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Thu 3rd Oct: BONUS! STAVELEY SPECIAL - £500m Spurs Investment!?
22 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of The Daily Tottenham Podcast, we dive into the potential investment of Amanda Staveley in Tottenham Hotspur, following her pivotal role in the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United. We explore what Spurs fans can expect if Staveley brings Middle Eastern investment to North London, similar to the Newcastle resurgence she helped oversee, including the signing of stars like Bruno Guimarães. We discuss the potential for a financial boost at Spurs, future transfers, and the club's long-term strategy. Could Staveley’s involvement be the key to Tottenham’s success in the Premier League and Europe? We also address the moral dilemma surrounding state investment in football clubs and how it challenges fans' ethical perspectives on ownership.
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
Every club. Every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network.
Introduction to the Global Sports Podcast Network
00:00:07
Speaker
work Hello and welcome to the Daily Tottenham Podcast from the Global Sports Podcast Network. And we've got a special bonus show for you today. I'm Joe Forrester. And I'm Scott
Amanda Stavely's Interest in Tottenham
00:00:14
Speaker
Duke Giles. And we're diving into some shock spurs news that Amanda Stavely, the financier who helped pull off the Saudi-backed takeover of Newcastle United, is reportedly lining up a huge investment in our own Tottenham Hotspur.
00:00:27
Speaker
So as we discuss the prospect that Stavely could soon be bringing Middle Eastern and money to N17, remember you can have your say at GSP and Tottenham on all social media. um Just immediately, as as you kind of did did that intro, Scott, ah imagine being a financier. but Yeah, I didn't really know whether I said that right, actually. I didn't know whether to add like a French flavour to that word or financier. No, i i ah you nailed the pronunciation, but I suddenly thought, imagine if someone said, what do you do? He said, I'm a financier. You might as well say, I'm loaded.
00:00:54
Speaker
but I'm absolutely loaded. It'd be good to
Joe Lewis's Influence and Ownership Impacts
00:00:57
Speaker
kind of meet new people in the pub. That would be quite a good line to bring out, wouldn't it? Yeah. It's like, okay, well, mine's a pipe, then, if you're a professional, i that's it. But I was this, this news, Amanda Stavely, prominent finance here, as you said, I'm right second guessing myself now as well. She helped facilitate the Saudi back 305 million pound Newcastle takeover in 2021.
00:01:15
Speaker
ah She was spotted at the Spurs home game against Brentford. There's a lot of speculation there, didn't think a lot of it. But then a couple of days ago, tons of reports all dropped across a lot of media outlets, essentially saying she's lining up half a billion pounds worth of investment um into Spurs. Now, it was almost a total shock to me as this story develops, Scott. I don't know if it was to you.
00:01:40
Speaker
Well, it's actually something I've been thinking about a little bit because of the Joe Lewis thing um kind of came up on my newsfeed like quite recently out of nowhere. And I was a bit like, oh, yeah, I remember remember when that happens and kind of thinking, well, now there's a hole, essentially, and kind of what's going to happen with that hole. But I feel like um
Spurs Fans' Reactions and Ownership Concerns
00:02:00
Speaker
when Spurs fans consider the ownership of the club, um it's usually ah kind of in the wake of some kind of minor catastrophe so there's a kind of in the wake of like a the horrendous managerial appointment or levy kind of you know making a bit of a fool of himself or but whatever well a bad decision that he's made or whatever but because i don't know things have been kind of uh kind of on the pitch and kind of with the animg posse kogli stuff uh kind of on the managerial side there feels like there's a project so i guess kind of
00:02:32
Speaker
um questions about the ownership and stuff haven't been as prominent as a thing on our minds. And I know we haven't really discussed it on this podcast, which is perhaps indicative of that. Whereas if you go over to listen to GSP and Everton or you know any anyone who's kind of got a bit of a crisis in their ownership, there'll be all that we'll be talking about really. so That's a bleak listen, isn't it? The the daily Everton show. But they're very nice. i'm the great house over like great yeah so yeah yeah but I bet be making do.
00:02:59
Speaker
um um But yeah, so i did it did kind of catch me on the hoop a little bit, but I was, as I was thinking about it with the Joe Louis, and he was very much in my mind. Yeah, so the so for for kind of a bit of context, the Joe Louis thing is that um essentially his influence is Wayne. I think he's in his 70s now. He's the... 87, Joe. He's 87 years old. Yeah, so he's he's knocking on for 90. So fair enough, kick back and retire, mate. you you Well, he's he's it he's in all kinds of trouble. So he's in he he got he got done for insider trading. and Yeah, isn't there like an FBI involvement or something? There's something there, something there. I don't think I don't think an awful lot is knowing about it, but he yeah he got done for insider trading and he's not being prosecuted for, it I think, on the grounds of his age and health. um Yeah.
00:03:44
Speaker
So yeah, so i you're you're obviously a journalist, I feel like you're going to be able to, you're probably going to be able to explain this a lot better than I can. So basically he got in trouble, therefore he stepped away from his involvement in Enoch and his, is it kind of, it's it's in trust now?
00:04:02
Speaker
or something like say he's not directly involved in the data running of Enoch and therefore one of its assets is Spurs so by association not involved in that day-to-day running of Spurs but that's not really affected the club financially because the club's not involved in the kind of insider trading scandal I think that's all roughly right absolutely yeah and the important thing to say is the kind of whole Enix essentially in limbo yeah it's it's kind of uh whilst this money kind of resides in the trust and it can't stay there forever, it will kind of be in this kind of purgatory state, which is obviously very um ah ah um unstable, I guess, it's ah for them to kind of oh have a vested financial interest in a football club whilst they're in limbo like that. So I guess maybe we should have expected this a little bit more than we did.
00:04:50
Speaker
um Yeah, and there's issues in there when if you are being investigated and obviously it's happening in the US it's US authorities are investigating. it then essentially your assets can then be sold off or kind of distributed as people see fit. And obviously we're gonna say, well, it's not an asset, it's a football club. And it means more than that, but it is it is an asset that belongs to him. So long-term new money being involved in Spurs would be a good thing. So Spurs valued at 2.42 billion. Stavely's looking to raise half a billion pounds through PCP Capital Partners, which is her firm.
00:05:27
Speaker
um and roughly would buy 25% stake, which is about 600 million quid. We're not sure. kind of the involved like who her backers are because it was PCP Capital Partners and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, PIF. They were kind of the parties involved in buying Newcastle. um Her husband is British-Iranian, has connections in the Middle East and in Middle Eastern business circles. So kind of the the best guesswork is there are going to be Middle Eastern investors somewhere. We don't
State-Backed Funding: Morals and Finances
00:06:02
Speaker
quite know how that looks. Do you think this is kind of this is what Spurs need right now, Scott? um That's a tough question. I think we could talk about this for days. um and we Well, hey we might we might talk about it way more in future podcasts, especially if this new story develops. um Need slash want. Need is probably a more interesting point in terms of you think about kind of the hole that ah Joe Louis' kind of stake has will will create and how that could potentially be a very big problem.
00:06:39
Speaker
um So that could really kind of develop into something quite significant where then Levi's kind of at the point where he might be undervaluing the club to try and sell ah stakes in it, which is ah would be quite you know ah disastrous.
00:06:52
Speaker
um I've seen kind of disputes about this valuation right now um in terms of so this might already be a process that's going on in terms of so the longer that this goes on and if this becomes a problem the value of the club will go down um and so like in that sense I guess the need for ah someone like Stavely who can do this and is that she's been kind of freed of the Newcastle um responsibilities, I guess, or ties is a better way to put it, um then I guess it is something that Tottenham need from that perspective. But is it something that Tottenham need in terms of ah
00:07:31
Speaker
do they need state-backed funding? And what there's and then in terms of to perform well on the pitch? I don't really know. And I don't think i don't think anyone knows the the answer to that are really. Did Newcastle need that? Probably yes. Here's the answer to that, because they're we're in the doldrums for a long time. As much as fans, you know, ah we be love to have a Mo and Joe, and we kind of go harp on about this and that and the other.
00:07:54
Speaker
But Tottenham aren't in the doldrums. We're not we're not a kind of a club who's ah kind of obviously massively, massively, massively underperforming. If anything, we've overachieved for about ah kind of 15, 16 years. um And then I think then there's the question about kind of the fans ah kind of once. And um I think that's where you could see a real divergence where Tottenham fans, I don't know, a lot of Tottenham fans would obviously very much welcome this because they think ah more money in the club, um which means kind of more transfers equates to more success on the pitch. And to an extent, they could be right. A lot of Tottenham fans i but i would be very, very wary of state-backed funding, I think.
00:08:39
Speaker
Yeah. And i I agree. And it's a difficult one. So if it's the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, that is a state backed wealth fund. um And this is so I've done work in Saudi. I've worked out there and I bought simultaneously. There are elements, frankly, to that society that I disagree with, like in terms of some of some of the laws they have around treatment of women, treatment of gay people, kind of criminal punishments, that kind of thing. I do morally disagree with that. But I'm kind of, and I'm very, very like keen to distance like, like any kind of judgment for like state state policy and the people of a country are completely separate. Like this is nothing against the the people of Saudi Arabia or the kind of culture or anything. It's specifically talking about governments.
00:09:31
Speaker
um And i yeah, and and I just like, so that doesn't sit very well with me if that's where the investment comes from. I also don't think countries should be investing in football clubs anyway. um We're rapidly like approaching a crisis point where you, with football ownership and how we progress with that and there needs to be much ah much more stringent overhaul of ah financial oversight of football clubs, just generally speaking, to to make it,
Tottenham's Success without Financial Backing
00:09:58
Speaker
um a more level playing field ah just because obviously we and we all know about Manchester City and kind of Newcastle and that kind of thing and it and it could be Spurs and obviously it was something with Chelsea and it's yeah and that disparity is causing lots of different problems within football. um In terms of the investment I think, obviously, there's that part of you, there's that kind of 15-year-old you watching Sky Sports News that goes, oh, we might sign better players, which is kind of always very exciting. um There is kind of a moral aspect to me. or not moral I don't know, like ah a kind of a pride that I have that we've been doing things without huge financial investment. I mean, it is worth saying, spurs are ranked.
00:10:39
Speaker
depending on what metric you look at as either the eighth or certainly in the top 10 richest football clubs in the world. So but compared to Luton, we're not doing badly compared to kind of your normal football club, um
Sustainable Success through Scouting and Youth
00:10:53
Speaker
but we're nowhere close to kind of those mega clubs. So it's quite nice watching us do things relatively speaking, kind of on the cheap. And we've spoken about this podcast before, I would much rather see any money, whether it's from the current ownership, whether it's from new investment, going to scouting and youth networks and all that kind of thing. The Brighton Brentford model, I think, is the most sustainable model for any football club. A lot to kind of future-proof yourself. Because it's something Man City are looking at. So what if these FFP charges
00:11:25
Speaker
stick and they're in massive trouble when the investors run away and all that kind of thing. It's not a very future-proof model. um Yeah, I don't know. I think maybe there's an element of, and I'm very aware, kind of I'm waffling here, like about this. there no Yeah, there's an element of like stagnation with kind of maybe Levi's oversight and just maybe just like with anything, you just need a fresh pair of eyes on something. He's been there a long time. I genuinely think he's done amazing things for Tottenham. And Stavely was involved in the day-to-day running of Newcastle United. So that would suggest
00:11:58
Speaker
that Daniel Lever would be stepping aside or certainly operating in a different capacity within the club or they'd be working together. Don't know how that works if you've been the big boss and you're working with someone else. um Yeah, it's ah there's there's a lot to unpack and actually a good friend of mine. So those of you who i about say those of you who've got TikTok, which makes me sound 10 million years old. um Really old. Yes.
Amanda Stavely's Impact on Newcastle
00:12:21
Speaker
but everybody Yeah, check out your Myspace. um but But those of you who are TikTok fans and watch movie content on TikTok and Instagram and that kind of thing um might be aware of Simon Harkness. So he's the kind of the film presenter for It's Gone Viral. um But the other aspect of Simon's personality um is he's a massive, massive Newcastle fan. So I thought kind of who better to so fill us in on what Spurs fans can expect should Amanda Stabley come in.
00:12:45
Speaker
Overall, I would say the long term impact and Stavely's legacy at Newcastle United is she will always, always be remembered fondly. We absolutely love Amanda Stavely. She was willing to take a 350 million pound gamble on Newcastle, true trying to be as big a club as possible. I mean, ah people forget we were so close to being relegated. We were all for that season. And then when Amanda came in,
00:13:14
Speaker
and brought in Eddie Howe. we We looked like a completely different team and she'll always be incredibly welcome up at Newcastle. um We love her dearly and if she does join Tottenham you will notice a much clearer connection with the fans and the board which is definitely something that Spurs need at the moment because for all of Daniel Levy's Business mind, I would say, there's obviously that a complete lack of trust and love for him um at the club with a lot of the fans and I think getting Amanda Stavely on board will absolutely help that because she listens to the fans and I think that's exactly what Spurs need at the moment. So yeah, it's potentially very exciting but it would make me hate Spurs a little bit if you took our beloved Amanda Stavely.
00:14:04
Speaker
um A lot to unpack there, but first up, this podcast is part of the Global Sports Podcast Network, the only network bringing you exclusive daily news and views on your Premier League team. The Premier League, women's football and fantasy football, a unique listening experience that puts fans first, bringing you the very latest breaking news from your team. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and make us your first listen every day. The Global Sports Podcast Network, every club, every day.
00:14:26
Speaker
So I think it was remarkable listening to Simon there. We thank him of course for sending in those voice notes. um I wasn't necessarily if ah expecting the affection towards Stavely because with my cynical view on things, as as I tend to tend to adopt, I kind of think that people are generally aware that people ah who kind of invest and own and have stakes in football clubs are generally part of the growing exploitation of fans that are kind of, you know, is so prevalent in the Premier League.
Fans and Capitalism in Club Ownership
00:15:01
Speaker
um And it's essentially kind of a inherently capitalistic thing to do, um to kind of have a share in the football club, which is obviously going to be very profitable if you're in a league like the Premier League. But, um you know, let's ah kind of
00:15:16
Speaker
um this That's kind of broadened my mind a little bit. um And I guess when Stavely took over Newcastle, there was lots more ah kind of investment. ah They brought in ah lots of players. Alexander Rizak, big marquee signings at Bruno Gamer Eish and Tenali. I know Tenali was out for a lot of last season with his betting ah betting ban.
00:15:37
Speaker
um But, you know, if that's the kind of thing that could happen at Tottenham, that would be really interesting to see how that works if it does work. um But I guess the big thing I kind of took away from that was more of like a kind of cultural understanding. And again, the cynical part of my brain goes, oh, yeah, but, you know, that's just lip service to fans. He's kind of giving fans what they want to hear to kind of detract from the fact that perhaps, you know, it's less obvious that they're kind of going on this extremely kind of capitalistic venture.
00:16:06
Speaker
But I mean, you know, it seems like there's a lot of affection for her there at Newcastle, Joe. Yeah. Do you know what? Right. This is it, isn't it? And like I do feel a bit sorry for Daniel Levy because but Simon was so bang on with that connection between board chairman, the business side and the kind of fans. He doesn't have that Daniel Levy.
00:16:25
Speaker
um But it's a bit like, it's a bit like Tony Soprano says like, I'm running a business, not a popularity contest. Very good, Joe, very nice. he Didn't expect that, didn't expect that at all. But like, and it's true because Daniel, li would like he's he's under no obligation to make himself charismatic and likable, but it helps. Football fans, we're like, we're a fickle bunch and building that connection would be a good thing. um I think, yeah, actually one of the things that does bug me about Levy's ownership and it's hard because obviously you need to make the club financially viable and sustainable and build us and compete in a world where we don't have as much money as as the the teams we kind of see ourselves aspiring to be um on the same level as but as you say that exploitation of fans and your everyday fan or your long-term fan, people like us, people like I guess a lot of our listeners and I love that Spurs are a global club and we have fans in Canada, the US, Africa and obviously
00:17:21
Speaker
um Asia, specifically South Korea, um obviously with the Sun connection. That is an amazing thing, but one of the things that the club has prioritized is getting those new fans in and exploiting them as well by selling the merch and all these kind of things and driving ticket prices up and all that sort of thing. I think any like ah like any kind of like blanket policy to improve connection with the fans, specifically from my point of view,
00:17:44
Speaker
ticketing and the way the ticketing system works and the prices would be a huge step forward. and If she does that immediately, I'm much more inclined to to like her straight away. Obviously, should the investment go ahead? um Yeah, i I think that's quite interesting. and And do you know what? It made me feel more positive because made me feel like, as you say, I mean, it's it's it's a capitalist venture. Of course, it is. She's a millionaire, if not a billionaire, um and she wants to make even more money and football clubs are capitalist ventures, sadly. um But yeah, I kind of think if if there's kind of if it improves the the experience for fans, and if she cares, which Simon seems to think she does, then I think that can only be a good thing for any club.
00:18:30
Speaker
It's true. and I was really don't want to sound overly cynical and pessimistic here, but there's almost I only see kind of being a football fan of a team in a Premier League, especially a team like Tottenham, going one way. And that's the point where, and the thing that really sticks out in my mind when the whole Super League thing was kicking off was the legacy fans, the language around legacy fans.
00:18:51
Speaker
and so if if if it can't if If it hasn't been laid out in the most clear terms there, you know, I don't know if the fans will ever get the message written. um I think that that's only kind of going one way. So if you're kind of bringing on someone, bring someone in rather, who um I guess has has this ability to kind of foster connections and this kind of thing, then that that could be a really interesting thing. And you know, and it might not work.
00:19:16
Speaker
and i people talking fans might just say that and think oh god that's just this doesn't work like this is weird this is weird like no we don't need this who is she yeah she needs to be talking about the fans like this and i think that the fact that she's done it with new castle the fact that she's kind of ah gone there and the fans have gotten her it might seem a bit like a i know it might seem a bit and inauthentic now uh as like the second time she's done this so that's that's another important point i think to mention spurs are yeah and are you're so right what you said earlier about newcastle Spurs don't need rescuing. So what's the plan here? It can only be to make us more successful on the pitch. So I guess that would be bigger and better players.
00:19:56
Speaker
um so that yeah that can only i yeah i don't I don't know. And I think a lot of Spurs fans would rather I genuinely think this, if the option is state-backed funding and suddenly you're trying to buy Killian and Bapay, or I genuinely think Spurs fans would rather plod along with a project like this and kind of knowing where we are kind of on that moral scale of football. it's so yeah it's a I just wonder what it would mean um and what the plan is. like so I'd love to see it go into scouting and using networks and all that sort of thing. I suspect it probably wouldn't.
00:20:29
Speaker
Yeah, but any time there's a debate now about Premier League clubs and the ownership, state-backed funding is always mentioned
Premier League Funding Rules and Ownership
00:20:35
Speaker
now. And like um you saw that with the United kind of pre um ah-Jim Radcliffe, where there was talks with a Qatari bid for the... this this is this is something that will This is something that's part of the Premier League now. And I think it's really important to uh say that i think a lot hinges on the city i think i think so much hinges on that that decision which will i mean let's be honest in all likelihood it'll be something it'll be a punishment our city can deal with whether you know whether that's even like a you know uh obviously if it's a financial thing they'll be able to deal with it even if it's a points deduction this season they'll probably be able to deal with it um yeah regardless and so like i so much but yeah if if kind of you know that goes the other way and they get a kind of crazy
00:21:20
Speaker
um ah punishment then that will really scare people off i should think so a lot a lot of hinges on that as well yeah they will it's i mean This is it, isn't it? I suppose if if City are stringently punished, and it's happened, I mean, the Caltropoli scandal in Italy, they relegated Uwe. So, I mean, it happens, and that's a football league which is famous for um turning a blind eye to corrupt practices from time to time. Our man on the phone, Mr Peratici, of course. Oh my God, yeah, using his one call from his jail cell.
00:21:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's out in the strings. I do like that. I am. I was in Sicily and I was talking to a football fan and he said that they basically they hate all northern clubs. So like we're we're watching the Champions League final and um all the people in this bar where it's a city played into were wearing city shirts. And I'm not ignorant enough to expect that they would be into fans, but because we're in Sicily, obviously. So but I was like, I was like, why are you? um Why are you and all the staff wearing wearing city shirts? He was like, because into our team from the north.
00:22:24
Speaker
I was like, firstly, this could not be a more authentic, Sicilian experience. This is amazing. But apparently they call they call northern corruption in Italian football the wind from the north. So when something happens, it's beautiful. And when something kind of goes against southern clubs or whatever, that seems very suspicious to say how the wind from the north is blowing again, which I love.
Cultural Insights and Corruption in Italian Football
00:22:49
Speaker
I suppose that that could be a thing for Stavely as well coming down from Newcastle maybe. Oh man, the wind from the north! A little bit of that, yeah. So in terms of um kind of transfers, um that there's there's I guess, you know, maybe we can hear a little bit about what Newcastle fans thought of that right here with Simon again.
00:23:12
Speaker
I think Stavely and the consortium impacted Newcastle's transfer market activity pretty much immediately. Obviously, before they came in, we were being run on the tightest shoestring budget under Mike Ashley, which meant that he was not interested in any sort of external revenue driving um any additional profits for Newcastle to put potentially put into the transfer transfer budget. um When Stavely and Co came in, that obviously meant that we had quite a lot of um ah Quite a lot of leeway when it came to ah PSR issues, which is obviously come back and business a little bit now But when they first came in it basically meant that we had a lot more leeway to deal with Spending so they came in and bought really really key players immediately the likes of Bruno Gamara's
00:23:59
Speaker
Kieran Trippier, and we also took Burnley's best striker off them in Chris Wood. He didn't exactly serve the world alike, but he played a very key part, and survival was key. So, Amanda and her team worked very closely with Eddie Howell to ensure that we were buying sensible players for that part of our development.
00:24:21
Speaker
um So yeah, I could definitely see an immediate impact happening. um The stakes aren't quite as high because obviously we were very close to being relegated and so we know we knew we needed to strengthen and they did, but they didn't um pay over the odds for for anyone really.
00:24:39
Speaker
maybe you could argue they did for Chris Wood, but he served the purpose. So although I don't think the stakes are quite as high, I i do think you'd see see an immediate improvement, but I'm not sure it would be seeing Spurs suddenly splash out 100 million plus players.
00:24:54
Speaker
very Very needless Chris Wood bashing there. He's a very serviceable Premier League striker. He's a very serviceable guy, yeah. and Even though he looks kind of you know quite quite blank a lot of the time, that that's fine. um before yeah Before we get into thinking a little bit more about that in comparison, you comparing Newcastle's success to Spurs' potential success,
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00:25:12
Speaker
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00:25:39
Speaker
ready to tell your story check out the link in the show description to learn more about zen caster um yes joe so um first of all i mean do you have any reactions to uh simon's uh transfer analysis there yeah um he's right isn't he they didn't they definitely they solidified and they certainly upgraded but there was no kind of mad it's not like um that kind of when City first got the money and they went and bought Rabinio and all that and it was all just insane and I remember when Chelsea got taken over and it was like Damien Duff and I and Robin and Ty Kessman and all this stuff like ask your parents kids but like kind of essentially just went out and just bought loads of mad players
00:26:21
Speaker
um having not been able to, ah literally having not been able to afford ah grass on the pitch. So if you're actually, some of you can't remember this, Chelsea did play in that season before they were taken over. They played on a sand pitch because they couldn't afford to have the pitch returfed. Just a little nugget there. Apropos of nothing. um Yeah, again, I just wonder what the transfer policy would be. um
Future Transfers and New Investments
00:26:43
Speaker
It would be nice to like approach a transfer window and be like, so for example, be like, okay, we need a backup left back.
00:26:52
Speaker
but we need another backup center back and be like, well, there is 30 million quid to do that. Whereas now Spurs really need to prioritize. um And that would obviously be great. But yeah, yeah, again, I don't I don't know what the kind of transfer policy would be. And yeah, and I don't I certainly think it would be a similar kind of thing, maybe look to solidify where we need to, but there wouldn't be kind of any wild cash splashing. And I don't think we'd be signing Chris Wood.
00:27:17
Speaker
No, I don't think we would be signing Chris, but I would actually would kind of welcome that. So would I. I'd be like, yeah, it's like my dad always thinks we should have signed Andy Carroll. That would have been quite good. Andy Carroll is playing in Bordeaux at the moment, who are now Aperture. Aperture is still there. I also, I was, this is, this is a very, this story doesn't paint me in a great light. I was in the, the Dorchester for afternoon tea.
00:27:44
Speaker
not where made you my family go over for christmas christmas oh my nas like It's not like I was just hanging out, and I was just nipping to the doorchester for a £100 sandwich. and um And Andy Carroll walked in um with his partner, um followed by Chris Eubank with his partner, and then they sat and had afternoon tea together. And my question is,
00:28:06
Speaker
How are they mates? Where did they meet? It blows my mind. I'm not talking about Chris Eubank Jr. Chris Eubank, the original Chris Eubank. It strikes me you wouldn't want to get either of them riled up on the night out. nothing yeah but i could But me and my auntie couldn't go stop staring. i like how they've because they were clearly very good back to having lunch together but anyway yeah blow my mind but yeah there you go little and little and large i guess little and large well i don't know about you joe but when um we had uh about simon's most recent voice note three key letters stood out to me and that's p-s-r yep and that um well this is kind of something we haven't really touched on yet but the premier league seemingly
00:28:45
Speaker
has tried to make it a little bit harder for clubs to with kind of state-backed ownership to, um I guess, operate and sign sign loads of players. um Newcastle have had a terrible time of it in the last couple of transfer windows where they've needed to do some weird transfer deals to try and, um you know, but could balance books and balance the squad and all of this kind of stuff. PSI is complicated. We can't explain it in this whole thing.
00:29:12
Speaker
but like you know they had to sell Ellie Anderson for like an inflated fee and like all this and then there was some weirds I know almost I mean we talked about it kind of inside a trade it was kind of almost kind of I know ah agreements between clubs that they'll pay over the odds for certain players and stuff and it's just a mess you know they they haven't been able to sign anyone in recent well not but they have something made signings but not to the extent that they did um but like immediately post takeover. Is this something that you think would also cause Levy to be wary? Yeah do you know what I mean that suggests to me thinking kind of but try trying to think positively I think is that
00:29:50
Speaker
maybe that means the money would be put to good use and put into good places. And and if that lesson is learned, I don't mind if like, I'm not going to be one of those sort of, oh, but they got to spend all that money. I'd rather not, to be honest, like splurge a load of state-backed money on paying over the odds for players and whatever. I'd much rather have a decent use system and a good scouting network, as I've said. um So hopefully, yeah, that that means that any investment would be allocated in the right way for the long-term sustainability.
00:30:16
Speaker
um of the club. um We're going to give you our final thoughts in just ah in just a few seconds, but here's kind of Simon's summary of kind of lessons from Amanda Stavey's involvement in Newcastle United.
00:30:27
Speaker
I think the biggest lesson you could learn from Stavely being involved with Spurs is that when they took over Newcastle, the consortium took over Newcastle, everyone expected us to be spending the same amount of money as Man City. And within five years, we wanted to be challenging Man City. And, you know, we have hugely overperformed with Eddie Howe as manager and with Stavely and the consortium being ever ahead of Newcastle. But the biggest learning is that the Premier League has moved on and have basically put in rules and regulations to prevent state owned clubs being able to spend their way to the top like Man City have done.
00:31:08
Speaker
so That to me is the biggest lesson. Having Stavely on board at Spurs, I have no doubt would be a huge benefit because she makes it her duty to go and listen to the fans and be as involved with the fans as possible. And honestly, I hate the fact she's no longer involved in Newcastle United because she's such an amazing woman and she made all the fans feel like they were being listened to and she she really did her utmost to try and make the fans wishes come true um but yeah honestly the biggest lesson is that until the Premier League change their way of funding for big clubs it's going to be very very very difficult for other clubs to try and break into the established top six obviously Spurs are considered part of that so it'll be interesting to see what she's able to unlock but um
00:32:01
Speaker
As amazing as Amanda Stabley is, I think getting her on board will still mean that you're a top six clubs are like club rather than challenging for the Premier League, you know, honestly. There you go. So just kind of I think sort of a final thought for me, I think, is it's on the positive side, I guess, if that kind of investment comes and fans have more of a voice as a result and the money is invested long term and sustainably, as Simon kind of suggests, because of the PSR rules,
00:32:32
Speaker
it might be, that would be a good thing for the club. um And I kind of do have my moral reservations about state investment anyway. um And particularly like kind of, and obviously kind of a qualified to that as well is, is which state we're talking about um in that case. And we still don't know necessarily where the backers, if she does have any external backers would come from, from Amanda Stavey. Scott, what are your sort of final thoughts?
00:32:57
Speaker
Well, there's there's lots kind of going on in in my old head now, Josh. It does make your head hurt, often thinking about football ownership and the morals of it and the kind of greediness of it. and ah Obviously, when so and there's the kind of prospect of someone very different, kind of like Stavely coming in, that a lot of those things are pitted against each other.
00:33:19
Speaker
um I'm very wary to be honest as as as as I think a lot of Tottenham fans would be um but at the same time kind of Simon speaks so glowingly of her and not naturally my inclination is to be really cynical about that and say oh that's ridiculous you know ah how how can you how can you uh be so kind of enamored with someone who is going to treat it obviously going to go for this as i said capitals capitalistic venture and so so i guess we'll just have to see what happens really this you know this still might not happen it's an interesting thing as well so we'll have to see what happens but i think it is something we'll be talking about more
00:33:57
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Look, um there's moral questions in here. There's questions in terms of fan involvement. The question is in terms of transfer policy. There's questions in terms of the overall running of football clubs, to be honest. The question is really simple. What do you think? um We want to hear from from listeners, people watching on social media. Do let us know. um It's at GSP on top of all social media. And we are going to be starting an episode of a week where we just do your correspondence as well. um So let us know. Tons and tons of episodes coming up. We've got um our Brighton preview.
00:34:26
Speaker
ah coming up, Farronk Varus review coming up, the Brighton crossover pod, loads and loads of stuff. so So thank you for listening. Thank you very much to Scott as well. Thank you to Simon and we'll see you next time.
00:34:42
Speaker
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