Spurs - Rising out of the Shadow

Having sacked Harry Redknapp as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, Daniel Levy and the Spurs board were on the hunt for a new manager. Their hunt appeared to have ended, with André Villas-Boas being touted as a favourite for the role and contract negotiations at an advanced stage.

Chairman Daniel Levy however, wasn't as sure of Villas-Boas as the rest of the board, especially due to his track record at Chelsea. The previous few weeks had been hectic for the bald 50-year-old, and he needed a drink more than ever.

Levy spun around on his rotatable chair and turned towards the drinks cabinet, noticing it to be empty, thanks to the pressures of the last few weeks.

White Hart Lane was the venue of a music concert, and Levy actually considered going to the stadium bar for his drink. Sitting there wouldn't solve anything, he thought, and he needed to forget about the club's problems for a moment.

Levy walked in to the bar and asked for a scotch, grabbed it and took the seat at the corner booth to avoid any attention.

Halfway through his drink, he found himself overhearing the conversation at the next booth. Three Tottenham fans were listening to a man rambling on about tactics, formations, team selections and transfer targets. The three men were lost while trying to follow the man in his accent - which seemed part German as well as part British - but Levy was very impressed.

He got up to go get himself another drink, and while he was walking back to his booth he saw the three men leaving, and decided to go talk to the man.

"Hello there", he jestured to the brown-haired man who was enjoying his drink."Your knowledge of football is quite impressive."

"Thanks."

"So, are you a Tottenham fan?" asked Levy.

"If I wasn't why would I be in a Spurs bar?"

Levy laughed. "Fair enough, he said."

"Say, you look a bit familiar. Or maybe I've just had one too many."

"Maybe", replied Daniel Levy, holding back a smile.

"You're Daniel Levy, chairman of Spurs.", said the man.

"Wow, you're so smart. Guess I should make you manager of Tottenham then, eh?", joked Levy.

"Well, it would finally make use of my managerial badges", laughed the man as he sipped his drink.

And then, it hit Levy. It seemed crazy. It made absolutely no sense at all. But somehow his insticts told him to do it.

"This time I'm serious then. How would you like to be the manager of Spurs?"

The man was taken aback at the proposal, but confidently replied -"Sure. Why not?"

"What's your name then?" asked Levy.

"David Foster."

"Meet me here tomorrow at 11:00 am. And wear something more - you know, formal."

"Will do."

Levy placed his glass on the table and buttoned up his jacket as he left the bar, while Foster sat inside grinning.

Well, I don't know about Levy, but I wouldn't employ someone whom I've just known for 5 minutes as manager of a huge, huge club. Hahahaha

I find it interesting how all of us try to create stories to explain why big clubs have signed unknown managers. Yours is really good. You've explained that he had all the managerial (it should be coaching, actually) badges, and your writing is also pretty good quality.

David arrived at White Hart Lane and was quickly escorted to the boardroom by Levy's secretary.

As David walked in, he noticed seven men sitting around a round-table on the far side of the room, one of them being Daniel Levy.

None of them except Levy seemed to pay any attention to him though.

Levy spotted him out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, right on time. Gentlemen, this is.--"

"I'm David Foster.'Ello gents.", interrupted the 36-year-old as he grinned.

Levy cleared his throat as he was about to speak further, but more as a signal to David Foster to shut up.

"This is David Foster",continued the chairman."I strongly believe he is the one to lead the club ahead."

Foster caught a couple of skeptical looks at him but turned his attention back to Levy.

"He earned his coaching badges in the same batch as André Villas-Boas and has exceptional knowledge of football."

There was more awkward silence, and Levy decided he needed to talk to the board alone.

"David, why don't you give us a moment?"

David did what he was asked as he left the room and shut the door behind him. He thought of staying outside hoping to hear bits of what was being said but Levy's secretary escorted him out into the waiting room.

As he sat down, he yawned and rubbed his eyes, remembering that he didn't get any sleep at all.

"This should take a while. Might as well take a nap."

He shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep...


After an hour or so, Levy's secretary was in front of him trying to wake him up. She stood there calling his name and tapping his shoulder for a minute before Foster finally woke up. She took a deep breath after getting tired trying to wake him up.

"Mr. Levy would like to see you."

Foster walked back into the room but this time noticed the six other men had left. Daniel Levy was sitting on the table alone smoking a cigar.

"Ah, David."

Foster walked up closer to the chairman as he spoke.

"I spoke to the board.", he said, tapping his cigar on the ashtray. "Needless to say, they weren't too happy."

David sighed, realizing he probably didn't get the job, but he was praying for a 'but'.

"But - I put my reputation on the line for you. The board agreed to give you a go."

A smile grew on David's face.

"Here's your contract. Sign it."

David briefly read through the paper but he knew he was going to sign even if they were paying him 1 pound a year. He scribbled his signature on the bottom of the paper and handed it to Levy.

"Congratulations - you're the new manager of Tottenham Hotspur.",said Levy as he shook David Foster's hand.

The next day, Foster drove to the Enfield Training Centre - Spurs' training ground - but found no one there, except the groundsman.

As he was walking back to his car, he dialed up Daniel Levy's number on his cell phone and after a couple of rings, Levy answered the phone.

"Hello?" answered Levy.
"Hello, chairman, this is David. I was just wondering..-"
"When you will be introduced to the press? We've arranged a conference for tomorrow evening to announce you as manager."

"No, I was wondering where the players are."

"You silly goose, they're on vacation. It's still June 15. They'll only be back on the 4th of July."

"Oh.", said Foster, realizing how stupid a question he just asked.
"Well, what do I do until then?",he continued.

"Take a vacation!", replied Levy. "These are the only days you are going to get off this year."
"How about I kill two birds with one stone, and go sign some players on my trip? How much money do I have to spend?"

"Well, we expect you to finish fifth at a minimum - and we'll allow to spend 30m, along with whatever you make from player sales."

"Great, I'd like to take some staff with me, I'm sure you don't mind me hiring my own staff."

"That's fine, but you will have to make do with Steffan Freund as your Assistand Manager. He was hired as he was AVB's choice for his assistant manager, but of course - that didn't happen."

Foster was slightly disappointed but shook it off. "No problem, I'll e-mail you the list of the rest of the staff I want. And the ones I don't."

"They'll be hired in the next two or three days if it all goes according to plan. Book your tickets and think of who you want to buy. I'll alert you when you staff have been hired so you can meet up with them.", said Levy, as his voice trailed off.

A couple of days later, Foster was informed that all his coaching staff were hired, and they were going to meet up with him at the Enfield Training Centre. Foster, however, texted all of them asking to meet up at a coffee shop in north London.

The coaching staff were already seated at the biggest table in the shop, with everyone drinking their coffee, as Foster walked in.

"'Ello gents." he greeted them, as he sat down.

"Hello" said most of them in unison.

"I'm David Foster. Skipping all formalities,", said Foster, as he sipped the coffee that was placed in front of him.

"We're taking a vacation-cum-player signing trip. I have a couple of targets and we'll split up in pairs of two and go negotiate deals for these players."

"Shouldn't someone else be handling this?", interjected Freund.

"That's true, but I thought we could do it ourselves. I've already informed the chairman about it."

"Anyway", continued Foster, "This is how we'll pair up."

"Paul McGuiness and I will be headed to France. Steffan, you and Anselmo will be going to Ukraine, Fernando Moraes and Elio Carravetta will be off to Croatia, Phil Cannon and Brian McClair will be staying to capture targets in Britain, Bobby Mimms and Gian Nicola Bisciotti will be going to Spain. I have your tickets right here, you'll be briefed about your targets tomorrow. Your flights leave in 2 days. Please get each others phone numbers so we can keep in contact. See you later gentlemen."

I love how everybody is writing book-like stories for their careers. Can I take credit?