There is an account on X called ‘Jason Tindall desperate to be centre of attention’ and it has more than 50,000 followers. It does what it suggests it does, which is poke fun at the Newcastle United assistant manager for never being far away from a camera lens on match day.
It is pretty gentle stuff. Jason Tindall hugging Jurgen Klopp while Eddie Howe – the Newcastle manager – waits patiently for a pre-match handshake. Tindall at the front of a dressing room celebration squad lineup while Howe is hard to see right at the back. And on it goes.
It plays to what we think we know about Tindall. He looks after himself. He dresses sharply. He always seems to have a suntan. He has perfect hair. It's easy to have a bit of a laugh about it. Howe has even been asked about it and admits he finds it funny.
But the truth is that without Tindall, Howe believes he would not be the same manager. They have been together for most of the last 15 years. At Bournemouth (twice), Burnley and now Newcastle. If Howe were ever to become England's head coach, Tindall would undoubtedly go there too. So when people are laughing at Tindall, Howe is not. Not on the inside.
'It's crazy how the internet and social media can create these things,' said Howe of his friend's viral fame. 'But to understand these things is to go back to where we started. That gives you a little bit of context to the reason he's in those situations.
'We started at Bournemouth with no money, no facilities, working with a group of players, and it was just the two of us and we did everything together. You name it, we did it.
'We travelled to watch the opposition five hours away in the car together. Just us. And we've never changed that approach throughout our journey together.'
That, to a degree, is the perfect summation of how so many manager-assistant relationships work. The guy front of house and the one standing nearby watching his back. A relationship based on trust, mutual understanding but also honesty. If the guy picking the team and doing the tactics is getting it wrong then somebody needs to be able to tell him.
Which brings us to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday where Newcastle – five wins on the spin, with one goal conceded – will play Spurs – two wins out of 10.
Tottenham – as we know – are a must-watch under Ange Postecoglou. Open, exciting and vibrant. But we also know that Postecoglou is under pressure and in need of results. At times it's hard not to think that he maybe needs a little help and it's interesting that he chooses to eschew the manager-coach relationship so prevalent across the Premier League.
Postecoglou never takes staff from club to club with him. He never has done. For example, he won five trophies in two seasons in Scotland with Celtic but chose to leave his winning formula behind when he came to England.
'If I am going to have longevity I have to make sure my message stays relevant and I need to evolve my ideas and beliefs,' is how Postecoglou explains it. 'Bringing in new coaches forces me to make sure the message is still relevant. I look for people who are brave and willing to go into the unknown.'
Few would doubt Postecoglou's courage or his individuality. Both are admirable. But this is not some kind of social experiment platform, it's the Premier League.
The more you look at the Tottenham manager looking stressed agitated and a little lonely on the touchline and in post-match interviews, the more you wonder whether he would benefit from someone standing next to him who really knows him, can judge his moods and choose which of his buttons to press and when.
None of this is to denigrate Tottenham's coaching staff, a group of young men with different backgrounds. Postecoglou chose them when he arrived at the club and he may point out that we would not be having this conversation if his team was winning. But Spurs are not winning anywhere near enough, so it's fair that every little piece of what he does is under scrutiny.
Football's past is littered with great managerial partnerships and we know who they are. And though things have changed since the days of the Liverpool boot room, certain principles have endured. That Postecoglou chooses to stand almost alone does make him different.
His is a model that has worked for him wherever he has been. He is a serial winner. But the Premier League is a uniquely challenging environment and it's hard not to look at him at times and wonder if he would not benefit from a tried and trusted ally standing right behind him.
Or – in the case of Howe and Tindall – right in front of him in the glare of the flashlights.
Macari omission is scandalous
If everyone who has ever struck a cricket ball in anger now has letters after their name then nobody should be surprised that Gareth Southgate has a knighthood.
But still there is nothing for Lou Macari despite his years of selflessness and time given to helping Stoke-on-Trent's homeless community.
Macari – once of Manchester United and Scotland – does not ask for thanks or recognition. That's not what the Macari Centre is about.
But the fact his devotion and work towards easing one of his adopted town's greatest ills continues to go unheralded is scandalous.
Rooney unlikely to manage in England again
Wayne Rooney's sacking at Plymouth has several layers to it and my colleague Simon Jordan put it pretty well when he suggested that there really was scant justification for the Championship club appointing him in the first place.
Rooney's record since returning from America where he coached in the MLS to join Birmingham City in October 2023 is a pretty miserable six wins from 38 Championship games.
There are always mitigating circumstances and Rooney's half season at Devon was beset by injury issues.
But the sad truth is that over time the 39-year-old has shown himself to be short of the mark and the pertinent question now revolves around what happens next.
It is unlikely Rooney will manage in this country again. He would be an excellent TV pundit and will not be short of offers.
But there must be a way for the game in this country to ensure that all those years of accrued knowledge, experience and football wisdom are not lost.
Currently the options for the many great players who reach the end of their playing road seem to be management or bust and surely it should not be that way.
Still English football dallies and prevaricates
The VAR check for Liverpool's second goal against Leicester seemed to last forever and that's because it did. Three minutes and more.
We were supposed to be using the semi-automated system favoured by the Champions League and the big summer tournaments by now. That's the technology that really works.
But we aren't using. Not yet. Still we dally and prevaricate. English football continues to view itself as different to the rest. And it is. Just not in a good way.
