Shocked Harry Redknapp thought Daniel Levy would be at Tottenham forever as fans sent warning

Harry Redknapp insists he enjoyed his time working under Daniel Levy and says his Tottenham exit took him by surprise.

Levy and Tottenham released a joint statement on Thursday afternoon announcing that he had immediately ‘stepped down’ as chairman after almost 25 years in the role.

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He took over as Spurs chairman from Alan Sugar in 2001 and helped oversee a huge transformation both on and off the pitch.

But Levy’s accomplishments were often overshadowed by a lack of success in the form of trophies with just a League Cup and Europa League trophy to show during his tenure.

Levy fought hard and long to find the winning formula, sacking 13 permanent managers during his time at the club.

Redknapp was axed by Levy in 2012 after four years as manager and two fourth-placed finishes in the league.

And while he admits he no longer speaks to Levy, Redknapp says the now ex-chairman was enjoyable to work under.

“Absolutely out of the blue. I never saw that coming at all,” the ex-Spurs boss told talkSPORT

“I thought Daniel would be there forever. When someone texted me [the news] I thought no, you’re having a wind-up.

“That was his life running that football club, I could never see it coming to an end.

“I never had any problem with Daniel,” Redknapp added. “I sit here and I don’t have any relationship with him or speak to him, not that I don’t want to.

“I found him very good to work for. He wasn’t at the training ground every day. He wasn’t poking his nose in as to who should and shouldn’t play.”

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Working with Levy behind the scenes

Redknapp lifted the lid on Levy’s role and more specifically his boundaries with regards to key decision making while in the gaze of 88-year-old ENIC majority shareholder Joe Lewis.

“I found him (Levy) very good and helpful to work with. In the background Joe would be pulling a lot of the strings, that’s how I always felt.

“When I left the club, I think it was certainly more Joe’s decision than Daniel’s. That was my opinion.

“People do forget that Daniel only had 25 per cent of the club. Joe Lewis was the governor at the football club.

“When I was there, Joe was never around. He never came to games. I think he’s been to around 10 games in 20 years.

“Maybe once every two years he’ll come over and watch a match. But Daniel didn’t have as much say in the club as Joe did.

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“Joe would have the final say,” Redknapp added. “Whether Daniel spent the money or didn’t, he always had to speak to Joe to get the final word on everything.

“If Joe didn’t want to spend big money in the transfer market, then Daniel wasn’t able to do that.

“He took the brunt of the criticism for sure but it wasn’t always down to Daniel.”

What will Levy’s legacy be?

Tottenham’s transformation off the pitch has been a monumental one.

Spurs boast a stunning new £1billion stadium that holds up against any in world football as well as a plush new training centre in Enfield.

Levy has helped mastermind that change and with it, development on the playing side with regular European football and now a Europa League triumph to show for it.

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And that’s not forgetting that Spurs came within a whisker of landing the big one before falling short against Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final.

Redknapp felt compelled to give Levy his flowers and remind fans – some of whom demanded changes in the boardroom – that despite the lack of trophies, Spurs had made huge strides under Levy.

“People have to give him a bit of credit for what he’s achieved there,” he said. “Okay, the trophies hadn’t come and maybe us managers should have done a bit better and won a cup somewhere along the line.

“People forget they’ve had a Champions League final, they’ve had Champions League football quite regularly in the last 12-15 years.

“It hasn’t been all doom and gloom. That stadium when you go there is mindblowing.

“They should be up there and could be up there winning the title in the next four or five years.”

Simon Jordan’s verdict

Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan was quick to praise Levy for his longevity at Tottenham and warned the club’s fans to be careful what they wish for.

Jordan went head-to-head with Levy over past transfer dealings and admits that while he didn’t always agree with his method of operating, he grew to respect Levy as a football chairman.

“The bottom line is Daniel Levy, I think, did a brilliant job for Tottenham Hotspur. I think he built a spaceship,” Jordan told talkSPORT.

“The challenge for Daniel now is he’s probably locked into ENIC with no salary, and I wonder how they’ll deal with him in the future.

“Maybe they’ll squeeze him out and give him a haircut on his share price.

“Whilst there’s an element of Daniel might be a slight anachronism to the way that football is now run in terms of prudent football club owners aren’t looked at in a certain way.

“Without associating failure with Daniel, if you don’t build success on the field, it’s perceived as a failure tax to some extent.

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“And if you look at the value of Chelsea and if you look at the value of Manchester City, where they’ve spent big, it’s like making a Hollywood movie and saying I don’t want to buy the superstars because I want to keep my budgets to a level.

“There is a thought process that needs to change about the value of football clubs based upon their success on the field, and I do think that the Lewis family will sell this business or they will raise new capital.

“Perhaps Daniel was in the way. But I think the legacy for Daniel has to be that he’s brought a brilliant football club with a real opportunity, and those that are sort of revelling in the fact that Daniel’s gone, careful what you wish for.

“We’ll see what the future looks like because it won’t be a wonderful thing if every single football club we have in this country is owned by Middle Eastern or American businesses.

“That won’t be a wonderful thing, but it may well be the direction of travel that we’ll have to accept.

“I didn’t always agree with him,” Jordan said about his past dealings with Levy.

“I had massive confrontations with him over players that he tried to take from me, whether it was Andrew Johnson or Wayne Routledge or John Bostock, and I didn’t always agree with it.

“But I came to respect the acumen, and I think that having achieved so much, he’s built a platform. There might be an argument that he needs a new captain, but I do not think that some of the flack that Levy caught was fair and justified.”