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Although Spurs beat Southampton 3-1 in a dead rubber game on Sunday afternoon, it would not be Tottenham Hotspur if there somehow was no drama attached to it. In stoppage time, Ange's side were awarded a penalty - which was taken by loanee and late substitute Mathys Tel, whom cooly converted to make sure of the points.

That is despite Brennan Johnson being on a hat-trick, and having won the penalty himself. So, as you can expect, there has been much decision around the decision to allow Tel to take the penalty instead of the Welshman.

Brennan Johnson speaks about not taking penalty vs Southampton

After the game, the winger was asked about the penalty, to which he responded: "It's only normal for me to want to take the penalty. There's only a certain amount of talking to do before it gets quite messy. I've been in the situation before when I've had people wanting to take the ball off me and it kind of unsettles you a little bit.

I knew the game was pretty much done but still, I didn't want to unsettle anyone or start any disagreements. So, once the decision was made, I just had to get on with it.”

Big respect to Johnson for not wanting to risk any damage to squad harmony, particularly before such a big game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday evening. You do feel a bit sorry for him - there are not many chances to score a hat-trick in the Premier League, and that would have been a great opportunity for him to do so.

At the same time, it is handy for Tel to have a confidence boost, ahead of, again, a huge game on Thursday evening. With Heung-Min Son and James Maddison both off the pitch, Cristian Romero had the captains armband on at the time of the penalty being awarded, and decided that Tel would take. Not sure how they were all managing to communicate, but fair play.

On Thursday evening, Spurs will play their biggest game of the season, when they welcome Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final showdown.

With Spurs having such a dismal domestic season, all the eggs have been thrown into the Europa League basket. Reports have suggested that manager Ange Postecoglou must win the competition in order to not lose his job.

Although Spurs did get their first win since February against Southampton on Sunday, the direness of the visitors meant that it did little to raise confidence for this clash within the fanbase. Many have said that if Ange's side perform like they did in the second half on Sunday, they will be turned over by their German counterparts.

Nevertheless, there is some cause for optimism. According to German journalist Carsten Schellhorn, first choice Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp is set to be unavailable for the first leg in North London on Thursday evening.

Frankfurt set to be without first choice goalkeeper on Thursday

He did state that the keeper should be back for the second leg in Germany the following Thursday, but overall it is still a positive update. It is really important that Spurs can take advantage of the game at home and have something to hold onto in the second leg.

When Frankfurt won this competition in 2022, Trapp was a huge part. He played in all 13 games, including the final - where he made the only save in the penalty shootout to help them secure the trophy.

The 34-year old has played for Frankfurt in 12 of the last 15 seasons, with a three year stint at French club Paris Saint Germain somewhere in the middle. He is a vastly experienced player, and will no doubt be a miss for the Bundesliga side on Thursday.

Back up goalkeeper Kaua Santos - who is likely to play in this game instead, has had a mixed season when he has played this year. Before this injury to Trapp last month, his last appearance was back in December, where he scored an own goal and had an error leading to a goal.

However, he has also had some good performances this season too - making 10 saves in a game against Bayern Munich and Besiktas, whilst saving a penalty in the latter game. Still, he is just 21 years old, meaning he has far less experience than someone like Trapp.

Most Spurs fans are in agreement that the squad is in need of some major surgery this summer. A 3-1 win at home to Southampton - the first team to ever be relegated with seven game weeks still to go - will have done little to ease any of those thoughts.

You would hope that the club also share this sentiment. There have been a lot of rumours flying around in the last few weeks regarding acquistions in the summer, and even outgoings. If even a small percentage of these rumours are true, we can expect quite a high squad turnover this summer.

Another player to be linked with the club - as per TBR Football - is Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, whose current contract with the German giants is set to expire in the summer of this year, with a new deal yet to be agreed.

Tottenham Hotspur linked with former Manchester City winger Leroy Sane

Spurs are not the only club interested in Sane, with fierce rivals Arsenal also expected to be interested in a move - with manager Mikel Arteta having worked with the player during their time at Manchester City.

In the first half of the season, it did look like Sane may be set to end his five year stint in Bavaria, but there has been more noise around an extension with a pay cut recently, with the winger enjoying his best form of the season in recent weeks.

Over the last 18 months, Sane has developed a good on pitch relationship with Spurs legend Harry Kane, particularly recently and in the first few months of the 23/24 season. The German international is also a team mate of former Spurs defender Eric Dier, with the three all playing under Sane's former City team mate Vincent Kompany.

So far this season, Sane has scored nine goals, provided four assists and created eight big chances in 1312 Bundesliga minutes, which equates to around 14.5 full games. Fairly good numbers, even taking the quality of the league into consideration.

There is little doubt that Spurs do need wide men. The issue is that Sane is not quite as dynamic as he was before the ACL injury he suffered in 2019. He is still quite fast, but not as explosive as he was when he "burst onto the scene" close to a decade ago now.

Last weekend, as well action for Spurs – who beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League, condemning their visitors to the earliest relegation in Premier League history – there was also action for a number of loanees. We have already covered the Championship here, League One here, and the rest of the UK here. In this piece, we will have a look at how things went for the loanees currently playing in Europe. Â

How things went for Tottenham Hotspur loanees on the continent

Over in Belgium, both Luka Vuskovic and Alfie Devine were named on the bench for KVC Westerlo, as they hosted OH Leuven in the Belgian Pro League. After a goalless first half, Leuven scored twice in the first opening 13 minutes of the second half to shock Westerlo and take a two goal lead. Â

Manager Timmy Simons responded by introducing Devine to the action on the hour mark. Two minutes later, Westerlo got one back. Then, with a quarter of an hour remaining, the Spurs loanee scored his fifth goal of the season, heading home from a corner to make it 2-2. Â

From there, neither side were able to find a winner, as the game finished 2-2. Vuskovic remained an unused sub, but it was great to see Devine on the scoresheet after a tough couple of months for him. Â

As it stands, Westerlo remain bottom of the Conference League play off round, with one point from their two games. Next up is a home game against Charleroi on Friday, for a 19:45 BST kick off. Â

In La Liga, unfortunately there was incredibly little to report on. Alejo Veliz was an unused sub for RCD Espanyol, as they pulled off an impressive 4-0 win away to Rayo Vallecano, in a game that they could have won by even more goals. This win leaves Espanyol in 16th place in the La Liga table, with 32 points from their 29 games so far, two points above the relegation zone. Â

As for Veliz himself, it is safe to say that this loan has not worked out. Out of all the Spurs players to go out on loan this season, he has probably had the least productive spell of all. He remains on 999 minutes of La Liga action to his name, with just one goal in that time – coming all the way back in August. It has not been quite as bad as the Sevilla loan last season, but not too far off. Â

Meanwhile, Bryan Gil was once again missing for Girona’s game against with an injury. In his absence, his side lost 1-0 at home to Alaves. Former Spurs players Paulo Gazzaniga and Arnaut Danjuma started the game. This defeat leaves Girona in 13th place in the table, with 34 points from their 30 games. Â

Next up for Espanyol is an away game against Celta Vigo on Saturday at 17:30 BST. Meanwhile, Girona will face Osasuna on Suday, for a 13:00 BST kick off. Â

On Sunday afternoon, at 14:00 BST, Spurs hosted Southampton for match day 31 of the 24/25 Premier League season. Coming into the game, the visitors were trying to get the win that would ensure they would not go down as statistically the worst team in Premier League season. They were also trying to avoid becoming the first team to ever get relegated on match day 31 of the season.

For the task at hand, Ange Postecoglou opted for a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Spence; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son.

How it all happened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday

The first two chances of any note for Spurs came shortly after each other. In the tenth minute, Romero had a header saved from a corner - before Bergvall had a left footed effort from inside the box saved. Then, very soon after, Kamaldeen Sulemana nearly gave the visitors the lead, but his effort from a tight angle was blocked.

However, just a couple of minutes later, Ange's side took the lead. Spence got away down the left, before cutting the ball back into the middle where Johnson was able to fire the ball into the back of the net with a fierce finish - his 10th goal in the Premier League this season.

After 26 minutes, Romero had another opportunity to score, as he again saw his header saved following a set piece - though this one was definitely a better opportunity.

With a little over ten minutes of the first half remaining, Bergvall thought he had scored his first Premier League goal, but after a very, very lengthy VAR review, the goal was disallowed, and the game remained 1-0.

Nevertheless, a few minutes later, it was two - as Johnson scored his second goal of the game. After a ball came out of the sky, Maddison flicked a lopping header towards Johnson, whom poked the ball past Aaron Ramsdale. Two for him and two for Spurs.

Just before the half time whistle, Spence went close to making it three, but his effort towards the top corner was saved. That would be that for the first half, and Spurs had a two goal lead going into the interval.

A few minutes before the hour mark, Ange looked to his bench, as Odobert and Sarr replaced Son and Bentancur. Three minutes later, Porro picked up a booking for a foul. With ten minutes remaining, Bissouma and Gray repalced Maddison and Bergvall. With three minutes left, Tel replaced Solanke.

Just as normal time was about to finish, Southampton got one back through Mateus Fernandes, to make for a tense finish.

Still, in stoppage time, Spurs were awarded a penalty - with Tel converting for his first Premier League goal. Full-time, 3-1 to Spurs. Not much more to say other than Southampton are relegated. Onto Thursday evening against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.

Later on this afternoon, Spurs will welcome bottom of the table Southampton to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, for match day 31 of the Premier League season. It is one of the non UK televised 14:00 kick off slots. Coming into the game, Southampton still need two more points to ensure they are not statistically the worst team in Premier League history. Insert something about Dr Tottenham.Â

We have said all week that this game feels like a chore. Premier League games have been a chore for a while, but in particular the one before the Europa League quarter final first leg on Thursday evening. Nevertheless, let’s get this one out of the way. Â

How both managers have chosen to line up for the game this afternoon

For the task at hand today, Ange Postecoglou has opted for a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, Davies, Spence; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Solanke, Son. Â

Meanwhile, on the bench; Kinsky, Udogie, van de Ven, Odobert, Tel, Richarlison, Sarr, Bissouma, Gray. Â

So, the report suggesting that Maddison and Son would be rested proved to be incorrect, though van de Ven has indeed been rested. Not sure Son, at his age, and with his miles on the clock, playing just a few days before the Eintracht Frankfurt tie is completely optimal. Furthermore, Romero playing also feel like a risk. But let’s see.Â

 Richarlison is back in the match day squad fo the first time since the Carabao Cup semi final second leg. Moore has been left out of the squad as a result, which feels like a shame. It is clear that, although this game in general is a dead rubber, Ange is clearly absolutely desperate to get a win of any kind on the board.Â

Meanwhile, Southampton manager Ivan Juric has tasked the following XI with trying to avoid unwanted history; Ramsdale; Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning; Aribo, Fernandes, Ugochukwu; Dibling, Archer, Sulemana.Â

In addition, the visitors will be officially relegated – in the first week of April – should they lose to Ange Postecoglou’s side today. It would make them the first ever Premier League side to be relegated on match day 31 of the season. Â

Just before we finish, it would be unfair for us not to mention and shout out those protesting before the game. Huge respect to each and every fan for making their voice heard. Good to see. Â

Over the weekend, there were plenty of games for Tottenham Hotspur loanees. We have already covered the Championship here, and League One here, if you wish to catch up on the loanees playing in those leagues. Here, we will round up the rest of the action in the UK. Â

How things went for the rest of Spurs' UK based loanees on Saturday

Just before we fully begin – George Abbott missed Notts County’s game at Colchester United due to a knock he picked up in the win over MK Dons in midweek. In his absence, Notts fell to a 1-0 defeat, which allows Colchester – the side just outside the play offs – to be six points behind them. They have 68 points from their 41 games so far.Â

Next up for Notts is a home game against Salford City on Friday night, for a 19:45 BST kick off. Fingers crossed that the Spurs loanee is back for that game. It is clear that Notts need him, with an abject performance today without him.Â

In the National League, Luca Gunter was named as a substitute for Wealdstone for a second game in a row, which is pretty alarming. In his absence in midweek, his replacement made three saves and kept a clean sheet in a huge win against Boston United. This time they hosted third placed Forest Green Rovers.Â

 In this one, Wealdstone pulled off a huge 2-1 win, having gone behind. These three points have left the Stones in 18th place in the National League table, with 48 points from their 41 games. They are now five points above the relegation zone, albeit having played one more game. Â

Next up is an away game against table toppers and local rivals Barnet on Saturday, for a 12:30 GMT kick off.Â

Meanwhile, North of the border, we finally have a start – and appearance of any kind – to report on, as Alfie Dorrington started for Aberdeen in their Scottish Premiership game away to Ross County.Â

After 33 minutes, Aberdeen took the lead. That goal proved to be crucial, as it ended up being the only goal of the game for either side, securing all three points on the road for Aberdeen. Dorrington played the whole 90 minutes, making 13 clearances to more than play his part in the clean sheet.Â

This win leaves the Spurs loanees’ side in 4th place in the Scottish Premiership, with 49 points from their 32 games. Next up is a home game against Rangers on Sunday, for a 12:00 GMT kick off. Â

On Saturday afternoon, there was Championship action for three Tottenham Hotspur loanees. In one of the three early kick offs, Will Lankshear and his West Bromwich Albion side hosted Sunderland, whilst in the 15:00 games – Ashley Phillips and his Stoke City side faced Preston North end on the road, whilst Yang Min-hyeok and his Queens Park Rangers side hosted Cardiff City.Â

How things went over in the Championship for Tottenham Hotspur loanees

To begin, Lankshear was named on the substitutes bench by West Brom manager Tony Mowbray, meaning he had still started just one game in the first two months of his loan. After 35 minutes, Sunderland took the lead. The Baggies made all five of their allocated subs in the second half, the fourth of which was Lankshear, who came on after 79 minutes. Â

Unfortunately, West Brom could not find a way back into the game, and they were condemned to a tough 1-0 defeat – leaving them outside of the play offs, sitting in eighth place, with 57 points from their 40 games. Â

Meanwhile, Phillips was named in the Stoke starting XI by manager Mark Robins – his 29th in the league this season, which have come under three different managers, just to give you an idea of the turbulence this season. Â

After 10 minutes of the game, Preston took the lead, quickly evaporating any chances of a clean sheet. Stoke were the better side for much of the second half, but went into the half time break one goal down.Â

In the second half, Stoke continued to play well, and eventually got their reward 15 minutes from time, as they equalised from the penalty spot. Despite dominating the game, that was how it finished – and the Potters were forced to make do with a point. Phillips played the 90 minutes, and made nine clearances. That is 2542 league minutes this season for the Spurs loanee.

Although in theory, a point away from home against a side above you in the league is nothing terrible, quite a few of the other results did not go Stoke’s way. They sit 20th in the Championship, with 43 points from 41 games – two points above the bottom three, with better goal difference.Â

For QPR’s game, Min-hyeok was named in the starting XI by manager Marti Cifuentes, this time starting off the left hand side of a front three. The game proved to be an incredibly lowkey and dull affair, finishing 0-0 with few opportunities for either side. Min-hyeok played 61 minutes before being replaced.Â

This draw leaves QPR in 16th place in the Championship, with 46 points from 40 games – they are not definitely out of any relegation scrap. That is just two points from their last seven games now.Â

As there often is in the Championship – there is a full midweek slate of action. On Tuesday, Stoke host Luton Town, whilst West Brom face Bristol City away from home. On Wednesday evening, QPR face Oxford United on the road. All games kick off at 19:45 BST. Â

This weekend, Spurs will partake in the deadest of dead rubbers, as they host Southampton on Sunday, in one of the non UK televised 14:00 BST slots. It really is one of those games that feel ike a serious chore. The atmosphere around the place has not been this bad since the last few games of Antonio Conte. Â

During their game in midweek, Southampton conceded a late equaliser at home to Crystal Palace – which denied them overtaking Derby County’s unwanted record of being the worst ever Premier League team, with 11 points. They would have gone up to 12, but they had to make do with being stuck on 10.Â

We are all thinking it, aren’t we? Be serious, who actually read that and did not think “Dr Tottenham” or something similar. That said, we did say this about the reverse fixture, where Spurs scored after 30 seconds and were 5-0 up at half time. Things do feel worse than then admittedly. Â

On Thursday evening, Ange’s side will host Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter final. Everybody knows that game is infinitely more important than this game against Southampton on Sunday afternoon. Â

It’s a huge hypothetical, but every Spurs fan would accept the humiliation of losing to Southampton and allowing them to beat that points record, if it meant progressing against Frankfurt. As pathetic as it would be, the priorities. Again, very hypothetical – a team losing to Southampton wouldn’t beat the third best side in Germany.Â

Owing to the lack of importance of the game on Sunday, it has been reported by Dan Kilpatrick that Ange is set to rest Heung-Min Son, James Maddison and Micky van de Ven are set to be rested for the game. Â

Spurs trio set to be given rest for visit of Southampton on Sunday

You’d hope that is just three players he is aware of, rather than everyone – it would not be ideal to have Cristian Romero out there. A central defensive partnership of Ben Davies and Archie Gray would be fine. Yes, we have wanted Gray to play in midfield. This is an irrelevant game we are talking about here. Â

One thing that could, maybe, enthuse the fans on Sunday is a start for Mikey Moore. We know he won’t start against Frankfurt – why not give him a go against Southampton – it would be a great opportunity for him to grab his first goal for the club. Â

Although the summer transfer window does not open for a couple of months yet (clue is in the name, really), the formalities of transfers are often completed, or at least begin, between both windows. As a result, things get leaked, and there are plenty of rumours that go with it. Â

Clubs will certainly at least show an interest in players, begin to scout them, and perhaps make enquiries, which will again lead to rumours – some accurate and some of them less so. Â

Spurs are a good example. They have been linked to several players in recent weeks – whilst a few players have been linked with a move away from North London. We will have to see what happens regarding those potential moves in the coming months. Â

Another player to be linked with a move to Spurs is midfielder Lamine Camara of Ligue 1 side AS Monaco – that is according to English media publication GiveMeSport, whom are often quite accurate when it comes to transfers. In the same piece, they mention the continued interest in Angel Gomes.

Spurs readying a bid for highly rated AS Monaco midfield star

The midfielder is considered to be one of the best talents to come out of Senegal. According to the report – Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich are also said to be interested in the player, which can only be a positive in terms of the player’s ability to have that calibre of club interested in his services. Â

As for the player himself, he only turned 21 at the start of this year, and yet already has 29 caps for the Senegal national team, with an impressively tally of six goals to his name in that time. He was apart of the Senegal side at the Africa Cup of Nations last year, playing alonside Pape Matar Sarr in two games. He scored a brace in a 3-0 win over Gambia in the group stages. Â

It is actually crazy how many young players Spurs get linked to. In isolation, there is nothing wrong with that – but the club do need more players in their prime. Perhaps in some cases, maybe even one or two players that are a little past their peak, but with plenty to still offer as a well as wealth of experience that this squad clearly needs. Â

To be fair to Camara, for a 21-year old, he already does have a fair amount of experience. He has already played 54 games in Ligue 1, nine games in the UEFA Champions League, and as mentioned above has 29 caps for Senegal already. Â

One thing to slightly be cautious of is there is an AFCON next season. It is set to be more brutal to teams with African players this time round, as the tournament starts in December, meaning that the players will be unavailable during the hectic Christmas schedule. Â