Cartilage Free Captain

It might have taken Mathys Tel a little while to get up to speed during his half season loan at Tottenham Hotspur, but he has appeared to hit his stride over his past few matches. Spurs have a €50m purchase option for the French striker, on loan from Bayern Munich, and has performed well enough that Spurs are considering making his loan permanent, but according to one source in Germany not for the agreed-upon price.

Kicker is reporting (in a very short update) that Spurs aren’t willing to pay the €50m option for Tel, but would instead try to negotiate for a lower purchase price with Bayern at the end of the season. The report doesn’t say what that price would be (duh, “negotiations”), but it adds further credence to the idea that Bayern really have no intention of keeping him around.

There are some questions here, mostly involving whether Tottenham win the Europa League and subsequently qualify for Champions League football or not. If Spurs have European football next season they’ll need a bigger squad to compete on multiple fronts, so buying Tel at a discount (and possibly targeting another wide player) would be the play. Without Europe next season, I wonder whether Spurs might pass on Tel entirely.

How long have we had to wait for another series of Taskmaster? MONTHS!

Well, the wait for the newest series is nearly over. Because Taskmaster is back beginning 1 May with Series 19!

Here are the contestants:

Fatiha El-Ghorri

Jason Mantzoukas

Matthew Baynton

Rosie Ramsey

Stevie Martin

Who fitzie is most excited to see: Jason Mantzoukas —- This is a huge surprise to me. An American actor on Taskmaster? It’s never happened. But I’m glad that Mantzoukas is leading the helm here. He’s a maniac in every single show he’s appeared in, and I’m hoping for another one here.

Who fitzie thinks will win: Rosie Ramsey — I have no reason to believe why she’d win over the other TM contestants here. She’s the wife of former TM runner-up Chris Ramsey, so there’s a bit of trivia.

The hoddle will return next week with its rankings of every Taskmaster season.

Fitzie’s track of the day: That’s So True, by Gracie Abrams

And now for your links:

Dan KP: “Ange Postecoglou heading for Tottenham exit but could walk away a vindicated man”

The Athletic ($$): “Bruce Arena questions if Mauricio Pochettino hire as USMNT head coach was a mistake”

The Guardian: “Relegated players who will be targets for Premier League clubs this summer”

Ange Postecoglou, assuming he stays on as Tottenham manager (and at this point that’s a pretty big if), might be losing his second top assistant this year. According to the Yorkshire Post, current Spurs assistant coach and two-time interim Tottenham manager Ryan Mason is a top candidate for the open managerial job at Championship club West Bromwich Albion. The source of the rumor is former S-n journalist Alan Nixon on his paywalled Patreon page.

West Brom parted ways with Tony Mowbray last week with the Baggies currently tenth in the Championship table, and are looking for a new skipper for 2025-26. Mason, a Tottenham academy graduate who cracked the first team for a few years before being sold to Hull City in 2016, started his coaching career at Tottenham in the academy and has steadily worked his way up the ranks.

Mason has made no secret of the fact that he wants to be a manager/head coach. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at Belgian side Anderlecht in October of 2024 but was passed over for David Hubert. He’s been lightly linked with a few other head coaching positions in the English Pyramid, but this would appear to be the most solid rumor since the Anderlecht job.

Mason has served as an interim and acting head coach of Spurs on two different occasions — after Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho in April of 2021, and again two years later after the firings of Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini in 2023. He served as an assistant coach under Conte and Postecoglou.

It’s probably time that Mason gets a crack at a top job somewhere, so we can finally start to know if he’s good or not — it’s usually impossible to tell from where we’re sitting when it comes to assistant coaches. I hope he is good, because it’d be cool to have a homegrown Tottenham talent in the modern coaching ranks who could one day return to Spurs — I’m not sure we’ve had one since Chris Hughton.

Speculation over Ange Postecoglou’s future has been rampant all season, and so another log on the fire is nothing particularly noteworthy. But this one feels a little different. Writing for the Daily Telegraph (£), Matt Law reports that Postecoglou is very likely to leave Spurs no matter what happens this summer, and regardless of whether he wins the Europa League or not.

According to the report, which is behind a paywall, if Tottenham Hotspur do not win the Europa League, Postecoglou is likely to be sacked. If they do win, Postecoglou might be able to leave “by mutual agreement,” which would essentially mean a negotiated settlement to buy out the remaining year of his initial three year contract. This isn’t especially well sourced — Law uses words like “there is a growing sense that...” and “would give him the opportunity to leave.” But Law is the most high profile writer yet to suggest that Postecoglou’s time at Spurs is very likely up no matter what, and the only question is how that departure comes about.

Winning the Europa League and then getting dismissed or leaving by mutual consent would draw an eerie parallel between Big Ange’s tenure and that of Juande Ramos, who delivered Spurs last trophy, the League Cup, in 2008 before being dismissed the following season after starting with two points from their first eight matches.

The article doesn’t mention Tottenham’s players at all, and to this point there aren’t any credible reports that suggest that Postecoglou has lost the dressing room. In fact, publicly, Spurs players have vigorously defended their manager even as Spurs are poised to end the season with their worst ever record in the Premier League. That said, while there’s a general sense of sympathy for everything Postecoglou has been thorough, there’s an equal agreement that the league results simply are not acceptable for a club of Tottenham’s stature.

The usual candidates — Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva, Thomas Frank — were all mentioned as potential Postecoglou successors. There was not any mention of, should Spurs crash out of the Europa League in the semi-finals or finals, whether Tottenham would fire Postecoglou before the end of the season, or who would potentially take over as caretaker should it happen.

So should we believe this? I mean, I dunno. Probably? Matt Law has his history with Tottenham and with Spurs fans, but he’s been weirdly good on club-related issues lately, and I don’t doubt that he has uncredited sources that gave him this info. There’s certainly a lot of smoke in the air, but it’s also very obvious that we will not know what will happen until it happens. So it doesn’t really tell us much that’s new or that we didn’t already know. It is, however, another nail in his coffin, and it’s getting harder and harder for the Ange-lophiles to hold that lid open.

This past weekend, Burnley and Leeds United became the first two Championship clubs to clinch promotion to the Premier League next season. And because Burnley’s coming back to the top flight, that means Spurs are set to receive an extra €3.5m windfall, according to Portuguese outlet O Jogo (via Sportwitness).

Marcus Edwards, a Tottenham academy graduate, is owned by Sporting Lisbon but spent this past half season on loan at Burnley in the Championship. The Clarets own a €10m purchase obligation that is triggered by their promotion to the top flight, and Spurs still own a 35% sell-on clause from Edwards’ dirt-cheap transfer to Portuguese side Vitoria several years ago. That clause followed Edwards to Sporting, and means an extra €3.5m in the coffers for this summer when his sale to Burnley goes through — not a lot, to be sure, but also nothing to sneeze at considering he hasn’t played a game for Spurs in six seasons.

Edwards was once the darling of the academy (we rated him the #1 Tottenham prospect back in 2017) but had a very rocky tenure at Tottenham, characterized by allegations of attitude issues and a number of bad loans that hindered his progress. He seems to have matured significantly in the years since his sale to Portugal. He was used rather sparingly by Sporting in the first half of the season but has been a regular in the starting lineup at Burnley this Spring, with 1G+1A in 12 appearances, tallying just under 800 minutes. His dribbling and take-on stats also pop, as you’d probably expect — he’s always been exciting on the ball.

That said, Edwards is 26 now and is probably the player he is at this point. We’ll get to see him next season in the Premier League and he’ll probably be both exciting and dangerous while playing against us, but that also gives us an opportunity to maybe see what Djed Spence or Destiny Udogie can do against him, and that’ll be fun. And he gave us a little bit of cash through his development, and that’s also nice. Thanks, Mini-Messi!

In a season that has gone from bad to worse for Tottenham Hotspur, perhaps one of the lone sparks amongst the darkness has been the positivity of the players, both towards club and coach. When the chips are down, it’s always easy to air your grievances publicly (looking at you, Harry Kane) or not so publicly (looking at you, Harry Winks); but instead, the players have instead spoken only of their focus and support of Spurs’ short and long-term goals.

Until now:

A couple of outlets are covering this story, including Gary Jacob and Tom Allnutt at The Times, as well as Jay Harris at The Athletic (linked above), but to summarize: Cristian Romero spoke on an Argentine football podcast, Los Edul - and his words aren’t necessarily a great look for the center back’s future at Spurs.

The interview was in Cuti’s native Spanish, so the below quotes are very much a paraphrase of what was said, but you’ll get the gist:

Reporter: “What’s next for you? What do you plan for your career?”

Romero: “Well, I try, above all else, to always live day by day. There are almost two months left until the end of the season, and my focus is always on performing at my best and trying to finish in the best way possible...

...after this, when the season ends, we’ll see. Honestly, I haven’t spoken with my agent yet, but I’m open to anything. My mindset is always about growing, also about going to new places to keep developing, but I don’t want to talk about that just yet because there are still a few months left before the season ends.”

Reporter: “Which league that you haven’t played in would you like to play in, based on how you see it?”

Romero: “Yes, the league I’m missing is Spain’s. I’d love to, honestly. La Liga. I’d love to play there because it’s the one I haven’t played in yet.”

It’s not exactly like Romero has come out with a public “come and get me” statement aimed at Spanish clubs, as the line of questioning by the interviewer is somewhat... leading; but Romero doesn’t exactly shy away from giving a pretty strong indication as to where he’d like to head next. Combine this with the purported interest from Atletico Madrid (and previously Real Madrid as well) and it starts to paint a not-so-pretty picture.

The reality is Spurs don’t exactly have a lot of cards to play here. Romero will be down to two years remaining on his contract, and if Spurs want to get any sort of decent return on investment, they need Romero to either sign a new contract or sell him now. By the looks of the quotes above, though, the former seems pretty unlikely to happen, and with all the tumult surrounding the club over the last few seasons and him in his peak years, it’s no wonder he’s dreaming of greener pastures.

Some fans will be glad to see him go. He has spent a lot of time on the treatment table in recent years, with many unhappy to see him miraculously recover in time to suit up for international duty; he hasn’t exactly been a defensive colossus this season when he has played; and these quotes don’t really endear him to fans, especially given the context of Romero’s leadership position at the club while Spurs push for a rare trophy in the form of the Europa League.

That said, Romero is undeniably a very, very good defender, even starting to push elite level - international commitments aside - but the one thing that fans often forget and will make him even harder to replace is his ability on the ball. Romero’s technical prowess and passing skill have a hugely positive impact on both Spurs’ retention of possession (which in turn often improves defensive numbers) and in chance creation. The statistical difference in both defense AND attack when Cuti is available is notable, and that’s not something you replace easily (or cheaply).

It will certainly be interesting to see how hardball the club are willing to play this. Clubs have become more willing in recent years to let contracts run down to try and hold on to benefits that their prize “assets” can offer; but it’s also hard to argue that a distracted Cristian Romero would continue to grow his game and turn in elite performances on a regular basis.

Your hoddler-in-chief was pretty darn hungry this past Sunday, so he slid inside the PJ Clarke’s not far off from Farragut West station. I ordered a cheeseburger. I hate to be a stereotype, but listen this cost $22. Anything else would cost more.

Whilst eating my meal I thought to myself, “Why not a burger hoddle?” And so that’s what I’m doing.

And, yes, I know all of your make a better burger than any of these establishments. But I haven’t eaten at your restaurants yet. So let’s take a quick look at some burgers in DC:

PJ Clarkes’s: This cost me $22. That’s outrageous. The burger was served with a cold bun and unmelted American cheese. I like American on a burger, but melt the freaking cheese. The lettuce and tomatoes were crisp and the patty was seasoned well. But it was not rested long enough.

Duke’s Grocery: Honestly, a wonderful burger. The “Proper Burger” is served with two patties, charred red onion, a sweet chili sauce, aioli and arugula served on a brioche bun.

A truly delicious burger that’s worth a stop every time. Give me two.

Tunnicliffe’s Tavern: Exactly what you’d expect from a dive bar. The patty’s fine, often overcooked and never rested long enough. At least they toast the bun. The meat isn’t always cooked as well as other places, but it’s good for the price point. The fries served with it are nice.

Good Stuff Eatery: This is more your fast-food kind of burger. But they do it really well. The patties have a nice char on them and the buns are pillowy. No complaints here.

Hill East Burger: Listen, they have good burgers but they’re served a la carte. That’s insane, even before you get to the added gratuity charge. I’ve had their Lancaster (bacon cheeseburger), the classic ‘OK’ Burger, and their Dodge City western bacon cheeseburger.

These are all good. But I ALWAYS leave Hill East Burger feeling I’ve spent way too much money on not enough food. While tasty, their burgers aren’t worth the tab.

Proper 21 K St: Their smash burger is served with two patties, American cheese, an onion ring, a tomary cherry and peper jam, aoili and lettuce. It isn’t quite as good as Duke’s Grocery, but it is mighy tasty.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Cosmik Debris, by Frank Zappa

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Inside Nabil Bentaleb’s incredible comeback after cardiac arrest: ‘It’s not about how you fall, but how you get up’”

Dan KP: “Postecoglou insists players do not lack motivation as loss put down to lack of focus”

Alasdair Gold: “Every word Ange Postecoglou said on why he took off Romero and Van de Ven plus Udogie’s absence”

BBC: “No ball? No problem. How Forest are breaking the possession obsession”

Are you one of those fans who can see the positive in a loss? Because there’s plenty of that in today’s 1-2 loss at home to Nottingham Forest. Tottenham Hotspur dropped another one goal match, but it’s a dead rubber and there were encouraging performances from a number of players, and the team.

Look, sometimes you get football’d. Sometimes ball not go goal. Whatever. It doesn’t matter, only next Thursday matters.

It’s time to rate the players.

Rate the players from 1⁄2 to 5 stars. If the player doesn’t deserve a rating due to minutes played, DO NOT RANK. I will round the stars up/down to the nearest half-star for the player ratings later this week.

Filed under:

Tottenham Hotspur Match Reports

Tottenham 1-2 Nottingham Forest: We don’t talk about Nuno no no

Good thing this match doesn’t matter!

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Tottenham Hotspur are now safe from relegation and have no chance of qualifying for European competition via their Premier League finish, so it’s all dead rubber from here on out. And that’s probably a good thing, because Spurs dropped another match at home today, this time falling 2-1 to Nottingham Forest. The Trees scored their first inside five minutes and added a second midway through the half, then parked the bus and refused to budge defensively the rest of the way. Richarlison headed in Spurs’ only goal of the match with five minutes to go in regular time, but Tottenham couldn’t find an equalizer in time.

Weirdly, take away the scoreline and it was a pretty decent performance from Spurs. Tottenham dominated possession and just about every statistical metric in this one but wasn’t able to get the ball into the net; they came closest in the second half when a lovely header from Dejan Kulusevski was inexplicably cleared off the line by Forest defender (and part-time Dr. Seuss character) Harry Toffolo. Richarlison also had a header saved, one-handed, by Forest keeper Mats Sels.

It’s not a stretch to say that Spurs got Football’d™ in this match. Good thing it doesn’t matter! Here are my match reactions to the loss, Spurs’ eighth at home this season.

Match notes

The scoreline doesn’t really tell the story of the match. Tottenham actually played pretty well! They were getting the ball forward and into the box on the regular, controlling possession and then it was like everyone forgot how to shoot. Forest sat back and parked the bus and from then it was just a struggle to get anything going. Sels had a couple of incredible saves, Tottenham missed a couple of sitters, and that’s pretty much it.

lol...lmao

You never like to see an early goal, but Anderson hit the snot out of it, and it was a bouncing knuckler of a ball that just skipped right over Vicario’s hands. He probably saves it if there weren’t so much mustard on it. Sucks, but honestly whatchagonnado?

Spurs were fortunate Forest’s second goal was called back for offside because it was another defensive breakdown and that would’ve been an awful goal to concede.

So instead Spurs just waited until Chris Wood could score off a crossed header. That one was all Vicario, who was not decisive with whether to rush out to contest the cross and got there too late to prevent the header.

Honestly, I don’t think Forest were even tearing us apart all that much, the ball just went goal and, again, watchagonnado?

Anyone who still thinks Ange doesn’t adjust his tactics — for a while in the second half he was playing with two strikers! Two! At the same time! Up top! Together!

I’ve seen enough that I’d be quite happy purchasing Tel this summer. Maybe not for €50m, but yeah, sure. Let’s get him.

So, so happy for Richarlison. He had one big chance saved, another one narrowly cut out, and finally got his goal.

I could spend a lot of time analyzing this match, but honestly, do we care? Forest ball go goal, Tottenham ball not go goal. Spurs got football’d but the result literally doesn’t matter. These are dead rubber matches from here on out. There’s literally no point getting mad about this, it doesn’t matter at all.

Tottenham Hotspur are still alive in European competition! After a fantastic away win on Thursday, all focus is now on Spurs’ Europa League campaign, with the Premier League very much an afterthought: Spurs are mathematically safe from relegation, and without much to play for in terms of placing.

Nottingham Forest, Spurs’ next opponents, have a European campaign of their own in full swing, albeit one of a different sort: an against-all-odds push for a European (and potentially even Champions League) spot next season. Nuno Espirito Santo always said he’d make us proud.

This leaves us with a match in which one team is highly motivated and the other probably slightly uninterested; but this is football, and anything can happen. Perhaps Dr. Tottenham shows up in a slightly different context today?

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Nottingham Forest

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, UK

Monday, April 21, 2025

Time: 3:00 p.m. ET, 8:00 p.m. UK

TV: USA Network, Sky Sports Premier League (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: nbcsports.com

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They’re bad and they get us in trouble. Violators will be warned or banned.

We have rules against “relentless negativity.” Nobody likes a Negative Nancy. Don’t knee-jerk and post outlandish or hurtful things just because you’re frustrated.

Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. It’s fine to say “wow, that was a really bad call,” but it’s NOT okay to direct copious amounts of abuse in the direction of said official over a call you did not like.

Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

NO SPIDERS!

Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. Also, language that is sexist, racist, transphobic, or homophobic in nature will be swiftly deleted and you will be immediately banned. This is an open, supportive community.

Have fun, and COYS!