Interesting Martin Samuel perspective on Levy and Harry

[NEVILLEB]

Difficult situation for Levy but we've spent nearly the least in the premiership this window.

You'd have thought he'd want to consolidate to stay in the Champs League and keep the top 4 position.

Sometimes he does do some very strange things!

 

[EastLondonYid]

Martin Samuel is a beardy, opinionated, sweaty Gooner who has never had anything positive to say about Spurs in his entire journalistic career. There is nothing he would enjoy more than stirring up enough tension between our manager and chairman to cause some kind of permanent rift. The way that he eludes to the relationship between Harry and DL going the same way as Lerner and O'Neill is just very wishful thinking on his part. He's just like all the other worried Gooners who want Harry to go asap before we overtake them.

I suggest ignoring everything he ever writes our says no matter how subtely it is dressed up as balanced journalism.

err his not a gooner pal..he supports west ham.
i can honestly say that when i read or hear what he says, most of the time he makes sense.

 

[dontcallme]

I quite like Martin Samuel. His biggest downfall is stating his own interpretation of events as facts which sadly makes him a better sports journalist than 90% of the others we have in this country.

His main point is the balancing act which is a good point. Chairmen do have a choice whether to say yes or no to a managers demands. Lerner said no to MON which is the right decision. Villa can survive without MON they can't survive with massive debts.

Levy backed Harry in his choice of players when he was pulling us out of relegation and once again at the end of the season when we survived. Surprisingly he didn't have a clear out to lessen our wage bill and Harry has been able to keep the likes of Jenas, Keane, Bentley, Dos Santos and others despite not playing much of a part. Despite finishing 4th levy hasn't bought into the hype and given Harry endless cash to spend in the transfer market. We're competing at the top end of the table within our budget with our own money, other than Arsenal no one else can claim that.

 

[Krafty]

Bit of a strange article. The initial premise doesnt match the body of the article, with the body being a balanced discussion on the difficulties in running a club. Chopw of the first couple of paragraphs and the end one, and its a fine if slightly boring article.

However, I do love the way journalists include transfer stories even though there wasnt anything backing them up in the first place.

In the end, I think we all have great faith in Levy to run the club properly, and Harry to produce results on the pitch in a style that we like and associate with the club. Harry and Levy seemingly get on well - Harry picks out who he wants and Levy tries to get the best deal. I would think they discuss the transfers a lot more than Harry makes out.

I also dont like the idea that we (and all teams) have to spend money on new players just for the sake of it. The current squad achieved 4th, beat City home and away, Chelsea and Arsenal at home, and got to a cup semi final. Then we had several squad members come back off loan. Plus Levy likes leaving things until the last minute to get the best deals

 

[Jody]

Probably the best article I've ever read from the hate mail - admittedly that doesn't say much but credit where it's due. He wasn't trying to make any big claims, just make a reasonably balanced observation on club ownership and management. It did what it said on the tin.

 

[Lilbaz]

Levy has made some great signings this summer. Any team that signed, Sandro, Gallas, Bale, Modric and Harry would be saying it's the greatest window of all time.
It's not over yet. We always have a late run in the transfer market going to the final seconds. I swear Levy does it just to keep us on our toes.

 

[Booney]

err his not a gooner pal..he supports west ham.
i can honestly say that when i read or hear what he says, most of the time he makes sense.

Ok...perhaps I leapt to that assumption due to the undercurrent of anti-Spurs feeling that flows through almost eveything he does. I appreciate that nothing he says is factually incorrect but it's still a very personal interpretation of the facts. Arsenal never bankrupted themselves to stay in the top 4 so why should we have to?

Either way, there is still no excuse for his sweaty beard.

 

[yido16]

A German strikers indifferent form should have no effect on goal keeping situation :wink:

Cheers oooopss

 

[Adam456]

Agree with Donki this article drifts all over the place in fact it looks like one he had in his drawer ready to pull out for the deadline when writers block kicks in and he can't think of a thing to say about anything relevant.
As for not backing Redknapp contrary to what Sammuel says Levy wouldn't just say no he would discuss it with Rednknapp and look to get the player in however he is the one who sets the value and if he can't get him in for that price he doesn't buy him which is something I expect Harry accepts as sensible.

I do sometimes think come on Danny "To dare is to do" but I suppose it's a fine line between daring and foolhardy.

^^^^ This

It's not about backing your manager or not. Levy simply has two rules:

1. Don't pay ridiculous wages and if a player asks silly money then he can go elsewhere. Joe Cole claimed he signed for Liverpool based on rep and history but we all notice that they're paying him silly wages as well

2. Don't sign a player for big money when it's obvious they'll have little sell-on value after a year or two. This basically means players around the age of 30. Clubs with massive revenue like Man U, Real, Barca etc. can do that - especially when you think that a victory at the business side of the CL can be worth £5-10m. Only time I can remember Levy paying big money for an old(er) player was for Keane. But he helped keep us up and we'll likely get about £8m now.

Of course we'll make the odd mistake and pay a bit more for a player than they're worth but as long as they're young enough there's always a chance to recoup e.g. Bentley. Remember that every loss is tax deductable so you only actually lose about 65% of the 'loss'

With wages you spend the full amount