LEVY GONE! REACTION | Tottenham Chairman Steps Down After 25 Years

33:51he's airing me he's sat there now he's looking at his phone and he's thinking oh god why is he calling

34:03call declined look at that what a pig um there you go

34:14uh Stephen King says won myself a bet with my pal um I've got a tenner getting I called it earlier in the summer. Tenors, not to be sniffed at, mate. Nice one. Let's just hope he gives it to you. Do you know what I mean?

34:34Praetorian Dwarf says, I asked this on the fighting cock years ago and we'll ask again here.

34:42Levy's memoirs. What bit do you want to read first? Ooh. Do you know what I do want to read? Honestly, what I want to read first is the decision around the Pochettino era, 16, 17, and so on and so forth to get no players in. I want to know about that because that to me, that's the biggest fumble. People can say what they want about Pochettino. He was difficult. He had specific players in mind. He was difficult in the respect that he wanted players that would improve an exceptional team, right? I get that. I get the idea behind that in terms of if the club were offering him kind of Ross Barkley and players like that, he's sitting there saying, I've got Waniama, I've got Dembele, like I've got Ericsson.

35:30I need players that can step into this and take us up a level. And we didn't do that. And that is the biggest fumble of Daniel Levy's career. Because if after the 16-17 season, we finish second, we spend that summer, 100 million pounds, say at that time, We spent around£100 million at that time. We threw caution to the wind and we thought, let's go for it. At that point, Spurs go and win the Premier League next season. Spurs might win the double next season. Spurs might win the Champions League that next season. That 17-18 season. Or going into those next few years. If we added somebody massive at that point.

36:14A real marquee, huge flagship signing that took everything up a notch. and that's what we knew we needed do we hold on to Kyle Walker you know do we keep Danny Rose happy still less disillusioned like you know less disillusioned with where the club was going he said didn't he in that interview all we ever do is buy players that we have to google but if we'd have if we'd have after that season we've just we've come second the last season at White Hart Lane the old stadium looked absolutely unbelievable unbeaten at home all season if we'd have just been brave in that window and dropped money, big money, serious money, Spurs could have won the lot.

36:55We absolutely could have won the lot. It was there. It was there in his hands. It was there. We didn't do it. That's the bit in the memoirs. I want to hear how he's justified that as a decision. um we'll see aren't we um

37:20it's a bit weird Chris says uh this was all going on early June so I'm not surprised oh oh I'm sorry Chris I'm sorry you were uh so much more enlightened than the rest of us plebs here look at us all scrabbling around in the dirt getting all excited about the chairman of 25 years going Chris already knew Chris knew back in June so you know um there we go

37:52it's a weird one um look I said I was going to reflect on on Daniel Lee my just at least my sort of my immediate thoughts on Daniel Levy's legacy um I almost said Daniel Levy's legacy legacy um his legacy no americans don't even say legacy do they legacy everyone says legacy i think my uh look he

38:23is obviously a character who has split opinion for many many years right it's been a device issue at the at the sort of the head of the club right yes there's been rumblings at various different points down the years and the intensity of those rumblings has been less in the last few years however let's I mean not everything needs to be compared to Arsenal like forever in their shadow but I think about the Wenger era at Arsenal and it was a long and glorious period for them and then it suddenly wasn't right but people kind of could grin and bear it because they were looking at the pros and cons of it but then in the last few years of it it was protests it was toxicity it was an unhappy place there was too much noise off the pitch and that's just the same with Daniel Levy like to say that Daniel Levy like some people do is single-handedly destroying our club and all that type of thing I don't buy and I've never bought I've never bought that idea I've never bought the idea that he was single-handedly destroying the club that he was doing this what Daniel Levy was doing for me is ensuring that the club was very sound it was sound in a business sense and more often than not sound in a footballing sense what Daniel Levy wasn't doing really is ever as much as he said really to the contrary of whatever it was that he said he was never really going he was never going for the top was he was never trying to lasso the moon or anything whatever else you want to say he was never shooting for the very top so I was always confident under Levy's stewardship that we'd never be an actual basket case.

40:24We'd never do kind of what I say do what Manchester United do. Manchester United is still a regularly successful football club. They still win trophies. We say Manchester United aren't successful because they're not what Manchester United used to be. But the success Manchester United have had in the last decade like since since Fergie's gone, the success that Manchester United have tasted is still more than 99 % of other clubs in the country. And I include Arsenal in that. There's a hot take from this. Manchester United, since Ferguson have left, have still been a more successful football club than Arsenal have.

41:09The only clubs probably more successful than Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. but we look at them as being a bit of a basket case don't we because of what they were but look the main thing is look at West Ham look at the shambles that they are look at the way that kind of always falls to pieces look at Aston Villa now we were all singing that everyone was singing Aston Villa's praises a couple of years ago but now look at them they're in trouble they bought one player this summer they're losing all their best talent because they weren't run sustainably they were running a silly slapdash fashion because they tried to grab at success yes spurs have never done that so i've always felt comfortable in what daniel levy's done when i look i'm 40 years old now right and yeah this is gonna go a bit in my day and whatever but when i was growing up to the to the age of what 10 11 12 tottenham were awful all that i heard was my dad whenever when i'd complain when i was a kid and I'd complain about Spurs.

42:11We never win. We never do anything. My dad would always say, look, you know, we're a great club. You know, we've tasted some great success. In the 80s, we won, blah, blah, blah, blah. And in my head, I'm like, I don't care. I wasn't alive. Obviously, you do care. As you get older, you appreciate your history and stuff. In that moment when you're a kid, all I'm thinking is, my football team's awful. I'm never going to see them play in Europe. I'm never going to, let alone play in the Champions League. When I'm sat there watching the Champions League on ITV, seeing Manchester United coming back against Bayern Munich all those sort of you know incredible huge memories Zinedine Zidane's volley from outside the box and all this type of stuff that was that was the stuff of dreams I would sit there and watch I didn't have Sky growing up so I'd sit there and watch like the Serie A on Football Italia on Sundays look at all the superstars there look all those incredible amazing players and think because in my head I was like I'm never going to see that for Spurs.

43:09That's never how it's going to happen for us. That's just not the club we are. That's not the club. It didn't mean I loved Spurs any less. Spurs are always my team. They're always my club. I've got the ticket stubs up on the wall behind me from my first ever football matches and the first game I went to at Spurs and the second game I ever went to. I love this club. It's in my heart. It's not something I'm asking for a medal for. Everyone watching this is the same. You all know what I'm saying. right so you love this club but we always knew I always there was always this sense that Spurs were never going to be anything we were never going to be anything and the way really that I'd enjoy football is the World Cup because everybody loved the World Cup again England when I was growing up in a very similar position nobody cared about England we weren't very good yeah we'd had a good tournament in Italia 90 but didn't even make the 1994 World Cup so you enjoyed the carnival of football that was the world cup you enjoyed the euros euro 96 amazing what an incredible experience that was but as far as spurs went you know spurs were what they were maybe at some point at some point again we'd win an fa cup or something because that's what spurs do but never in never in my life did i think i would see spurs be a Champions League team be a team that would be spoken about as a team that could actually do something and what I will give Daniel Levy what I will give Daniel Levy is his stewardship of the club turned us into a serious football team and I don't think we can deny that I don't think you can deny that his legacy will be one that's you know it's got some flags there's some marks against it but what also needs to be acknowledged and one thing I will I will give him that you know bigger me I know but one thing that he needs to be given is the fact that really you look at you look at the pack of clubs that Spurs are in right in the early eras of the Premier League it was Man United it was Arsenal to a lesser extent it was Liverpool I know Villa had some dalliances at the very very I think the first season they almost won the Premier League first season of the of the Premier League but I'm talking about the sort of the early period the early years of the Premier League going on from the mid-90s into the noughties it was Manchester United it was Arsenal it was Liverpool Chelsea were becoming more of a thing at that point and then you had that pool of teams didn't you Newcastle Villa Spurs Everton that sort of little four of us teams who were sleeping giants teams with big fan bases proud clubs with big histories who really had fallen by the wayside a bit who could maybe maybe make a push for something as Newcastle showed at one point could maybe make a push for something at one point or another but then over the next few years under the early years of Levy stewardship seeing Spurs pull away from those teams a bit we pulled away from those teams and almost became a bit of an island we became a little island sat there behind Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and then there was Spurs kind of there floating around doing their own little thing where suddenly we became a bit of a problem not enough of a problem where those top four teams worried about us but we started to become something that they peered over their shoulders at and the teams behind us were looking at in the distance it was suddenly how are Spurs doing that and Levy was you know he galvanized this he he brought in a young core of English players young talent buying the best young players from around the country putting them in building a team around that putting belief in young players and building and making a few smart signings a few smart acquisitions here and there you know uh like liverpool um ian graham is it liverpool's money ball guy we had him first before and we didn't you can listen to his book how to win the premier league we didn't utilize him as effectively as Liverpool have done but still the thought was there early days from Tottenham how can we be smart how can how can we get an edge on the teams above us we can't spend as much as the teams above us but we can still get an edge we can be smart in our signings signing players like Luka Modric out of nowhere where you know he's obviously gone on to be one of the most legendary players ever um we got him ahead of all the other big clubs because we'd identified him Dimitar Berbatov another prime example yeah you know Dimitar Berbatov was a player of some like you know he had some reputation there was an amazing goal he'd scored for Leverkusen that I remember keep seeing me it was almost a bit like Dele Alli's against Crystal Palace but from a more acute angle he sort of rainbow flicks it over his head and volleyed it into the into the roof of the net so we knew Dimitar Berbatov had something so but my point is that Spurs were were acting in a smart way and then obviously all of a sudden we weren't this island anymore all of a sudden we're finishing in the top four all of a sudden we're starting to beat teams like Arsenal beat teams like Manchester United which we'd never done beat teams like Liverpool yes not that often in Liverpool's case but still doing it and then obviously there's some luck along the way you would say you know you can call it luck but he hired Maurizio Pochettino you know I think maybe nobody was expecting Maurizio Pochettino to be quite the phenomenon that he was and for that squad to be quite as incredible as they turned out to be nobody nobody saw Harry Kane coming nobody saw that coming I mean Windy has a bit of a claim on that doesn't he from from back in the day, but still, nobody knew quite how good Harry Kettler.

49:32So, obviously, Spurs have been lucky to an extent. And Son Hyun Min, another example, you know, lest we forget Sonny, like a player who was signed, probably going to be an all-right Bundesliga signing, we were probably hoping, who has also himself gone on to be one of the club's greatest ever players. And that's not just sentiment. That's not being sentimental. Son Hyun Min clearly is one of the club's greatest ever players. from a fairly kind of you know modest transfer fee 20 something million pounds and that's Daniel Levy that is what he's done I mean you have to give him that you have to give him that Spurs turned into a club that is spoken about around the world you can go on holiday now to Cyprus Greece Turkey Spain wherever and you will see on those dodgy market stalls selling those dodgy knockoff DHgate, before DHgate was a thing, shirts.

50:29And what will you see on there now? Tottenham shirts. Never in a million years was that going to be a thing. Never in a million years was that going to be a thing. But now you will see Tottenham shirts on there. And that is Daniel Levy's legacy as well. That's something he's... Do you think he'd appreciate that? Daniel Levy, your legacy is knockoff, knock off Tottenham shirts on market stores that booze that Brits Abroad will buy on their holidays. But there's something bigger behind that, right? Like, you get the point I'm making. The footprint this club has now globally is gargantuan. It's enormous.

51:14And yeah, you're going to have other fans of other clubs say, what are you talking about, Tim Pot? But they know that's not true. We know that's not true.

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53:42Like I say, you know, football has this power to kind of break through cynicism. It does. I'm a cynical, miserable sod at the best of times. I'm sure you know this, right? And football has that power to break through that. Football has that power to do this corny kind of stuff about like the capacity to make us dream, to make us believe in something. That is what football does. And And I would say in my heart, this is the thing, in my heart, all I can think about is the lad, the young lad, me, that is. That's not me in bed with another man called David, as he says in the office. That other, that little Jack that was sat there thinking, I love my club, but I'm never going to see them be anything.

54:36you know I'm always going to be made fun of by my friends that support Arsenal or Man United or Liverpool and things like that I'm never going to see my club do anything really and I would say in this time I've seen I've seen that club not only compete in the Champions League get to the final you know to win the Europa League to beat Manchester to beat Manchester United in a cup final to see some of the greatest players the greatest players of all time play for this club you know performers and that's not just Daniel Levy I know we've we've had Hoddle we've had Blanchard we've had some incredible players down the years but I'm talking about like in this hyper in this modern football sense seeing Gareth Bale light up the Champions League in the way that he did do you You know, seeing that young player come through to have the platform to, obviously we didn't buy Gareth Bale that complete package, but we bought one of the most promising young players, gave him that platform to succeed, to show those talents, to show the world how incredible he could be.

55:45And in turn, lift the club up as well. See players like Kane, see players like Son, Ericsson, Dele, Vertonghen, Alderwereld, Hugo Lloris, World Cup winner, Christian Romero, World Cup winner. Seeing these starred incredible players, incredible players that I would have only once upon a time sat and on a Sunday afternoon watched on Football Italia playing for all the other clubs. The fact we have players, we have had and have players like that playing for our team, playing for our thing is the stuff of dreams. That trophy parade was the stuff of dreams. It was unbelievable. and so in my heart all I can say now after all of this after it's settled is a thank you to Daniel Levy I can because that's that's what he's given us but at the same time it was the right time to go because as much as he's created this for us he created this platform for joy we're only human it's only natural expectation shift the club has changed right it's it's what he has created is uh is a super club right what Daniel Levy did brilliantly was turn a small mid-tape not small a club with a huge history but I'm talking about in Premier League actual terms at the point he took over a club that was on the you know fighting to not get relegated a lot of the time and stuff like that definitely wasn't achieving anything was definitely not finishing in the top half of the table very often um let alone qualify for Europe or anything like that right and what Daniel Levy did masterfully was turn a club that had raw potential but it was mostly potential and realized that potential he realized that potential his remit to take us from a sort of struggling former power into an active power again.

57:49He completed that. That's it. That's his journey. His journey was taking Spurs on that journey. I've just sort of gone on about there for the last 15, 20 minutes. He transformed Tottenham into this entity, into this huge club, into this wonderful thing. But what is abundantly clear is that when we got to that level, when we created it, you know, it's sort of like a, it's an Oppenheimer of sorts, right? It's a guy who's managed to create something more powerful than he can control. And I kind of feel like that's what I would say from the outside, from everything we learn of it, that Levy just didn't, he just didn't have the right thing about him to mix it at that level, right?

58:38He didn't have the right thing to mix. like he just couldn't do it at that level we saw it ever ever since the new stadium opened and ever since we were like putting ourselves forward as this super club right this club that just gets it done you could see we just acted differently from other clubs we make fun of Manchester United right and they are a bit of a shambles still but Manchester United go out and get deals done they don't sit there for weeks on end back and forth back and forth back and forth the Manchester United we want your player this is what you're getting for it take it you know that's what Chelsea do and I know it's different it's different I don't know I'm not giving them any credit Chelsea is a completely different story as is Manchester City but let's say Arsenal Arsenal for example right Arsenal are a club now that have a similar sort of turnover to Spurs make a similar sort of profit to Spurs obviously it waxes and wanes between the two of us when we're going through leaner periods and not Champions League revenue or that type of thing.

59:39But for the most part, the infrastructure, the size of the clubs now is comparable to Tottenham and Arsenal, right? Arsenal, the way they operate, this is the thing. We know this. Arsenal know what you have to do at that level. Because you can do all you want. You obviously have to bear in mind the monetary side of things, the economics functioning of a club. You have to bear that in mind. And there's certain things that fans won't ever grasp. But things that fans will grasp is the optics of the way in which a club behaves. And what Arsenal do is always maintain that they want to win. They want to be the best.

1:00:18We had a laugh. We have a laugh about it. The fact that on their wall, you know, you walk through the kind of, they showed this, was it in All or Nothing? I think it was in their All or Nothing, wasn't it? When Arteta's walking around the halls at their sort of training ground complex and in the wall, they've got a hole that you're supposed to put a trophy in, right? There's like a hollow for the Champions League trophy, a hollow for the Premier League trophy. And we all sit there and have a laugh about it. But what that is, it's optics on a club. That's them saying we want to win stuff. Whereas for years now, we've arrived at the top.

1:00:57We've arrived at the top, right? And we could all believe we were all bought into the journey, 16-17, 17-18. okay we're not buying players but we believe we believe because look we've seen the club grow we're seeing it expand and once the stadium is built that because that was the golden carrot wasn't it that's what was dangled in front of us once that stadium is built this game-changing stadium it's all going to be different it's all going to change and it didn't and that's that's that's the that's the starkest reality of it it didn't change we didn't follow suit from clubs like Arsenal, from clubs like Liverpool, clubs like Manchester United, at least in the sense in how we operate.

1:01:40We arrived at the top table. It's like, it's a fine dinner, right? They're all sat there having steak, sirloin steak and having all the sides, everything they want, the finest bottles of wine. And we've turned up with a packed lunch, right? We've got a fancy suit on but we're still sat there with a packed lunch oh it's all right guys don't worry about us we're happy to sit here and have a chat with you if that's all right but uh we'll sit here and have a beef sandwich while you're while you're having a steak and wine we'll have a beef sandwich and tap water you know it's kind of it's kind of how we've operated and it's just not it's not gonna wash is it and it hasn't washed it hasn't worked he's come to the end of the road we all know it it's been toxic the huge protests over the past few years which are only going to grow and just the general like the media line now is just all it does is focus on Spurs's failings the glee with which they treated the Morgan Gibbs white fiasco the glee with which they greeted the Ezza stuff it's just too much noise it's taken away from a club that won a major trophy last season and as he said to Gary Neville in his kind of piece maybe people will only appreciate me when I'm gone maybe that maybe that's what dawned on him maybe he's realized he's just tarnishing his own legacy now so he has gone that's it I mean it's the start of a new era and all we can do now is reflect on what is maybe to come um but you know it's been it's been a hell of a ride it's been a hell of a ride and like I say in my heart I don't feel ill will towards the guy I don't if anything I am grateful for what he's done for the club for where he's taken the club to and I've had a laugh about him and I've moaned about him down the years and everything like that but I think one of the one of the things I'll leave you with before I wrap this up one of the things that you know and Paul O 'Keefe is somebody if you ask him you can see him on Twitter he will complain about the board as much as anybody but one thing that he said that really stuck with me that I like is that the thing is whatever you say about Daniel Levy he always bats for the club he always bats for the club in every negotiation be it with other clubs be it with players be it with players at the club who think they have ideas above their station he has said Daniel Levy will always bat for the club that like one of his opening lines when they're trying to sign players which you know is seen as quite funny but it also shows you where it's coming from is essentially saying to the player do you feel proud that a club as big as us is coming after you.

1:04:54He's somebody that hasn't allowed the likes of Real Madrid to really stamp all over us. He managed to get good value out of the deal for Gareth Bale, close to a world record fee at that point. He's always batted for the club and he's always had the club's best interest. We might not have always agreed with it, but in his head, he's always felt like he's had the club's best interests at heart. So I can't hold any ill will towards him for that. I probably won't ever forgive him for letting that Pochettino team slip through his fingers because we could have won the lot under them and I fully believe that.

1:05:29But, you know, he's built the club at least to a point where hopefully getting back there at some point isn't a distant, far-off dream now like it once was when I was a kid. I kind of feel like I can sit here now from the position that we're in and say it's not going to happen overnight. But if we make the right moves, if we take the right steps, can I see this club winning the lot one day? Yeah, you know, maybe. I don't think it's a total fantasy. So I think that's what Daniel Levy's given us. And I thank him for that. and I also still stand by the fact that I'm happy that he's gone now. I think it's the right time and yes, we step into the unknown, but look, it is what it is.

1:06:22Life is all about gambles, isn't it? Life is all about taking risks and nothing ventured, nothing gained. So let's see where we go. I think I've exhausted myself on this topic for one evening, but I do appreciate everybody who has tuned in on YouTube if you are still watching on YouTube please and you haven't dropped it a like yet please do drop me a like I really do appreciate helps other people to see it helps the channel to get suggested to other people if you're listening to the audio version of this as a podcast please do leave a rating leave a review and share it if you're on Reddit like I say if you're on one of those threads on Reddit where people are saying what's a good podcast i want tottenham content about daniel levy ah get it in my veins just say if you've not listened to rule the roost give that a listen um and i massively appreciate that if you aren't tired of hearing my voice as much as you currently are i do have a patreon as well patreon.com slash rtr pod um get involved on there for extra content and also add free podcasts as well but yeah it is the end of an era Daniel Levy Daniel Weavey he has gone Tottenham Hotspur live on and Daniel Levy is now a point in our history and we move from him as we all move in time goodbye Daniel thanks for most of the memories it was definitely time to go but thank you enjoy the rest of your life I guess sounds a bit grim doesn't it but you know do it thanks everybody come on you spurs up the spurs close your eyes exhale feel your body relax and let go of whatever you're carrying today Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class.

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