With Tottenham languishing in the bottom half of the table – albeit now on the up after three consecutive league wins for the first time since December 2023 – fans voted with their feet last weekend against Manchester United. Thousands attended a march towards the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium prior to the 1-0 victory over United with one clear aim.
“24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy, time for change” one banner held by the flock of peaceful protesters read. Another said: “Our game is about glory, Levy’s game is about greed.”
Many supporters held yellow scarves with the words “Enough is enough, Enic out” written on them, whilst others simply said “Levy out.” The dissatisfaction has been brewing.
Tottenham’s form has dipped dramatically since Ange Postecoglou’s first 10 matches in charge and the depleted nature of the current playing group, as well as a perceived lack of investment on the sporting side of matters, has seen Levy become a public enemy.
For Hoddle, he believes the motives aren’t as strong as they first seem.
“I don’t think it’s a scenario to get Daniel Levy out at the moment,” he exclusively told football.london. “What I would say is that the problem with building a stadium, which is a magnificent stadium, to get the training ground built which any player in the world would want to be in that environment, now there’s two aspects to it.
“It’s gone this way round, I think that’s why Spurs fans are up in arms. They’re up in arms to say that the emphasis, the priority, all seems to be something else.
“That’s why I personally feel that they’ve done a fantastic job with running the club, bringing in extra revenue. But why you’re bringing in revenue is actually to build the squad that can glorify that stadium.
That stadium deserves to have a wonderful team for Tottenham’s future, winning trophies.
Fans would be happy. What a great environment to go and watch a football game with the atmosphere. That’s the vision that the club should have.”
With Tottenham’s last piece of major silverware coming almost 20 years ago with the 2008 League Cup, the malaise which has set in has grown too much.
Spurs are now regularly among the top revenue drivers in the division and face no financial threat unlike some of their rivals in recent years, but it is not enough for those who go watch on a weekly basis.
“If the emphasis is on that [revenue] and it’s Levy and Enic’s priority and that’s what they’re going to do, it’s a bit of a crossroads in many ways,” continues Hoddle, speaking ahead of Tottenham’s Premier League clash with Manchester City on Wednesday night, which will be live on TNT Sports, where he will be working as a pundit.
“Bring the glory days back. If that’s the situation then happy days, let’s do it, let’s go. There’s no need to be getting rid of anybody. It just worries me that it’s not that emphasis and it’s not that priority and if it isn’t then the fans are looking at this thinking, ‘We have got to look at this now. If it isn’t [the priority to win] then we want some change’.”
Hoddle does have sympathy for Levy, but also question marks. “I think Daniel has done a fantastic job at the two things he’s done.
Now the big question mark is, are we going to spend every penny on the squad to make the team successful? It’s getting harder and harder because there’s so many good teams in the Premier League.
“That’s what the fans are protesting about when you look at the overbelly of it. And listen, bringing in extra revenue is great, that’s the icing on the cake. There’s no use bringing it in if it’s not going to be used in the right way.
“I don’t care about the NFL. I’ve been there, it’s a lovely day, great day. Go-karting, whatever, fantastic. The emphasis now has got to be that the stadium deserves a fabulous squad.”
Is it something he can realistically see Levy doing, though? “I don’t know, that’s the big question. Only Daniel would be able to answer that. Spurs have spent some money but I’m saying, in this modern day and obviously there’s restrictions and you have to get around certain scenarios with a business plan, it’s just the priority has got to surely be the history of Tottenham.
“We want a generation of younger Tottenham fans to have their own [heroes]. Of course they’ll have their favourites but they need their own legends and heroes who have won stuff for the club.
That’s what a football club is about. It’s about the history of a football club, not what a lovely stadium they have.
“Yeah, that’s fantastic, and the training ground, fabulous, what an environment for players to go and work. But at the end of the day the mentality and emphasis has to be to build a squad that this stadium deserves.
It is a stance that Hoddle repeats several times when talking to football.london and his passion burns through for the team he supports. As a player in more than 330 games for Tottenham and manager of over 100, watching from the outside and seeing the troubles is a clear pain for him.
“The crossroads for Tottenham in many ways is the emphasis,” he reiterates once more. “Fans want to see the priorities now of building a squad over the next coming years that can really go somewhere.
“As I keep saying, give that stadium what it deserves with the trophies.” For many, it is a message they have been championing for a decade. It hasn’t brought about the desired change at Tottenham, though, and Levy is starting to have it made impossibly evident to him just what the deeper feelings really are.
