Levy: don't blame me, blame Berbatov

[yanno]

Front page of the Observer sports section. Given the Observer's close relations with Jol in the past (eg the Ramosgate off-the-record interview with Jol), I'm pretty sure the "friend of Jol" quoted below is either Martin himself or someone authorized by BMJ to respond to Daniel Levy's claims.

Once again, I'm afraid Levy seems keen to blame everyone but himself.

Daniel Levy has laid blame on Dimitar Berbatov for Tottenham's appalling start to the Premier League season. The Spurs chairman - who accepts only limited responsibility for his part in the sacking of two highly regarded managers in barely a year - says that Berbatov's efforts to engineer his deadline-day transfer to Manchester United unsettled the dressing room and undermined Juande Ramos.
Berbatov was left out of matches against Sunderland and Chelsea that preceded his £30.75m exit after Ramos decided the striker was not 'psychologically fit' - an example, says Levy, of excessive player power. Asked if Berbatov actively went on strike to obtain his transfer, Levy said: 'That's something you're going to have to ask him, but clearly he didn't play for those two games. He didn't play.' At the time Tottenham investigated Berbatov's conduct, but took no sanctions against him.
'I don't think Berbatov treated this club with the respect that we honestly deserved. We put him on the map. I think he's an outstanding player, but he signed a long-term contract with this club and I think he should have stayed. I had so many conversations with him. He kept saying it was about his ambition to play for Manchester United. It wasn't a money issue. We offered him a new contract and he wasn't even interested in discussing it.
'The reality is, in modern football, the players have all the power. It's not just relevant to Tottenham: if players anywhere decide as a group they are not going to play well and they want to get someone sacked then, that's what can happen. But I don't believe our squad made a concerted effort [to depose Ramos].'
However, several members of Spurs' playing staff were known to have lost faith in Ramos before his sacking last Saturday night, complaining of his training methods, team selection and tactics. Levy responded by contacting and appointing Harry Redknapp within the space of 36 hours.
Ramos's dismissal less than a year after his contentious recruitment from Sevilla takes Levy's head count of managers to seven, including caretakers, in his seven years in charge of the club. The chairman insisted that he did not regret sacking Martin Jol last October, despite the Dutchman's record of consecutive fifth-place finishes in the League - the club's best in 16 years. Levy, who also accused Jol of contributing to his own demise by discussing an offer to manage Newcastle United, said Jol had final approval on all of the signings made by former sporting director Damien Comolli, and had tried to take one controversial acquisition, the defender Younes Kaboul, to his current club, Hamburg.
A friend of Jol told Observer Sport that the coach had only spoken to Newcastle in an attempt to improve his salary at White Hart Lane, which Levy had refused to increase from £500,000 a year. According to the friend, Jol had raised concerns with Levy about several of Comolli's signings and been knocked back on alternative names; and while Kaboul's agent had attempted to arrange a move to Hamburg, the club had only made a 'joke offer' of a swap deal for teenage defender Miroslav Stepanek. The friend also noted Levy's retreat from demanding a Champions League place to targeting Uefa Cup qualification.
Levy dismisses much of the criticism of his record on appointments. 'Obviously [managers] are a factor, but not the sole factor in terms of winning games. Often it is luck; injuries - all these factors - have an impact on results. It is a very fine line between success and failure.'
Supporters have raised concerns that Levy's direction of the club is more focused on balance-book profit than on-field success with net transfer spends and wages strictly controlled. It is also widely expected that majority shareholder Enic International would sell the club if an appropriate offer was lodged. Plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium adjacent to White Hart Lane increase the club's marketability.
However, Levy said the club has yet to receive an unconditional takeover offer and that football takes precedence over financial matters. He defended a proposed dividend payment of £3.7m - an unusually high figure for a Premier League club. 'It's a sign of a mature and well-run business that a dividend should be paid. We don't consider £3.7m a substantial amount in the context of the size of this club.'
Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea pay a dividend to owners. Enic is an investment vehicle for Joe Lewis, who lives in the Bahamas and has not attended a Tottenham match since buying into the club in 2001. 'We [Enic] are not a charity, but we've invested over £100m in this club so I don't think it's unreasonable we should receive two and a bit million on £100m investment,' Levy added.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/nov/02/tottenhamhotspur-premierleague

 

[jamesc0le]

shifty ****!

 

[polski sklep]

Levy said: 'That's something you're going to have to ask him, but clearly he didn't play for those two games. He didn't play.'

Berbatov has never been given (or taken:shrug the opportunity to defend himself.

 

[Petyr]

Some ridiculous points by Levy, especially that Spurs "put Berbatov on the map". We are talking about a player who was one of the big stars of the Bundesliga, who was voted the 3rd best player of the season there ahead of Ballack, Kahn, Rosicky, Lucio...who played in a CL final with Bayer, who scored goals against Man U, Barca, Roma, Liverpool, Lyon, Real in the CL and who was approached by Man U and followed by Arsenal as a potential replacement of Henry, should the latter leave Arsenal, and who scored 30 international goals before turning 25.

Levy is trying to fool the fans with that interview. Fact is, Spurs made their worst start of the season under him. He refuses to take whatever responsibility that the dream for a top 4 place disappeared only some days after the start of the season. "Blame Berbatov, he's the villain". Yeaah, surely...

 

[ShelfSide18]

The quotes about Jol are very interesting I must say. Puts a little bit of a different spin on things. Not going to change my mind though - sacking him was Levy's big mistake. Thank fudge he has cleared up his own mess appointing 'arry.

 

[jambo]

I think Berba is not to blame because there are 11 players on the pitch week in week out. He obviously wanted to go to Manure but my only concern with the saga that ensued with him was that I am pretty sure Manure were in for him when we bought him from Leverkusen???

If this was to be true, why did he turn down Manure then and opt to join us?

 

[Defsta]

Something smells in that story and badly :think:

 

[Petyr]

I think Berba is not to blame because there are 11 players on the pitch week in week out. He obviously wanted to go to Manure but my only concern with the saga that ensued with him was that I am pretty sure Manure were in for him when we bought him from Leverkusen???

If this was to be true, why did he turn down Manure then and opt to join us?

because he had given his word to Spurs when Man U approached him, Ferguson came when the negotiations with Spurs were very advanced

 

[jambo]

Yeah but if it was your dream to play for them would you not at least hear what they were offering???

My only thinking on this was that we offered him first team action and Fergie couldnt!!

 

[peter123]

A leader doesnt blame his troops he takes responsiblity and admits he is the leader and therefore the person with overall responsiblity.

Ramos did not blame the players so how can the director? Surely Levy was in a position to handle the situation and he failed. Yes Berbatov might have been the catalyst and to some degree it may have been his fault but Levy was in charge!

What would be more encourging would have been a statement from the chairman saying this is what we did well and this is what we can improve on or manage better. I couldnt give two monkeys about whats done lets just look at where we are going to go!!!

 

[Petyr]

Yeah but if it was your dream to play for them would you not at least hear what they were offering???

My only thinking on this was that we offered him first team action and Fergie couldnt!!

This could be the case, I don't know. But when Ferguson called Danchev, Berbatov had already given his word to Jol, he was at WHL and watched the game vs Man U April 2006 and after the game Jol managed to convince him to come to Spurs. This is the story, at least according to Danchev.

 

[Doctor Who]

Yeah and Berbatov is guilty for the global warming too , he put too much heat on Levy`s ass

 

[hybridsoldier]

berbatov is a shit, diahorrea is too good for him.

Levy said everyhting we were all thinking, Berba is a disloyal bastard

 

[snake1]

berbatov is a shit, diahorrea is too good for him.

Levy said everyhting we were all thinking, Berba is a disloyal bastard

Pretty much. Its not the fact he wanted to leave, its the fact he refused to play that gets up peoples noses... TWICE!! That's a serious lack of respect for our club. The unprofessional ****.

 

[polski sklep]

Pretty much. Its not the fact he wanted to leave, its the fact he refused to play that gets up peoples noses... TWICE!! That's a serious lack of respect for our club. The unprofessional ****.

Have we ever heard Berba's side of the story?

 

[snake1]

Have we ever heard Berba's side of the story?

No, but come on, be fair, its not as if he hasn't been given the opportunity. How many times has he been interviewed since his departure? He's been on TV all over the world, he just chooses to keep quite about it. Its not rocket science.

 

[robin09]

I like Levy, but its time he stops doing insightful interviews. It's of no help to the team to dredge these things back up.

 

[polski sklep]

Levy has released press-statements damning others rather than take any responsibility. Berbatov has more decorum and is only concerned with playing football.

Please point me in the direction of the interview where the question is asked; "What happened at the start of the season - did you refuse to play?"

 

[snake1]

Levy has released press-statements damning others rather than take any responsibility. Berbatov has more decorum and is only concerned with playing football.

Please point me in the direction of the interview where the question is asked; "What happened at the start of the season - did you refuse to play?"

He probably has been asked it, don't be so naive.

Levy has stated that Berba refused to play twice, I'm not a big Levy fan, but I doubt its a lie, otherwise we'd definitely hear from Berba, that I'm sure of. He doesn't care because he got what he wanted. Its got fuck all to do with decorum.

I'm sorry, but Berba's attitude to Spurs fucking sucked.

 

[polski sklep]

Levy has gone out of his way to lie to the fans in the past. He regularly puts spin on situations in an attempt to make himself appear almost angelic.

Berbatov, conversely, is openly critical of himself and has only ever been truthful. I'm sure, if the question was asked and he refused to answer, it would have been reported.