It’s time for Tottenham fans to credit Daniel Levy

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy deserves to take a bow for Spurs’ success this season

Tottenham fans have every right to be overjoyed with the news that Mauricio Pochettino is set to extend his contract with Spurs. In the midst of our celebration over this season’s success, and the bright future we should enjoy under Poch, we must also give a nod to Daniel Levy.

The cold, some would say ruthless, Spurs chairman, hasn’t been the most popular figure at White Hart Lane over the last few years. His dedication to running the club with a positive transfer balance and his hard-line negotiating philosophy has earned him the ire of quite a few Spurs fans. It’s time for that to change.

This piece is not a declaration that Daniel Levy is perfect or beyond reproach. Certainly, he’s made some bad decisions in charge of Tottenham and he may never fully understand the true essence of our club. What I am saying, is that he deserves a ton of credit for the club’s current trajectory.

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Think about it, one of Levy’s greatest criticisms over the years has been his failure to really back the manager. I must admit, I’ve been guilty of hurling that criticism in his direction, especially under AVB. However with the benefit of hindsight, I have to admit that we haven’t had a manager who really deserved to be backed financially.

Sure, we could have spent more under Harry Redknapp to support the world-class stars we had at the time, but would you really want Levy to have given him a blank check? Just ask Queens Park Rangers how that works out.

Perhaps if he would have backed AVB with more significant transfer funds, then he’d still be our manager. That would have spared us the horrific Tim Sherwood era, but we’d likely still be limping along to Europa League qualification at the moment. It’s entirely possible that Levy understood earlier than most, that the charismatic AVB wasn’t going to get Tottenham to its full potential.

Now it’s also a fair criticism to point out that Levy brought those managers in. Perhaps he should have identified a manager like Pochettino years ago. I’ll cede that as a fair point, but the gamble on AVB certainly seemed like a reasonable one at the time. I’m also willing to acknowledge that choosing the right manager for a club is a hell of a difficult task. A lot of chairman never get it right. Levy has done what most men haven’t been able to accomplish while finding the right man for Spurs.

Pochettino is unquestionably the manager we’ve all been waiting for at White Hart Lane. He has built a team that truly cares about playing for the club, and prides itself on out working the opposition. His squad has taken on the very essence of the Spurs fan base.

So let’s credit Levy for getting us into this position. As the chairman he’s the one who must shoulder the blame when we’re losing, but it’s only fair he receive a ton of credit when we’re winning.

Now comes the real fun, let’s see if Levy will back Pochettino to the hilt this summer. If he does, then his lack of spending from the past is forgiven. If not, his name will be strewn through the mud by Spurs fans once again.