Daily Mail

Tottenham supporters have hit back at plans for Squid Game guards to roam their stadium for two matches, after the Premier League giants announced a partnership with the hit Netflix show.

The club announced activations will take place ahead of Premier League matches against Liverpool and Wolves at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 22 and 29 respectively.

Tottenham said the partnership with Netflix will support the launch of the second season of Squid Game on December 26.

The first season of the Korean thriller became the streaming service's most watched series in history back in 2021.

Tottenham announced plans for activities for fans attending their upcoming two Premier League matches.

This included Squid Game guards roaming the stadium in pink hooded jumpsuits for photo opportunities, while a giant blimp of the Young-hee doll - featured in the ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game – will appear outside the stadium pre-match.

The season two trailer will be shown on the stadium screens at half-time in the matches, while visual elements from the show will also be featured.

Tottenham's men's and women's team players will also participate in challenges from the show on the club's channels.

‘Squid Game 2 will undoubtedly be one of the most talked-about shows over the festive period and our partnership with Netflix places the Club at the centre of popular culture,' said Ryan Norys, Tottenham's chief revenue officer.

‘This is yet another exciting way to enhance the matchday experience and bring our fans fresh, engaging content across digital channels.’

The announcement, however, has faced a backlash from Tottenham fans on social media with supporters questioning the club's priorities.

'Games gone. What on earth is this,' one account responded on social media.

'Oh, f*** off. Giant dolls and muppets pretending to be villains in pink trackies roaming around in matchday, yet we can't turn to the music off before KO or put a few hundred fans together to sing,' another responded.

'There used to be a football club over there.'

A third wrote 'The attempted Americanisation of match days at Spurs is becoming so miserable. They advertise where singers are going to be performing in the concourses, light shows, squid game cosplayers, even the trumpet now.

'No one cares about it, or wants any of it. Win some games!'

The criticism of the partnership comes just days after Tottenham's away end chanted protest songs against chairmen Daniel Levy.

Sections of Tottenham fans have also announced plans for a protest against ENIC - the club's majority owners - ahead of the match against Liverpool on December 22.

The planned protest is reportedly aimed at highlighting ‘dissatisfaction with the club’s current direction in footballing matters’.

Fans will reportedly release balloons in the 24th minute of the match to signify the years ENIC have been in charge of the club.

Tottenham are currently 10th in the Premier League table after an inconsistent season, with seven wins, two draws and seven defeats to date.

Ange Postecoglou’s side are five points off the Premier League’s top four.

The Football Association have dismissed Tottenham's appeal to have Rodrigo Bentancur's ban for using a 'racial slur' against team-mate Son Heung-min reduced.

Spurs had hoped they would be able to bring the midfielder back into the fray sooner amidst a chaotic festive schedule - that will now see him miss games against Man United and Liverpool - after Bentancur made the alleged racist remark during a television interview.

The club did not want to contest the guilt of Bentancur's remarks but attempted to challenge the length of the initial seven-match ban that had been imposed.

Mail Sport's Sami Mokbel exclusively revealed earlier in November that the FA were set to hit the Uruguayan with a huge ban following the incident. He was subsequently given his seven-game sanction and fined £100,000.

The FA have a minimum timespan of six games for bans pertaining to racial abuse but gave Bentancur an extra game as they felt his comments constituted an 'aggravated breach'.

However, Tottenham's appeal has now been dismissed by the FA who issued a short statement before confirming they would release extended details for their decision at a later date.

Rejecting Spurs' claim to have the ban reduced, the FA stated: 'An independent Appeal Board has dismissed an appeal by Rodrigo Bentancur in relation to his recent suspension.

'An independent Regulatory Commission imposed a seven-match suspension on the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder for an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.

'This appeal was dismissed following a hearing, and the seven-match suspension remains as ordered by the Regulatory Commission.

'The Appeal Board’s written reasons for its decision will be published in due course.'

Bentancur was charged by the FA on September 12 with an alleged misconduct breach in relation to a media interview, which emerged in June.

The interview showed Bentancur being asked by the host of Canal 10 to show the shirt of a Spurs player to which he replied: 'Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same.'

While Bentancur swiftly apologised, due to this being an 'aggravated breach', an independent regulatory commission panel was required to either uphold the FA charge or dismiss the case.

The 27-year-old has so far missed Premier League matches against Manchester City, Fulham, Bournemouth, Chelsea and Southampton, but has been permitted to play in the Europa League.

He will be back available for league selection on Boxing Day when Spurs travel to face Nottingham Forest.

Dele Alli's last league appearance was for Besiktas in Turkey in February 2023

He could soon link up with Serie A side Como, managed by Cesc Fabregas

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Premier League legend Cesc Fabregas is considering offering a route for Dele Alli to find his feet again in top-level football.

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona midfielder Fabregas is head coach at Serie A club Como and is hoping free agent Dele will start training with the Italian side in the next month.

Dele, 28, has been training with Everton to build fitness but has not played a league game since February 2023 for Besiktas.

The ex-Tottenham star watched Como beat Roma on Sunday.

Fabregas said after the match: 'I don't want to talk too much about this but perhaps there is a chance Dele will start training with us after Christmas.

'It would be to help him get in shape and nothing more.'

Dele has been struggling with injuries and off-the-pitch issues in the last two years.

The midfielder said earlier this year that he had been targeting a spot at the 2026 World Cup with England as he looks at an eventual return to international football.

Dele previously starred as an England regular and played at Euro 2016 and the World Cup in Russia two years later.

But he hasn't featured for the Three Lions since making his 37th international appearance five years ago.

His contract with Everton expired at the end of last season.

Many home fans left the stadium after their side trailed 4-0 after 25 minutes

Spurs steamrolled Russell Martin's relegation strugglers on Sunday evening

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Southampton fans began to empty St Mary's Stadium after just 25 minutes into their game against Tottenham.

The hosts trailed 5-0 in the first-half, with a brace from James Maddison and goals from Heung Min-Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Pape Sarr contributing to the goal-fest.

Going into the match, Spurs had not won in five outings, with the pressure mounting on Ange Postecoglou.

Sunday evening's game saw the North London side score five first-half goals for the first time in Premier League history.

Meanwhile, Southampton have collected just five points this season, winning only one game as we move closer to the half-way point of the campaign.

If the Saints do not tally any points before matchweek 18, they would mathematically be on track to eclipse Derby's record of achieving the least points in a Premier League season.

But Russell Martin's side, having taken only five from 16 matches so far, need a serious reboot to avoid being dragged into the conversation.

The Rams have the lowest points tally of the 646 teams to have completed top-flight seasons since 1992 - they collected a measly 11 points in 2007-08.

Ange Postecoglou named Djed Spence in Tottenham's starting XI for the first time, in their clash with Southampton on Sunday night.

The full back joined Spurs from Middlesbrough in 2022 for £20million but made just eight appearances since and, after 884 days, has now earned his first start.

He has endured three loan spells in his time with the club, at Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa.

The North London side have not won in five games. However, Postecoglou's hand was forced in defence, in light of their injury crisis; Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies are all out.

Tottenham lie a woeful 13th place in the table, eight points behind Nottingham Forest, who occupy the final Champions League qualification spot. With 20 points, Spurs are as close to Ipswich in the relegation zone (12 points) as they are to Forest.

Along with Spence, 18-year-old Swedish star Lucas Bergvall is another young talent who earned his first start against Southampton, starting in defensive midfield.

On August 19 2024, Spence made his first appearance for Tottenham since January 2023. He replaced Pedro Porro in their opening Premier League game of the season - a 1–1 draw with Leicester.

Postecoglou's side have kept just one clean sheet in their last nine league games and have a perfect opportunity to regain confidence against relegation strugglers Southampton.

The Saints lie dead last in the table with five points, winning only one of their opening 15 games.

Follow Mail Sport's live blog for the latest team news, updates and live score from the Premier League game between Southampton and Tottenham at St Mary's plus updates from Chelsea vs Brentford.

Postecoglou thrust Archie Gray into centre-back against Rangers on Thursday

The teenage star made himself a regular at Leeds - he could do so at Spurs too

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As Ange Postecoglou was demanding senior players step up and take responsibility, teenager Archie Gray was inadvertently proving the point by promising to study hard for a new role and plug the hole in the centre of Tottenham's defence.

'It's a different challenge, a different position,' said Gray, whose unflappable temperament had been one of the positives to emerge from the Spurs injury crisis.

'It has differences. As a full-back you're at the touchline and in midfield you've always got a man behind you. Here you can see the whole pitch. I'm just grateful for every minute I play and wherever the manager wants me to play, I'm happy to play it.'

Gray is 18 and it is easy to forget in only his second season of senior football. He burst into the Leeds team in the Championship last season and proved impossible to dislodge, whether at full back or central midfield, the position where most agree he will end up.

The same could end up being the case at Tottenham. Not only because of his qualities as a footballer, which are considerable, but also his mentality. His composure is remarkable and extends beyond the confines of the pitch.

Spurs players were not up for talking after extending a poor run of form to one win in eight with the Europa League draw at Rangers on Thursday, but Gray stepped up and accepted another challenge.

He told how central defensive partner Radu Dragusin and goalkeeper Fraser Forster were talking him through the new position during games, and Postecoglou and his coaching staff had designed specific drills for him in training with Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Ben Davies all injured.

'I'm confident in my ability, I'll always back myself,' said Gray, with an eye on Sunday's trip to Southampton, the team that denied Leeds promotion in the play-off final in May and cleared the way for him to leave Elland Road.

'They love to play short football. They're similar to us in a way, how they love to find bounce passes through the pitch and have a free-flowing structure. It will be good to play them again.

'Even if the results like against Rangers don't go our way, I'll always back all of us and back myself to step in and do the job. For us, I think the result is the most important thing. We're just focusing on playing our football which is the best way to get our results.'

Ange Postecoglou savaged Timo Werner for his performance after hauling the Germany international off at half-time against Rangers.

Werner was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski who rescued a point for Tottenham with a late equaliser at Ibrox.

'He wasn't playing anywhere near the level he should,' said Postecoglou when asked if the change was tactical. 'When you've got 18-year-olds out there, it's not acceptable to me. I said that to Timo.

'He's a senior international, he's a German international. In the moment we're in right now, it's not like we've got many options.

'I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give the best of themselves. His performance in the first half wasn't acceptable.'

Tottenham are locked in an injury crisis and patched-up at the back, missing three central defenders, their number one goalkeeper and two strikers.

'It's not really of great concern,' said Postecoglou, when asked how Werner had taken the criticism. 'We need everybody including him to be contributing. Because we don't have the depth to leave people out if they're performing poorly.

'We need them to play their part. Especially the senior guys. When I'm asking younger guys to do massive jobs. I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys. And today wasn't that.'

Postecoglou's criticism of Werner came just 24 hours after he claimed he would not turn on one of his players in public when discussing Cristian Romero's comments on Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.

Romero suggested after Spurs' 4-2 defeat by Chelsea on Sunday that the club were failing to compete for major trophies due to their lack of spending in the transfer market.

The Argentine defender told Telemundo Deportes: 'Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn't do well, strengthens again, and now they're seeing results. Those are the things to imitate.

'You have to realise that something is going wrong, hopefully, they realise it.

'The last few years, it's always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it's always the same people responsible.

'Hopefully, they realise who the true responsible ones are, and we move forward because it's a beautiful club that, with the structure it has, could easily be competing for the title every year.'

Postecoglou responded by stating Romero was wrong to voice his opinion in public.

'A lot of what he said was good. Some of what he said wasn’t right,' Postecoglou said on Wednesday.

'It shouldn’t be done in public. I believe that with these things we deal with them within our own four walls because there are always issues that we need to deal with, the same way I wouldn’t publicly criticise a player or anyone else.'

But he refused to defend Werner's performance on Thursday night, despite Tottenham battling back to earn a draw after falling behind.

Overall, the Spurs boss was satisfied with a point.

'We were nowhere near our best,' said Postecoglou. 'Whether or not it's a fair result is for others to judge.

'But in the period of games we're grinding through, with a depleted squad, asking players to get up week in week out, it's a good outcome.

'In the context of where we are in Europe, with next games in the New Year, which gives us a chance to be in a better place, I think it's a pretty good point. We'll look back on this as an important point.'

Spurs barely deserved their point but they are now well-placed in competition

Rangers were the better side and took the lead through Hamza Igamane

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This was the sort of Glasgow kiss Ange Postecoglou might have hoped for. Back in the Scottish city where he enjoyed such success, a kiss of life to salvage a point for his ailing Tottenham team in a game they deserved to lose.

Dejan Kulusevski was the man who delivered it. Off the bench to apply a fine finish to a pass from Dominic Solanke who also came on and made a huge difference as Spurs somehow escaped a third-successive defeat.

Rangers were by some distance the better team for much of what was a raucous night inside Ibrox Stadium and left to a standing ovation but for a while they could detect one of the great European victories of recent years.

With it the chance to humble English visitors representing the self-acclaimed 'best league in the world' and inflict more damage on former Celtic hero Postecoglou.

Having controlled the first half, Hamza Igamane fired the Scots ahead at the start of the second half and they had Tottenham rattled at this point, pushing on with such intensity they seemed sure to extend the lead.

Postecoglou deserves some credit for making three changes which changed the course of the game with Solanke, Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall on to join Kulusevksi, who replaced Timo Werner at half-time.

Rangers faded and almost conceded a second - Solanke was denied from close range - before Phillippe Clemente's side produced a thrilling flurry in the closing stages.

Fraser Forster was required to make a brilliant late save from Cyriel Dessers, who also had the ball in the net only to see it ruled out by a flag for offside.

The point they barely deserved steadies Tottenham in this competition. Eleven points keep them in touch with the top eight with Hoffenheim and Elfsborg to play in the New Year, and the chance to avoid a knock-out round.

It extends a sequence of poor results to one win in eight. They have not won since the 4-0 romp at Manchester City and an awkward trip to Southampton in the Premier League comes next, on Sunday. And yet will feel like a small triumph after some of the pressure their patched-up back four were able to sustain in a hostile atmosphere.

There were jeers for those with Celtic affiliations such as Fraser Forster and Archie Gray but Spurs held firm at the back. Gray, still only 18, made a composed start. There are many things impressive about the teen but chief among them must be his temperament.

He seemed unruffled by the occasion. Or the fact he had been throw in to play in an unfamiliar role in the heart of a patched-up defensive unit and Rangers were determined to test him in the air. He won a couple of early headers to settle any nerves.

Radu Dragusin was a strong physical presence alongside. Postecoglou will have to rely heavily on this pair for the next few weeks, with Micky an de Ven, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies all out injured.

Gray sought opportunities to stride out in possession. One stylish run out of defensive quarters ended with him losing lost the ball, yards out of position on the left wing. He gave a little shake of his head and sprinted back.

MATCH FACTS AND PLAYER RATINGS

Rangers (4-2-3-1): Butland 6.5; Tavernier 7, Souttar 6 (Balogun 35, 7), Propper 7, Jefte 7; Diomande 7, Raskin 7; Cerny 8 (Sterling 69), Bajrami 7 (Barron 69), Yilmaz 7 (Fraser 80); Igamane 7.5 (Dessers 80)

Subs not used: Kelly, Cortes, Dowell, King, McCausland, Rice, Curtis

Goal: Igamane 47

Booked: Diomande

Manager: Phillippe Clement 7

Tottenham (4-3-3): Forster 7.5; Porro 5, Dragusin 7, Gray 6.5, Udogie 5; Bentancur 6 (Bergvall 60, 6.5), Bissouma 6 (Sarr 60, 6.5), Maddison 6.5; Johnson 5 (Solanke 60, 7), Son 6, Werner 5 (Kulusevski 46, 7)

Subs not used: Austin, Whiteman, Lankshear, Dorrington, Olusesi, Williams-Barnett, Hardy

Goal: Kulusevski 75

Booked: Dragusin, Bergvall

Manager: Ange Postecoglou 6

Referee: Sandro Scharer (Sui) 6.5

Attendance: 48,064

He tried the same move again 10 minutes later with the same outcome, and yet Postecoglou's team did not throw players forward with their usual abandon. Partly due to Rangers being in command, squeezing them back but perhaps also a subliminal need to protect the back four.

Their first-half chances came on the break. Timo Werner flashed Tottenham's first effort over from an angle on the left and Heung-min Son was unable to beat goalkeeper Jack Butland with a better chance created by James Maddison.

Forster made two splendid saves from Vaclav Cerny, who then swerved another over from just outside the penalty box and Jefte charged forward and delivered a low cross which fizzed across goal from the Rangers left.

The hosts did not allow the blow of losing centre-half John Souttar before half time to knock them out of their stride.

Postecoglou sent on Kulusevski for Werner, whose performance was savaged by Postecoglou, but they were behind just 81 seconds after the restart. James Tavernier produced an excellent cross on the run from the right, and Pedro Porro failed to engage the run by Igamane who coverted at the back post.

The Moroccan forward has five in his last five games and this goal inspired his team.

Rangers were even more impressive once ahead. Spurs were creaking and hesitant, pinned back in their defensive third and Postecoglou had to try something. On came Solanke, Sarr and Bergvall, whose first touch was a volley narrowly wide.

As ever, they improved with Solanke leading the line. Maddison curled free-kick over and Butland denied Porro but Rangers rose again.

Forster made a fabulous save from substitute Dessers, screaming at his defenders as he climbed to his feet. Then Dessers found the net only for the Swiss officials to rule it out for offside. Rangers celebrated.

They must have been disappointed but go into the League Cup final against Celtic on Sunday with a spring in their step. Tottenham stagger onto Southampton on Sunday, relieved to have a point and no further injuries.

Follow Mail Sport's live blog for the latest team news, updates and live score from the Europa League clash between Rangers and Tottenham at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow.