wrote we do need investment at the right times, but, that investment comes as part of the plan we are on, you don't alter course to achieve a step and lose sight of where you are going.
You would be changing the goals again. One step is never more important than the larger goal. The step is taken within the overall plan and that plan obviously requires controlled investment in the playing side.
We have invested off the field. That was need BEFORE team investment in our non-Sugar Daddy model, a model that conforms to UEFA guidelines and where we could see UEFA guidelines were going.
I remind you all once again of Sir Alex Ferguson's words on a major nationwide TV channel programme about him. You have to have a successful business off the field to be a successful club on the field.
He was saying the business pays for the football so if your business is not bringing in the money then you can't invest in your team, you can't pay the wages to attract the players.
Tottenham have increased income, we are still miles behind both Manchester clubs, behind Liverpool, behind Chelsea, they all have established businesses. We have caught Arsenal, but it has taken them having 3 years of Europa League football to achieve as well as adding over a hundred million to ours.
We didn't have Champions League football so we didn't have the name, we didn't have the pull. As Champions League regulars and now Champions League finalists people take notice of you and playing prestigious pre-season fixtures just adds to that.
We have invested in Ndombélé, we are investing in Lo Celso, Sessegnon and additionally Fernandes in Eriksen goes.
Investment is being made. Not any players, specific players and you'll note our targets haven't waivered all summer.
We don't have a bottomless pit of money and can't invest in every position in one window. We might have to develop at right-back (Foyth and Walker-Peters).
The performance of Japhet Tanganga on the pre-season tour was very encouraging for the future at centre-back.
Troy Parrott looks the real deal and nothing should hinder his progress, so for me, we shouldn't be buying another striker to reduce his potential game time. We have Son who can play as a centre-forward and Moura is scoring goals playing in an advanced role.
The development of Parrott has to be a balancing act, now verses the future. It will always divide opinion but had we taken that route before we may never have had Harry Kane.
Yes he went out on loan, but Harry Winks didn't, Oliver Skipp hasn't. If you pass the buck and give them to someone else to develop you are weakening that bond to the club an in the football climate of escalating player wages and spiraling transfer fees, strengthening that bond as much as possible can reap huge dividends.
The short term aim of the fan verses the long term aim of the club again. The two continually clashing.
It's why there are so many clashes with the toxic minority who have been given an outlet for their voice on Twitter. The THST survey showed that 87% of fans are happy with Daniel Levy at the helm and for all their abuse and shouting, the minority are just that, a minority.
Still, we don't need to go into that subject again.
The window closes Thursday, then our transfer window can be assessed.
The most important goal is the end goal, winning the first trophy is just a step, albeit an important one along the way.
The first trophy, the first Premier League title, first Champions League trophy are all important steps along the way when we get to them.
Remember that set of stairs.
Each one of those trophies is another step and you have a plan to achieve them that doesn't detract from the overall goal. Winning a trophy has to be within the overall framework and with qualification for the Champions League each season. That is essential to growth.
No growth and no regular trophies will be won.
Of course, qualification for the Champions League will change in the coming years and it will be a closed shop basically, that thanks to the building of the club under ENIC and Daniel Levy, Spurs will be a part of now.
Ten years ago, five years ago, we wouldn't have been.
Our off-field investment has been key to improving us on the field. With the greatest facilities, that attracts players and when you search for the right coach, as we have been doing since before Martin Jol was appointed, then that attracts players too.
Pochettino isn't at Spurs by luck, Daniel Levy hasn't got lucky as his detractors claim. Our chairman sets exacting standards and if he feels you can not reach the standards he has set for you then you are on your bike.
We saw that when a Commercial Manager was sacked after a year, basically he hadn't brought in the business expected of him so out he went.
It has been the same with managers. When the new stadium started to come to fruition, getting the right manager, one who could improve a team through coaching and develop a youth system that produces top-quality young players who are played within the team, was vital.
Not every boss plays youth though.
In 2013 I suggested gathering a group of young players and keeping them together. I suggested playing the same system throughout the club so when a player decided to leave, as will always happen, we have a readymade replacement from the youth system who knows the role backwards and can just slot in knowing his role and the role of everyone around him.
My argument was that developing players gives them an added bond with the club and they are less likely to want to leave, the pull at the heartstrings for the club will be stronger which will help keep a team together and improve together.
Basically, that is what we now have but finding the right manager for that was no easy task. Thankfully we got there in time because we couldn't have a manager leaving just as we were opening a new stadium and wanting half the team sold and another half bought.
We needed to find a manger to take us into the new stadium.
We chose Andre Villas-Boas and it didn't work so he went and the next appointment was of monumental importance.
We then undertook the biggest research on Mauricio Pochettino that we had ever done for any managerial appointment. We sent people to talk to his family and friends in Argentina to understand his character. We didn't just study his coaching ability, we studied him as a character, as a person too.
It wasn't luck he was appointed, it was through a lot of painstaking research.
Daniel Levy didn't just get lucky.
Anyway, back to answering that tweet! (New readers, you'll get used to me running off at tangents)
Spurs lost the Champions League final because we had nobody to break the first line of the Liverpool press after Mousa Dombélé left and therefore getting Tanguy Ndombélé was absolutely essential. He was deemed a player we could not fail to get and one that we must do whatever it takes to sign.
The other point there is suggesting I am anti-investment and arguing against it, which isn't what I wrote in the original article at all, indeed I wrote the opposite. I wrote we do need investment at the right times, but, that investment comes as part of the plan we are on, you don't alter course to achieve a step and lose sight of where you are going.
You would be changing the goals again. One step is never more important than the larger goal. The step is taken within the overall plan and that plan obviously requires controlled investment in the playing side.
We have invested off the field. That was need BEFORE team investment in our non-Sugar Daddy model, a model that conforms to UEFA guidelines and where we could see UEFA guidelines were going.
I remind you all once again of Sir Alex Ferguson's words on a major nationwide TV channel programme about him. You have to have a successful business off the field to be a successful club on the field.
He was saying the business pays for the football so if your business is not bringing in the money then you can't invest in your team, you can't pay the wages to attract the players.
Tottenham have increased income, we are still miles behind both Manchester clubs, behind Liverpool, behind Chelsea, they all have established businesses. We have caught Arsenal, but it has taken them having 3 years of Europa League football to achieve as well as adding over a hundred million to ours.
We didn't have Champions League football so we didn't have the name, we didn't have the pull. As Champions League regulars and now Champions League finalists people take notice of you and playing prestigious pre-season fixtures just adds to that.
We have invested in Ndombélé, we are investing in Lo Celso, Sessegnon and additionally Fernandes in Eriksen goes.
Investment is being made. Not any players, specific players and you'll note our targets haven't waivered all summer.
We don't have a bottomless pit of money and can't invest in every position in one window. We might have to develop at right-back (Foyth and Walker-Peters).
The performance of Japhet Tanganga on the pre-season tour was very encouraging for the future at centre-back.
Troy Parrott looks the real deal and nothing should hinder his progress, so for me, we shouldn't be buying another striker to reduce his potential game time. We have Son who can play as a centre-forward and Moura is scoring goals playing in an advanced role.
The development of Parrott has to be a balancing act, now verses the future. It will always divide opinion but had we taken that route before we may never have had Harry Kane.
Yes he went out on loan, but Harry Winks didn't, Oliver Skipp hasn't. If you pass the buck and give them to someone else to develop you are weakening that bond to the club an in the football climate of escalating player wages and spiraling transfer fees, strengthening that bond as much as possible can reap huge dividends.
The short term aim of the fan verses the long term aim of the club again. The two continually clashing.
It's why there are so many clashes with the toxic minority who have been given an outlet for their voice on Twitter. The THST survey showed that 87% of fans are happy with Daniel Levy at the helm and for all their abuse and shouting, the minority are just that, a minority.
Still, we don't need to go into that subject again.
The window closes Thursday, then our transfer window can be assessed.
COYS
4 comments
We are regressing because we don't have the depth of talent to compete in multiple competitions over the course of a season.
2016-2017 - 86pts finished 2nd
2017-2018 - 77pts finished 3rd
2018-2019 - 71pts finished 4th
We are falling away in the league and can't expected Champions League. Are you going to be happy to see us playing in the Europa league?
"we are investing in Lo Celso, Sessegnon and additionally Fernandes in Eriksen goes."
Which of those has signed?
Provide evidence that we are bring through youth in greater quantity/quality than other leading clubs? I see no evidence we are exceptional in this front.
If you look at Premiership figures in isolation it can give a negative, or worrying, impression. Perhaps trying to oversimplify isn't such a great idea then. We know that we're building up the strength of the squad. That wasn't possible three years ago. We've had to cut our cloth to suit our purse.
How we end up at the end of the season, while still in the phase where we're building up from a much lower level, is heavily dependent on the performances of other sides in the top six. While others are spending more than they can afford we don't. We're still making headway, but in a sustainable way. Some of the others, not all but some, are heading for troubled waters by trying to keep up with the spend when their earnings are dropping. Thankfully Levy has never been stupid enough to allow that.
In spite of finishing only fourth last season, most would consider it a successful o…
Looking at your list of youth products, Kane (who predates Poch), Winks and Skip (+KWP) have come through the academy. So I'll restrict my comparison to players who have come through other teams academies (If you want I can add talented teenagers who other clubs have bought and I suspect there lists will at least match ours).
Liverpool
Ben Woodburn
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Harry Wilson
Arsenil
Ainsley Maitland-Niles
Reiss Nelson
Alex Iwobi
Chelsea
Declan Rice
Dominic Solanke
Tammy Abraham
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Andreas Christensen
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Nathan Aké
etc....
Manchester City
Phil Foden
Kelechi Iheanacho
Jadon Sancho
Brahim Abdelkader Díaz
Manchester United
Axel Tuanzebe
Marcus Rashford
Last minute deals aren't great, we know that it takes players sometime to adjust to Poch's style, so if there are any new additions before the window closes they will have missed pre-season, so …
Thank you for remembering Kyle Walker-Peters. I'm not sure I'd class him with the others mentioned due to his never really getting a good run ahead of other options, but that's probably similar to Oliver Skipp. I see Skippy as staying and progressing. I see KWP as possibly doing so if he improves somewhat.
The acid question, and what separates MP from the rest and causes young players to want to come to Spurs, is how much are these talents from other teams played by the clubs that they play for? Many on your list are examples of exactly why young players are happier to come to Spurs. They get top-level playing time. That's why I also included players like Dier & Foyth.
How many on your Chelsea list, for instance, had to move away from the club because they were left frus…