Didn't see this coming: Tottenham Hotspur announces departure of Executive Chairman Daniel Levy | Tottenham Hotspur ... somewhere in Canada there's a happy man, to whom happiness doesn't come easy.
He is both good and bad. He should not be forgotten for building the club into a financial behemoth in a way that is different than Man City and Chelsea. He really did make Tottenham financially very stable. On the other hand, his ability to understand the football side of the club has often gone wanting.
I think it's safe to say that the club is in a much better place than it was 25 years ago. Levy still owns about 1/3 of the club so he will still be lurking in the background, I expect. But instant success awaits now that he's not running everything - or so I've heard.
My Spidey-sense suspected something was going on behind the scenes with all the boardroom changes (see my Boardroom Intrigue thread). This confirms my suspicions. We'll have to wait for all the details to come out, but hopefully this is a sign that the club is finally going to take the next step and join football's elite.
From the mouth of Herr Levy: We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level. What highest level? Under his chairmanship, we have won zero PL titles, zero CL titles, and zero FA Cups. Global heavyweight? Are you having a laugh?
And a further quip, with the amount of money Spurs are making, they should invest quite a bit more in the women's side, like Arsenal and Chelsea are doing.
The club have definitely invested in the women's team. After last season's disappointing 10th place finish, they sacked the coach and brought in a new guy.
Should be a fascinating season and even more so next summer. Agree we are inarguably a better club than we were when ENIC took over, but have hit a ceiling and the only constant presence has been Levy. Will be interesting to see if he has been the cork in the bottle or there’s something deeper.
More details starting to come out, this from the BBC: Who and what is behind the Levy decision? BBC Sport has been told that there is a sense from the Lewis family that success on the pitch has not been consistent enough over the years of Levy's reign. Spurs have won two trophies during his 25 years at Spurs, the first being the League Cup in 2008. The Lewis family are aware of some of the supporter discontent – much of it directed at Levy - that has engulfed the club in recent years. Tavistock figurehead Joe Lewis, 88, is understood to have had a peripheral role in the decision for Levy to leave his post. It is understood that younger generations of the family – Vivienne and Charlie, who are Joe's children – have been key in making the decision. Vivienne has been particularly visible at Spurs in recent months. Nick Beucher - the grandson-in-law of Joe Lewis - has also taken a greater involvement. BBC Sport understands all the hierarchical changes over the past few months have led to today's announcement. It is understood the role of executive chairman will be removed with a view to modernising the board's structure. The Lewis family have been at the forefront of those changes, including the decision regarding Levy. Levy will remain a shareholder of Enic but will cease to have any direct involvement with the club. The share structure of Enic will remain unchanged. The Lewis' initiated a thorough external review of Tottenham's operation earlier this year, and well-placed sources told BBC Sport that followed a number of concerns from the Tavistock Group. The financial operation of the club was among the areas reviewed. It is also understood the ownership made a significant investment into the club over the past few months which has helped Spurs in the transfer market. The review also resulted in the aforementioned board changes, including the appointments of Charrington and Venkatesham.
I've read a few reports and speculations but am still not sure. So, was he sacked? I hope it doesn't have a detrimental effect on the players.
Levy still owns about 26% of the club but the majority owners (Lewis family) wanted someone else running the show. What I am wondering is whether Venkatesham will be focused entirely on football, or will he also be building hotels, scheduling rock concerts, etc. etc. - you know, the stuff Levy was always criticized for.
Levy and his family own 29.88% of Enic, which owns 86.91% of the club. The remaining 13.09% is owned by individual shareholders. Vinai is part of the restructuring that will see the club set up like the other top clubs, with a clear division of responsibilities. We had never had a CEO until he was hired. I think his role will be more on the commercial side and fan engagement, which was sorely lacking under Levy and Donna Cullen, and I think we will see a major restructuring on the football side, which has been a gong show under Levy. This is a corporate version of separating church and state. Levy had become a modern Louis XIV (le Tottenham c'est moi). He was running everything - football, finance, events, you name it, and was making it very difficult for investors to come in by insisting he remain as chairman. It was clever business on his part - the longer he held off potential investors, the more he would collect in salary and bonuses. Levy claimed to be a custodian of the club, but he was only a custodian of his own pockets. He wasn't planning on going anywhere, so Enic had to remove him. According to the BBC, his ouster has been driven by the Lewis children, Vivienne and Charlie, who had had enough of Levy's shenanigans.
As minority owner, Levy always served at the will of the majority owner, The Lewis family finally started paying attention.
Or they finally decided they had enough revenue from Nouveau White Heart Lane and needed to focus more on football.