Is he Jesús in disguise?

Is Daniel Levy the reincarnation of Jesús Gil? This Guardian article suggests he could be.

Gil was an egomaniac, a megalomaniac, a beacon of corruption in business, politics, sport and media - a sort of a poor man's Berlusconi. The Wikipedia entry puts it succinctly: "He was famous and controversial for his extreme right-wing political views, summed up in a unique brand of foulmouthed, low-brow populism punctuated by sexist, homophobic, racist and xenophobic remarks."

He was responsible for the manslaughter of 58 people on an illegal and unsafe construction site, for which he was imprisoned in 1967, eventually securing his release by bribing his friends in the Franco régime; in 2002 he was imprisoned for political corruption and banned from holding public office for 28 years.

No-one is accusing Daniel Levy of any of this.

But Gil was Presidente of Atlético Madrid for 16 years, and there are some intriguing parallels:

• Levy: 5 managers in 7 years; Gil: 26 in 16 years (OK, Levy has some way to go - but it's not a bad start )
• a never-ending succession of grossly overpriced, underperforming players
• conversion of a club regularly finishing in the top 4 (only once below halfway in 26 years), to one flirting annually with relegation (including 2 years in Segunda Liga)

This chart, produced by Atlético fans, shows the effect he had on the club. Note the similarity with the Icelandic chart we showed you the other day.

A note below the chart lists Gil's achievements at Atlético:

• more than 30 coaches employed
• over 150 players signed
• debt up from 6m€ to 300m€
• relegation to 2nd Division
• worst average league position in their history
• out of Europe for 7 years

We hope 'Arry's got a Plan B for his career, for his own sake.

Going cheap

'Celebration Cake'? When's that from then? It's obviously past its sell-by date.

And it's only £4.89. That works out just under a pound a point. You couldn't get one that price anywhere else!

And I see it serves 12 - it'll just about do for Tom Huddlestone, then.

The worst defence in the Premier League. Ever.

Spurs have conceded more goals than any other team in the history of the Premier League, as shown by the All-time FA Premier League table (1992-2008).

Careful study also reveals that they have lost more games than they have won, and that over the 16 years they have a Negative Accumulated Goal Difference (Negative AGD, or NAGD, pronounced, by Scots mostly, as "nae guid").

Thick and fast

Our researchers are hard at work, beavering tirelessly away, discovering something new every day. Here's some of their latest finds:

Government to bail out Tottenham Hotspur with emergency injection of 50 points

[Thanks to Rajinder]

Clichy responsible for Totts mayhem

[Thanks to Rob]

We have achieved too much

Daniel Levy sets his sights for the future: "We have achieved too much over the last seven years - three successive qualifications for Europe, a League Cup win, training-centre planning permission . . . ”.

[See the full report in the Guardian]

And if you agree with Levy that there's no point* in them having a new training ground - what on earth would they use it for? - you can object to THFC developing Green Belt Land at Bulls Cross (planning permission was granted Nov 2007, but what the heck, better late than never).

* no pun intended

The Old Lady and the Zebra Crossing

Harry Redknapp was walking down Tottenham High Road when he saw an Old Lady on a zebra crossing* with four shopping bags, he went up to her and says, “Hello Luv...Can you manage?” To which she looks up and says to him, “Blimey, Levy hasn't sacked you already has he?”

[Thanks to Ronni]

* See Rivendell for giraffes crossing, elephants crossing, zebra crossing, and many more Namibia pics.

Dementia appeal

GNER Kevin comments:

I would like to appeal to everyone to spare a thought for those that suffer from dementia in their twilight years. Former football manager Harry Redknapp is a prime example. Clearly the onset took him and his family by surprise. They first knew it had struck in the early hours of this morning when he started coming out with phrases like "Tottenham are a big club". Hopefully Juande there will be a cure.