Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has predicted he will only earn credit from the club’s often-critical supporters once he has left his position.
The assertion comes amid persistent fan discontent, largely stemming from a notable lack of silverware during his lengthy tenure.
Supporters frequently cite the club’s failure to capitalise on promising Premier League title challenges in 2016 and 2017, alongside their run to the 2019 Champions League final, as key grievances.
Last season proved particularly challenging, with the club recording a record-low 17th-place finish in the Premier League era. However, this domestic disappointment was partially offset by a victory in the Europa League final, marking Tottenham’s first trophy success since 2008.
Despite the team’s struggles, former head coach Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked days after the win over Manchester United in Bilbao, largely avoided the brunt of the fan anger. Instead, the chairman became the primary target of supporters’ frustration over the club’s perceived regression.
“I think it’s one of those situations (in which) when I’m not here I’m sure I’ll get the credit,” Levy told Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast.
“When you come here and look at this wonderful (stadium), and the fact that other clubs are now trying to copy what we’re doing, that should be a sign that maybe we did do something bold, and something right.”
Spurs moved in to their 60,000-capacity stadium, built on the former site of White Hart Lane, in 2019 and it quickly acquired a reputation as one of the best sports venues in Europe, regularly hosting NFL fixtures as well as large-scale music and other events.
Yet frustration remains with the team’s failure to mount a credible challenge for the Premier League and Champions League, though Levy admitted he was at a loss to explain the lack of success.
“Nothing has changed in terms of our ambition,” said Levy. “Having won the Europa League – thank you to Ange – you get a taste of it, but it’s not enough. It’s never been enough.
“We’ve been in 16 or 17 semi-finals, seven finals, and we haven’t won enough. We know need to use that as a springboard to keep winning. We’ve won two trophies in the last 20-plus years. We’ve been so close, so many times.
“I can’t really answer (why), because I’m not the one that picks the team, motivates the team.”
Former Brentford boss Thomas Frank, who was appointed to replace Postecoglou in June, will take charge of his first competitive match when Spurs begin the new season at home to Burnley on August 16.
He will do so without stalwart forward Son Heung-min, who has announced he will leave the club this summer and was given an emotional send-off in Sunday’s friendly against Newcastle in his native South Korea.
After last season’s dismal league campaign, Levy encouraged fans not to heap excessive expectation on their new boss.
“He gets the style of football we want to play,” he said. “He understands that Rome wasn’t built in a day. We haven’t set him, ‘You’ve got to win the league this year’. We just want to compete at the highest level.
“We will support him to the best of our ability. If you look at transfer fees, we’ve been in the top four spenders since the stadium opened, we’ve spent close to £700million net on new players.”
