Spurs’ new stadium

[gordondaviesmoustache]

The FA maintain the pitch. Im sure Levy is the most pissed off man in the planet regarding the new stadium and the mistakes contractors have made. The club is losing money while we have to pay rent still

Levey is ultimately culpable for the current state of affairs. He grossly underestimated (at best) the cost and length of the project; that is manifest. In a previous working life I was involved in dozens of developments over a couple of decades (some cosmetic, some structural; most both) not a single one finished when the contractor told me it would; not a single one finished on budget. Experience taught me that the bigger the project, the more pronounced those disparities were likely to be. It is not without some irony that the ground that Levy has elected to utilise as your temporary home is the sporting apotheosis of this phenomenon; the construction of Wembley went eye-wateringly over budget, was horrendously late in completion, and was beset by huge litigation as a consequence - principally because the contractors didn’t deliver what they said they would, and when. Levy appears to have been utterly blind to this. This is nothing short of gross negligence on his part (at the very least).

As the ultimate decision maker, Levy has to take responsibility for conspicuously failing to recognise the reality of the undertaking and making the appropriate associated adjustments. That is why he is paid the big bucks. Anyone applying their mind to the project in a rational and considered fashion, would not have exposed themselves to where Levy now finds himself. Seeking to blame others is intellectually dishonest on his part. Construction projects are complex and inherently error prone undertakings; anyone with more than four brain cells realises this - if, as the ultimate decision maker, you fail to accommodate this sufficiently into your planning then you have no-one to blame but yourself.

 

[worsleyweb]

Levey is ultimately culpable for the current state of affairs. He grossly underestimated (at best) the cost and length of the project; that is manifest. In a previous working life I was involved in dozens of developments over a couple of decades (some cosmetic, some structural; most both) not a single one finished when the contractor told me it would; not a single one finished on budget. Experience taught me that the bigger the project, the more pronounced those disparities were likely to be. It is not without some irony that the ground that Levy has elected to utilise as your temporary home is the sporting apotheosis of this phenomenon; the construction of Wembley went eye-wateringly over budget, was horrendously late in completion, and was beset by huge litigation as a consequence - principally because the contractors didn’t deliver what they said they would, and when. Levy appears to have been utterly blind to this. This is nothing short of gross negligence on his part (at the very least).

As the ultimate decision maker, Levy has to take responsibility for conspicuously failing to recognise the reality of the undertaking and making the appropriate associated adjustments. That is why he is paid the big bucks. Anyone applying their mind to the project in a rational and considered fashion, would not have exposed themselves to where Levy now finds himself. Seeking to blame others is intellectually dishonest on his part. Construction projects are complex and inherently error prone undertakings; anyone with more than four brain cells realises this - if, as the ultimate decision maker, you fail to accommodate this sufficiently into your planning then you have no-one to blame but yourself.

Or put slightly more bluntly he is an arrogant tight **** who fucked this up.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Or put slightly more bluntly he is an arrogant tight **** who fucked this up.

and building contractors are notoriously full of shit.

Yes, that about sums it up.

 

[Graceyboy]

Levy will not give two shits about it being late as he will be saving a packet on the completion. Pretty much most of the work being done now is being done gratis due to penalty clauses in the contract.

 

[feedmpenzaandhewillscore]

Why should Spurs have to apologise exactly? You do realise they have to play on that horrible pitch too, probably all season. I think you will find the FA owns Wembley not Spurs. I am not sure why they dont do nfl at twikenham at all

Spurs should be financially reimbursing the City fans who booked to go to a game that your club agreed to play on a Sunday which is now taking place on a Monday night. City who have been inconvenienced out of this are putting their hands in their pockets to sort out travel costs not Spurs.

 

[Dubai Blue]

Why should Spurs have to apologise exactly? You do realise they have to play on that horrible pitch too, probably all season. I think you will find the FA owns Wembley not Spurs. I am not sure why they dont do nfl at twikenham at all

The FA maintain the pitch. Im sure Levy is the most pissed off man in the planet regarding the new stadium and the mistakes contractors have made. The club is losing money while we have to pay rent still

You can't keep passing the buck like this. Of the three parties relevant to this fixture ("Spurs", "City", "Wembley/The FA"), only one has any culpability for this shambles and it certainly isn't City or The FA. At this point, Levy should be holding his hands up and apologising for the huge inconvenience caused to the other parties, because these contractors you're blaming have nothing whatsoever to do with City or The FA.

Anyway, lumping all the blame onto Mace is disingenuous in the extreme. Who employed them? Who set the fanciful timelines? Who failed to put adequate contingency plans in place? That's why Spurs should be apologising. And because it's simply the decent thing to do in such a situation.

 

[mike1923]

Why should Spurs have to apologise exactly? You do realise they have to play on that horrible pitch too, probably all season. I think you will find the FA owns Wembley not Spurs. I am not sure why they dont do nfl at twikenham at all

It isn’t the FA’s fault there is a football game being played on it the day after an NFL game though is it? That’s down to Spurs

 

[JimB]

Levey is ultimately culpable for the current state of affairs. He grossly underestimated (at best) the cost and length of the project; that is manifest. In a previous working life I was involved in dozens of developments over a couple of decades (some cosmetic, some structural; most both) not a single one finished when the contractor told me it would; not a single one finished on budget. Experience taught me that the bigger the project, the more pronounced those disparities were likely to be. It is not without some irony that the ground that Levy has elected to utilise as your temporary home is the sporting apotheosis of this phenomenon; the construction of Wembley went eye-wateringly over budget, was horrendously late in completion, and was beset by huge litigation as a consequence - principally because the contractors didn’t deliver what they said they would, and when. Levy appears to have been utterly blind to this. This is nothing short of gross negligence on his part (at the very least).

As the ultimate decision maker, Levy has to take responsibility for conspicuously failing to recognise the reality of the undertaking and making the appropriate associated adjustments. That is why he is paid the big bucks. Anyone applying their mind to the project in a rational and considered fashion, would not have exposed themselves to where Levy now finds himself. Seeking to blame others is intellectually dishonest on his part. Construction projects are complex and inherently error prone undertakings; anyone with more than four brain cells realises this - if, as the ultimate decision maker, you fail to accommodate this sufficiently into your planning then you have no-one to blame but yourself.

The decision as to when the new stadium would be ready for proper use was left until the last possible moment. At the time that it was taken (middle of June), Levy was assured that the new stadium would be ready. And indeed it would have been (ready, that is......not completed) had there not been a monumental fuckup with safety systems wiring that only came to light two months later.

As you say, things can and do go wrong on major construction projects. But Levy is not the kind of man to act impulsively or take wild punts. That much should be obvious by now. He will only have made the original decision on the basis of long and careful consideration of of the best available information at the time. Nevertheless, even the best laid plans.......

Reading this thread (though not referring to your post, I hasten to add), you would think that Levy and Spurs were guilty of torturing puppies or eating babies, such is the level of outrage that the switch of date and venue has caused. Yet, as Crouchino said above, Levy and Spurs wanted this outcome less than anyone. I fully understand the worries about the pitch (which apply every bit as much to Spurs) and the inconvenience and cost to fans (which also applies to Spurs) but I'm not sure what realistic alternatives there were.

 

[East Level 2]

It isn’t the FA’s fault there is a football game being played on it the day after an NFL game though is it? That’s down to Spurs

It is down to Spurs, but the PL should have made sure Spurs had alternatives lined up in case the new WHL was delayed. The whole Wembley rebuild experience should have flagged that as a possibility, as GDM mentioned earlier.

 

[Henkeman]

and cost to fans (which also applies to Spurs) but I'm not sure what realistic alternatives there were.

Come off it mate, there's a difference between a change of day and going up to Wembley for Spurs fans and the cost and time involved for City fans. People had already booked travel and accommodation, while making it Monday evening ruled out a fair old chunk of people planning to go.

As to what could have been done, there weren't great solutions on offer, but it shouldn't have been City who had to offer to refund out of pocket fans, Spurs could have done it. They didn't have to, but they could have.

Since they left it to City to do, the conclusion is clearly that Spurs couldn't give a flying fuck about the problems they've caused. And Spurs fans ought to be embarrassed by that.