Daniel Levy thought he had seen it all during 21 years in charge of Tottenham Hotspur. But finding a letter of complaint in his inbox the morning after Wednesday’s 4-0 away win must have been something new.
As hard as Levy’s ruthless reputation in business stands, that’s gotta hurt. After all, the longest serving chairman in the Premier League has overseen the construction of the best stadium in England where fans are now queuing 80,000 deep for a season ticket. He kept the shackles on striker Harry Kane when the best player at the club wanted to join Manchester City and there is regular Champions League football.
Yet there remain grave concerns among the supporters about the direction of travel of their club and Levy has been told as much in no uncertain terms.
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Four key issues have been raised in a directive from the Tottenham Supporters’ Trust: medium and long term strategy for success, recruitment, investment and are the board in tune with boss Antonio Conte?
Arsene Wenger, once head coach across one of the shortest geographical but bitterest divides in sport at Arsenal, once proclaimed that all football teams eventually begin to reflect the personality of its manager.
The silky-voiced French philosopher with hidden explosive tendencies filled his team with cultural figures such as Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry, alongside legalised street fighters like Patrick Vieira who woke up each morning ready for a tear-up. In much the same way, Tottenham’s frustrated fanbase is beginning to mirror the character of feisty Antonio Conte.
The openly-combative Italian is the sort of bloke who would win the lottery only to complain he doesn’t have a bag big enough for all the spare cash. He is a decent enough manager, a brilliant speaker and an engaging man. But no board of directors could ever sing from the same song sheet as Conte. He thrives on disharmony to mask any shortcomings, whether his or those of his superiors.
And now it is starting to rub off on the fed-up fans paying through the nose for those season tickets that, despite costing upwards of two grand, are like gold in north London.
During the past 10 years, Spurs have qualified for the Champions League five times - every other year in effect. Conte guided Tottenham to fourth place within six months of taking over last season. So if they fail this year it won’t be out of step with recent history. But like most people in life, you give them an inch and they want to take a yard.
So it is with Spurs supporters. Give them a brand spanking new stadium that is the envy of the sporting world, charge the earth to get in and all of a sudden they want something more for their money.
Conte’s transfer business has been acceptable. The acquisition of Dejan Kulusevski in particular has been a sharp bit of business. Flying in under the radar on an initial loan deal, the Swedish winger has proved himself able to cope with English football from the off. An understated deal that if it goes all the way to a permanent £29m transfer should be seen as a great deal. But that’s not enough.
Tottenham’s fans are paying more than anyone else to watch their team and do not have to cast their envious eyes far to see where they at least appear to be being left behind. Chelsea are chucking money away with their relentless pursuit of Enzo Fernandez, a player nobody had really heard of before the World Cup but now seems worthy of a British record transfer fee at £105 million.
Arsenal are odds-on to land Ukrainian midfielder Mykhailo Murdyk for £85m. Liverpool are linked heavily with Jude Bellingham. Yet Spurs’ highest transfer fee paid is for Richarlison, a gifted Brazilian who has been blighted by injury and so far has failed to deliver.
In the days of big numbers and high-profile fans, and Tottenham’s are no exceptions, they want to see big deals done, regardless of whether it is good business.
And this is where Levy is in one camp and Conte and the fans in the other. It’s about showboating. And when a club has a ground as showy as Tottenham which cost a cool £1 billion, it’s understandable if a little unrealistic.
