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Daniel Levy and the great glass ceiling

Pochettino's Spurs can't afford to slip up.
Roar Guru
4th November, 2014
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Yes, Roald Dahl fans, it’s a bad Wonka pun and while the famous chocolatier was renowned for odd and eccentric antics, some of Daniel Levy’s behaviour could just be put down to poor judgement.

The glass ceiling is of course the top four and the fabled land of riches which is the Champions League. Spurs have flirted with it, even achieved it and even achieved it only to be ejected due to Chelsea’s unlikely triumph.

Levy showed up at Spurs in 2001 to replace Lord Sugar as chairman. Spurs had a chequered (as is their want) time initially but there was always a sense that Levy was a sharp operator.

Managerial casualties and their sheer number has remained a feature of his reign, but after disposing of Glenn Hoddle and the ill-fated reign of Jacques Santini he appeared to have struck the right chord with the appointment of Martin Jol.

Jol took Spurs to two successive fifth placed finishes, which is of course exactly one place short of what Levy coveted. Spurs endured a torrid start to Jol’s third season and he was duly jettisoned by Levy and replaced with the supposed coup of Juande Ramos from Sevilla.

Spurs paid both Ramos and Sevilla handsomely for obtaining his services but it was to prove another short reign. Interviews with people with knowledge of Sevilla also indicated it may not have quite been the coup that was suggested.

The view was one of surprise at the money Levy had parted with for a coach that was seen as merely steering a ship that was already fully equipped due to the club’s excellent coaching and scouting structure.

Ramos’ first season was reasonable it must be said, including silverware in the shape of the League Cup, beating Arsenal handsomely in the semi-final before overcoming Chelsea.

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Like his predecessor, however, Ramos endured a terrible start to the following season – Spurs’ worst ever – and he was also sacked in late October 2008 being replaced by Harry Redknapp.

Now I will openly admit that I loathe Harry Redknapp. In my view he is a managerial charlatan with a host of cronies in the UK broadsheets who back him to the hilt and gloss over much of the (unproven) stories of financial irregularities that followed him wherever he has been.

At Spurs however, it is hard to argue that Redknapp did anything but a decent job. He immediately steadied Spurs and guided them to eighth that season.

Timing is of course everything and the following season, Liverpool imploded at the same time as City were only beginning to become a force. Redknapp took his chance and Spurs achieved the top four spot they so craved.

Another fifth placed finish the following season was followed up with a season that divided opinion and would prove one of the biggest tests of Levy’s tenure. Spurs were generally excellent in the league with talk coming through in the Winter of a possible title challenge. Spurs however, faded badly and were overtaken yet again by Arsenal.

With Chelsea (in the league at least) in disarray and Liverpool nowhere to be seen, Spurs held off Newcastle to secure a top four finish. They did however, finish a point behind Arsenal which would prove crucial.

Chelsea famously won the Champions League that season with several backs to the wall performances. UEFA rules stated that no country could have five teams in the tournament and Spurs were dumped back into the Europa League.

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Now Redknapp cannot be held responsible for Chelsea’s triumph but this came against the backdrop of a dramatic loss of form from Spurs while Redknapp was (incorrectly) heavily linked with the England job.

Spurs could and should have finished third, ensuring direct entry into the group stage and turning the situation around on their closest rivals, Arsenal. Levy viewed this as a costly slip up but had the opportunity of course to stick with Redknapp given the England job was never offered.

However, Levy decided to twist, and disposed of Redknapp’s services much to the chagrin of the London press and many of the Spurs fans. Now, politicians can often be credited (damned) with decisions that are described as ‘brave’ (suicidal) and Levy’s appointment of Andre Villas Boas was certainly in that category.

The jury is probably still out on AVB, who has time to become the manager many believe he can be. Chelsea came far too early in his career and there were many that felt that Levy’s appointment was a canny one, others thought it insanity.

The insertion of a new manager made no real difference as Spurs finished fifth yet again and again a point behind Arsenal. AVB actually achieved three more points than Redknapp did when finishing fourth the previous season, the difference was that Chelsea had regrouped despite their own managerial mayhem.

As with many players that Spurs have sold, Levy was given much credit for the way he stonewalled Real Madrid over the sale of Gareth Bale. Spurs had also not been hanging around, signing several players in anticipation of Bale’s departure which eventually happened for 86 million pounds (or thereabouts).

Levy was left with a young manager with an almost entirely new squad of which Erik Lamela was the most expensive signing. Lamela would be unavailable for a variety of reasons to AVB for the remainder of his time at White Hart Lane.

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AVB struggled with the new squad and Spurs endured some poor results. He was fired before Christmas like Ramos and Jol before him. Enter Tim Sherwood and an eventual sixth placed finish for Spurs.

Sherwood knew he was dead man walking despite an 18-month contract and Mauricio Pochettino was installed as manager bringing us up to date. Spurs currently sit eighth in the table.

Chairmen hiring and firing managers is hardly news nowadays but the reality is that Levy is doing more harm than good to Spurs.

Chelsea have acted similarly it must be said with the hugely harsh jettisoning of Carlo Ancelotti, the unpopular (but correct) decision to dispose of Roberto Di Matteo and appointment of Rafael Benitez as well as of course hiring and firing AVB.

Both clubs have suffered from having managers managing players they did not sign and do not necessarily want. The difference is that Chelsea have been shopping for those players in Harrods and have also reinstalled Jose Mourinho.

Levy has taken a serious gamble at least twice now and both times it has backfired.

Ramos was a failure after Jol and while you could argue they won a trophy and he probably did no worse than Jol would have done, it cost Spurs a fortune in compensation both to Sevilla and Ramos himself.

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Levy’s biggest gamble however, was in firing Redknapp. AVB’s stock was worthless in England after his time at Chelsea so Levy was effectively staking his own reputation by backing him to succeed at the Lane.

He also showed extreme impatience in hiring a young manager and then demanding instant results after selling Gareth Bale and handing the manager an entirely new squad.

Since the time of Jol, Spurs appear to average around fifth place, with Redknapp managing eighth even after Ramos’ terrible start and Sherwood managing sixth after a poor first half of last season.

This all tells you that the manager is largely irrelevant to to Spurs’ position. Redknapp achieved two top four positions but both were in a season where only three of the big teams performed, effectively handing that place to Spurs.

So given that fifth or sixth is Spurs’ natural position, what is required to break that glass ceiling? Spurs are handicapped by a small stadium and the chicken and egg fact that they lack the Champions League revenue through not qualifying.

They are about to embark on solving the stadium issue but as we have seen with Arsenal, this will almost certainly lead to less transfer funds for the manager unless they unearth another Gareth Bale.

Pochettino has had a mixed start but it is clear that he is trying to impose a playing style on Spurs which they are not yet comfortable with. It could also be that they lack the personnel to play his high energy pressing game and more comings and goings are required. All of this will take time.

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I am not an expert on EPL finances but I do not think that finishing eighth as opposed to fifth makes a huge difference for Spurs other than the Europa League qualification, which hinders their league form in any event.

What Levy can do to address this glass ceiling is to give a manger (and it could have been AVB) time to build and mould a side as he truly wishes it.

Given that Chelsea, City, Arsenal and possibly again United look so established in the top four and with Liverpool finishing as high as second last season, fourth place should be viewed as a hugely tough ask for Pochettino and not achieving it in no way seen as a failure.

If Pochettino is given time he could (potentially) build a cohesive side that can punch above its weight, which is what is needed.

Levy is far too quick to press the panic button and the reality is that had he stuck with anyone of Jol, Redknapp or AVB, Spurs would be around pretty much where they are.

Those have all gone and the reality is that he now has Pochettino. It is time for Daniel Levy to take a step back, work on the finances of Spurs and give the manager the tools and platform to build a team that can achieve that fourth spot.

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