Tottenham Hotspur have now passed 17 years without winning a major trophy, and chairman Daniel Levy has borne the brunt of fans’ criticism in recent times.
Levy has been in position at the club since 2001, but their only trophy during that period was the 2008 League Cup, when they beat Chelsea 2-1 in the final at Wembley.
This season under Ange Postecoglou, they sit a hugely disappointing 13th in the Premier League table this season, leading to increased criticism of Levy.
Former Tottenham Hotspur boss has his say
Tim Sherwood worked under Levy as the club’s manager during the 2013-14 season, having previously played for Spurs between 1999 and 2003, and insists that the criticism of Levy is unfair.
“Everyone looks at the common denominator and they think ‘Well, the managers have all come and gone and they’re still lifting no trophies, but the one remaining factor is Daniel Levy’,” Sherwood told FourFourTwo.
“But I was there with the old regime as a player, and I loved Alan Sugar because he was his own person, he was very straight, and I liked Daniel Levy, too, it’s just the fact that Daniel does it in a different way.
“It’s not his fault that the club haven’t won anything, I believe. I think they’ve had the opportunities to, and I think he’s spent money.
“The recruitment hasn’t been top drawer, that has been an area where if you have to point the finger, you’d have to point the finger at that.
“But then that’s a fine balance as well, because the recruitment team will be saying ‘Well, the manager’s not working with them properly’ and the manager will say ‘Well, the players are not good enough’.
“It’s not Levy’s fault that that’s happening. His job is to put his hand in his pocket and spend the money, and I think he has done that. You look overall, he’s spent the money.
“It’s a head-scratcher why they haven’t won, I think they’ve been unlucky a lot of times down the years.
“They just need to break that duck, get over the line and win, and I do think they can win with Levy.”
Spurs have Europa League hope
Tottenham are out of both domestic cup competitions, but they remain in the Europa League – although they lost 1-0 in the first leg of their last 16 tie at Dutch club AZ.
Sherwood, though, believes they can turn the tie around and can still challenge to win that competition.
“I think they can win a trophy under Levy, and I think they can win one this year, I have to be honest,” he said, speaking in association with Foot Italia.
“I think they can win the Europa League. I think they’ll beat AZ. I watched the game last week and I don’t see anything to harm them, the only thing that can harm them is themselves, not playing to the ability that they have around that squad.
“They’ve got players back fit, there’s no excuse on that now. Alright, some of them might be a bit rusty, but they’ve got the players back.
“They’ve got a one-goal deficit going in, but if they can get through this, there’s no-one left in the competition to be scared of, there really isn’t.”
