reading list: sid lowe on daniel levy

i don't normally do this, but i think i might make it one of two new semi-regular (i.e. when i remember to do them) features, along with a top-secret project i'm currently devising. anyway, it's essentially recommended reading; most articles will probably come from either the guardian or the times as they are the two dailies i check for sports comment, so with some simple detective work you should be able to pre-empt my recommendations with a lackadaisical ease, but occasionally i read something worth sharing so it might be of value.

first up, the guardian's sid lowe on daniel levy. it's very funny, and a good beginners guide to the kind of maniacal despotism that has been virulent within spanish football for some time.

for the record, i am no fan of daniel levy. clearly, he has mismanaged the footballing side of the club over the last few years, blundering in his attempts to install the sporting director/coach dynamic and probably playing too prominent role in player sales & recruitment (specifically how much influence he had is difficult to gauge from the confines of my sofa). certainly, it seems as if he had an unhealthy influence on the berbatov deal, and i would be very interested to find out if he had anything to do with the signings of rocha, boateng, stalteri, bent (a player i actually rate, but not for £16m), jenas (ditto, but for £9m instead) & legendary clogger (at least in my head) hossam ghaly. however, what needs to be balanced with that is that he has overseen a spurs regime that is on, as far as i am aware, a stable financial footing, with either no debt or a small, manageable amount. this is no small feat, especially given the level of money invested in player personnel across the past few years (which has been further bumped up by the compensation he's had to pay to departing managers), and something that should be envied in the current climate.

ideally, i think he could do a better job by taking a backseat and delegating a bit more (although this would include some sort of empowered recruitment executive, which isn't going to happen any time soon), but i am dubious.