Levy: don't blame me, blame Berbatov

yiddo

From today's Observer and as usual with Levy it's everyones fault except his :rolleyes:

Levy: don't blame me, blame Berbatov

* Duncan Castles
* The Observer,
* Sunday November 2 2008

Daniel Levy has laid blame on Dimitar Berbatov for Tottenham's appalling start to the Premier League season. The Spurs chairman - who accepts only limited responsibility for his part in the sacking of two highly regarded managers in barely a year - says that Berbatov's efforts to engineer his deadline-day transfer to Manchester United unsettled the dressing room and undermined Juande Ramos.

Berbatov was left out of matches against Sunderland and Chelsea that preceded his £30.75m exit after Ramos decided the striker was not 'psychologically fit' - an example, says Levy, of excessive player power. Asked if Berbatov actively went on strike to obtain his transfer, Levy said: 'That's something you're going to have to ask him, but clearly he didn't play for those two games. He didn't play.' At the time Tottenham investigated Berbatov's conduct, but took no sanctions against him.

'I don't think Berbatov treated this club with the respect that we honestly deserved. We put him on the map. I think he's an outstanding player, but he signed a long-term contract with this club and I think he should have stayed. I had so many conversations with him. He kept saying it was about his ambition to play for Manchester United. It wasn't a money issue. We offered him a new contract and he wasn't even interested in discussing it.

'The reality is, in modern football, the players have all the power. It's not just relevant to Tottenham: if players anywhere decide as a group they are not going to play well and they want to get someone sacked then, that's what can happen. But I don't believe our squad made a concerted effort [to depose Ramos].'

However, several members of Spurs' playing staff were known to have lost faith in Ramos before his sacking last Saturday night, complaining of his training methods, team selection and tactics. Levy responded by contacting and appointing Harry Redknapp within the space of 36 hours.

Ramos's dismissal less than a year after his contentious recruitment from Sevilla takes Levy's head count of managers to seven, including caretakers, in his seven years in charge of the club. The chairman insisted that he did not regret sacking Martin Jol last October, despite the Dutchman's record of consecutive fifth-place finishes in the League - the club's best in 16 years. Levy, who also accused Jol of contributing to his own demise by discussing an offer to manage Newcastle United, said Jol had final approval on all of the signings made by former sporting director Damien Comolli, and had tried to take one controversial acquisition, the defender Younes Kaboul, to his current club, Hamburg.

A friend of Jol told Observer Sport that the coach had only spoken to Newcastle in an attempt to improve his salary at White Hart Lane, which Levy had refused to increase from £500,000 a year. According to the friend, Jol had raised concerns with Levy about several of Comolli's signings and been knocked back on alternative names; and while Kaboul's agent had attempted to arrange a move to Hamburg, the club had only made a 'joke offer' of a swap deal for teenage defender Miroslav Stepanek. The friend also noted Levy's retreat from demanding a Champions League place to targeting Uefa Cup qualification.

Levy dismisses much of the criticism of his record on appointments. 'Obviously [managers] are a factor, but not the sole factor in terms of winning games. Often it is luck; injuries - all these factors - have an impact on results. It is a very fine line between success and failure.'

Supporters have raised concerns that Levy's direction of the club is more focused on balance-book profit than on-field success with net transfer spends and wages strictly controlled. It is also widely expected that majority shareholder Enic International would sell the club if an appropriate offer was lodged. Plans for a new 60,000-seat stadium adjacent to White Hart Lane increase the club's marketability.

However, Levy said the club has yet to receive an unconditional takeover offer and that football takes precedence over financial matters. He defended a proposed dividend payment of £3.7m - an unusually high figure for a Premier League club. 'It's a sign of a mature and well-run business that a dividend should be paid. We don't consider £3.7m a substantial amount in the context of the size of this club.'

Neither Arsenal nor Chelsea pay a dividend to owners. Enic is an investment vehicle for Joe Lewis, who lives in the Bahamas and has not attended a Tottenham match since buying into the club in 2001. 'We [Enic] are not a charity, but we've invested over £100m in this club so I don't think it's unreasonable we should receive two and a bit million on £100m investment,' Levy added.

tippspur

Yeah i read that artical today, some boy to pass the buck alrite....

RichMc70

Articlie from the Times (08 Nov 08) with quotes from Gus.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article5110528.ece
Poyet was considered briefly as a replacement for Ramos at White Hart Lane before Harry Redknapp was chosen, an appointment that pleased him because it brought to an end lingering accusations of disloyalty. Although he accepts his share of the responsibility, Poyet believes that Levy is most to blame for the atrocious start to the season that cost him his job, with the chairman’s insistence on holding out for the highest fee for Dimitar Berbatov, the forward who joined Manchester United for £30.75 million, preventing them from signing a replacement.
“Lots of things went wrong and we all have to accept responsibility, starting from the chairman to the groundsman,” Poyet said. “There were all sorts of problems, but the main one was that we lost 50 guaranteed goals from Berbatov and [Robbie] Keane. Levy has decided to blame Berbatov, but I won’t. From the middle of May everyone knew he was leaving, so why blame him?
“I respect Levy’s opinion, but disagree completely. Even before the start of preseason he told us Berbatov was leaving, but he chose to wait. The difference between selling Berbatov on July 1 or August 31 was £6 million, maximum. I know football depends a lot on money, but sometimes you have to ask, ‘How much is six points worth?’ With one more striker I’m sure we’d have got more points and would still be at the club. Levy dealt with the problem his way and it was difficult for us to accept.”
Poyet is pleased with Tottenham’s revival under Redknapp, although less happy at the rush of players such as David Bentley to condemn Ramos, particularly when their own commitment can be questioned. “It’s very sad to see players talking in the press about Juande,” Poyet said. “They should be embarrassed, as they had the chance to talk on the pitch and didn’t do that.
“Juande trusted the players and expected that, as they’re playing in the Premier League, they would be very professional and know everything about football, but unfortunately they don’t. There are a few that do, but I would say that half the team don’t know much about football and you have to tell them everything.
“When I played at Chelsea we spoke about football all the time, but it was different at Tottenham. Some of the players have things too easy. They have the best cars by the age of 21, whereas when I was playing we had to wait until we were 28 or 30. One of the players who is not even 20 recently bought a Ferrari. I couldn’t believe it.”
Despite this defence of his former boss, Poyet disagreed with Ramos on many issues, particularly his decision to play Ledley King in the Uefa Cup rather than the Premier League. “In terms of coaching it was a little more enjoyable with Dennis,” Poyet said. “It was a great job at Tottenham, but I wasn’t as involved as I wanted to be.
“It’s very frustrating, but I look at it the other way as well. In the Carling Cup final, when Juande took [Pascal] Chimbonda off and left [Steed] Malbranque on as a left back I was thinking ‘what’s he doing?’ but we won. You learn from good decisions and bad decisions.” It should not be long before Poyet is calling the shots on his own.


Personally, I respect the man because I think he's passionate and very straight talking and I was disapointed to see him fired but that's business for ya.

yiddo

Levy has decided to blame Berbatov, but I won’t. From the middle of May everyone knew he was leaving, so why blame him?
“I respect Levy’s opinion, but disagree completely. Even before the start of preseason he told us Berbatov was leaving, but he chose to wait. The difference between selling Berbatov on July 1 or August 31 was £6 million, maximum. I know football depends a lot on money, but sometimes you have to ask, ‘How much is six points worth?’

Gus sums Levy up there. A man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing!

RichMc70

yiddo wrote: »

Gus sums Levy up there. A man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing!

With an extra six points we'd currently be sitting in 9th position