ENIC...

[SUIYHA]

If we sign Bale then I’m taking credit due to the e-mail I sent him last night:


Dear Daniel, Jose and Steve,

I've been a Spurs supporter all my life and a season ticket holder for 25 years, my family are also huge lifelong Spurs fans. On viewing the recent All or Nothing series I wanted to take the time to email you as you claim in the show that you do read emails from supporters so here's to hoping you're true to your word...

Firstly I wanted to say thank you for all the good you've done during your time at the club, the transformation of the club during the time has been remarkable, I don't think there is another Premier League club comparable in terms of the improvements on and off the pitch without a billionaire sugar daddy ploughing money into the club. I believe we've gone from a rough average league position of around 12th to 4th, mid-table mediocrity to at times under Pottichitino title contenders playing some of the most attractive football in the league.

Off the pitch we now have one of the best stadiums in the world the envy of many rival fans and I don't think our fans in particular quite understand the complexity with regards to acquiring businesses and land in the surrounding area to the old stadium as well as planning permissions so the time and effort and thoughts spent over many years to get us to the point of stadium completion needs to be absolutely commended. The training ground is equally impressive, so the foundations have now been built for us to be a sustainable top top class top tier football club.

I also understand the decision to replace Potticitino with Mouriniho, Poch did brilliantly for 5 years but ultimately ran out of steam and I commend the difficult emotional decision to sack him but it was indeed the correct one. I also completely commend the decision to hire Mouriniho especially as we're now at a point as a club where the next step is to start winning trophies again so who better than Jose Mouriniho. I also appreciate as you mention in the documentary the difficulty and complexity of transfers and appreciate that we did partake in a large net spend last summer which makes sense with the stadium finally being up and running that we can start to be a bit more ambitious with our net spending to really take the team and squad to that next level.

What I would like to express my concerns about are two things:
1) The style of football being played under Mourinho (not all Jose's fault at all, he's doing a commendable job considering the unbelieveable issues last season with injuries and big players contracts running down and coming in mid-season etc): You mentioned in the documentary that you want us to win and play in style. Unfortunately as much as I respect Mourinho as a manager I have to say that the tactics and style of play are constantly extremely negative, we have such little possession and create so few chances that not only is it often very dreadful to watch but time and time again it is showing to not be effective.

I believe this is partly down to tactics but also more so down to the fact that our midfield lacks creativity and has done since Dembele and Eriksen left. We cannot just rely on Lo Celso and clearly Ndombele cannot be trusted or needs more time to adapt so not only is signing another striker to support Kane imperative but also a creative central midfielder and ideally a top top class attacking midfielder ‘Baleesque type player’ as we cannot just rely on Son and Kane every match.

We all want to win trophies but as a Tottenham fan as you say you are hopefully you're familiar with Danny Blanchflowers quote below because Bournemouth away last season and the 2nd half of the game against Everton in the first game of this season were up there with the most toothless and inept and uncreative performances I've ever seen as a Spurs fan in 30 years and I fear you will lose a lot of season ticket holders if we continue playing in this manner, especially if we don't get good results.

“The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”

2) The set-up of the football decisions: Now I respect that I don't know the full goings on behind the scenes but a real frustrations as fans is that year after year after year we either don't address the glaringly obvious issues with our squad by either not moving players on at all or quickly enough and not signing players in positions we actually need and/or making signings so late in the transfer window that we have a really disrupted start to the season where we are constantly playing catch-up to other clubs.

I personally find it sad how you as a chairman and the board get so much negativity from the fanbase given that all you've done for the club, you could say a lot of the fans are ungrateful. However to me it seems from the documentary that you're stretched too thinly and are having to be too involved in the football decisions of the club which should be much more down to a Director of Football type role and or the manager. I'm concerned that whilst we've made huge strides off the pitch during the last few years our rivals have made big strides on it and we've gone from the 2nd best team in the league under Poch only 3 seasons ago to now struggling against mid and lower table teams. I hope Jose can be successful for us but he needs the quality of players to be able to get us playing for example like his last most successful Chelsea team and right now we are a good 4-5 players away from that level of squad.

The signings of Hart, Hoyjbjerg and Doherty have been a good start but we still need to improve by making signings for:

• Left back : upgrade on Davies
• Centre back: replacement for super Jan
• Creative centre midfielder: replacement for Eriksen
• Attacking midfielder : to improve on Lucas and Lamela who consistently give the team very little in the way of goals or assists especially compared to players in similar positions for our rival teams
• Striker : to play WITH Harry Kane not just as a back-up

We need absolutely minimum to sign a striker and either a creative centre midfielder or a top top class game changing attacking midfielder and a centre back otherwise it doesn't matter who are manager is we have zero chance of finishing in the top4 or even the top6. These next 3 weeks are crucial and I really hope that Jose and Steve Hitchen can see these squad weaknesses and address them as if all of us fans can see them week in week out on forums and podcasts etc then surely a manager getting paid £15million a year and a so called expert Head of Recruitment can also recognise these areas of weakness.

Many thanks for your time Daniel and a huge thank you again to you and all the staff at the club to make us so proud of our great club, I just hope that my two points can be addressed and improved upon so we can see the type of football we as Tottenham fans would want to watch and we have the squad we need to finally win a trophy again which would be the icing on the cake of your tenure as our chairman.

I look forward to your response.

I bet he really regrets saying that in the Amazon doc. Now his inbox will be absolutely clogged up with hate mail, fans writing dissertations telling him how to do his job and youtube compilations of random players that they want us to buy. He's probably missed an important email from another club's chairman saying they're strapped for cash and that they need to sell a world class player on the cheap because it was surrounded by emails like yours.

 

[Shadydan]

 

[jimbo]

Did I read somewhere that FFP is not being enforced this season due to the pandemic? I'm sure I did read something along those lines, or perhaps I merely dreamt it.

I think something is happening, the appointments of Birch and Turner, the ITK hints of plutocrats behind closed doors and surprises as to why we're spending. Perhaps even Rob's stalking of Donna Cullen on Companies House is a piece to the puzzle - albeit a small, not very important piece, not a corner or anything, perhaps a piece of sky with a partial cloud or something.

It could be something large in terms of investment, like naming rights - which I assume would be FFP safe anyway. It could be a buy-in or other investment, probably not a full-blown takeover but you never know.

It just feels to me that were spending money that will be replaced. Similar to how we spent the Bale money before he left. Now he's coming back, so this is like a Reverse Bale.

 

[WiganSpur]

Even as a fierce critic of ENIC it wouldn't surprise me if they went further in the next couple of weeks now. We've technically still only spent £45m net this window. It wouldn't shock me to see another £100m spunked.

If you ask me, I think it's likely a combination of the penny dropping after Everton, Levy running into additional flows of investment from whatever source, and us being able to take advantage of slightly lower asking prices for top talent.

 

[yankspurs]

Even as a fierce critic of ENIC it wouldn't surprise me if they went further in the next couple of weeks now. We've technically still only spent £45m net this window. It wouldn't shock me to see another £100m spunked.

If you ask me, I think it's likely a combination of the penny dropping after Everton, Levy running into additional flows of investment from whatever source, and us being able to take advantage of slightly lower asking prices for top talent.

Im thinking the Amazon thing has something to do with it. Things come in 3s. Documentary, Store on Amazon, naming rights?

 

[Shadydan]

Even as a fierce critic of ENIC it wouldn't surprise me if they went further in the next couple of weeks now. We've technically still only spent £45m net this window. It wouldn't shock me to see another £100m spunked.

If you ask me, I think it's likely a combination of the penny dropping after Everton, Levy running into additional flows of investment from whatever source, and us being able to take advantage of slightly lower asking prices for top talent.

I'm still maintain Jose totally sabotaged the Everton match to send a message out to Levy, no-one's gonna tell me why Sissoko was bought on when we had to score and playing him at right wing infront of a wing back

 

[wrd]

I'm still maintain Jose totally sabotaged the Everton match to send a message out to Levy, no-one's gonna tell me why Sissoko was bought on when we had to score and playing him at right wing infront of a wing back

I've never bought into the manager sending a message with transfers but this is literally the only logical explanation for that substitution . You'd have to believe we were working on the deals prior but I'll never not be perplexed by that sub.

Jose came in and I think it's beyond doubt that a large reason he got the job was that he convinced he could get something out the squad he had, which personally I felt was impossible for near enough any manager the way the squad was falling apart. However if there was one manager in the world I thought would be backed by Levy it'd be Jose. He's been backed now I think to a very good level and if we sign a CB and a striker then he's been backed and then some. There's nowhere to hide and it will be difficult to point fingers higher up, It'll be on the manager and the players because the quality is there as I say especially if a CB comes in to the calibre we're being linked to today.

 

[DiVaio]

Did I read somewhere that FFP is not being enforced this season due to the pandemic? I'm sure I did read something along those lines, or perhaps I merely dreamt it.

It kinda is but even without it according to SwissRamble on Twitter we could spend A LOT.

 

[umgoblue11]

Posted this is in the wrong spot. Apologies.

New poster here and massive Spurs fan. Not claiming to be ITK, but have heard from a few people this group has been floating around the past few months and the timing would match up well.

Private investment firm RedBird Capital announces plans to take a new sports company public
RedBall Acquisition, a blank check company formed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, will focus on acquiring sports media and data analytics companies.

www.cnbc.com

The thing that is being discussed, a SPAC, means they essentially have 2 years to acquire an asset or company, and they have the money ($500 MM) to make a huge splash in the market. These are exactly the type of people Levy wants to invest in the club. Part of the terms could have been acquiring a big-name player (Bale and Alex Morgan) to create a buzz about the club. I would be a little surprised if it were Amazon and naming rights since they just announced a deal in Seattle for the new team there.

 

[he is you know!]

Posted this is in the wrong spot. Apologies.

New poster here and massive Spurs fan. Not claiming to be ITK, but have heard from a few people this group has been floating around the past few months and the timing would match up well.

Private investment firm RedBird Capital announces plans to take a new sports company public
RedBall Acquisition, a blank check company formed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, will focus on acquiring sports media and data analytics companies.

www.cnbc.com

The thing that is being discussed, a SPAC, means they essentially have 2 years to acquire an asset or company, and they have the money ($500 MM) to make a huge splash in the market. These are exactly the type of people Levy wants to invest in the club. Part of the terms could have been acquiring a big-name player (Bale and Alex Morgan) to create a buzz about the club. I would be a little surprised if it were Amazon and naming rights since they just announced a deal in Seattle for the new team there.

Scudamore was appointed to board last month wasn't he?

 

[Gspurs11]

Posted this is in the wrong spot. Apologies.

New poster here and massive Spurs fan. Not claiming to be ITK, but have heard from a few people this group has been floating around the past few months and the timing would match up well.

Private investment firm RedBird Capital announces plans to take a new sports company public
RedBall Acquisition, a blank check company formed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, will focus on acquiring sports media and data analytics companies.

www.cnbc.com

The thing that is being discussed, a SPAC, means they essentially have 2 years to acquire an asset or company, and they have the money ($500 MM) to make a huge splash in the market. These are exactly the type of people Levy wants to invest in the club. Part of the terms could have been acquiring a big-name player (Bale and Alex Morgan) to create a buzz about the club. I would be a little surprised if it were Amazon and naming rights since they just announced a deal in Seattle for the new team there.

Interestingly, and this is probably a coincidence, they appointed Damien Commolli to take over from the Toulouse chairman when they bought a controlling stake there.

 

[dricha1]

I'm still maintain Jose totally sabotaged the Everton match to send a message out to Levy, no-one's gonna tell me why Sissoko was bought on when we had to score and playing him at right wing infront of a wing back

Redknapp did that at the start of every season. Anyone remember a midfield of Krankjar and Corluka against United?

 

[vegassd]

Even as a fierce critic of ENIC it wouldn't surprise me if they went further in the next couple of weeks now. We've technically still only spent £45m net this window. It wouldn't shock me to see another £100m spunked.

If you ask me, I think it's likely a combination of the penny dropping after Everton, Levy running into additional flows of investment from whatever source, and us being able to take advantage of slightly lower asking prices for top talent.

I don't think the Everton game is going to have any considerable impact on the two Madrid transfers. The people who make those decisions simply don't think in such a short-term manner. Perhaps it made us pull the trigger a few days earlier than planned but I would be shocked if Levy watched the match then came up with the idea.

What I would suggest is that this is a symptom of our higher earning potential. The recent board level appointments seem to indicate a shift in operations in one way or another and it looks (from an outside glance) like the club now feeling that they can genuinely join the big boys table.

But it's important to still try and keep a bit of a long view on all this. Yes we are all cacking ourselves about Bale right now and a lot of people will give Levy praise, but one swallow does not a summer make. We need to see how they handle existing player contracts, hanging on to the likes of Kane/Son/Dele and can we continue to make good signings whilst keeping the academy players coming through.

Who knows... only time will tell really. I've been a big supporter of this "earn first, spend second" approach from ENIC but I will still remain skeptical of it until we see a steady investment in the playing staff. Things are looking positive though for sure.

 

[Albertbarich]

I've been highly critical but I think now we have a very very good squad.

Sure a striker and maybe a centre half would be great but we should easily be able to cope now.

Up front we have sob, moura, kane and Bale who can all play there . Centre halves we have toby, dier, sanchez, tanganga and foyth.

Basically they have backed the manager , time to deliver.

 

[WiganSpur]

I don't think the Everton game is going to have any considerable impact on the two Madrid transfers. The people who make those decisions simply don't think in such a short-term manner. Perhaps it made us pull the trigger a few days earlier than planned but I would be shocked if Levy watched the match then came up with the idea.

What I would suggest is that this is a symptom of our higher earning potential. The recent board level appointments seem to indicate a shift in operations in one way or another and it looks (from an outside glance) like the club now feeling that they can genuinely join the big boys table.

But it's important to still try and keep a bit of a long view on all this. Yes we are all cacking ourselves about Bale right now and a lot of people will give Levy praise, but one swallow does not a summer make. We need to see how they handle existing player contracts, hanging on to the likes of Kane/Son/Dele and can we continue to make good signings whilst keeping the academy players coming through.

Who knows... only time will tell really. I've been a big supporter of this "earn first, spend second" approach from ENIC but I will still remain skeptical of it until we see a steady investment in the playing staff. Things are looking positive though for sure.

I'm not too sure, it's one thing having targets lined up (which i'm sure we had) and another thing actually pulling the trigger and paying up for them. We were obviously keen on both players but maybe that game convinced us that we had to act before it was too late.

I know it was just one game, but for me it was alarming how much they'd appeared to close the gap to us on the pitch, and that's the first time i'd seen an Everton team for over 10 years that I thought needed to be taken very seriously.

 

[bbunc]

Posted this is in the wrong spot. Apologies.

New poster here and massive Spurs fan. Not claiming to be ITK, but have heard from a few people this group has been floating around the past few months and the timing would match up well.

Private investment firm RedBird Capital announces plans to take a new sports company public
RedBall Acquisition, a blank check company formed by private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners, will focus on acquiring sports media and data analytics companies.

www.cnbc.com

The thing that is being discussed, a SPAC, means they essentially have 2 years to acquire an asset or company, and they have the money ($500 MM) to make a huge splash in the market. These are exactly the type of people Levy wants to invest in the club. Part of the terms could have been acquiring a big-name player (Bale and Alex Morgan) to create a buzz about the club. I would be a little surprised if it were Amazon and naming rights since they just announced a deal in Seattle for the new team there.

A SPAC isn’t going to buy a minority stake in Spurs. If they are going to do something in EPL it’s going to be in the Newcastle tier. 500M is not even close enough to buy Spurs or a majority stake in Spurs.

 

[Shadydan]

Redknapp did that at the start of every season. Anyone remember a midfield of Krankjar and Corluka against United?

I remember when we lost 5-1 to City and we were tying to get Parker over the line, he played Kranjcar in midfield and an out of sorts Modric, pretty sure Jake Livermore got on the pitch as well to mark David Silva and Nasri

 

[vegassd]

I'm not too sure, it's one thing having targets lined up (which i'm sure we had) and another thing actually pulling the trigger and paying up for them. We were obviously keen on both players but maybe that game convinced us that we had to act before it was too late.

Exactly what I was getting at... it will have only sped things up rather than creating the idea in the first place. A "Buy It Now" rather than running down the clock on the auction.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Whilst that is probably the most likely event there is one thing that puts the shitters up Levy more and that's losing potential investments and backers.

If the club dropped further behind and ended up finishing lower than 6th and with an absolute mountain to climb to get back into CL we wouldn't be as an attractive proposition. Player pull, sponsors, fan base would all stagnate or diminish. Yes, the stadium would bring in funds but the CL money allows us to really compete.

We've seen him do this once before in 2008/09, when we faced relegation and looked to be in deep trouble he gave Redknapp a bit of an open wallet.

Let's hope that's what we are seeing here. Because last Sunday should have sent alarm bells throughout the whole club.

Moving this to the ENIC thread to avoid getting told off for going off-topic in the ITK discussion thread.

It was an exception to be so active in a January window, but our net spend was actually lower that year than each of the previous two years and only marginally more than in the year before that. We'd just sold Berbatov for £30m+ (along with Keane et al.) and had almost certainly signed fewer players than intended (Frazier Campbell was a very desperate deadline day loan). It was more a matter of trying to undo mistakes / complete unfinished business from the summer window (Several of Harry's transfers involved resigning players for less than we'd recently sold them for), rather than Levy breaking into his piggy bank. The club was very financial stable and had a healthy cash-flow from recent player sales.

This time is different - we are taking significant risks in the transfer market despite the signficant and unexpected revenue loss caused by COVID-19. My view is that either we're financially in a much stronger place than it appears (investment / naming rights / outgoing players), or Levy is really panicking about the impact of another poor season (future investment / transfer requests / reputational damage).

I think we all tend overlook the fact that Levy invested heavily (for Levy / Spurs) during the Jol/Ramos/Harry era. We instead focus on how we were a "selling club" because several of our star players chose to use us as a stepping stone. I don't think it's coincidental that consecutive years of consistent investment in the squad saw us rapidly transition from mid-table, to Europa League and then Champions League, while winning a cup and almost mounting a title challenge in the process.

 

[SpursSince1980]

Definitely seems like there are small, subtle signs of smoke, coming from the club. Birch for one, was a very telling move. Now we have what kinda looks like a spending spree. Plus we have some ambiguous ITK earlier today, implying that this sudden movement is the outcome or effect of some sort of change. Again, pinch of salt with all of this. And admittedly, I know shit about fuck.

However, if you were running the club and had been aware for a couple of months of some major changes taking place that would lead to a cash infusion, would you obfuscate any public knowledge of this during a TW, or make it public, once the papers are signed? I'm guessing it's the former. As we know if selling teams think you're well heeled like CIteh and Chelscum and PSG and Madrid, etc... they jack up their prices cos they know the buying club can afford it.

We basically declared poverty at the beginning of this window. So, no selling club would feel like they have any leverage over us, but saying, 'hey, this is the price, and we know you can afford it'! Clearly this is not the case. Helps to keep the costs reasonable. In particular, with a new investor coming in (or something to that effect), they also don't want to over extend financially.

So, if... BIG IF... something like a takeover or cash infusion has taken place, I'd be really surprised if we heard anything about this prior to Oct 5th.

But like I said... there does some to be some small whiffs of smoke circling the club right now.

Anyone else care to join me under my roomy tinfoil hat?