Daniel Levy has endured a week from hell at Tottenham
It’s been a week from HELL for Daniel Levy: Spurs were a laughing stock for joining doomed Super League, and they now remain trophyless in 13 years after replacing Jose Mourinho with a rookie just six days before the cup final… no wonder fans are furious
- Daniel Levy’s week at Tottenham has ramped up supporters’ calls for him to quit
- Spurs chief is under heavy fire in the wake of the European Super League fiasco
- The Carabao Cup loss by Manchester City also increased the pressure on Levy
- His decision to axe Jose Mourinho just six days before the final was bemusing
Daniel Levy would have settled down in his office last weekend with plenty of issues raging around in his mind. The big-name manager he appointed in Jose Mourinho was rapidly turning out to be a punt gone wrong, and the European Super League announcement lurked on the horizon.
Taking part in the continent’s newest, and now perhaps most short-lived, competition would have been seen as a major triumph at the club. After all, where are their credentials that enabled them to seamlessly slot in alongside the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus?
Any sense of success quickly disappeared, however, with the sacking of Mourinho, a huge story in itself, pushed to one side as the world of football united to rebel against the Super League’s baffling proposals.
Daniel Levy has endured a week from hell at Tottenham after Super League and Cup failings
Tottenham supporters have called for Levy to leave the club in protests outside the ground
Both decisions, the axing of the man in the hotseat and the acceptance of the Super League invitation, point towards Levy’s desire to ensure that Tottenham remain among the elite.
But now, days on, his choices have simply just handed angry supporters more ammunition in their calls for him to leave.
Quite simply, it has been a week from hell for the Spurs supremo – but how did it all begin?
Events started to unfurl at frightening speed after the 2-2 draw at Everton on April 16. Despite Harry Kane’s best efforts, his brace wasn’t enough to spare Mourinho from being handed his P45.
Jose Mourinho was sacked days before Spurs’ Carabao Cup showdown with Manchester City
The news broke on Monday morning, with Levy pondering immediately after the result on Merseyside whether to finally pull the trigger. In the end, he did. And in came Ryan Mason, the 29-year-old rookie, to take charge until the end of the season.
In the middle of all the changes in the dugout, there were bigger and more important events taking place off the field. As it transpired, the decision was made in a dozen boardrooms around the world to tear up the sport as we know it.
A hasty and poorly pieced together press release was churned out late on Sunday and Tottenham were a surprise name on the list of founding clubs.
A team which were lying in seventh spot in the Premier League and found themselves dumped out of the Europa League in chastening fashion at the hands of Dinamo Zagreb were suddenly awarded a spot at the top table.
Levy (pictured next to Liverpool owner John W Henry) has been heavily criticised for allowing Tottenham to enter the ill-fated Super League
Perhaps in the knowledge that Tottenham were drifting away from the types of clubs they wish to be forever associated with, the superpowers of the game, Levy gave the green light and his club were in.
With the usual route into the Champions League, the fairest road through deserved results and sporting goodwill, closed off to them, Tottenham took to more underhand means, the strange agreements away from prying eyes, to effectively make sure their failures didn’t matter.
Despite the best attempts of all 12 participants to sell the Super League as a suave and sexy alternative to anything else on offer, it fell on deaf ears. Nobody, including the Spurs fanbase, was ready to accept it.
As a result, the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust overwhelmingly voted in favour of calling for the executive board of the club to resign. The finger was pointed at Levy and Co for the embarrassment, and it has remained there ever since.
Despite Levy apologising for the Super League chaos, he remains under real pressure to leave
Damningly, the group insisted that they no longer trust the club and took particular exception to an unwillingness to discuss reports of the potential Super League in meetings over recent seasons.
The seething anger was soon visible in person. Protests were held outside the ground which demanded Levy and the ENIC group to walk away.
Banners were held aloft which read ‘Levy Out’ and ‘ENIC Out’. ‘Thanks for no memories’, one even declared.
It’s difficult to argue with the sentiment, although Tottenham have enjoyed a number of heights under Levy’s stewardship.
A number of supporters demanded for Levy and the ENIC group to step away from Tottenham
‘We regret the anxiety and upset caused by the ESL proposal,’ Levy told supporters after all the so-called ‘Big Six’ confirmed they planned to withdraw from the competition. The damage was already done, though.
Tottenham were a laughing stock when they first joined the Super League and, barely 48 hours on, that hasn’t changed.
In the midst of it all, Mourinho was sacked for the fourth time in England. His tenure had soured in recent months, with his usual antics of blaming everybody but himself and unleashing sly digs via the media coming to the fore.
The appointment was a strange one from the start. Long since viewed as a born winner, Mourinho has now been accused of failing to move on with the changing times. The problems Levy would encounter were painfully predictable from day one.
Levy has made fine decisions, like hiring Mauricio Pochettino, but his reputation lies in tatters
While Mauricio Pochettino brought joy to the club, Mourinho exuded a permanent air of dismay and frustration. They are polar opposites, and this is another decision Levy has been heavily criticised for over recent days.
Mourinho resembled a very different person to his peak, which arguably came back in 2010. A lot has changed in the past decade or so, but his ability to alienate his players and turn supporters against his methods has stayed the same.
Levy should have foreseen this, but his desperation to sell his club as a Hollywood name, through their results on the field and the Amazon Prime documentary last season, hampered his thinking.
The mistakes all came home to roost at once. The sacking was arguably the correct decision, but the timing was bemusing. Mourinho is a serial trophy hoarder, there is no denying it. His ousting six days before the Carabao Cup final raised eyebrows.
Tottenham delivered a woeful performance in their defeat to City at Wembley at the weekend
Caretaker coach Mason was handed an impossible job when he took the reins. A rampant Manchester City stood in the way of Tottenham’s first trophy win in 13 years. It would have been a real fairytale story if the Londoners defied the odds to triumph.
They didn’t, though. It was a non-performance. Even with Kane back from injury earlier than predicted, City dominated from the first minute and clinched their fourth straight success in the competition.
Tottenham were made to scoop up their runners-up medals, another reminder of the barren spell which Levy has presided over. Worryingly, there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.
Rookie Ryan Mason has taken charge after Mourinho’s exit but is unlikely to salvage the season
Levy’s string of poor decisions has led to a malaise and Harry Kane may depart this summer
The very foundations on which the club have taken pride in for so long are no longer recognisable. They have lost their moral standing, and the malaise on the pitch may even force talisman Kane to finally admit defeat and move on this summer.
Once upon a time, Levy was one of football’s most brilliant chiefs. After all, his hiring of Pochettino paid off in dividends, the new luxury stadium is the envy of teams everywhere and his firm stance in the transfer market promised growth.
Now, though, his once stellar reputation is in tatters and it will be a long way back to repair it. It may even be too late.
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