Levy shows his true colours.

Sadly this isnt something that will be widely promoted within the media as is doesnt portray levy and co in a negative manner. I have always been a fan of Levy and thing he has done far more good that bad for our club. Levy has always indicated that he is with us for the long term and has put his own money where his mouth is. Sure if and when he sells the club he will stand to make a lot of money, but for this there has to be success on the pitch as well as a good balance sheet. I have no problem with levy making big money when he does eventually sell, lets face it it is a very risky business buying into a football club, for every Daniel Levy there are plenty more Mike Ashleys who stand to lose millions.

He should take 100% pay cut and do it for the love of the club I would!

I Love Levy, best Chairman In The Premier League :D:D

F*** me his better then sugar anyway!

was it not sugar who won us a FA cup in 91 after getting us reinstated? Sugar saved our club and was a good chairman ok made a few errors he is only human ... Levy loves the club, but even if he does not, as long as he does it for the spurs I will be happy long he may be at the helm!! Levy has progressed our club well and is slowly going to get a bigger and better club in whole

I didn'tlikeLevy at first and I think he has made some awful decisions and the whole circus surrounding Ramos and the sacking of Jol still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. However, my feelings chnged when he got rid of Ramos and the rest, broke the DOF system and brought in Harry. It proved to me that he can be ruthless when needed and does everything for the best interest of the club. Unfortunately his judgment and tactics were appauling over Jol and Ramos even though I think he thought sacking jol was for the benefit of the club and saw Ramos as the person to take us to the next level, how wrong he was at that time. Levy isn't all roses and he obviously has a nasty streak in the way he persued Ramos and lied about doing so and how he treated Jol but he is a hard business man which means he has got gooddeals from fergie with regards to Berby, Carrick etc but he has missed out by being 'tight' at wrong times, ie) Arshavin! On balance I think he does love the club and he does want to try and bring success at the lane and develop us but his impatience, decision making and sometimes ruthless streak can create havoc at times but at other times it works in our favour. Overall, now I am happy to have Levy on board and have warmed to him but I am still upset about how he treated Jol, he didn't deserve it and I do sometimes worry about his decision making and his sometimes impatience! On a final note I would rather have him here than be taken over by a multi billionairre who we know nothing about. I want players to play forus becuase they want to and not becuase we can pay them mega pounds which would be the case if someone came in and took us over. Happy for him to stay and continue doing as he does and if he sells and makes a profit then fair enough as long as it doesn't leave us in the *****ttt!

Spurs are a business and Levy is a business man end off nothing else just a business man rememver that when he sells us to the highest bidder. He is ok nothing more and jinkin makes some valid points.

jinkin may or may not make valid points, he was simply responding to the suggestion that Levy is better or worse than sugar, which is to completely ignore the thrust of the article. While Levy does not technically own spurs he is the chairman of ENIC as a whole and chairman of the club itself, to dismiss him as a front man is simply wrong. He has run our club relatively well in real world terms, and pretty amazingly in footballing terms - nearly every other club is up to their eyes in debt, and the pay cut shows that he is serious about running the club properly - not just creaming off as much as he can. Will he sell the club? probably, isnt this what most fans want anyway, some middle eastern billionaire? people are mixed up in their criticism, surely a chairman who really loved the club would sell it if an owner came along who could take the club further? im not arguing whether he does or doesnt 'love' the club, thats irrelevant, just pointing out that this kind of criticism doesnt make sense. Is he ruthless, yes - we would not have a southgate situation here, and the way Jol was treated was ridiculous. That said, the way that Jol prepared (or didnt, as it were) the squad properly for the season was also ridiculous. Its easy with hindsight to dismiss the Ramos decision but at the time he was an up and coming manager rapidly gaining a reputation - in many ways exactly what we were looking for. He always gets good deals for players being sold. The Arshavin deal we look at again with the benefit of hindsight - he was a 28year old Russian unproven at this level and as I understand they kept messing the club around and increasing the price as soon as a deal was thought to have been reached. The last no.s I saw quoted were about 10m higher than what arsenal paid for him. To bail on the deal under those circumstances sounds like a good decision to me - too much of a gamble. Last point - I always wonder if he would take so much stick for 'being tight' (which is *********, hes poured money into the club) if he wasnt Jewish.

thanks for the article and it's good news, to hear anything these days about people who could but aren't sticking their nose in the trough is a relief and am glad it's at our club. i'd much rather enic, however 'private' joe lewis is, than the chuckle brothers at united or sooty and sweep at liverpool

no doubt he has done great for the club, but i think he should be more demanding towards the players, the money we have spent an players we have (mostley internationls), we still find it hard to balence the team with signings an, youth players. with all the hype an talk, nothing more then 6th is a must. simply as

*less then 6th

Sugar did the club well, he bailed us out when we needed it. For a successful business man he failed at Spurs as he and his family were fans first. He made many bad decisions but most of those were on the advice of his experts. He was made out to be the devil in the end and we treated him awful. He helped to bridge the deal that ENIC put in place by being fair with them and helping with the sale. Despite the way the fans treated him he still comes and watches, he is still passionate about Spurs. Levy is a great chairman, I hated the way he treated Jol but last season he had the balls to stand up and say "You know what we have done things wrong here, we are going back to being a proper English club with a Manager and getting rid of the European structure". Yes they've been tight with signings but may be that's because we've had our fingers bitten paying 'big' money for the next big thing. How many of them have these new 'Zidane, Desailly etc..' broken the squad. I also think they are here for the longer term, or at least till we have the new stadium, training ground and champions league football. They will probably sell then and make big money, but eh we will be a proper top 4 club then so every cloud and all that!!

Levy has made good and bad decisions but within those decisions he has made us money and brought in a manager who has us compeating with the top 4, Yes the whole Jol situation was a joke but how much of that was down to comolli ? during his time here we have become the best run club in the premiership, Sugar bailed us out when we needed him but as he is a huge Spurs fan he didn't run the club aswell as he would of liked and had some terrible business with venables, When levy sells i hope it is to someone that has our best interests in mind

Well said Josh

I always thought Sugar did an amazing job at Spurs and part of that was to leave the club in capable hands. Venables did his best to make him look like the bad cop but I think eventually most people realised Sugar was genuine. Even when he stepped aside he still kept a financial share in the club as if to say he would step back in if we needed it. In Levy and ENIC he found the right team to steer the ship. What is a shame is all that investment that both chairmen supported hasn't got the results on the field that us fans deserve. A long list of poor manager appointments and a constant transfer policy that focused on quantity over quality. Surely Harry and Levy know now that the way forward is to only add proven top drawer players if they are available and otherwise sit on their wallets. Slightly concerned though that we're still buying too many average players.

Incidently I think I could live fairly comfortably on 68% of Levy's original salary, although it is fair to say he, and they, didnt have to do it, so the gesture is commendable.

Frank on the money again not for the first time. To many fans are confusing Levy the business man with Levy a super hero Spurs man. Levy is simply a business man as his track record in football decisions have been close to shocking! It will be interesting to see if he is still a tight ass when the new stadium is built in terms of wages to get the best players. IMO Enic are getting ready to get the best price and even if Enic are in charge when the stadium is in operation we will still be buying the best of the rest players with wages to match. It`s all about the balance sheet and always has, Someone was spot on earlier Sugar deserves more credit he did a fantastic job when we were in big trouble and he selected Enic who are doing an ok job. We are a massively supported club with huge revenue it does not take a genius to make a profit.

cockeril... you sound like a jelious *****.. never did like you.. levy has done a good job. you bang on about it doesnt take a genius to make a profit, im pretty sure you couldnt do it. plus there is more to it.. some off the players have baught have been amazing.. berba for 10 mil carrick 2.5 mil.. even big money spends like modric.. cracking player... ok pav 14 mil hasnt done it but he is not to know he wouldnt cut it... so just shut up u do my head in

Some of the posts on here are unbelievable, even for an internet forum. Levy does not own any of the club? He owns just under 25% of THFC (29.41% of 85.5% of all shares). Levy has not put money into the Club? He has paid out over £38 million of his own money to buy the shares. The DOF role was already in place when Levy joined – Sugar brought in the role. Levy could not change it right away as ENIC did not have voting majority – when they got majority he changed the DOF to SD (whereby the manager had veto on players – the DOF said who came in and went out). Of course not everybody likes Levy but why spout crap about him? I had a bet about the response to this article and I lost. Even when the guy shows total commitment he still gets the boot put in.

Cockeril - Arnesen knew what he was doing??? I almost wet myself on that one. Who did he bring from Europe of any note?? Zielgler, Atoube, Dervitte, Beriche??? What has he done at Chelsea other than land them in hot water and a transfer ban!!

Cockeril - how many other PL teams have spent more on transfers than us over the last 8 years? Net or gross will do or preferably both figures. Also, how much do we pay in player wages compared to the other clubs? Out of the clubs that do pay more than us, how many of those clubs are in unsustainable debt?

cockeril - that's me told - lol!!!

Surely we are doing something wrong GIK if we are spending shed loads of cash and still not achieving anything on the pitch of note? It`s tough but we need to move on to the next level of players and it will probably mean paying more on wages and now may be the time as we are 4th and look a better proposition.

Cockeril - if it was purely down to money being spent then we would be at the top and in the CL. On paper it is easy that we find a manager that gels with a team - easy to suggest but desperatley hard to find as any club will testify (other than United and Arsenal). We can sit and argue all day long as to who is the best manager (you may recall that I always wanted Van Gaal but how am I to know that he would be any better than Ramos?) or the best players. Santini was the meant to be the next Messiah but who would have thought he would do a runner as he did? It is a total myth that we will not pay the right money for the right players - have you any idea what Edgar was on? Arshavin was NOT down to us - the fee was agreed and at the last minute the Russians put the price up and said all money up front - we could have met the deal but he never wanted to come to us - he always wanted to go to Arsenal - he now wants to go to Spain with the lower taxes - a real committed player. We also beat Liverpool's deal for Torres but he wanted to go there - if players won't come to us then there is not a lot we can do. It is not due to a lack of money for transfers, wages or the will to get these players - there is a belief amongst players generally that if you are not in a Sky 4 team then you have not made it - sad but true. We will shortly be offering the BEST training ground in Europe - the best stadium for atmosphere - all this and no debt. Do you think that the top players would come to us then if we are not in the Sky 4? It also needs a manager who knows the agents as those parasites have more and more power. There is going to be a huge change in players wages and although it will never be a complete level playing field it will make players look to thier surrounds as well as their bank account.

Also did Arse not get Arshavin for less than we offered them, Not sure it was the Russians it could as easily been Levy with his hardball negotiation...I wish he was a little more tight fisted with Zokora..

I dont really care about comparing owners, IMO levy is doing a good job. He has manouvered the club in a position of huge porential both on and off the pitch. We are financially stable, have a good squad, 3 or 4 kids with huge potential, a few trophies and will soon have one of the best stadiums and training facilities in the prem, possibly even the world. Rome was not built in a day! It is much harder in this day and age to go from a mid table club to champions due to the financial rewards of CL football.

Cockeril - Lewis is golf mad and does not care for football too much but as I said in previous post, IF it was down to money then we would get the right players as we could utilise the overall Group. As an example, Lewis would sanction 6 of TG companies to sponsor a player so that he would get a lot more than his salary was showing on the books of THFC. What has to be remembered is that legislation via UEFA will come into play within the next 3 years that will ensure that clubs will have to live within their means AND carry no debt (other than for infrastructure). By that time we will have matchday revenues in excess of £3 million (same as Arsenal). I can assure you that if, for example, we could get the likes of Kaka, Messi or Ronaldo and it was ONLY down to money then we would win and the deal would be done within hours. You have to remeber that Lewis and Levy only get the top price for thier investment when the club is doing well ON the pitch and to do that we need top players. Levy might be a lot of things but stupid he ain't and his whole investment into THFC is in a trust for his kids future so he will ensure that he gets top dollar. People of my age that were around in 1961 and grew up as Spurs being a TOP team find it very hard to accept that we can no longer attract the top players purely by being Spurs - I can remember our breaking the transfer record a few times - Greaves, Chivers, Peters etc. - the top players WANTED to to come to us. Sadly, we no longer have that appeal so we have to try harder in other ways. It is just not correct, at any level, to blame lack of money for our ills. Picking the wrong manager can be rightly laid at our door but who was to know that Santini and Ramos were not to be the real deal. Levy is in charge so he has to take the rap for that but he hardly meant to pick the wrong guy - he has 38 million reasons why we have to be successful on the pitch.

You have a good appreciation of the financials GIK and your analysis is usually pretty objective. But I wonder whether there is any concern at all that the record profit made is really only on the basis of intangible assets (essentially the value of player contracts) doubling over the previous year? It's a staggeringly high amount to carry on the balance sheet relative to the equity in the club while at the same time total liabilities have increased by £55m over the previous year. This leaves the club with a nett worth, heavily reliant on intangibles, of a modest £62m. I would have thought that the financial fundamentals were really rather thin.

That all makes sense GIK. I don't doubt that the club is financially healthy. I am not sure that you have really explained the increase in intangibles which are notoriously difficult for outsiders to value - that's why they are 'intangible' I suppose. I follow the amortisation and impairment charges as you point out but it looks to me that squad value - compared to previous years - is more than fully valued and could lead to bigger writedowns and reduced prospect of profit on player trading. It won't matter greatly if the path you indicate is followed successfully but the figures still look a little bloated to me and nett debt, though still comparatively modest, has trebled over the year. Isn't this likely to increase significantly over the investment program before generating the revenues to pay it down over time? That's got to impose some restrictions though at least the board have taken their responsibilities seriously enough to cancel the dividend this year.

Amos – the profit for player trading is directly linked to the amortisation costs as the value of each transfer is amortised over the length of that player’s contract e.g. if we bought a player for £20 million and he had a 5 year contract then his “value” to the club would be amortised over the length of the 5 year contract thus after 4 years his “value” to the club would be £4 million and anything over that figure we get would be “profit”. That is why the amortisation costs are the only real way to work out the “value” of the squad as that is their worth to the accounts – other valuations of the playing squad can only be used for insurance purposes – I would only ever value any playing squad via the amortisation costs as that is what their value is to the accounts. At 30 June 2009 the Group had £64.5m (2008: £84.1m) of undrawn committed bank borrowing facilities and this will be used primarily to purchase the remaining properties within the footprint of the new development. The funding vehicles being used for the development will not negatively impact the running of the business but certainly for the next 2 years we will use up that borrowing facility so debt will increase so the timing of the funding vehicles will be paramount and this area is well in hand. It sounds as if you are unaware of the funding vehicles so let me remind you that it consists of 3 definite vehicles and a possible fourth – 1. The Club’s own finances and raised capital (share issue underwritten by ENIC); 2. Receipts from supporting development (sale/lease of supermarket, hotel and 434 houses, maisonettes and apartments – either as land with full planning permission or the finished product); 3. Sponsorship, including revenue for the naming rights for the new stadium. A possible 4th vehicle is http://seatrights.com/ - the build cost for the stadium itself is +/- £250 million and it is thought that a sponsorship deal including naming rights should cater for vast majority, if not all, of that figure. The remaining receipts will clear any and all debts from THFC balance sheet. The shares issue will be the last (hopefully) vehicle to come on stream as by that time the shortfall (if any) from sponsorship and sale receipts will be known. The strategy is to ensure any debt is turned into equity thus leaving THFC with a new stadium, training centre and (hopefully) a worthy playing squad – all future increased revenues will be paramount in our competing with the best in Europe. Projected figures are looking at £50 million for a shares issue – the seat rights plan could go a way to reduce that amount but initial feedback from fans is not positive so the seat rights plan might not be used. The TG has its own merchant banking company so short term finance will not be a problem but we do like to stand alone. Personally, I feel that we could go into debt to the tune of £100 million for a very short period of time but as previously posted, TG has no problem with investments into assets. The main point made by both TG and THFC is that investment into the playing squad is number one priority – getting the right players to come to us is another question but nevertheless the funds will be available both in transfer fees and wages. One thing is certain and that is by 2014 (hopefully 2013) we will have a new stadium, the best training centre in Europe and no debt – what happens in the interim vis a vis the accounts is not a priority on the proviso that we stay in the PL. Incidentally (not that it matters), are you a Spurs fan?

Hey GilzeanisKing, You say "One thing is certain and that is by 2014 (hopefully 2013) we will have a new stadium, the best training centre in Europe and no debt! But not a word about Champions league Football or silver ware. You sum up the concept of the current owners of this club! No debt being their priority. Our top players have been and will be sold at any moment if the price is right to balance the books and show healthy profit sheets rather than silverware or Champions League football. You should change your name to LevyisKing you little Levy Arselicker!!!

So, er....the point i was trying to make was that Levy has been good for Spurs on the whole, but let's not go overboard with the fulsome prasie. Sugar did his best: but it was never a world he felt confortable in. He did ok by us and that's ok by me as a dedicated Spurs fan. THERE'S ONLY ONE TEAM IN NORTH LONDON THERE ONLY EVER WAS AND THERE ONLY EVER WILL BE-GLORY GLORY HALLELUJAH!!!

Oh paddyspur, I feel so sorry for you small minded Tottenham fans who always go on about how things could be worse. That we could be a Leeds or a Newcastle United if it was not for the marvellous Job Levy and his Enic clan do to balance the books every year. So small minded to look at what could be worse instead of looking at how things could be so much better! I much prefer to focus on the success of clubs like Chelsea and Man Utd and use them as a model to success. Yes that little club Chelsea with a tiny fan base compared to Tottenham had only half a stadium 20 years ago and were jumping up and down the leagues. Now they are one of the 4 top clubs in Europe. To achieve what Chelsea have done it is clear that Tottenham should be sold ASAP to bring in a owner who can take Tottenham to that level. I want to see the club I love to win that premiership and get to that Champions League final. Chelsea and Arsenal have done it, so why not our beautiful Tottenham? Many thousands of Man United fans protested when the Glazers bought the club, but you don't hear them complaing now!!!

Frank – The decision to ensure financial fair play has already been agreed by the UEFA Professional Football Strategy Council and ECA Executive Board in Monaco, the financial fair play measures for club football were supported by all 100 member clubs represented at the General Assembly. The proposed measures on Financial Fair Play are to be introduced in UEFA competitions starting from the season 2012/13 and will also include a proposal to limit the size of squads which in turn will help clubs to limit their expenditure on salaries and transfers. All clubs want this to come in (even the Russian) – this is the reason why there was so much stupidity in the transfer market recently (Madrid and Man City spending the 3rd World debt on players) as they know what is coming – they know because they voted for it – they have a few years grace but it is coming into force and so they ensured that they had the best players before they have to start living within their means. The clubs are not opposing this measure as they know the expenditures and debt levels are unsustainable........ http://www.ecaeurope.com/Default.aspx?id=1102040 ......after 2012/13 season (when hopefully we will have the stadium on full stream) who do you think will be well placed? We will not have any debt and a T/O of +/- £170 million – what other club in the PL will be able to say that? With regards to other clubs – United can be sold and the debt will disappear – Arsenal are financially healthy but they do need CL football on a regular basis, they do have a sensible wages to T/O ratio and their debts are based on infrastructure – Chelsea can (and are) turn their debt into equity but even before the ECA decision (and Kenyon was on the ECA Board) Chelsea have determined to break even – Liverpool are in dire straits and desperately need investment and their current owners are not in a position to invest so their only saving grace will be to sell. Having a rich benefactor to squander millions on unsustainable expenditure is short term in the extreme – billionaires will always want a return in some shape or form – that is how they got to be billionaires – they can all have the glamour and prestige of owning a PL club and still make a profit. ALL PL Chairmen have the political will to ensure the ECA is successful – in short, as from 2012/13 there will be a sea change in the way football finances are worked. In that respect, we are streets ahead of the competition.

Gilzeanis king, it is so 100% clear that you are part of the Levy/sugar clan! Any so called spurs fan that could want the name of the Alan Sugar on the new Tottenham Staduim should be commited. You say he saved the club from bankruptcy. Yes sure he met Venables in some Mayfair club one evening and the got the tip off from El Tel that the yids were up for sale for a bargain. Of course Sugar shafted El Tel once he had got him into the Lane which was always his plan! The truth is there were a thousand respectable business men who could have done a better job than Sugar, the man who brought the PONY sports brand to Tottenham. 'Pony and trap CRAP' sums up Sugar and what he did to our beautiful Tottenham. Sugar made millions and millions out of the club! Im sure you as an insider Gilzean could let us know exactly how many million he made. How much exactly did Sugar walk away with Gilzeanisking??? And what did we get in return?

GIK, I would suggest that in all probability Chelsea will win the PL this season and that Man City will finish top 4 and qualify for the CL.

geoff stern, i agree in some of what you say in that money does help you to win things but i think you are being a little short sighted. There has to be more than just money as you have to have the correct manager, the correct back room set up etc etc. Chelsea had that when jose was there and then they lost it when they got rid of him, it looks like they have finally got that back now but it has taken time. GIK in my opinion is trying to highlight the massive amount of work people like Levy are doing behind the scene's to make us a more competitive team. He has pumped millions upon millions into the team to each manager to spend on players they want or that the DOF has highlighted for them. Sorry but i dont see what more Levy could do for us when he has made £100's of millions available to managers, building us a top notch training ground, sorting out a new 56k seater stadium and made us one of the most financially sound clubs in the PL. It is easy to criticise both Sugar and Levy for selling up or maybe selling in the future but what would you do in their position!?

i agree we should be proud that we have reliable people running the club like this...look at liverpool ? a team in debt because of dodgy owners..A top 4 team...we should be proud that our team is being held together and not in any financial trouble...I dont believe in negative talk im all about positivity .good things are ahead for spurs we just have to believe...I said at the start of the season we will finish top 4 this season and im still saying it now ...best start to a season in many years and were 4th in table going into our next game ...bare in mind weve been doing it last few games without our strongest team sometimes...This is our season to get the top 4 im proud of the club and the owners

Spursfan4eve, Since February 2001 Daniel Levy has been chairmen of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. During this period he has failed to Qualify for the Champions League once! In nearly nine years the only trophy he has won is the League Cup. During the Period Levy has been Chairmen of Spurs Arsenal have won the Premiership twice, the F.A Cup twice and have Qualified for the Champions league 8 times going to one final. Chelsea during Levy's reign have won 2 league cups, 2 F.A Cups, and 2 Premierships titles as well as qualifying for the Champions League 7 times, going to one final. You Levy fans can talk all day about what levy and Enic have done behind the scenes. You can talk all day about all the hundreds of millions that they have pumped into the club without success. You can praise their pre tax profits to the cows come home, but the bottom line is our two main rivals Arsenal and Chelsea have dominated Us during his entire reign!!!