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It seems that every weekend there is another team complaining about referee decisions and how they are impacting games, but for Tottenham, there really is very little to moan about, as Premier League referees are being more than fair to the Lilywhites this season.

Spurs benefitting from lenient referees

Tottenham are not really known as a particularly dirty team, and the number of red and yellow cards they’ve received from referees this season reflects that.

Ange Postecoglou has not had to deal with any suspensions as of yet, with his players staying on the right side of the referees. And now, there’s actual data to back that up.

The folk at talkSPORT BET have crunched the numbers on teams in the Premier League this season, looking at the number of fouls committed by each team, the number of bookings they have received, and working out how many fouls they are being allowed to get away with before the yellow card is brandished.

Turns out, Spurs are seventh in the table on this metric, meaning only six other teams get away with more fouls without a booking.

The North London outfit have registered 94 fouls across the eight league games this season, but have picked up just 19 bookings. That works out at 4.95 fouls per booking, and suggests referees are being rather lenient with Postecoglou’s side.

Noisy neighbours complaining for nothing

On the other side of North London, it feels like Arsenal fans can’t stop bemoaning their luck when it comes to the way referees are treating them.

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The Gunners have picked up three red cards already this season. But, as per this study, Mikel Arteta’s team actually get away with more than Spurs, coming in fourth in this table with 5.39 fouls per booking.

Only Everton (6.77 per booking), Aston Villa (6.21 per booking), and West Ham (6.21 per booking) have been handled more leniently than Arsenal.

Interestingly, Manchester City are the team that gets punished the quickest, with a booking for every 2.83 fouls. Chelsea are next on the list, with a booking for every 2.93 fouls, and Manchester United pick up a yellow for every 3.42 fouls.

Big Six bias debunked

It would seem referees are much more likely, then, to punish one of the bigger teams in the league a lot sooner. Still, it’s curious that Arsenal are treated so well, given their disciplinary record this season, and the fact their fans won’t stop complaining.

Ange Postecoglou has been at Spurs for close to 18 months now, and has made some pretty brilliant signings during that time, but what about the transfers he missed out on?

Since last summer, Postecoglou has brought in the likes of James Maddison, Dominic Solanke, and Micky van de Ven, all of whom have become key players in the Spurs first-team.

All those transfers happened as the result of decisions in the transfer market, with other options left behind to join other clubs instead. So, let’s take a look at the players Postecoglou opted not to sign for Spurs.

David Raya

Last summer, the top priority for Spurs was to replace Hugo Lloris and find a new number-one goalkeeper. For weeks, it seemed David Raya would be the man for the job, but Spurs eventually went for Guglielmo Vicario due to Brentford demanding too much for their Spanish stopper.

Raya would later join Arsenal and has now firmly established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League. The Gunners upgraded on Aaron Ramsdale thanks to Raya, and while Vicario is a solid keeper, it’s hard not to feel like Spurs missed out with this one.

Jean-Clair Todibo

Another key area Spurs needed to work on last year was at centre-half, and Postecoglou eventually decided to bring in Micky van de Ven to partner Cristian Romero at the heart of defence. Suffice it to say, that was a great move.

The alternative at the time was Jean-Clair Todibo, but the Frenchman decided to stay with Nice for another year. He joined West Ham this summer, and has not made a great start to his time in London, making a number of mistakes and looking off the pace in the Premier League.

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Adam Wharton

In the January transfer window, Spurs were strongly linked with a move for Adam Wharton, who had been flourishing with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship. Crystal Palace managed to snap up the midfielder, and he very quickly proved he was more than ready for the step up to the Premier League.

Putting in a string of top performances as Palace thrived under Oliver Glasner at the end of last season, Wharton would eventually make it into Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024. Spurs are well-stocked in midfield, but Wharton would have been a great addition to that roster.

Federico Chiesa

The saga surrounding Federico Chiesa over the summer was an odd one. Deemed surplus to requirements at Juventus, reports in Italy strongly suggested Tottenham were eager to sign the winger, but sources closer to home rubbished this.

The Italian went on to join Liverpool, but has played just 18 minutes of Premier League football so far for Arne Slot’s side and has barely even made the matchday squad this season. As it stands, Spurs really dodged a bullet with this one.

Ivan Toney

After trudging on for a year in the wake of Harry Kane’s departure, Spurs needed to sign a new striker this summer. Most of the reports out there suggested it was a toss-up between Ivan Toney and Dominic Solanke, and Postecoglou opted to sign the latter, insisting he was always the top target.

Solanke has made a decent start at Spurs, scoring three goals and impressing with his high work rate and intense pressing game. Toney, meanwhile, failed to secure a move to any of the big clubs in England, and ended up at Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli. He’s scoring goals, but the standard of football there means his reputation has taken a considerable dip.

Spurs fans will be excited by what Pep Guardiola has previously said about a striker who Tottenham are reportedly plotting a move for.

Tottenham leading race for PL striker

While Liam Delap was always rated highly while coming through the ranks at Manchester City, the striker never managed to get a run in the first-team, making a total of just six appearances for his boyhood club.

Following a series of loan spells in the EFL, the centre-forward made a permanent switch to Ipswich Town this summer, and he has not taken long to get going at the newly promoted club.

The 21-year-old has already found the back of the net on four occasions for Kieran McKenna’s men, and this has attracted Tottenham’s attention, with CaughtOffside claiming last week that Spurs are leading the race for him.

Pep Guardioal’s endorsement of Liam Delap

Guardiola, who saw Delap up close for many years, is certainly not in any doubt over the striker’s talent, with the Spaniard giving a ringing endorsement of the youngster a couple of years ago.

He said back in 2022 about the City academy graduate (as relayed by BBC): “He is the type of striker we don’t have. He is a killer. A typical British striker.

“An incredible finisher. He has a special quality,” the manager added. “He is a different type of striker.”

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Will a deal be difficult for Spurs to do?

The aforementioned report from CaughtOffside suggested that Tottenham are not the only ones eyeing Delap, who is also on the radars of Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Aston Villa.

However, it was revealed that Ange Postecoglou’s men are in pole position in the race and are ‘keen to snap him up’ in January.

The publication added that an offer of around €40m (£33.3m) would be enough to prise the 21-year-old away from Portman Road Stadium, even though he only made the switch to Ipswich back in the summer.

The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust are up in arms after the club’s latest announcement regarding the ticket prices for the Europa League fixtures.

Europa League ticket prices at Spurs’ stadium

According to The Daily Mail, an adult ticket for the clash against Qarabag at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium cost £30 while Spurs decided to charge £35 for the clash against AZ Alkmaar.

The price increase led to a drop in attendance, with only 53,438 spectators attending Thursday’s game, which is 9,412 below full capacity.

However, despite this, Spurs have decided to charge a higher price for the clash against AS Roma on November 28.

THST not happy with Spurs announcement

It was announced on Friday that Tottenham’s clash against Roma would be ‘priced equivalent to Category C fixtures’. The cheapest Category C ticket is £38, while the most expensive Category C ticket (not including hospitality) is £81.

THST revealed that they had asked the tickets to be made available for a lower price and admitted that they were disappointed by the latest announcement.

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Decent attendance for Europa League fixtures

An attendance of 53,438 for a Europa League group stage game against Alkmaar on a Thursday night is actually pretty decent.

I am sure that the club are confident that they will get a near full house against Roma, even though they have jacked up the price.

While the match will likely be a dead rubber, the glamour of playing one of the biggest clubs in the Serie A elevates the size of the game.

Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness believes that Daniel Levy might be on the verge of making a big appointment at Tottenham.

Key position at Tottenham is vacant

At this point, it is unclear who is spearheading Spurs’ commercial operations after it was announced earlier this year that the club’s former chief commercial officer, Todd Kline, had accepted the same role at Chelsea.

Kline is currently on gardening leave and there has been no official communication from Tottenham regarding his replacement.

That is a position that would have to be filled soon, especially at a time when the club are seeking a naming rights partner and are reportedly in talks over a minority sale (The Sun).

Keith Wyness believes Spurs announcement is coming

Wyness believes that it will not be long before Tottenham confirm Kline’s successor, suggesting that Daniel Levy is likely to be in the final stages of confirming a new appointment.

He told Football Insider: “I’ve got no information on who the new chief commercial officer will be. It will be a good appointment, I’m sure, Daniel Levy is very good at getting the right people in.

“But he never seems to hang on to them for long – either in the commercial area or the operational area. It seems to be a pretty quick turnover of two to three years for each position.

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“It’s an area they need to get someone in place quickly, and I’m sure they are in the final stages of doing that – but I’ve got no names just yet.”

Have Spurs already appointed Todd Kline’s successor?

It was suggested by TBR Football on October 18th that Spurs might have already appointed Kline’s replacement behind the scenes even though they have not made it public.

The outlet pointed out that in the recently held Leaders Week, which is the biggest annual conference for sports business professionals, one of the attendees listed was the ‘chief commercial officer for Tottenham Hotspur’.

They claimed that a newcomer might have thus already begun working in that position on an informal basis.

Gary Neville explains why Ange Postecoglou’s men played a key role in getting Erik Ten Hag sacked from Manchester United.

Both Spurs and Man Utd struggling

Neither Spurs nor Man Utd have had the kind of starts they would have hoped for in the new 2024/25 Premier League season.

A quarter of the way into the campaign, the Lilywhites sit in eighth place with 13 points from nine matches, while United sit all the way back in 14th place.

The 2-1 loss to West Ham in the London Stadium proved to be the final nail in Ten Hag’s coffin, but Neville believes that the decision was coming since the loss to Tottenham.

Gary Neville says Spurs loss the catalyst for sacking

Neville admitted that he felt during United’s 3-0 loss to Spurs at Old Trafford a month ago that the writing was on the wall for the Dutchman.

He claimed that the United hierarchy would have begun their search for their new manager following that humiliation by Tottenham.

Speaking about Ten Hag’s sacking, the pundit told Sky Sports: “I thought it was coming. Looking at that Tottenham game a few weeks ago I felt I had seen this before. It was a bad day for Manchester United and a bad day for Erik ten Hag.

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“It’s got worse form then, yesterday (against West Ham) the missed chances were unacceptable, they should have been two up at halftime.

“Overall, the challenges of the results and performances have meant that the owners have decided to sack Erik ten Hag. I don’t think anybody will be truly shocked this morning.

“I suspect the Tottenham game was probably a catalyst for them to start thinking about a new manager. You look at who is available then you try to think of the timing. You are half hoping the manager can turn it around but 99 times out of 100, the tide is against you and continues to go against you.

“They’ve probably chosen a moment that was decided a few weeks ago – that the next bad loss or bad result, we’re probably going to have to act. That has come yesterday [vs West Ham]

“They would have started the process of finding Erik ten Hag’s successor, definitely, because that Tottenham game a few weeks ago did feel like the end.”

Not good news for Spurs

Ten Hag’s departure is not good news for Tottenham, considering that United are only two points behind the Lilywhites at the moment. Postecoglou will come under a lot of pressure unless he manages to turn things around quickly.

If the Red Devils do get a new manager bounce, they could well leapfrog Spurs very soon, given the difficult fixtures that the North London side have coming up.

Former Everton and Aston Villa CEO Keith Wyness believes that Tottenham’s hope of hosting one of the biggest sporting events on the calendar might soon become a reality.

NFL matches a big money-spinner for Spurs

Tottenham have an agreement with the NFL to host two games a year at their stadium and that is proving to be a big money-spinner for the club, with the Lilywhites earning substantially in food and drinks sales during those events.

It was reported by The Daily Mail earlier this month Spurs could have an opportunity to further boost their relationship with the NFL in the future.

It was explained that the NFL could look to have a permanent franchise based in London in the future and the city could even host the Super Bowl before 2035.

A big opportunity for Tottenham

Wyness believes that hosting the Super Bowl in London would be of major commercial benefit to the NFL and suggested that Tottenham may be in a prime position to benefit significantly if their stadium is chosen to hold the marquee event.

When asked about the possibility, he told Football Insider: “I think it is possible. I was talking to a couple of guys over for the NFL London games, and there are seven or eight cities on the rota to host the Super Bowl.

“Adding London to that could be an option. It would be attractive for the fans. They’ve got to get the timing right, but I think for the fans to be able to come to London – it could be a great attraction.

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“Everyone has really enjoyed coming across for the games. I do think it would be a spectacle which would play well. I think it’s good to have this international exchange of games.

“Super Bowl is usually sponsors and corporate, so London could give it a shot in the arm. Tottenham could put on a really popular event at their stadium for years to come and get all the financial benefits which come from that.”

Super Bowl would be huge for Tottenham’s brand

Some purists will not like Spurs’ stadium playing host to an event like the Super Bowl as they would see it as further evidence that Tottenham are morphing from a football club into an entertainment brand.

However, it can only be a good thing for the North London club if their brand gets more recognition and if their financial coffers are boosted.

Spurs are in a unique position to capitalise on the NFL’s attempts to strengthen themselves in the English market and they would be foolish not to capitalise on that.

Bournemouth have just come up with a plan to stop Tottenham Hotspur from signing Antoine Semenyo, a former Spurs employee has revealed.

Spurs eyeing Antoine Semenyo raid

After successfully signing Dominic Solanke in the summer, it has been reported that Tottenham could raid Bournemouth again for one of their star players.

This time, it is Semenyo who is on Spurs’ radar, with Ange Postecoglou’s men thought to have been extremely impressed by the winger’s performances this campaign (GiveMeSport).

Some sources have insisted over recent weeks that Cherries are determined to keep hold of the 24-year-old and are not in the mood to entertain any offers for him in January (TBR Football).

Bournemouth’s plan revealed

According to Mick Brown, who formerly worked as a scout for Spurs, Man Utd and West Ham, Andoni Iraola’s men are ready to take drastic measures to keep hold of Semenyo.

He says that the South Coast club are prepared to offer the winger a new deal, even though he only signed a contract extension this summer.

When asked about the speculation over Semenyo’s future, Brown told Football Insider: “I’m told a lot of this talk is agent-led. They’re putting out the word on their client to drum up interest in his signature.

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“That could land him a new deal at Bournemouth, because it’s a two-way thing. I know the club think highly of him and don’t want to see him leave so they could discuss a new contract to put off interest.

“But the agent will be saying that if they don’t offer a contract, there’s now interest from other clubs, so it’s a win-win situation for them. That’s how agents work these days, they’re always looking to make things happen.”

Semenyo’s transfer admission

Semenyo himself had admitted a little over a week ago that he is ready to make a step up to a club which can offer him European football.

When asked if he wants to join a top club, he told The Athletic: “Yeah, any team that plays Champions League, Europa (League) — that’s the aim. I know that’s not going to come with a click of my fingers, it’s going to take some time.

“It’s going to take goals. It’s going to take a lot of consistent performances. But I’ve worked all my life for that and I’m just going to continue working hard. That’s my mentality.”

Only time will tell if this statement was a part of the strategy from the player’s camp to force Bournemouth back to the negotiating table over a new contract.

Ange Postecoglou now has bad news on the injury front, with Wilson Odobert man suffering a serious setback on his road to recovery.

Tottenham new boy suffers setback

When Wilson Odobert dazzled in his Premier League debut against Everton, he would have been hopeful of quickly making his mark at Tottenham.

However, after a promising start, the winger picked up a hamstring injury which kept him out for more than a month.

The Frenchman finally returned to action last week, coming on as a substitute in the Europa League clash against AZ Alkmaar, but he once again suffered a set-back, missing the 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Ange Postecoglou explains Wilson Odobert’s situation

Postecoglou has now made a worrying revelation about the £25m summer signing, revealing that the winger has had a significant setback this week.

The 59-year-old explained that he is waiting for more information about the injury but admitted that is a ‘serious one’.

Postecoglou said ahead of the Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City (via The Standard): “It seems like it is a serious one so we’re just waiting for more information.”

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When asked if it was the aggravation of the same hamstring problem, the Spurs boss responded: “It’s not exactly the same [injury] but the same area.”

Big blow for Tottenham

Odobert’s absence is a big blow for Spurs as he is one of the few wide players at the club who can run at the opposition and go past defenders, which adds a different dimension to Tottenham’s attack.

Ange Postecoglou has delivered a rather confusing message about the team he is going to pick for the Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City.

Big game for Tottenham

If one subscribes to the idea that winning a trophy is more important for Tottenham this season than finishing in the top four, one can argue that the upcoming clash against Manchester City is the club’s biggest of the season so far.

If the Lilywhites get past the Premier League champions, they will be just two matches away from a big Wembley final and having a crack at ending their 16-year trophy drought.

However, Postecoglou’s latest confession about the team he is going to select might worry some Spurs fans.

Ange Postecoglou’s admission about starting eleven

Postecoglou has now hinted that he will do what he has done in all of Tottenham’s midweek games so far this season.

He pointed out that it is important to manage the minutes of some players, given that they played on Sunday, but insisted that whatever team he picks is one he believes can win the game.

When asked what sort of team we can expect, the Spurs head coach said (via The Standard): “We’ll do similarly to what we’ve done in all our mid-weeks games, Europe included, [which] is try to pick a team we think will win the game and take into account we did play Sunday.

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“Obviously City played on Saturday so we’ve got to make sure the players we put out there tomorrow are able to compete physically with what’s going to be on the other side of the pitch from us.

“The good thing is just about the whole squad’s had some kind of football so that means whatever changes we make the players coming in are at a good physical level.”

Postecoglou addresses fans’ concerns

Postecoglou was told that some supporters view the Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City as more important than the one against Aston Villa on the weekend.

However, the 59-year-old insisted that it is not his role to win “brownie points” with the supporters by prioritising one game over another.

Postecoglou added: “I’m not a supporter of this club, I’m the manager of this football club & I’d hate to think that any supporter of this football club thinks that I try harder in one game than another.

“Supporters can feel what they like, which is the most important game. But it would be the biggest injustice for me as a manager if I said, ‘We’re going to try harder tomorrow than we do at the weekend or we did last weekend’. It doesn’t work that way.

“You need to separate supporters of a football club from people who have the responsibility of representing it. Our responsibility lies with trying to be the best we can be every day for our supporters, for everyone who’s part of this football club. It’s not about trying to gain brownie points. That’s not what our role is.”