Roflham Lolspurs

[The College Dropout]

9 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

Yeah it’s what you’d expect - there’s a vocal minority who have been Levy Out from day one, a fairly vocal minority who’ve defended him throughout (BSODL, can you guess what that stands for?) and then probably a lot of people who recognize the good and the bad. Like many things, it ebbs and flows depending upon what’s happening IRL. He’s done a unique job I think, but it’s been trending back towards Levy Out since Poch left, unsurprisingly.

 

It definitely feels like there have been a lot of people turning against him over the last couple of years, for both justifiable and unjustifiable reasons I think. Eze and MGW aside, it’s ended up being a very good transfer window yet the same old accusations of opportunism, brinkmanship and unnecessarily tough negotiations seem completely fair. It’s fascinating and a bit scary to see what’s next, but being charitable I do genuinely suspect he might have been biding his time until we were in a genuinely good position. He’s always been a fan, after all, and that means something,

I’ve been championing his selling negotiation powers. But he’s messed up a lot with the buying trying to save relatively minor sums and then deals not landing. 
 

Overall he’s done a stellar job imo. It’s just that with a bit more bravery, ambition, risk - you could’ve won so much more. He never let himself get excited and really go for it.  Even Mike Ash would’ve gambled on it more if he were ever in Spurs position.  Levy was focussed on the bottom line.   

[gbandit]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Even Mike Ash would’ve gambled on it more if he were ever in Spurs position.  Levy was focussed on the bottom line.   

Would he fuck 

[54]

5 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

t.  Even Mike Ash would’ve gambled on it more if he were ever in Spurs position.  Levy was focussed on the bottom line.   

[The College Dropout]

Just now, gbandit said:

Would he fuck 

I think the Cisse signing was him going for top 4.  When did he ever strengthen in January to that extent without the threat of relegation?

 

I think it’s well known that Ashley is a gambler right? 

[duo]

26 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

...please, go on.

They might become a more competent club

[bobbydazzla]

10 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

I’ve been championing his selling negotiation powers. But he’s messed up a lot with the buying trying to save relatively minor sums and then deals not landing. 
 

Overall he’s done a stellar job imo. It’s just that with a bit more bravery, ambition, risk - you could’ve won so much more. He never let himself get excited and really go for it.  Even Mike Ash would’ve gambled on it more if he were ever in Spurs position.  Levy was focussed on the bottom line.   

Mike Ashley wouldn’t even have got as far as putting his cock inside, never mind having the balls to fuck 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2025 by bobbydazzla

[54]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

I think the Cisse signing was him going for top 4.  When did he ever strengthen in January to that extent without the threat of relegation?

 

I think it’s well known that Ashley is a gambler right? 

One diamond in a Everest sized pile of shit doesn't prove a point like

[leffe186]

4 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Would he fuck 

 Was gonna say.

 

@The College Dropout Yeah, the ambition thing is the stick he was and is beaten with. When he did gamble it failed, but the counter-argument was that he needed to keep a tight rein on things - first because we were building the team in the Abramovich era where we were far behind on money, and then because they were building the stadium and needed cash and to make sure the banks were confident enough to do the long-term loan. Maybe. He clearly tried to walk something of a tightrope, and I will always maintain that our progress from 2003 to 2016 was a hell of an achievement. One that he can take a lot of credit for,

[bobbydazzla]

1 minute ago, leffe186 said:

 Was gonna say.

 

@The College Dropout Yeah, the ambition thing is the stick he was and is beaten with. When he did gamble it failed, but the counter-argument was that he needed to keep a tight rein on things - first because we were building the team in the Abramovich era where we were far behind on money, and then because they were building the stadium and needed cash and to make sure the banks were confident enough to do the long-term loan. Maybe. He clearly tried to walk something of a tightrope, and I will always maintain that our progress from 2003 to 2016 was a hell of an achievement. One that he can take a lot of credit for,

But you’d rather have had Ashley, aye ? 

[leffe186]

1 minute ago, bobbydazzla said:

But you’d rather have had Ashley, aye ? 

[deejeck]

30 minutes ago, TK-421 said:

This spurs fan on SSN was just comparing Spurs under Levy to us under Ashley. 

Ah yes, fair enough. Ashley's reign was pretty poor, but I did enjoy it when he steered us to our first Champions League final, and built us a world leading stadium. 

[Kid Icarus]

8 minutes ago, duo said:

They might become a more competent club

They are a competent club.

[gbandit]

They were a joke all my childhood and then became a cartel club under his tenure. Don’t like wade too deep into these conversations where it’s hard to judge from the outside as fuck knows what the granular detail is but from the outside he’s objectively been a huge success for them even if he doesn’t have a lot to show for it in trophies. A new stadium, huge annual revenue, being able to attract top players, strong academy etc, all massive really

[The College Dropout]

10 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

 Was gonna say.

 

@The College Dropout Yeah, the ambition thing is the stick he was and is beaten with. When he did gamble it failed, but the counter-argument was that he needed to keep a tight rein on things - first because we were building the team in the Abramovich era where we were far behind on money, and then because they were building the stadium and needed cash and to make sure the banks were confident enough to do the long-term loan. Maybe. He clearly tried to walk something of a tightrope, and I will always maintain that our progress from 2003 to 2016 was a hell of an achievement. One that he can take a lot of credit for,

Genuine question - when did he go for it? You will know better than me.  
 

The low wages to revenue ratio suggests he never went for it. The year you challenged for the title your big summer signing was Moussa Sissoko. 
 

As comparison when Arsenal first challenged for the league they tried to sign that Chelsea DM and Mudryk (wow) that January. Then bought Rocr and Havertz the next summer.  My memory serves Levy treading when in a similar situation 

 

 

Edited September 4, 2025 by The College Dropout

[leffe186]

10 minutes ago, deejeck said:

Ah yes, fair enough. Ashley's reign was pretty poor, but I did enjoy it when he steered us to our first Champions League final, and built us a world leading stadium. 

Well, quite.

[leffe186]

7 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Genuine question - when did he go for it? You will know better than me.  
 

The low wages to revenue ratio suggests he never went for it. The year you challenged for the title your big summer signing was Moussa Sissoko. 
 

As comparison when Arsenal first challenged for the league they tried to sign that Chelsea DM and Mudryk (wow) that January. Then bought Rocr and Havertz the next summer.  My memory serves Levy treading when in a similar situation 

 

 

 

Yeah, it’s all relative. There was that window we spunked a fortune on guff like Ndombele. Getting in Conte and backing him. That first couple of years when we just tore it all down and started from scratch. Recognizing that the key way forward apart from selling out was building a fuck-off stadium and then actually making it happen. Telling City to fuck off over Kane.

 

The wage thing was with one eye on regulation but the received wisdom is that we needed to keep things tight, like I say, to keep the banks onside. Simultaneously holding us back while taking us forward. Again, it’s plausible I guess.

 

 

[Stifler]

It’s hard to say that he hasn’t built them into a totally different club. They were mid table also rans for a large part before he and ENIC came in. They are a regular top 6 club in the last couple of decades, they have possibly the best stadium in sports, certainly in football, and their brand especially since they teamed up with Nike has been off the scale.

Levy has shot himself in the foot a few times though, sacking Poch, and sacking Mourinho before a cup final that a Mourinho at that time just wouldn’t lose.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2025 by Stifler

[The College Dropout]

39 minutes ago, leffe186 said:

Yeah, it’s all relative. There was that window we spunked a fortune on guff like Ndombele. Getting in Conte and backing him. That first couple of years when we just tore it all down and started from scratch. Recognizing that the key way forward apart from selling out was building a fuck-off stadium and then actually making it happen. Telling City to fuck off over Kane.

 

The wage thing was with one eye on regulation but the received wisdom is that we needed to keep things tight, like I say, to keep the banks onside. Simultaneously holding us back while taking us forward. Again, it’s plausible I guess.

 

 

All fair.  As i said I think he was one of the best in the business for 10-15 years and he’s been brilliant consistently revenue wise (and cost wise I guess). There are lots of things from the Levy playbook I wish our owners would use. 
 

But everyone has shortcomings , nobody is perfect.  What would you consider to be his shortcomings? Not other Spurs fans but your own opinion.   

[Checko]

Why did he sack Jose before the cup final? I always assumed, based on no actual knowledge, that if he won it would be very hard to sack him and so Levy was prepared to gamble away a cup to get rid, but what actually happened?

 

 

Edited September 4, 2025 by Checko

[Optimistic Nut]

Outside looking in, I never understand why he gets a bad rap? They were a nothing club first decade of the PL era, he leaves them with one of the best stadiums in the world, a regular CL qualification contender, cup finals...

 

Commercially also, we weren't a million miles off Spurs pre-Ashley, he has Spurs punching with the elite there, we're trying to make up for lost time.

 

 

Edited September 4, 2025 by Optimistic Nut

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Optimistic Nut said:

Outside looking in, I never understand why he gets a bad rap? They were a nothing club first decade of the PL era, he leaves them with one of the best stadiums in the world, a regular CL qualification contender, cup finals...

Lack of trophies init.  
 

Never felt like he was trying to win the league imo.  Consistently having the lowest wages to revenue ratio of the top 6 clubs and any club in the division suggests cost control is more important than on pitch success at all times. Leffe points to great reasons for that (although much of that time was the 0% interest era) but that’s the argument. 
 

In recent years his on pitch decisions have been bad.  Remember when he could barely find a manager? It was mostly because of his interference right or was it something?

 

I respect how dedicated he was to Spurs and the mission he had. I think he succeeded in his mission.  

[The College Dropout]

6 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Outside looking in, I never understand why he gets a bad rap? They were a nothing club first decade of the PL era, he leaves them with one of the best stadiums in the world, a regular CL qualification contender, cup finals...

Also imagine finishing 3rd in a 2 horse race then your marquee signing in the summer is Moussa Sissoko. Thats not the moves of a footballing winner.  
 

 

[Bimpy474]

I'm not going to praise the cunt, he is/was one of the major players in keeping PSR, and absolutely wanted our buy out blocked.

 

He's a grade A tosser.

[NEEJ]

Harsh on TCD, I don't remember him wanting the takeover blocked. 

[leffe186]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

All fair.  As i said I think he was one of the best in the business for 10-15 years and he’s been brilliant consistently revenue wise (and cost wise I guess). There are lots of things from the Levy playbook I wish our owners would use. 
 

But everyone has shortcomings , nobody is perfect.  What would you consider to be his shortcomings? Not other Spurs fans but your own opinion.   

 

It’s partly guesswork because he’s been very careful and private over the years, but it seems he’s something of a micromanager and has his fingers in absolutely everything. That’s been a double-edged sword. He’s brilliant at the financials but does seem to want to squeeze every little drop from a deal which slows everything down and maybe antagonizes the orher side. He’s a fan but not necessarily a football man so he relies on others to advise him on football matters - as he should - but sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t, and always it feels like he’s itching to tinker…
 

56 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Outside looking in, I never understand why he gets a bad rap? They were a nothing club first decade of the PL era, he leaves them with one of the best stadiums in the world, a regular CL qualification contender, cup finals...

 

Commercially also, we weren't a million miles off Spurs pre-Ashley, he has Spurs punching with the elite there, we're trying to make up for lost time.

 

 

…ultimately though, it’s hard to tell if the constant haggling was a shortcoming or not. Like ON suggests, we were on a downswing when the PL started; at just the wrong time. A decade of mediocrity - particularly after the previous decade - was hard to swallow and he came in in 2000/01. As a barometer, the end of that season was when Sol Campbell left for Arsenal. Then two years later Abramovich came in and the goalposts moved. Levy knew we couldn’t compete with that and so we tore things down and started to rebuild. A long and hard road - great decisions like bringing in Frank Arnesen as Director of Football were immediately stymied by Chelsea throwing money at things (he was poached after one year).
 

I think chipping away at things and eking out every penny for years meant that when he needed to go for it he just couldn’t do it. You guys know the deal: when you’re up against sides with far more resources than you (a) can‘t afford more than the occasional transfer fuckup and (b) even when you do get it right somebody comes along and throws their weight around (Carrick, Berbatov, Bale, Modric, Isak etc). In those circumstances I think he’s brilliant at fighting his corner but was reluctant to spend when it was just blatantly obvious it was what was needed.