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The Daily ITK Discussion Thread 14th May 2019

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daryl hannah

Berry Berry Calm
Sep 1, 2014
2,674
7,717
We are 100% out of Lgit race. Barca by looks of things
As brilliant as De Ligt is, for the money he would cost, I feel that it could spent better elsewhere on more pressing areas of need, e.g. centre mid and full back.

We will need another CB if Toby leaves but I'm sure we can find a player at a far more reasonable price that what Barca will pay for De Ligt.
What if the money was not a problem this summer? Would you change your mind?

DL's greatest achievement is getting the fanbase to celebrate saving money over bringing in top talent.
 

JonnySpurs

SC Veteran
Jun 4, 2004
5,345
12,398
What if the money was not a problem this summer? Would you change your mind?

DL's greatest achievement is getting the fanbase to celebrate saving money over bringing in top talent.

Of course I'd change my mind but 1. we don't have an endless pot of cash and 2. He'd likely choose Barca over us anyway, just as Frenkie De Jong has.

It's well known that Levy has been willing to spend in last 2 windows but Poch didn't want to. No fans are celebrating saving money over bringing in top talent so save your faux outrage for someone else.
 

Dzejkob

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2012
785
3,215
It's interesting although that de Ligt is the only CB we hear about from media or ITK. And I think if Toby leaves we have to look for new defender. With De Ligt it was this kind of situation when you don't necessarily need a player but if you have a chance you should sign him. And when you can't sign him that's okay, you are sorted anyway. So maybe Toby departure is not sealed?
 

Rob

The Boss
Admin
Jun 8, 2003
28,014
65,116
I dont know if we have been linked with them

You're admitting to posting in the ITK discussion thread about players who you don't know if we've had any ITK about.

If A&C needs to make an example out of anyone then I think we have our first volunteer :-(
 

ernest_lowrider

Well-Known Member
May 31, 2012
479
2,119
It's interesting although that de Ligt is the only CB we hear about from media or ITK. And I think if Toby leaves we have to look for new defender. With De Ligt it was this kind of situation when you don't necessarily need a player but if you have a chance you should sign him. And when you can't sign him that's okay, you are sorted anyway. So maybe Toby departure is not sealed?
Wouldn't suprise me if Poch would stick with Verts, Sanchez and Foyth with Dier and Davies as backups. We have strong ITK linking us with Sessegnon, him rotating with Rose would allow Davies gametime at CB.
 

minesadouble

Drove my Chevy to the Levy
Jul 27, 2006
749
2,933
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,005
I think its good that a few of the main names are moving early so we can move on quickly, better now than August.
 

McFlash

In the corner, eating crayons.
Oct 19, 2005
12,740
45,362
You're admitting to posting in the ITK discussion thread about players who you don't know if we've had any ITK about.

If A&C needs to make an example out of anyone then I think we have our first volunteer :-(
I think A&C has already wielded his ban-stick, on the first morning, for his favourite post...Twitter related stuff.
 

WoodyforSpurs

Want to be an annoying Spurs knowit all.
Aug 9, 2017
200
554
Big gap in between Bale and small-time. Bale isn’t the profile of player we should be looking at - he’s on the way down, he’s injury-prone, and money is clearly his main motivation given his agent’s comments the other day.

We can aim big with the likes of De Jong and Ndombele we’ve seen ourselves linked to recently, not Bale. That time has passed.
Bale would mearly be a ridiculously expensive nostalgia buy. Hope it doesn’t happen or else no one else would be able to come in as the coffers would be empty.
 

Norwayspurs

Active Member
Jul 18, 2017
55
216
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.

Bravo! And thanks for this. Really good written and informative.
 

littlewilly

Well-Known Member
May 28, 2013
1,670
5,181
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.
Thank you. That’s excellent.
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
I think its good that a few of the main names are moving early so we can move on quickly, better now than August.

The lack of a World Cup this year should really help move things along. Can see quite a lot of teams getting business done before 1 July this summer, possibly including us (Sessegnon).
 

McFlash

In the corner, eating crayons.
Oct 19, 2005
12,740
45,362
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.
You should post more often mate! (y)
 

Joeyboey

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2011
1,806
5,260
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.

Amazing post thank you!
 

SpartanSpur

Well-Known Member
Jan 27, 2011
12,552
43,063
I don’t often post, and rarely in ITK forums, but I have to correct a couple of misconceptions some people seem to have.

EDIT: Apologies to A&C if this is off-topic or too long. It turned out way longer than I expected. In short what I’m saying is that simplistic “Levy won’t spend money”, “Uncle Joe needs to open his wallet”, “Poch will go if he doesn’t” comments are all misguided. The situation is way more complex than it’s portrayed in forums and the media. If you’re interested, read on.

Firstly, about Poch, Levy and Lewis. It requires a bit of financial understanding but, put simply, the original deal (via ENIC) between the owners was that Lewis put in the majority share of the investment and Levy had the minority. Lewis then said, ‘okay mate, now run with it’. If you can make money, great. But if you come asking for more money (equity) from me, you’ll be diluted and so my share of the club will get bigger. Since then, via his brilliance, Levy has taken THFC up the table, built the training ground, and now a magnificent stadium, all on internally generated profits/cash flow. In other words, without asking Uncle Joe for more money. There have been occasions that shareholders have made temporary loans, and we’re now borrowing from banks for the stadium, but the owners’ equity shareholdings haven’t changed. And there have been no ‘sugar daddy’ loans or FFP manipulation like allegedly at other clubs. We are the polar opposite of a rich man’s (or country’s) plaything.

Of course, Levy runs the club and has done so for 18 years, largely independently. But I’m sure he still runs the ‘big picture’ past Joe Lewis, who may be rich, but THFC represents a decent chunk of his wealth. So Joe has an opinion Levy has to take into account too. Since 2001, Levy has to achieve three things, all at once: (i) consistently move Spurs forward from Top 10, to Top 6, to Top 4, to Title challengers (ii) avoid going to Joe Lewis for more equity investment, which would dilute Levy’s shareholding in the process (iii) whilst taking his majority shareholder’s ‘big picture’ views into account. He’s also had compete with the other Top 5 clubs playing by different financial rules or circumstances. Only Arsenal has been a (reasonably) level playing field. And look how he’s kicked their butts over 17 years. Compare our two clubs in 2001 and where they are now. Finally, he’s had to deal with all the usual stuff to do with transfers, agents, managers, AND achieve not one but two property projects AND deal with fans and media pundits taking the piss and calling him miserly, etc. You can call out his mistakes over the years but to deny the man’s extraordinary achievement says way more about you than it does him.

Into this scenario steps an equally extraordinary manager. Unproven at the time but a person who sees the big picture; who sees players as men not commodities, who sees a club as a family, who has the business intellect to talk Levy’s language and understand the financial challenges. To imagine that everything’s been achieved over 5 years without some hot words would be silly. But the idea that a man like Mauricio Pochettino communicates with his chairman via press conferences rather than across a coffee table is equally dumb.

We already know that there was a 5 Year Plan of sorts, ie. to get the stadium built, to get into the Top 4 and have CL football when, or soon after, it opened. We now know the Top 4 was achieved early and has been exceeded in terms of a CL final before schedule. Spurs now have everything in place to be a Big Club. Not just big, but meaning elite. What Poch is alluding to is that we also need to develop the “mentality” that goes with being an elite club. The expectations. The standards. The entitlement, even. The past 17 years have been about the journey here. But we’ve arrived at one destination at last. Now we need to set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory. And that means everybody, from our controlling owner downwards, the academy kids upwards, the fans in the stands and posters on forums, has to adopt the same mentality. Simply reclaim our ‘Bill Nick mentality’, in a way.

It isn’t about money. This post isn’t about money either because there’s plenty there to spend. But Spurs have principles that other clubs don’t. A salary structure designed to limit inter-player friction. A ‘cautious’ approach to agents and certain murkier deal structures. A commitment to FFP. We also don’t (yet) have the same historical pull United and Liverpool have or the bling attraction that City and Chelsea have. But Poch is saying we all have to change the way we see ourselves. And that will then change the way others see us, including players we want to sign.

As an aside, Poch has changed the way he plays the media this season, probably around the time of the MU/RM rumours. He’s teasing them more, playing with less of a straight bat. One example:

In Matt Law of the Telegraph’s weekly Spurs update (recommended) he implied that Poch now has the “upper hand over Levy” and gave an example post-Everton “when manager Pochettino reappeared in the tunnel area some time after completing his media duties carrying a glass of red wine. Asked where he had gotten his drink from, Pochettino joked that he had stolen it from the chairman’s suite because that’s where the very best wine is served.”

Well, as it happens, Poch came into the Tunnel Club (right next to his own office) not the Chairman’s Suite and was laughing and joking with staff as he selected a bottle or two. I know the truth because I was right there in the Tunnel Club at the time. It’s possible Poch had already accepted a glass in the chairman’s suite but, I suspect, Poch was simply playing to the gallery with his “stolen” comment. He’s a Plan for everything, including the press.

I was going to post something on Bale but this post is long enough already (apologies) so I’ll leave that to another time.

Most of my often posts run much longer than planned too. A good tip if you do post an epic like that and you are a bit worried you can always hide the text behind a spoiler tag.

I agree with your excellently laid out post by the way. There's a lot of posters that are trying to judge our future financial capabilities on old WHL standards (understandable as that is). The thing that makes this summer genuinely exciting for me is that there should be plenty of money to spend without Levy even having to go to 'Uncle Joe' for additional investment. If he did try for that and succeeded it really would be party time!
 
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