Levy speaks out

jrd

http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/articles/chairmanspeaksout180708.html

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Chairman speaks out

There has been substantial speculation in respect of the futures of Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, including press comment from both Sir Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez. In response our Chairman, Daniel Levy has made the following statement:

"Today's public comments by Manchester United's manager, announcing that he has made an offer for Dimitar and is confident that the deal will go through with time working in their favour, is a blatant example of sheer arrogance and interference with one of our players. It is also probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date and is unbelievably hypocritical given his recent comments in respect of Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid.

"This comes after a series of events, dating back to last summer, which have shown Manchester United to be in breach of Premier League (PL) rules. As a result, we have today made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Manchester United. Benitez made similar comments in respect of Robbie recently and we made an official complaint to the PL about the conduct of Liverpool earlier this week.

"The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player. Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of PL rules of conduct.

"Our subsequent position has been severely compromised by both clubs making their intentions widely known and indeed making contact with the players and their agents, without the Club's permission.

"I have absolutely no wish to sell either player and to date we have not accepted any offer for either. However, when a player's head is turned and their commitment is absent, particularly when they occupy key positions such as that of striker, they become a negative influence in a team dressing room in which they were once a positive addition and influence. This is the situation we now have on our hands, with both Dimitar and Robbie having made it clear that they wish to leave for Manchester Utd and Liverpool respectively.

"Irrespective of the outcome and futures of Robbie and Dimitar, we are continuing to seek to bring in quality, talented players for the future, who want to play in a Spurs shirt."

Dublin Spur

At this stage I would love to sell Keane and Berbatov to other clubs out of spite.

Reckon Man City or Villa or Everton or West Ham or Celtic etc.. would pay 10mil+ for Keane and someone like Barca/Inter would spend 20 odd Mill for Berbatov.

Fcuk Liverpool and Utd, and fcuk Keane and Berbatov.
Fcuk all parties up by not giving any of them what they really want.

Worth a go in my book. Worked for Utd with Heinze when he wanted to go to Liverpool and liverpool wanted him.

therecklessone

It's a negotiating tactic fellas, and it's a smoke screen so us fans will blame United/Liverpool plus Berbatov/Keane rather than Spurs for selling them on.

It will get us a few £m extra (maybe more upfront instead of add-ons) and Daniel Levy will get to say "I only sold them cos their heads were turned".

It's brilliant PR from Levy. Fair play to him, he must be a student of Machiavelli.

therecklessone

Dublin Spur wrote: »

Reckon Man City or Villa or Everton or West Ham or Celtic etc.. would pay 10mil+ for Keane and someone like Barca/Inter would spend 20 odd Mill for Berbatov.

Shane, Levy will not turn down a rumoured £45m+ for the pair in favour of £30m just to fcuk them over, he has a duty to the PLC to realise the maximum value of the club's assets.

All he's doing is preparing the ground for their inevitable departure. Contrast this with the image of Kevin Keegan on the steps of the Barcodes training ground explaining the sale of Andy Cole to ManYoo.

jrd

therecklessone wrote: »

It's a negotiating tactic fellas, and it's a smoke screen so us fans will blame United/Liverpool plus Berbatov/Keane rather than Spurs for selling them on.

It will get us a few £m extra (maybe more upfront instead of add-ons) and Daniel Levy will get to say "I only sold them cos their heads were turned".

It's brilliant PR from Levy. Fair play to him, he must be a student of Machiavelli.

Hi

It's much more than that. He is giving us his take on what's happening. And it's not very flattering of Keane and Berbatov. He is laying down the challenge to the two strikers to contradict him. Which based on the release, neither will. And if neither do, f*ck them both. Whores.

And I mean every word of that.

Into the stiffs and off to the Orient where I watch the reserves each game. The players and the other clubs need to get lessons on loyalty now.

therecklessone

jolly wrote: »

Hi

It's much more than that. He is giving us his take on what's happening. And it's not very flattering of Keane and Berbatov. He is laying down the challenge to the two strikers to contradict him. Which based on the release, neither will. And if neither do, f*ck them both. Whores.

Mate, that's rather naive if you don't mind me saying so.

We've known for a year that Berbatov wanted out, and United have always been the most likely destination. Are we to believe that he only wants to go because Taggart was quoted in the press saying they had a bid in?

All of the informed opinion on Spurs boards has been in agreement, discussions have taken place re. both players leaving the club, indeed it's believed a deal will be struck with Liverpool in the next 48hrs for Keane.

If the club were serious about this they'd refuse any bid and tell both players to see out their contracts (or the years left until they could make use of the Webster ruling) but we are not stupid.

This is all part of the transfer game, and Levy is playing a blinder on that front.

yiddo

ronan agree with ya that Levy is playing a blinder. He's learning fast and has grown a pair at last. The pity is that all we'll win this time is a few quid and a few plaudits. The time for balls was in May 2006 when we played that game against wham inspite of the team being laid low with food poisioning.
Still it's progress and augurs well for future negotation. Well done Levy !

tippspur

Well whatever hope we had of either one of them staying it's fcuked now.i'm very disappointed with keane, he had reached legend status with spurs and now he wants to piss off. I'm just sick of it all.:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Dublin Spur

therecklessone wrote: »

Shane, Levy will not turn down a rumoured £45m+ for the pair in favour of £30m just to fcuk them over, he has a duty to the PLC to realise the maximum value of the club's assets.

Well Ronan, I take you point but.

I honestly can't see a reason why 2 from a combination of Man City/West Ham/Aston Villa/Celtic/Everton/Milan/Inter/Roma/Barca/Real/Lazio would't be able to come up with 40/45 mil for both players. I wouldn't mind dropping a few bob to spite the players and Pool/Man Utd and end their dream moves.

To be honest, I reckon if THFC announced that both players were offically for sale I reckon there would be a stampede/scramble for thier signatures, this could create a dutch auction potentially pushing the combined fees above 45mil.

Applying Fregies stance on the Heinze saga is they way to go here from a Spurs supporters (not sharehoilders) point of view. It would be great to **** all 4 parties over, and get our money at the same time and it would send out a great message to the supposed untouchable big 4.

therecklessone

Dublin Spur wrote: »

I honestly can't see a reason why 2 from a combination of Man City/West Ham/Aston Villa/Celtic/Everton/Milan/Inter/Roma/Barca/Real/Lazio would't be able to come up with 40/45 mil for both players. I wouldn't mind dropping a few bob to spite the players and Pool/Man Utd and end their dream moves.

Mate, you can write the Italians off as none of them have the wedge to pay £20m+ for Berbatov, especially Lazio and Roma. Milan have said they want Adebayor, and have just shelled out for Ronaldinho.

Real and Barca might come in, but can't see either going higher than £20m.

Keane is over-valued at £18m imo, and would be damaged goods if we told Liverpool to fcuk off but still put him up for sale. Only City would match that price imo, more likely to be around the £12m mark.

I think if we were serious about making a point here we'd simply not sell either of them. If we did that Levy would go up in my books about 1000%

Dublin Spur

therecklessone wrote: »

Mate, you can write the Italians off as none of them have the wedge to pay £20m+ for Berbatov, especially Lazio and Roma. Milan have said they want Adebayor, and have just shelled out for Ronaldinho.

Real and Barca might come in, but can't see either going higher than £20m.

Keane is over-valued at £18m imo, and would be damaged goods if we told Liverpool to fcuk off but still put him up for sale. Only City would match that price imo, more likely to be around the £12m mark.

I think if we were serious about making a point here we'd simply not sell either of them. If we did that Levy would go up in my books about 1000%

I reckon clubs wanting either Berba or Keane would end up in a bidding war and we'd end up close to the 45mil mark in the end. Not as if we're in a rush to sell. 6 weeks before the window closes.

Anyway, and this is my main point. Why should we sell (yet again) to the big boys. This is the time in our history to make a stand against this bull****.

I reckon we can get our money elsewhere and stuff it up Liverpool and Utd in the process.

therecklessone

Dublin Spur wrote: »

I reckon clubs wanting either Berba or Keane would end up in a bidding war and we'd end up close to the 45mil mark in the end. Not as if we're in a rush to sell. 6 weeks before the window closes.

I just don't see it working out that way mate, the two players are available right now yet we've only got serious interest from two clubs. Where's the bidding war right now?

Dublin Spur wrote: »

Anyway, and this is my main point. Why should we sell (yet again) to the big boys. This is the time in our history to make a stand against this bull****.

I reckon we can get our money elsewhere and stuff it up Liverpool and Utd in the process.

I'd love to do just that, but I can't see it happening in a million years. The club statement has as good as said the two of them are off, so we need to get as much wedge in as possible.

In the end, we'll take the best we can get because if we don't we'll do ourselves even more damage.

Dublin Spur

Before I head for bed, 1 last point.

Past 15 years:

Paul Stewart
Neil Ruddock
Teddy Sheringham
Michael Carrick

Now they think they can just have Berbatov and Keane.
Well fcuk them I say, they are Spurs employees.

This is the right time in THFC's history to stand up to these supposed untouchable clubs and f**k them over by refusing to sell to them on principle.

I'm positive we would get the desired transfer fees from other clubs over the next six weeks.

So if we gat our cash and liverpool and utd go without aren't we all happy (well as happy as can be expected given our attacking loss)

This is definately the way to go.

I know there has been little interest from other clubs up to now, probabally because they all thought Utd and Liverpool had the deals sown up. If they knew we wouldn't sell to the those 2 clubs I reckon there'd be a lot more interest. Just a theory of mine.

Anyway, looking forward to discussing this over a few pints soon, as you can probabally tell by now I have a real bee in my bonnet about it !!

Good night mate

therecklessone

Night mate, we'll continue this at a later date.

yiddo

tippspur wrote: »

Well whatever hope we had of either one of them staying it's fcuked now.i'm very disappointed with keane, he had reached legend status with spurs and now he wants to piss off. I'm just sick of it all.:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Not defending him here but its all part of the game. Keane is joining the club he supported as a kid, he's living the dream. 6 years service bags of goals, thanks very much. Next..

Support the shirt not the fellas wearing it.

yiddo

Spurs prepare fans for Keane sale
Written by Matt Ladson on July 19th, 2008

Tottenham’s announcement that they are to report Liverpool - and Manchester United - for their pursuit of Robbie Keane - and Dimitar Berbatov - is merely their way of preparing fans for the exit of two key players.

Reports on Friday suggested Keane’s arrival at Liverpool is close, with some claiming personal terms had been agreed and all that remained was the players’ medical. The fee is said to be close to £18m for the record Republic of Ireland goalscorer.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy’s comments regarding the breach of rules with regards Rafa Benitez’s public statement of interest to sign the player seem more likely to be a PR stunt designed to prepare their own supporters and make it appear they had no option but to sell the players once we had “illegally” acted.

Levy said:

“The behaviour of both clubs has been disgraceful. We told both clubs very early on that we had no interest in selling Robbie or Dimitar, respectively, and that they should refrain from pursuing the player. Both clubs arrogantly chose to ignore this request and we now have evidence that both clubs have systematically been working to prise the players away from us, outside of PL rules of conduct.”

Yet Spurs manager Juande Ramos had just a day earlier said:

“The idea is to sign good young players with quality and a good future and if we get good offers for older players to study them to see if it benefits the club. At the moment they [Keane and Berbatov] are both with us, but whatever happens, the idea is to have a squad with the potential to improve on last season.”

If ever a manager was preparing for the exit of a player it is surely there.

Furthermore, Spurs should maybe take a look at themselves having recently been in the news after ‘persuading’ John Bostock to leave Crystal Palace at the age of 16.

Or how about former Spurs manager Martin Jol’s public comments about David Bentley being their “number one target” last summer? Or Tottenham’s alleged illegal approach for coach Gus Poyet from Leeds. Or what about, most famously, the dirty way they sacked Jol and approached Ramos? Take this line from The Telegraph from the time “It is not the first time Tottenham have been caught out in clandestine talks with a candidate for the manager’s chair at White Hart Lane.”

That report continued: “Just over three years ago the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was pictured leaving the Hilton Hotel near Heathrow Airport after meeting former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri as the club sought a successor for Glenn Hoddle.

At least Spurs had a vacancy to fill back then, having sacked Hoddle 10 months earlier.

This time around Martin Jol is still very much in the hot seat. But it is growing abundantly clear that he is facing the same fate as the former England manager. The meeting with Sevilla coach Juande Ramos, at the Hotel Rey Alfonso last Friday is the firmest indicator yet that Jol’s days are numbered.

A club spokeswoman insisted yesterday that Tottenham were not in “negotiations with anybody in respect to replacing Martin Jol”.

Tottenham were unable to provide any satisfactory explanation yesterday for the pictures of the meeting between Spurs vice-chairman Paul Kemsley, club secretary John Alexander, Ramos and his agent Alvaro Torres, published by Seville newspaper Estadio Deportivo on Saturday.”

Hypocrisy stinks?

From http://www.thisisanfield.com/columnists/2008/07/spurs-prepare-fans-for-keane-sale/

therecklessone

yiddo wrote: »

Not defending him here but its all part of the game. Keane is joining the club he supported as a kid, he's living the dream. 6 years service bags of goals, thanks very much. Next..

Support the shirt not the fellas wearing it.

Ain't it Pat, can't believe the stick he's getting on FTL (much worse than Berbatov, but then there's agendas to be worked through)

therecklessone

yiddo wrote: »

From http://www.thisisanfield.com/columnists/2008/07/spurs-prepare-fans-for-keane-sale/

The Mickeys will have to try harder I'm afraid.

We had permission to talk to Poyet.

We had no manager and Ranieri was out of work when Levy emerged from the Hilton Hotel...:rolleyes:

Bostock was not under contract with Palace, while perhaps unethical it was perfectly legal given the current regs (and Liverpool have done the same with a Spanish youngster who had yet to sign pro terms)

I'm not aware Jol confirmed Bentley as a target last summer? He did tend to run his mouth off (Downing as an example).

Only the Ramos move is proven, and compensation was paid to Sevilla for his signature.

KingdomYid

This time next year it will be Modric to chelsea and Bale off to utd,whats the point really im gutted.

Dublin Spur

KingdomYid wrote: »

This time next year it will be Modric to chelsea and Bale off to utd,whats the point really im gutted.

Seems to be the pattern alright.
Do well at Spurs and you get to play for Utd.
Sickening

Just can't get the Heinze fiasco out of my head.
Worked very well for Utd. We should apply (or at least attempt) the same for Berbatov and Keane.

If our plans are gonna be fcuked up by loosing these players then we should do everything possible to fcuk up Liverpools and Utd plans too.

Would be worth losing 10 mil by not selling to them. Not that I think we actually would lose any money in the end.

I have such a bee in my bonnet about this. Been years since I felt so strongly about something. I 110% feel that this is the best solution.

We have to stand up to these cnuts or we will be a feeder club forever,

If Keane and Berbatov are allowd to go to man utd and liverpool now, Who will it be next season ? Bale, Modric, Dos Santos ??

We have to make a stand now.

THFC1

therecklessone wrote: »

It's a negotiating tactic fellas, and it's a smoke screen so us fans will blame United/Liverpool plus Berbatov/Keane rather than Spurs for selling them on.

It will get us a few £m extra (maybe more upfront instead of add-ons) and Daniel Levy will get to say "I only sold them cos their heads were turned".

It's brilliant PR from Levy. Fair play to him, he must be a student of Machiavelli.

'Brilliant PR from Levy'?

As a Spurs fan, i beg to differ.
Levy has a short memory, before he starts lashing out at United and Liverpool...let's all not forget that Levy did the same thing when we were tapping up Ramos at Seville for the best part of six months.:o

Embarrasing.

RingoSpur

If Keane and Berbatov are allowd to go to man utd and liverpool now, Who will it be next season ? Bale, Modric, Dos Santos ??

We have to make a stand now.

Agree Shane.
I don't allow myself to get too attached to certain players because players come and go but in the case of keane and berba its the way that united and liverpool have gone about it that is annoying me so much.

I'd love not to sell to them just out of spite and make other teams think before they come looking for our best players. But I think we will end up selling to them.

And as you said about bale and modric being targeted next year. If united, chelsea or liverpool come looking for our best players next year, I don't have much confidence that we won't sell to them. Now would be a good time to make a point of not selling to them but I can't see it happening

Eire-Dearg

Guys I'm a member at that website quoted and you have to admit that report Liverpool was on very weak grounds. Rafa spoke that David Villa is no longer a realistic target and he will turn to Robbie Keane. Tapping up? Yeah right.

Man Utd however never get a player without unsettling him a little yet, and after Fergie's comments on Real's pursuit of Ronaldo, well he's just a hypocrite knob.

yiddo

RingoSpur wrote: »

Agree Shane.
I don't allow myself to get too attached to certain players because players come and go but in the case of keane and berba its the way that united and liverpool have gone about it that is annoying me so much.

I'd love not to sell to them just out of spite and make other teams think before they come looking for our best players. But I think we will end up selling to them.

And as you said about bale and modric being targeted next year. If united, chelsea or liverpool come looking for our best players next year, I don't have much confidence that we won't sell to them. Now would be a good time to make a point of not selling to them but I can't see it happening

This not seeling them outa spite nots on with a plc. Maximising profit is Levy'
main duty to the plc. Only someone like Chlesea could could afford to have a player sitting in the stand for spite.

tippspur

KingdomYid wrote: »

This time next year it will be Modric to chelsea and Bale off to utd,whats the point really im gutted.

Whats the point is right.

tippspur

therecklessone wrote: »

It's a negotiating tactic fellas, and it's a smoke screen so us fans will blame United/Liverpool plus Berbatov/Keane rather than Spurs for selling them on.

It will get us a few £m extra (maybe more upfront instead of add-ons) and Daniel Levy will get to say "I only sold them cos their heads were turned".

It's brilliant PR from Levy. Fair play to him, he must be a student of Machiavelli.

you can believe that if you like, I don't

RingoSpur

This not seeling them outa spite nots on with a plc. Maximising profit is Levy'
main duty to the plc. Only someone like Chlesea could could afford to have a player sitting in the stand for spite

Yiddo I understand that as a club we aim to maximise profits and make money. I would like us not to sell to those clubs so that we keep hold of our best players and show that we have the option not to sell but I understand that isn't always realistic.As I said previously I'm sure they will both be sold, becase of the money thats involved.

Blue 84

KingdomYid wrote: »

This time next year it will be Modric to chelsea and Bale off to utd,whats the point really im gutted.

Indeed. I'm completely deflated after the last few days and as much as I'd love to switch off my support for the club I know I'll still be glued to SSN on the first day of the season for score updates, fooling myself yet again that this WILL be the season Spurs make their presence felt. Of course we'll have another groundhog day with the big four bastards taking the piss again.

RingoSpur

Blue 84 wrote: »

Indeed. I'm completely deflated after the last few days and as much as I'd love to switch off my support for the club I know I'll still be glued to SSN on the first day of the season for score updates, fooling myself yet again that this WILL be the season Spurs make their presence felt. Of course we'll have another groundhog day with the big four bastards taking the piss again.

A little bit pesimistic I think. If players leave I trust that Ramos will bring in some very good players to improve us as much as possible. As annoying as the whole situation is becoming, and it may be the case that more of our better players are linked with moves next year, I think we will be in good shape for the start of the season.

yiddo

RingoSpur wrote: »

Yiddo I understand that as a club we aim to maximise profits and make money. I would like us not to sell to those clubs so that we keep hold of our best players and show that we have the option not to sell but I understand that isn't always realistic.As I said previously I'm sure they will both be sold, becase of the money thats involved.

Only stating what Levy will do. If was up to me I'd pay them both a kings ransom and keep them. I'd like to see how we'd do with a creative midfield behind them. Then again I'm just a mere supporter Levy has to answer to a PLC and shareholders.

RichMc70

Three rules of the modern day sky controlled EPL...........

1) Money (Profit) is God...... (Clubs will always put profit / book balancing before any silverware success or genuine care for the fans)
2) Every player has a price.....(A player is just a commodity to be bought or sold)
3) No player has loyalty......(Players will kiss the shirt crest one week then instruct their agent to tout them to other clubs the next week)

Lets not be fooled that the modern day EPL is about anything else but just MONEY.

Sure I'll still be spending my money going to games or glued to the tv/radio praying for us to win but when you see the **** that's going on at the moment, it makes me sick.

One-Day-Juande

If they go, fine by me, as long as good replacements are sought. It's still sickening, ManYoo think they have some god given right to the players they want, can't stand to see another spurs player wearing that jersey, as for KEane to Liverpool, I can accept it more, good luck, you're heading to a team that may get champions league football but are the most likely to drop out of the top four and not win anything next season.

Best way to spite them is to break the top four next season, and let them know that if they ahd stayed they would have been legendary heroes in Spurs eyes.

John W

Bottom line is this will continue to happen to us until we are one of the top 4 elite.

I am sure if we do well, next year our top players will be linked with moves to other top 4 teams, unless we are one of them!!

Now obviously this is only what we here through the medias, but from the sounds coming from Ramos, it didn't sound like it was the end of the world for him to loose Keane and Berbs - I think he wants to play with one loan striker and with Berbs gone for sure, I don't think he thought that man was Keane - and that both Keane and Berbs prefer to play the 442 formation.

I think Ramos will now be looking for that man, I heard us in for ARSEshaven today?

Yes, this whole thing makes me sick, but it is the way it is - we need to get into the top 4 to play the game the way they do, to attract the lesser clubs best players who want to play CL football!

The other thing we have to accept, as hard as it is - the game is all about money for the managers, the players and the boards - they don't think like the supporters - players are now mercenaries, and even the ones we thought were the best of lads (Sol, Carrick, and now Keane) will go if the money is right. Believe me if King had not been plagued with injuries, they would have come knocking for him to, and he would have gone......

If someone knocks on my door and offers to substantially increase my wages and give me the opportunity to fulfill my most sought after career opportunities, I would be gone like a shot - just like Berbs and Keane.

The one thing I wish would change is the whole contract thing, I believe if you sign a 5 year contract you should have to honer it - full stop - no buy out clause, no small text - you sign for five years, you play for 5 years. Until this happens, things like that are happening now will continue to happen.

And believe me, if we make the top 4, we will be right in there with them, doing the same dirty deals!!:eek:

Dublin Spur

John W wrote: »

Bottom line is this will continue to happen to us until we are one of the top 4 elite.

Spurs in the top 4 will never happen while current trends continue.
Everton a few years back was the exception not the rule.
It was a blip by Liverpool and they won't let it happen again.

So what happens when a club like Spurs look like they might threaten the top 4 ??

Members of the top 4 go out and simply buy our best players so that:
a) They improve their own team
b) They destroy our team

While we continue to agree to sell to them we will never ever finish above them. Levy needs to grow some balls and let his actions speak louder than his words. Don't sell to your rivals.