Kia ora! Matty Flatt here, and it’s my last day covering the Hoddle before Fitzie’s return next week.
And...
Spoiler alert for those who haven’t watched the Europa League second leg yet...
Spurs are Europa League quarterfinalists!
Not that I got to watch the match closely, mind you. One of the negatives with regards to Spurs being in Europa as opposed to Champions League is the matches fall on Friday mornings my time, with kick-off usually at either 6:45 or 9:00 am. Champions League fixtures are often played on the Thursday... which is my work from home day.
This means when we’re in the CL, I get to watch while I’m working. Well, kind of working. EL makes that a bit tougher, as I’m in the office on Fridays, and it’s your pretty standard, open plan situation; and as I mentioned yesterday, it’s full steam ahead for me right now in the day job.
Back early on in my career, when I first got into the professional world out of university, I would go to all lengths to surreptitiously watch matches. This was in a smaller office with only a couple of people, but with a high traffic door behind me. The standard approach would often be to have my phone on my knee, and just roll my knee forward under my desk whenever anyone came in.
I thought I was so clever. I really wasn’t.
Other options over the years have included booking meeting rooms for a “very important meeting”, sick days, inputting on a seating plan so my desk is in the back corner with my back to the wall, and popping out to grab something from my car during particularly stressful moments (yep, this was the Miracle in Amsterdam for me - squinting at a particularly terrible dodgy stream on my phone trying to make sense of all the screaming and wondering if the ball had gone in the net).
Now though, being in management I have realized most people (unless they are on a power trip) don’t even care. What matters is you get done what you need to get done. So today I just had my phone on my desk and kept one eye on it while working through risk and impact analysis, or in Teams meetings. It’s kind of a dumb way to watch, but at least I get to kind of watch.
What lengths have you gone to in order to watch Spurs? And are you an “at-work watcher”?
Matty Flatt’s Track of the Day: Valley Winter Song, by Fountains of Wayne
And now for your links:
For those who missed it, an extended highlights package of Spurs’ match against AZ Alkmaar
Check out a breakdown of Ange Postecoglou’s post-match press conference, courtesy of Alasdair Gold and Football London