Tottenham Takeover Talk

[MR_BEN]

How much money do they actually need? I mean, clubs are sold all the time, they could have held on another 5 years and got more money, after that five years they say it's not enough and on and on. At some point it will be enough. They've already made a huge profit.

How much do they need, or how much do they want?

Billionaires don’t become billionaires by quitting once they have earned ‘enough’ .

They are also probably not motivated by the dollars, as much as the capital growth.

Clubs aren’t sold all the time - but those that are is usually because they either have a financial need (ENIC don’t), or they have lost interest (Levy hasn’t and won’t) Joe may have - however he will happily watch his asset grow in value, so still has no motivation to sell.

Levy I believe will be in the tough position of trying to do the right thing by the club, the majority shareholders, and his own family. Best way he can do that is by finding a deal which the Lewis Family Trust cannot turn down, until then - he and the club are hamstrung and probably doing as much as they can with the restraints in their way.

 

[Martinhotspur]

Can someone open a Levy gripes thread, because wading through the Levy stuff in multiple threads is boring. We all know what he is like. I know longer care about Jose getting sacked a couple of days before a cup final, it has been done to death.

 

[Stamford]

Can someone open a Levy gripes thread, because wading through the Levy stuff in multiple threads is boring. We all know what he is like. I know longer care about Jose getting sacked a couple of days before a cup final, it has been done to death.

explained above why there isn't one. So this is it.

 

[LannerSpurs]

Actually build the cheese room. Cancelling that was where it all started to unravel for us.

Amen to that my brother

 

[For the love of Spurs]

Thinking back to those glorious days when we had Lloris in goal, Toby and Verts at centre back, Eriksen, Dembele and Kane in front of them.

We’ve signed some cracking players over the years but then Levy seems to stop bothering and not want us to add just a couple more and push on.

I still can’t get over we won nothing with a world class centre forward like Kane up top, who became so pissed off with our lack of ambition he wanted to leave.

What is the point building world class training facilities and stadium but can’t be bothered to add the players.

We have the money now with the match-day revenue, there is just no excuse and losing Kane was pure negligence on Levy’s part who wasted his later years playing for us with his stupid decisions on the playing side.

That only makes sense if your ultimate goal is to make money and you care nothing about the football itself. If that is the case everything makes sense.

 

[mil1lion]

Seems people are wising up at last that it isn’t the manager who is the problem.

Think that's also largely those Ange in are Levy out and vice versa so why the numbers are fairly similar. I imagine a very small percentage are both Ange and Levy in.

 

[mil1lion]

Soo hypothetically, new owners come in boot Levy from his ivory towers and take control. What's the first job for them in SC's world???

There's no real quick fix , I think they need to go through from top to bottom and see where improvements can be made. That's not just going out and signing players. They need to take a look at the recruitment team and decide if they're the best people to hand over a sizeable budget too. Same with the manager, decide if he's the man for the job too. Even medical coaches and everything else. They need to set the standard of the club so every aspect of the club is run in a way that we're employing the best in each department. That's how you change the culture within the club. So instead of saying go get me the cheapest option that will have us compete, go get the best we can get in any given position or area within the club.

Honestly if Levy had the same attitude towards football as he did building the stadium then we would be successful on the pitch. When you look at all the detail he put into the stadium to make it the best it could be. That's exactly what we need for the squad. Every detail needs to be looked at as to whether it's the best it can possibly be. If you set that standard from the ground up then it will filter through to the players as well. If your position is under threat because we start going after the best then you raise your game or risk being out the door. Nobody should be comfortable because that's why players just stroll into some games knowing if they fail there's no pressure from the top. All that happens is if things get so bad on the pitch then the manager gets sacked and the players get a new start. It just goes round in cycles regardless of the players or manager we have.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

The club didn't back Ange in the way required this summer.

How is one of the highest net spends in the PL + world football (without selling anyone the manager wanted to keep), and breaking the club's transfer record, not backing the manager?

 

[WorthATry]

How is one of the highest net spends in the PL + world football (without selling anyone the manager wanted to keep), and breaking the club's transfer record, not backing the manager?

Bringing him in only one first team ready player is not backing him

 

[Trix]

How is one of the highest net spends in the PL + world football (without selling anyone the manager wanted to keep), and breaking the club's transfer record, not backing the manager?

3 questions............... If Ange had carte blanche to spend the money we spent would he have bought the players we bought? Would he have gone for players in a different position over the ones we strengthened? Was he given what he was told we would give him when he came in?

I ask this because to be honest this net spend argument isn't worth a jot unless we get bloody close to a yes on all three of those questions.

 

[mil1lion]

People really need to stop avoiding wages and quoting transfer fees alone. We spend big fees on players from smaller clubs because they fit our wage structure. It's the complete package over the length of the contract that ultimately falls below what the top clubs pay. Only time I recall we did both high transfer fee and wages was Ndombele which was a desperate signing that backfired. It never made sense to pay that much on another prospect who wasnt proven in a top league so they got it totally wrong. We have never paid what it takes to get a top player, only top prospects or good players from smaller clubs. The only time we ever go for a top player is at the end of their career (Perisic, VdV, David's etc). Have we ever signed any player the same level of Walker, Eriksen, Bale, Modric or Kane when they left? All players we got in young and let them develop into those great players to then replace with more prospects. That's why we always take another step or two back as soon as those players leave or drop off due to age. It's another cycle waiting for the next one to break out. We're always promised a better future that never arrives.

 

[spursfan77]

How is one of the highest net spends in the PL + world football (without selling anyone the manager wanted to keep), and breaking the club's transfer record, not backing the manager?

Nico williams at £40m on £300k a week or Wilson odobert at £30m and £40k a week. Which are we doing?

Dont get side tracked by transfer fees. It’s the wages that bring in the quality. Been mentioned on virtually every other page now.

 

[ripley]

 

[fecka]

View attachment 147776

I think it's wild that CBS Sports doesn't know the difference between operating income and profits.

 

[Bluto Blutarsky]

I think it's wild that CBS Sports doesn't know the difference between operating income and profits.

To be fair - the list is attributed to Forbes - and when you see the original list, Forbes specifies that Operating Income is: "earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization", and that is a fair way to describe profits from an operating standpoint.


(Also worth noting - the list is actually from 2023, and includes the 3 years ending in 2022.)

 

[Johnny J]

Nico williams at £40m on £300k a week or Wilson odobert at £30m and £40k a week. Which are we doing?

Dont get side tracked by transfer fees. It’s the wages that bring in the quality. Been mentioned on virtually every other page now.

Exactly this. At the end of each season you can basically order the clubs, more or less, by wage spend. That's the key metric.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Nico williams at £40m on £300k a week or Wilson odobert at £30m and £40k a week. Which are we doing?

Dont get side tracked by transfer fees. It’s the wages that bring in the quality. Been mentioned on virtually every other page now.

Ange clearly rates Son and Johnson, even if fans think they aren't good enough, so there's probably a huge disparity in the level of priority that Ange gave to signing a top quality winger compared to what our fanbase thinks there should have been.

Werner's loan was extended very early in the window, rather than as a last-minute option, so Ange must have been quite keen for this to happen (i.e. keeping Werner on the books was backing the manager).

Nico Williams reportedly chose to stay where he is for now, despite interest from bigger clubs than us. I'm expecting him to go to Barcelona next summer.

Neto was out of reach as soon as Chelsea decided they wanted him (and Mendes decided he wanted Neto at Chelsea).

Eze was less attainable after Palace had sold Olise, as it meant they'd have no appetite to budge on the first £60m of his £68m release clause being paid upfront. Also, I don't see how Eze fits LW in Ange's system - like Kulusevski, he'd be far better suited to CAM, but we already had Kulusevski & Maddison there so it wasn't a priority signing.

Maybe we should have beaten Real Madrid to Mbappe's signature!

 

[Neon_Knight_]

Exactly this. At the end of each season you can basically order the clubs, more or less, by wage spend. That's the key metric.

And the same order invariably matches their desirability to potential signings, which is a key metric for being successful at recruiting the biggest names in world football (Nico Williams was actively pursued by Barca & Arsenal last summer).

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

Why does anyone need CBS or Forbes to work out the financials it's all readily available in the UK from companies house or Spurs website

2021 operating profit £97.1 million - Loss after football trading, depreciation & tax £83.8 m
2022 operating profit £112.3 m. - Loss after football trading, depreciation & tax £50.1 m
2023 operating profit £138.7 m. - Loss after football trading, depreciation & tax £86.8 m.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

3 questions............... If Ange had carte blanche to spend the money we spent would he have bought the players we bought? Would he have gone for players in a different position over the ones we strengthened? Was he given what he was told we would give him when he came in?

I ask this because to be honest this net spend argument isn't worth a jot unless we get bloody close to a yes on all three of those questions.

How many managers could answer yes to all three of those questions for even one season / job during their career? Probably only a tiny minority, because all managers have to work within constraints and it's very rare that a manager makes unilateral decisions on signings.

However, I do actually think Ange would have to honestly answer yes to all three of those questions.

If Ange had carte blanche to spend the money we spent would he have bought the players we bought?
I got the impression that Ange was very keen to sign at CF and felt that Solanke was a very good fit for his system.
I think Ange would have liked Neto or Williams, but I don't think we missed out on them because of Levy / ENIC. Neto (or Mendes) was never going to choose us over Chelsea. Williams reportedly didn't want to leave his current club yet, despite interest from bigger clubs than us (like Eriksen did when he stayed at Ajax for a further year).
With those players not being attainable (irrespective of how strongly Levy / ENIC was willing to back Ange in attempting to sign them), we were left to choose from inferior options.

Would he have gone for players in a different position over the ones we strengthened?
Ange wanted to replace Lloris and we did.
Ange wanted another CF and got it (perhaps a year later than he would have liked).
Ange wanted more depth in CM and got it.
Ange wanted more wingers and got them.
What position do you think the board prevented him from getting?

Was he given what he was told we would give him when he came in?
The noises from Ange have always suggested that this is a rebuild project, and he seems to have a preference for (or at least an acceptance of) signing relatively young players, ever since day one.