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PLUS: Why our fans face a brutal week of violence in Europe and the biggest question that Man United's canteen cuts raise

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It felt like a throwback - a walk into the past - when I arrived in Ipswich at the weekend.

Somehow, amid the countless trips to watch and report on football, Portman Road had always passed me by, and it was the way that club connected to its place which lifted the soul. 'Always Proud. Always Ipswich, Always Suffolk' read the legend on the wall outside the club store.

There was no mistaking who was in town, because of the strains of 'We're the Park Lane Tottenham' issuing from the railway station at 6pm, after a 4-1 win for the day's visitors.

Those exuberant singers seemed blissfully unaware that they were out of kilter with a new edict - the club are calling it 'guidance' - in which Tottenham have asked broadcasters not to call them 'Tottenham.'

No, April Fool's Day is more than a month off yet. This request really is included in a Spurs email - entitled 'Tottenham Hotspur Naming Update' - stating various dos and don'ts about acceptable nomenclature for the club.

A 'remastered brand identity' has been 'rolled out across all the Club's physical and digital touchpoints,' we're told. It emphasises to broadcasters that 'Spurs' is fine for brevity and 'Tottenham Hotspur' very much wished for, but plain old 'Tottenham'? Definitely not.

That 'Hotspur' is so very fine - a name with romantic, Shakespearean overtones, which, as one Tottenham-supporting friend tells me, 'felt magical as a kid, because in a world full of Uniteds, Citys, Towns, Athletics and Albions, there is only one Hotspur. If more people refer to us as Tottenham Hotspur, then I'm happy.'

But seven little words in the club email - 'Never refer to our Club as "Tottenham"' - were enough to make your heart sink.

It's all about the global brand, of course. A form of words that looks best on mugs and bags and apparel to sell the 'product' from New York to Nairobi and all points in between.

Well, I rather thought that brand management was all about optics - the image you create for your product. Tottenham's geniuses neglect to see that quietly retiring off 'Tottenham' has a terrible look.

That the local must transcend the global at any British club. That without the district whose name seems a minor inconvenience, there would be no 'Tottenham Hotspur.' That arbitrary decisions about what a club is called - by anyone - are simply not theirs to make.

The local area has been synonymous with that club since the days of the Tottenham boys who kicked balls in the district and formed Arthur Rowe's first great team. It was the Tottenham community which fought against the club's move across London in 1977. The Tottenham locals who turned up, week in, week out, when the club was on its uppers after the war.

'Tottenham' was good enough for Ossie Ardiles in a recording studio before the 1981 FA Cup final, singing of how he'd 'play a blinder, in the cup for Totting-ham.' Another indelible part of the historical fabric, seemingly no more a part of the new 'brand' than Chas & Dave's 'Tottenham, Tottenham, no one can stop them.'

No one can deny the work Tottenham have done in the local area over the years. I distinctly remember the children's faces light up at a primary school where I interviewed Kieran Trippier seven years ago.

But, God knows, that district - with the highest rate of claimed unemployment in London and countless boarded-up properties on the Tottenham High Road - needs all the nurturing, promotion and encouragement it can muster.

An edict that 'Spurs', a mere nickname, take ascendancy over 'Tottenham' does nothing to tell a new global fanbase that there is actually a place called 'Tottenham', postcode N17, in the London borough of Haringey, which - while lacking much wealth - has enabled Spurs to soar.

A place, incidentally, where pensioners have just been told that concessionary tickets for the club's home game are being axed. A 'Save our Seniors' campaign against that is ongoing.

Tottenham are by no means the only club looking to reach for a global future with a casual disregard for the past.

Club badges, a brand consultant's dream, have been routinely manipulated for financial ends. Manchester United' dropped the words 'Football Club' from theirs in 1998.

Tottenham 'reimagined' their own last November, by removing the club's name from it. It was a 'more playful, daring approach,' said the PR spin. 'They ruined a once great badge,' my friend says.

The names of grounds are equally interchangeable. West Ham demand their stadium is referred to as 'London Stadium' when most fans feel it should be 'THE London Stadium.'

A few years ago, I received an email from Wrexham - at whose ground, The Racecourse, I have been watching football for most of my life - instructing me to begin using a new name for it in copy, incorporating the name of a Colorado-based cold coffee firm. Sorry, Wrexham. Absolutely no chance.

Such considerations seemed like double Dutch to the local Ipswich supporters I found sitting beneath an image of Bobby Robson, Mick Mills and that town's great 1980s team on Saturday lunchtime.

They told me they were just pleased to see their little place back on the map, even if this sojourn among football's elite does not last beyond May. 'We love our Ipswich,' said one, a sentiment which, much like the place, seemed like a blast from the past.

Brace yourselves for a wild week

Next week's European fixture list is enough to make you shudder, with two of our clubs in the Dutch citadels of hooliganism - Arsenal at Eindhoven on Tuesday and Tottenham at AZ Alkmaar two nights later, when Eintracht Frankfurt also arrive in Amsterdam to face Ajax.

Some aspects of continental football never left the dark ages. Stab pants at the ready.

Bury FC the Opera?

Bury FC and English National Opera, an improbable combination, are collaborating on a project, called 'Perfect Pitch', to explore the impact of massing singing on team performance.

ENO have chosen the ideal club, who are clambering back to their feet again, top of the North West Counties league, after disgraceful rogue owner Steve Dale took them out of business.

ENO are soon moving to Manchester. Bury FC the Opera? That one could fly.

What the hell are United eating?

Are Sir Jim Ratcliffe's people seriously asking us to believe that they are saving Manchester United £1million by slashing canteen lunches?

Even if United had 1,000 employees - which they don't, anymore - eating in the place five days a week for 50 weeks a year, that would add up to £40 a meal, by that figure.

United are on course to earn £34m less Premier League prize money this season than last.

Given that, based on last year's figures, they would earn themselves £11.5m more by finishing 14th, rather than their current position of 15th, perhaps corporate genius Sir Jim might wish to suggest that Rubem Amorim abandons his precious 'philosophy' and claws back points at all cost.

Given the canteen is his current priority, at £40 per lunch it seems fair to ask, 'What the hell have they been eating in that place?'

EXCLUSIVE Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle gives his verdict on club chairman Daniel Levy as unrest among supporters continues to grow

Tottenham sit in the bottom half of the Premier League table with 12 games to go

Frustration towards Levy has intensified through fan protests in recent weeks

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Can INEOS really be judged after 12 months?

Glenn Hoddle admits he understands Tottenham fans' frustration with Daniel Levy, as anger among Spurs supporters continues to grow during what has been a near-disastrous campaign for the club.

With Tottenham languishing in 12th in the Premier League, even after three straight wins, their fanbase has become increasingly unsettled.

Spurs are out of both domestic cups and with Champions League qualification out of the question fans have started to take aim at Levy and the board, calling for change.

Prior to Tottenham's win over Manchester United last week, supporters gathered in their droves to protest, demanding boardroom change.

They marched down the High Road to the stadium in good voice behind banners, while chants could be heard throughout the game with Levy the main target of their ire.

And now Spurs legend Hoddle, who also works as a pundit on TNT Sports, has urged the chairman, who scked him as the club's manager in 2003, to pump more money into the squad to bring 'glory' back to the club.

Hoddle tells Mail Sport: 'Now I can understand that there are some people that are frustrated and they're turning their anger on it.

'Daniel's done a fantastic job with the stadium. He's built a fantastic training ground that any player in the world would love that environment to go and train and play in the stadium, right? That's the wrong way around for me.

'The money that the stadium is bringing in is quite amazing. It really is. I think the fans need to know that whether every penny is the priority. Is the priority the squad?

'Are we going to build a squad that that stadium actually deserves? Squad first, build a stadium afterward, but it's the other way around now. Now build a team where every single priority is for the squad.

'We're going to [need to] go out and then we're going to play perhaps 15 million, 20 million more than we should for that player because the future and the glory of Tottenham is going to come back.

Ange Postecoglou's side have endured quite a brutal campaign. 13 Premier League defeats have left them wasting away in the darkness of the bottom half of the table.

A tyrant amount of injuries have led to a series of disappointing results, leaving fans restless. A winder transfer window did not do too much to lift the spirits either.

Mathys Tel may have walked through the door on loan from Bayern Munich, but the signings of Yang Min-Hyeok, Antonin Kinsky, and Kevin Danso have not filled the huge holes left by injured players.

It means success does not feel too near for Postecoglou and his team. Even with the background of a magnificent 63,000-seater stadium, Hoddle believes spirits will stay low in the stands until success is brought to them.

'If you have had success there, the stadium would be a wonderful place for fans to go and watch,' Hoddle continues. 'But if the results are not going well, you're not as happy as you should be.

'If you're winning and you're building a team, and there's a team that can genuinely go for trophies, then that stadium actually deserves to have a squad that can go all the way over the next four or five years.

'Everything's there, ready, and Daniel's built it. But for me, they've done it the wrong way around. But so be it. The moment is now, and I think that's where the fans are disgruntled because they're not sure whether now is the time that they can.'

There has been some light at the end of the tunnel for Spurs of late, with league wins over Brentford, Manchester United, and Ipswich making them the in-form team in the division.

Next up, Postecoglou's side take on Manchester City on Wednesday night, a side they notoriously do well against - no matter their form.

Back In November, Spurs stunned the whole country when they smashed four goals past the sorry champions on their own patch, kickstarting a horrific run of form for Pep Guardiola's side.

And Hoddle cites City's possession-based style of play as the key reason why Spurs have so much success against them.

'The reason we do well against Man City is we are forced to actually defend a lot tighter as a team because they have the ball so much,' the former Spurs star adds. We drop a little bit deeper, [making us] harder to beat.

'Particularly in the away game in the league, wow. We hit them on the counter so well, but we had the correct players to do it, and we punished them.

'We put them to the sword that day. That was as good as Tottenham have played for two seasons.'

Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks with midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur over a new contract.

The Uruguay international is a key player for Ange Postecoglou’s side having made 28 appearances for the club this season - despite being served with an eight match domestic suspension last year for remarks made about colleague Heung-min Son in an interview in his homeland.

Bentancur’s current deal expires at the end of next season, but Spurs are open to extending the former Juventus player’s terms.

Indeed, Mail Sport understands preliminary discussions over a new deal are underway with a view to securing the 27-year-old’s long-term future at the club.

Talks are at a very early stage with no agreement close, with future meetings planned in the coming weeks.

But Spurs are willing to extend their midfielder’s current deal given his status as an integral first team player.

Bentancur’s career in north London has been struck by injury problems. He suffered an ACL injury in February 2023 before sustaining an ankle ligament issue later the same year.

Postecoglou, though, views the South American as a vital member of his team and will be keen for his long-term future to be tied up.

An enraged Spurs fan who told Foreign Secretary David Lammy 'you hate white people' and branded him a 'race-baiting c***' during a barrage of drunken emails has been spared jail.

Matthew Rumsby, 42, sent eight 'grossly offensive' emails to the Tottenham Labour MP, 52, in just over three hours on September 23.

The messages, all sent from his iPhone, were detected by the minister's parliamentary intern and forwarded to police.

During his online tirade, Rumsby also called the top politician a 'c***', a 'Labour ponce' and 'pathetic'.

Using his personal Gmail account, the 42-year-old yob, of Southend-on-Sea, Essex,, made repeated references to being a life-long supporter of Tottenham Hotspur, a court heard.

As well as lambasting the MP, the drunken football fan also took aim at the Foreign Secretary's fashion choice, mocking him for his 'embarrassing' trainers.

In his final email to Mr Lammy he said he would refuse to attend the stadium as long as Mr Lammy remains in his job.

Rumsby admitted one offence of sending a grossly offensive electronic communication for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

He was handed a 12-month community order, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, 20 days of a rehabilitation requirement and 90 days of alcohol treatment.

Rumsby, who was pictured outside court smoking a cigarette and carrying a red duffle bag, will also have to pay £85 in prosecution costs.

Under the Malicious Communications Act 1988, the maximum sentence for such offences is 12 months in jail if tried and convicted at magistrates' court, or two years if the case is heard in the crown court.

Prosecutor Nathan Paine-Davey earlier said the eight emails of a 'grossly offensive nature' were sent between 4.32am and 7.49am.

In the first message Rumsby told the politican 'you hate white people' and referred to Labour MPs as 'f***ots'.

Mr Paine-Davey said in a later email Rumsby referred to '1984' and wrote: 'I'm just another Londoner-born white guy, you are pathetic.'

Rumsby added: 'I'm being forced to live my 73-year-old dad, I'm 42 and haven't got a pot to p*** in' before adding: 'I don't want to live in a government under you', the court heard.

In another email he said he was 'born in Hounslow' and but now 'hate(s) London with a passion' and would 'never go back.'

'You c***s have pushed us out in favour of immigrants', Mr Paine-Davey reported him as saying.

He also told Mr Lammy: 'I hate this country, you know people outside the M25 hate you'.

Rumsby added: 'Put me in prison for telling the truth.'

He then asked the Foreign Secretary to tell Health Secretary Wes Streeting to 'up his game', the court heard.

Rumsby continued: 'I've had six operations on my heart, two operations on my arm - I never asked to be unwell, just fed up with being second class.

'I know you guys have a tough job, I get that, (but) you don't make it easy for yourself.'

The prosecutor said in his final email Rumsby wrote that the 'last Conservative government were a bunch of k***heads' and he'd 'totally lost faith in politicians'.

He added: 'I support Tottenham Hotspurs have done for many years I know you have a seat, (I) won't go to any games while you represent the area.'

Rumsby even took aim at Mr Lammy's choice of footwear, writing: 'Them trainers you were wearing were embarrassing' before offering to 'buy (him) a nice pair of kicks'.

The reference is thought to have been in connection with Mr Lammy being pictured in a black pair of trainers in September, as he the Prime Minister travelled to meet former US President Joe Biden at the White House.

Mr Paine-Davey told the court: 'The defendant was identified from that email address, he was then arrested on the September 28 and interviewed, and made full admission to the offences - confirming that the email address from which those emails were sent belongs to him and that he has sole access to it.'

Rumsby had no previous convictions but did have a caution dating back to September 2008 for harassment.

The court was told he was 'severely intoxicated' when he sent the emails and had been using 'alcohol as self-medication.'

Rumsby, of Southend-on-Sea, admitted sending electronic communications of a grossly offensive nature for the purpose of causing distress or anxiety.

Ange Postecoglou widens to 11/8 odds to be the next PL manager sacked

Ruud van Nistelrooy shortens to an odds-on favourite according to Sky Bet

Click here to see ALL today's latest sports betting stories

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is no longer the best-backed with Sky Bet to be the next Premier League manager sacked.

The Australian, who had been under pressure before recording three straight Premier League wins, is an 11/8 second-favourite to be shown the door.

Spurs' three victories have come against Brentford, Manchester United and Ipswich Town, and the north London club have improved to 12th in the table as a result.

Relegation battlers Leicester City meanwhile have lost 10 of their last 11 league games.

So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Foxes boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is an odds-on favourite at 4/5 to be the seventh Premier League manager to be sacked this season.

If you're not anticipating anyone to be sacked before the 2024-25 season conclude, there are 6/1 odds for no manager to leave.

And if you're after an outsider in the market, Southampton's Ivan Juric and Chelsea's Enzo Maresca round out the five favourites, with the pair priced at 10/1 and 14/1 respectively.

Maresca has shortened from 22/1 in recent weeks after Chelsea lost 3-0 to Brighton and 2-1 to Aston Villa last time out.

Sky Bet favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked:

Ruud van Nistelrooy 4/5

Ange Postecoglou 11/8

No Manager to Leave 6/1

Ivan Juric 10/1

Enzo Maresca 14/1

Tottenham star James Maddison has revealed that he has been in contact with new England manager Thomas Tuchel.

Tuchel is preparing to name his first England squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Albania and Latvia.

Maddison, who has seven caps for England, is eager to be part of the squad but acknowledged that Tuchel has a large amount of players to choose from.

'He has touched base,' Maddison said. 'I think he was reaching out to a lot of players who would be in the selection, probably quite a big pool of players that the FA have identified.

'I'm hungry to be part of that. I feel like I'm in good form, my numbers are pretty good, there's not too many midfielders who can out-score and out-assist me.

'Especially now when I'm feeling good as well, feeling sharp. I know I can affect most games. It's just about continuing to do that. Like I always say, if I play at that level for Tottenham, then the rest will take care of itself because I have a really strong self-belief.'

After recovering from a calf problem, Maddison scored the only goal in Tottenham's 1-0 win at home to Manchester United.

Maddison then followed that up with an assist as Tottenham won 4-1 away to Ipswich.

Last summer Maddison was named in England's provisional squad for Euro 2024 but wasn't selected for the tournament by Gareth Southgate.

Maddison admitted that he was devastated following his admission from the squad.

He wrote on Instagram: 'Devastated doesn’t quite cut it. Trained well and worked hard all week but if I’m honest with myself, my form for Spurs when coming back from injury in the second half of the season probably wasn’t at the levels I had set which gave Gareth a decision to make.

'I still thought there would be a space for me in a 26 man squad as I feel I bring something different & had been a mainstay in this whole qualifying campaign for Euro 2024 in Germany but the manager has made the decision and I have to respect that.

'I’ll be back, I have no doubt. Wishing the boys all the luck in the world out in Germany, unbelievable group and lads that I literally call some of my best friends. I genuinely hope football comes home'.

Maddison made his England debut against Montenegro in November 2019.

An unused member of the squad at the 2022 World Cup, Maddison didn't play for the Three Lions again until 2023 but is now eager to be a key figure.

As well as Albania and Latvia, Serbia and Andorra are the other two teams in England's World Cup qualifying group.

There’s a gathering sense of fatalism about how all this might turn out for Ipswich.

The talk on the train heading south out of town early on Saturday evening was consumed by the question of whether the club, now five points from safety, had been promoted too early and manager Kieran McKenna was also emphasising perspective.

‘The supporters know the journey they have been on,’ he said. ‘Five years ago, we were in the middle of League One and they (Tottenham) were in the Champions League final.’

But though McKenna looked subdued - ‘It’s not in our hands,’ he said – Ipswich at least played with brio and fire, and the 4-1 scoreline flattered Spurs. On a weekend when Southampton and Leicester were smashed up again, you thanked God for Ipswich’s fight. At least one of the bottom three is making a fist of this.

Portman Road is a world away from the division’s global elite. ‘Always Proud. Always Ipswich, Always Suffolk’ reads the legend on the wall outside the club store. No Premier League club feels more quintessentially local. It’s a throwback, contributing to a sense that they can barely believe they’re up here. Echoes of the great ‘70s and ‘80s days when the club also punched above its weight.

Moss grows on the main stand roof, now, but the club did not let the grass grow under their feet when they reached the top again. That much was evident in a compelling first half against Spurs, full of Ipswich teamwork and flair.

There seems to be a trend among some Ipswich players of wearing their socks down around their calves. It telegraphs the work ethic and it just so happened that the three who did it on Saturday – Liam Delap, Jack Clarke and Leif Davis – were working triangles on the same side of the pitch.

They shone together in front of that old stand - and Delap above all. There’s a schoolyard feel to his football - thrashing his foot at any opportunity, leaping to navigate high balls into others’ paths. Superstar quality.

There was a subtlety to the excellent Omari Hutchinson’s contribution, carrying the ball and easing pressure. It was good to see some of the old Kalvin Phillips back, at the hub of Ipswich’s midfield – deft touches and unflinching collisions. There was a wonderful balance to this team.

The holes Ipswich let Spurs punch in their midfield did for them. Pinpoint counter-attacking passes for Son Heung-Min to leave full back Ben Godfrey for dead. McKenna’s post-match assessment skirted around these defensive failings.

The problem with the manager’s aspiration to ‘pick up points at a greater rate, now’ is that Ipswich don’t have a sequence of ‘winnable’ games until the end, when they face West Ham and Leicester in May. This week’s visit to Old Trafford is one of only three games before May 3 against a side outside the current top eight. Some story it would be if they could find a way through and survive.

Brennan Johnson scored twice in the first half to put Spurs in control

Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski sealed the victory in the second half

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Can INEOS really be judged after 12 months?

Ange Postecoglu was wearing a vast grey padded coat that looked too hot for him – unable to put the bleak Spurs winter behind him until he could be sure of the recovery he's been promising.

After a little early anxiety, it came: Tottenham's first run of three successive Premier League wins since December 2023, with specific grounds for encouragement to go with it. An emphatic contribution from Son Heung-Min. Signs that Kevin Danso, the £20million January arrival from Lens, might ease the crippling crisis at the back, even though Mathys Tel, the new French teenage forward didn't really cut it.

And Jack Maddison, arriving from the bench to sprinkle some stardust quality which took Spurs home and left Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna wearing a bleak demeanour.

Son's significance was the greater. His winter struggles have mirrored his club's and with contract uncertainty coming up, he has seemed to have lost his way. He was on a different cognitive plateau to defenders who either clipped him or clung onto his shirt to prevent him spinning away, always with time to look up and assess the options. A few days off, playing one game a week, had perhaps helped.

How he and Spurs fare against Manchester City this week will provide a better perspective than a win over an Ipswich side who briefly seemed to pick up where they had left off with that win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last November..

McKenna's team set off like a train, shaking this beautiful old place to its rafters with the kind of uninhibited football that would have had Sir Bobby Robson, the man so wonderfully commemorated around the stadium perimeter, beaming in that way he had. How Sir Bobby would have loved Liam Delap, who led that early assault, socks around his calves, bulldozing his way through the left side of Tottenham box and making life hell for Archie Gray. We were watching a future superstar.

Delap did so much – drawing the sharpest one-handed save from Tottenham's Guglielmo Vicario, leaping to navigate Kalvin Phillips' free kick onto the top of the upright. Yet prize quality is no use if you defend as poorly Ipswich did.

Tottenham were ahead in the time it took Gray to unfurl a graceful, 40-yard lofted ball out of defence for Son. The South Korean was too sharp and quick-footed for full back Ben Godfrey and squared for Brennan Johnson to breeze ahead of Leif Davis and score. When Son stood up Godfrey again and weighed his options, eight minutes later, Johnson was standing unmarked in the area holding his hands up for fully ten seconds. Son traced the pass and Brennan struck. Godfrey didn't reappear after the break.

'Their big moments in our penalty box were better than our big moments in theirs,' McKenna said afterwards, ruing Spurs superior 'execution.' That assessment glossed over the defensive failings, though his angst was understandable, given the excellent balance he has in this team.

It was good to see some of the old Kalvin Phillips, at the hub of Ipswich's midfield, with some deft little touches and vision before he sent Jack Clarke out down the left to cross for Omari Hutchison to score in front of the Sir Alf Ramsay Stand, bringing back a goal back for Ipswich before half time which had the place rocking again.

Ipswich maintained the fight for an equaliser early in the second half but Maddison arrived just beyond the hour, dazzling in the box to set up Djed Spence for a deflected third. An arced strike from Dejan Kulusevski on the counter attack wrapped it up.

The scoreline flattered Spurs and McKenna said that he has not given up hope of survival. 'No doubt,' he said. 'We know we are going to have to pick up points at a greater rate. We can only do what we can do.'

The match against Wolves here in early April is assuming huge significance. Leaking goals then will carry graver significance.

MATCH FACTS

Ipswich Town (4-2-3-1) Palmer 7; Godfrey 4.5 (Woolfenden 46 5), O'Shea 5, Greaves 6, Davis 6; Phillips 6.5 (Morsy 80 6), Cajuste 6 (Taylor 52 6); Philogene 6, Hutchinson 7, Clarke 6.5 (Broadhead 67 5.5); Delap 7.5 (Hirst 79 6).

Unused subs: Muric, Johnson, Townsend, Szmodics

Booked: Godfrey, Clarke

Manager: Kieran McKenna 7

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3) Vicario 6.5; Spence 6.5, Danso 7, Gray 6, Udogie 5.5 (Pedro Porro 6.5); Bergvall 7 (Bissouma 85 6), Bentancur 6.5; Kulusevski 7; Johnson 7.5 (Madisson 64 7), Tel 6 (Scarlett 74 6), Son 8 (Odobert 74).

Unused subs: Kinsky, Reguilon, Sarr, Moore

Booked: Johnson

Scorers: Johnson 18, 26, Spence 77, Kulusevski 84

Manager: Ange Postecoglu 7.5

Referee: T Robinson 6

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly requested broadcasters around the globe to refer to them by their full name or commonly used nickname Spurs, but never simply 'Tottenham'.

A subtle change in the naming conventions of the north London club was spotted by eagle-eyed viewers of Sky Sport's coverage of the side's 1-0 win over Manchester United last Sunday.

Ange Postecoglou was described as 'Tottenham Hotspur Head Coach.' It was a small alteration to the name used in a graphic by the broadcaster during coverage of the side's 3-2 defeat by Everton last month when just 'Tottenham' was used.

The difference would probably have gone unnoticed, however, according to a report in The Athletic, an email circulated to Premier League broadcasters on February 10, titled 'Tottenham Hotspur Naming Update' provided instruction on how to refer to the club.

They requested that the club are primarily known as Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs being the preferred short version. They also asked that they not be referred to as Tottenham.

According to the report, the club have claimed that this distinction is nothing new and has been their position since 2011. They claim that Tottenham is the name of an area, not the name of the club.

However, it appears a recent 'remastered brand identity' motivated the reminder to broadcasters.

A 'Brand Playbook' that was rolled out in November last year, contained a paragraph that made clear how the club wants to be described.

'In a world full of Uniteds, Citys and Rovers, there is only one Hotspur, Tottenham Hotspur,' it read. 'When referring to the team or the brand, please use ‘Tottenham Hotspur’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur Football Club’ or ‘THFC’. Never refer to our Club as ‘Tottenham’, ‘Tottenham Hotspur FC’ or ‘TH’.'

A fresh look to the Europa League has provided it with added gloss

Manchester United and Tottenham will learn their next opponents on Friday

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Can INEOS really be judged after 12 months?

A fresh look to the Europa League has provided it with added gloss but the action throughout the competition has been as exciting as ever.

The new inclusion of a play-off round prior to the last-16 has also seen some familiar European names fall away at an early stage in the competition.

However, Premier League giants Manchester United and Tottenham haven't had to worry, having secured an automatic spot in the last-16 by virtue of finishing in the top eight of the initial group phase.

After Thursday's results, it's now confirmed that the Premier League sides will face either AZ Alkmaar or Real Sociedad in the next round of the competition.

The draw to confirm every team's route to the final will be held on Friday February 21, which is where things may become somewhat confusing.

United and Spurs finished third and fourth in the league table format, meaning they will make up one seeded pair in the draw.

Ties for the last-16 are scheduled to be played on Thursday March 6, with the return legs a week later on Thursday March 13.

UEFA state that clubs are paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8).

The clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into one of two positions in the round of 16 against the relevant winner of the knockout phase play-offs, whose position was determined by the knockout phase play-off draw.

Four bowls are prepared for this draw, two for the silver side of the bracket and two for the orange side of the bracket.

Each bowl contains two balls representing the winners of the round of 16 matches from one rung of the relevant side of the bracket, with the first silver bowl containing slips of paper marked 'Winners R16 1' and 'Winners R16 2' and the second silver bowl 'Winners R16 3' and 'Winners R16 4'.

The first bowl on the orange side will contain slips of paper marked 'Winners R16 5' and 'Winners R16 6' and, finally, 'Winners R16 7' and 'Winners R16 8' in the second bowl on the orange side.

The draw starts by shuffling and then drawing the balls placed in the first bowl of the silver side of the bracket.

The first ball drawn from this bowl indicates the team which will play the first match of the quarter-final at home, and the second ball the team which will play the return leg at home.

The procedure is repeated with the remaining bowls to complete the quarter-final pairings.

A similar process will be undertaken for the semi-final draw with two bowls - one for the silver bracket and one for the blue.

If that all sounds too confusing to map out, an illustration of each team's potential route can be seen above.

It is worth keeping in mind that teams from the same domestic league can face each other in the round of 16, which was not always the case in previous years.

They can also be drawn against teams they previously faced in the league phase.

As part of the draw, every team's potential route to the final - which will be held in Bilbao on May 28 - will also be revealed.