Daniel Levy has made clear his desire to win the Premier League and Champions League as he prepared to usher in a new era at Tottenham with the managerial hire of Thomas Frank.
In a rare public address, the longstanding chair opened up on the “emotionally difficult” decision to sack Ange Postecoglou, who ended the club’s 17-year trophy drought with the Europa League triumph against Manchester United but flatlined in the league.
Levy admitted he went through agonies when the seven additional minutes were signalled in the final in Bilbao on 21 May, with Spurs holding a 1-0 lead. When they closed out the victory, it was the trigger for overwhelming happiness, although Levy said it had to be the foundation for further glories.
“We’ve won a European trophy but it’s not enough,” he said. “It’s what we haven’t done that’s more important. We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League. We want to win the Champions League. We want to win. I have very broad shoulders. Failure is not an option. The desire is to succeed. And because it’s so difficult I want to succeed even more.”
“The pressure and the disappointment of not winning over a number of years … I just wanted it so desperately. Not just for me and my family but all the fans around the world. We deserved some luck. That last seven or so minutes was horrific. It felt like hours. So when that final whistle went that was just an amazing experience.”
Levy spoke in a video uploaded to the club’s website alongside the new chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, who has come in, as he put it, to take “more of a lead day-to-day on operational matters on and off the pitch”. Spurs are set to confirm the sacking of the chief football officer, Scott Munn. Venkatesham has joined after spending 14 years at Arsenal in a variety of roles – mainly commercial.
Levy said: “We’re very proud of our stadium but we need to make sure we win on the pitch. There’s no point having a wonderful stadium if you haven’t got a wonderful team and aren’t winning. The reason we do all these other events [at the stadium] is to provide additional financial resources to the club which, in turn, go back into the team. Everything is about the team. Everything.”
Venkatesham said Spurs had analysed “more than 30 candidates” to succeed Postecoglou before spending a lot of time on a shortlist. Frank was “absolutely the No 1” choice of the board. Venkatesham said: “One of the things I’m really excited about is that he is an outstanding developer of young players so I really look forward to seeing what he can do with the squad we have here.”
On Postecoglou, Levy said: “I’m very grateful to Ange. I don’t regret appointing Ange. We were over the moon to win a trophy. But we need to compete in all competitions. I’ve got an excellent relationship with him. I told him that he’s always going to be part of our history. Himself and his family are always welcome back. It was a collective decision [to sack him]. Emotionally it was difficult but we believe we’ve made the right decision for the club.”
Meanwhile, Tottenham remain in regular contact with their winger Manor Solomon over his welfare after he was left stranded in Israel as the military conflict with Iran continues.
The 25-year-old Israel international got married to his long-term partner, Dana Voshina, last week but they have not been able to leave after Israeli airspace was closed to civilian flights.
A Tottenham spokesperson said: “We are constantly in regular dialogue with all our players regarding their wellbeing and welfare.”
Solomon is due to return to the north London club for the start of pre-season training in early July.
