Cartilage Free Captain

There was some big time League Cup drama today as Manchester United lost away to League Two Grimsby Town in the Second Round today, 2 (12) - (11) 2. Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to NOT follow United’s example; they drew League One side Doncaster Rovers at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The match date is not yet assigned but will take place either the week of September 15 or 22.

In case you don’t have Bluesky, here’s a summary of the third round draw:

Port Vale vs. Arsenal

Swansea City vs. Nottingham Forest

Lincoln City vs. Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Doncaster

Brentford vs. Aston Villa

Huddersfield vs. Manchester City

Liverpool vs. Southampton

Newcastle vs. Bradford City

Sheffield Wednesday vs. Grimsby Town

Wolves vs. Everton

Crystal Palace vs. Millwall

Burnley vs. Cardiff

Wrexham vs. Reading

Wigan Athletic vs. Wycombe Wanderers

Barnsley vs. Brighton & Hove Albion

Fulham vs. Cambridge

If Doncaster sounds familiar to you, it’s because Spurs have a youngster on loan there — Damola Ajayi, who was scoring for fun in preseason but has just 4 appearances and 91 minutes thus far. It’s a favorable draw for Spurs to be sure — playing a League One side that just promoted from League Two last season at home is certainly better than playing them away, or drawing a club like Chelsea or Manchester Ci… hahahaha, on second thought…

This draw is distressingly low on Premier League clubs playing each other, but if you like the idea of big clubs playing away at small clubs, then this might be the round for you. Arsenal visiting Port Vale, Chelsea at Lincoln City, and Man City at Huddersfield are all highlights. Upsets are more likely when the shark visits the minnow’s home pond, so who knows! After all, Grimsby vs. Manchester United just happened.

Earlier in the month we reported on news that Tottenham Hotspur was close to an agreement to send 19-year-old Croatian central defender on loan to Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Then… nothing for a couple of weeks, which led some to think that maybe Luka was being set up to stay as Spurs’ 5th/6th option in central defense.

Maybe not. The Athletic (£) is now reporting that Spurs and Hamburg have an “agreement in principle” to send Vuscovic to Germany for a year. The loan is a straight (“dry”) loan, meaning there are no purchase options or obligations in the deal, and Vuskovic would return to Tottenham next summer.

As I wrote back in August, this would be a pretty ideal loan location for Vuskovic if the loan is finalized. He bossed it last season in Belgium with Westerlo as an 18-year-old, but as much as we joke about a “farmer’s league,” the Bundesliga is a real league with good teams. Hamburg just promoted back to the top flight so while they’re unlikely to be, y’know, good (they’ve drawn their only match so far this season) Vuskovic is likely to get some good first team minutes against good players. He’ll need that experience if he’s going to transition to a Premier League team that wants to compete in Europe and challenge at the top of the table.

Also, the article mentions that Vuskovic’s older brother Mario also plays for Hamburg, and that’s sure to ease any transition he might have to Germany.

In short, I loved this loan when it was first mooted on August 9 and I still love it. Sending Vuskovic to Germany for solid minutes is better than sticking around and only playing for Spurs in spot minutes, cups, and in case of injury.

I imagine we’ll get confirmation of this loan soon. And knowing my luck, it’ll be 10 minutes after I post this article (since that’s happened a lot this summer).

Today’s Tottenham Hotspur transfer article in the Independent likely won’t do much to calm anyone’s jittery nerves with just a few days left to go in the window. But it’s not nothing. Our good buddy Miguel Delaney writes that Spurs are scrambling to bring in additional reinforcements before the window slams shut on September 1, and that they are looking at a variety of players, including Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, West Ham’s Lucas Paqueta, Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman, Monaco’s Maghnes Akliouche, and even a potential late run at RB Leipzig attacker Xavi Simons, who has been linked with Chelsea the entire window.

Delaney states that Morgan Rogers is the priority target at the moment, but it could take a bid of £100m to get him out of Aston Villa, who are signalling they have no intention of selling him. Spurs are also wary of making a long-shot bid for a player that could fall apart in a high profile way, especially after the failed pursuits of Morgan Gibbs-White and Eberechi Eze. Paqueta could also be a very difficult transfer to get across the line, since Spurs have already purchase Mohammed Kudus from their cross-town rivals and Paqueta is seen as critical to whatever fortunes West Ham have for this season. Akliouche has also been on Spurs’ shortlist for a while now.

Lookman and Simons are new additions to this shortlist, at least as far as I’ve seen thus far. Lookman is a talented player and has excelled in Serie A, playing as both an attacking midfielder and forward, but he turns 28 in a couple of months, would be fairly expensive to sign, and would not be considered a long-term reinforcement for Spurs. Lookman does, however, want to leave Atalanta and could maybe be persuaded by a move to North London. Simons, by contrast, is still stuck in limbo after being linked with Chelsea in one of the more protracted transfer sagas of the summer; it remains to be seen if Spurs can take advantage of Chelsea dragging their feet over the transfer near the end of the window.

Look, none of this feels great, but at least the club is briefing that it’s still working on targets, rather than maintaining radio silence as they have most of the summer. We’ll just have to wait to see if any of these targets are actually targets, or if Spurs might try and pull another heretofore unknown rabbit out of their hat.

Lately, when I’ve had the opportunity to guest-write the Hoddle I’ve taken the opportunity to give y’all an update on my cancer journey. Since I last Hoddled, I finished my chemotherapy regimen (completed last January), only to discover another liver lesion on the same lobe I had removed last year, very close to the site of the original tumor. I had surgery in early July to remove that lesion, my third major surgery and second liver resection in 18 months.

My type of cancer, stage IV colon adenocarcinoma, has a high risk of recurrence, and I have genetic markers (KRAS+) that make me more likely to have another recurrence in the future. Because of that, my doctors have me on a very sensitive blood test, a circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) that looks for teeny tiny fragments of cancer DNA in my bloodstream. My oncologists were so concerned about me that they had me scheduled to start another 12-cycle round of chemotherapy if my test came back even marginally positive.

My test came back two weeks ago — undetectable levels of cancer DNA in my system. This means I’m clean and back in monitoring — no further chemo or systemic treatment, and I get tested again in November. It’s the best possible news I could’ve had.

Since my negative test, I’ve shifted my focus to what I should be doing to maximize my chances of staying negative. There’s a huge amount of holistic and naturopathic data that suggests I can help myself by changing my diet, avoiding excessive alcohol and processed foods, and really dialing in my microbiome to maximize the gut-head connection. I’m just starting this journey, but I figure I’ve got nothing to lose.

It’s not a difficult shift for me, really. I cook at home a lot and rarely eat out, and so it’s more a matter of getting more vegetables and lean protein in me regularly, adding fermented foods (sauerkraut, yogurt, kimchi), turmeric and turkey tail/reishi supplements, and probiotics. Exercise, meditation, drinking more water, better and more regular sleep. All stuff I really should be doing anyway, only this time I’ve got a really good reason for doing it — because I want to live to see my kids graduate from college, get married, have kids of their own.

Nothing’s a guarantee, but this sure does feel like a great opportunity to make some changes that will benefit me.

Are any of the rest of you on a similar journey? I’d love to hear about your experiences, maybe get some tips or advice.

Wolves knocked West Ham out of the EFL Cup in the 2nd round yesterday, winning 3-2. Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday knocked out Leeds.

Tottenham Hotspur’s summer transfer window is careening off the rails, but I have what may be good news for you: Fabio Paratici is coming back to take the wheel! That’s according to Ben Jacobs, writing an EXCLUSIVE in (lol) talkSPORT.

So we know Paratici’s story — the one time Director of Football at Juventus and then Tottenham, he was accused and later found guilty of financial malfeasance stemming from his time at the Old Lady involving the plusvalenza scandals during COVID. As a result, FIFA issued him an 18 month ban from football activities, during which Tottenham let him go and appointed Johan Lange as recruitment director. Paratici, meanwhile, hung around the fringes of the club as an “unofficial advisor.”

There were numerous reports that upon the conclusion of his football ban Paratici was set to return in a high-level role with either Spurs or another football club, but nothing official emerged. Now, according to Jacob, Paratici is expected to take charge of the recruitment efforts, beginning no later than October 1.

First things first — Ben Jacobs gets some things right, and gets other things wrong. His main claim as a journalist is that he tends to uncritically write up what agents tell him about player transfers, something that makes his record a little suspect and spotty. But not always incorrect!

If the rumors of Paratici’s return are accurate, and at this point we have no reason to think one way or the other about it, then it probably doesn’t mean much good for Lange’s future at the club. Despite signing two first team starters in Mohammed Kudus and Palhinha, the latter on loan, Spurs have had a number of embarrassing miscues and whiffs in the market, not all of which were the club’s fault. But it’s clear that the club’s ability to effectively close their priority targets has taken a significant hit this window.

To be clear, we don’t yet know what this means for Lange (or even if it’s accurate!). If it happens, Paratici would be taking the wheel and leading the overall recruitment direction, but it’s as possible that Lange stays on in some capacity as it is that he gets demoted or leaves the club entirely. That said if this transfer window stays as it is now for Tottenham without any additional high-profile signings, then a change in overall strategy is desperately needed, even if it means rolling back the clock to 2023 and cocking the Don Fabio Scattergun one more time.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma is set to leave the north London side and head to Turkey to join Galatasaray in the coming days.

After playing a crucial role in the Europa League final against Manchester United, Bissouma has started to find himself fazed out under new manager Thomas Frank.

Missing the Super Cup clash against PSG, Frank cited Bissouma’s late arrival to meetings and training sessions as the reason for his absence from Udinese, Italy.

Since then, Bissouma has trained with the side but has seemingly lost his place in the squad. With that, transfer rumors swirled around the 28-year-old with Spurs open to letting him go for the right price. Premier League sides, such as West Ham, were open to taking on Bissouma for a cheaper price.

According to Fabrice Hawkins, Spurs and Galatasaray are in the process of completing a deal for Bissouma to join the Turkish giants in the coming days.

Bissouma has had his highs and lows wearing the Spurs kit. We all recall the sending off he had at Luton Town two years ago for that horrific dive. But, Bissouma had bright moments with that Europa League final being one. And who else would you want DJ’ing the locker room as he kept spirits high during a tumultuous season that ended in glory.

The move will be good for both sides as Spurs move off of an aging midfielder who wasn’t in Frank’s plans, and for Bissouma to get a fresh start with a Champions League side.

I’m not going to pull out any more pretty pictures, but I bet you can probably find something better to do with your time than stew over what’s becoming a god-awful Tottenham Hotspur transfer window after reading this. According to David Ornstein in the Athletic, any Tottenham approach for Manchester City’s Savinho is contingent on City signing Rodrygo. This isn’t exactly news as we’ve more or less known or at least suspected this for a some time, but according to Diario AS, Rodrygo has now convinced Xabi Alonso that he should be a part of Madrid’s setup this season.

“Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of convincing Manchester City to contemplate selling them Savinho rests on City signing Rodrygo from Real Madrid. For that to materialize, Rodrygo would need to tell Madrid he wants to go, and The Athletic is not aware of this happening to date.”

—David Ornstein, The Athletic

Now, I know Diario AS is not an especially reliable outlet, but they do get most things right when it comes to Real Madrid. If this is accurate, it would render any approach from Tottenham effectively dead in the water. Combine that with reports that Arsenal have now agreed personal terms to sign Piero Hincapié and I’m not sure that this window could get any worse.

At this point I don’t know where Spurs go from here. After signing Mohammed Kudus from West Ham this summer, Spurs have whiffed on their top 3-4 transfer targets this summer, have no natural 10 on the roster after the injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, and lost a good chunk of their scoring and shot creation with the loss of Son Heung-Min. And weirdly, they’re 2-0 with an away win at Manchester City! Make it make sense!

There are five days left in the transfer window. Spurs still have massive holes in the side, no clear targets, and toxic vibes. Without a massive, massive shift in their fortunes, Johan Lange has to go.

We are two weeks into the season and we have had our share of looks at all the clubs this year. All this means now is the perfect time to go around the Premier League and see which clubs have the best and worst kits this year.

We start our journey with the home kits, and we’ll bring you the best/worst away kits tomorrow.

Anyways, here ya go:

That is a damn good home kit. And it’s one in which all the colours work to complement each other. But what really draws my eyes are those wonderful blue piping on the shoulders. The classic three-stripe Adidas looks pretty good here. And even the Adidas logo matches the blue piping and the blue on the crest. Exceptional work.

If Leeds show us whast to do with a home kit, then Spurs show us what not to do. The strange blue/gray on the shoulders into the pits doesn’t work. Everything looks off balance. And of course, that hideous red AIA is going nowhere.

I love the collar and the subtle designs that are knitted into this, apparently inspired by the “Molineux Pleasure Grounds”. And only three colours here: gold, black and white (the wolf’s eyes). Looks great.

I just don’t like this one. It’s too busy. The claret on the front has a pattern, plus you’ve got the gold piping around that plus a gold accent on the end of the sleeves.

Then there’s the sky blue shoulder/sleeves and white piping. It’s all too much.

This marks a big season for Everton, as they settle into their new stadium. It sits right alongside the River Mersey, which is the inspiration behind this year’s home kit. And it’s done to great effect.

I appreciate what Brentford are trying, but it’s not working.

The stich-necking on the collar doesn’t work. Plus it’s way too the kit sponsor and club crest, the black feels out of place and it sits just above the logo. There’s too much going on.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Come See About Me, by The Supremes

And now for your links:

Jack P-B ($$): “Eberechi Eze’s decision not to join Tottenham feels like history repeating itself. It might not be”

BBC: “Pride, passion & heartbreak - but Newcastle need end to Isak saga”

Barney Ronay: “Manchester United have sunk to ground zero, caught in an endless cycle of hope and regret”

Don’t you just love the transfer window? Rumors abound. Possibilities are endless. Dreams are crushed. And sometimes, you get all three within the space of a few hours.

Enter Piero Hincapie.

The Ecuadorian center back is a player Spurs have kicked the tires on for some time. He’s an exciting, ball-playing defender who loves to get forward, can deputize at left back, and would give Tottenham Hotspur a huge amount of flexibility in their squad as to potential matchday structures. He would also offset hugely the risk of losing Cristian Romero and/or Micky van de Ven to injury. The guy is a talent.

That’s probably why Spurs tested the waters a couple of weeks ago, according to Fabrizio Romano. The approach was apparently rebuffed, with the club not offering enough to tempt Bayer Leverkusen, but that hasn’t prevented the smoke around Hincapie from continuing to intensify. Fab then provided an update in the last couple of hours, saying Spurs have upped their offer, willing to negotiate a loan with option-to-buy deal in which Hincapie’s release clause is paid in full - just in a year’s time. He also indicated Spurs were discussing personal terms with Hincapie.

That all sounds… encouraging?

Enter David Orstein:

Alasdair Gold also indicated Hincapie isn’t an option for Spurs, and I am just disappointed all over again. It’s not often Fab and a couple of the more… trustworthy reporters disagree, and on this occasion I am inclined to trust both Gold and Ornstein. There’s a couple of reasons Fab may have got this one wrong:

Fab often gets info from agents. Hincapie’s agents are clearly keen on pushing a move, but maybe not to Spurs, in which case… pump up the publicity around Spurs’ interest to try drive other clubs to enter the race

Fab got info that said a London (or even North London) club was interested, and assumed based on Spurs’ previous attempt that this updated offer was coming from N17

Nobody knows what they are talking about

In all honesty, it kind of feels like option 1, and that is just an absolute killer after the way this transfer window has played out. The club has been used as a stalking horse on many an occasion in the past, but this window has felt a bit different, with Spurs struggling to fill clear gaps without their efforts dissolving into a mess of aggregator tweets.

This specific instance, though, very much feels like the transfer window in a nutshell:

Club targets player

Selling club rebuffs approach

Club returns with improved approach

Player isn’t especially interested but wants out, so agents leak information

Different outlets now have different sides of the story

Other clubs are interested

…

Profit?

I’m not quite sure how we get to that last step. Neither is Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, apparently. The club has struggled to sign players this transfer window. In fairness, they have set their sights high, but there are only so many times you can swing and miss before you are struck out. I still have a level of hope that Spurs will address some of the glaring holes in the squad before the end of the transfer window, and over the last few hours that hope started to steadily build and surge once more… before being dashed on the rocks below.

This is exhausting. Bring on deadline day, I say.

Ryan Mason is so far unbeaten as head coach at West Bromwich Albion, but this weekend’s draw against Portsmouth saw him get sent off.

The cause of the red card (or two yellows) were two questionable calls made that went against WBA. The second yellow came with roughly 20 minutes to go in the game, and Mace now faces a touchline ban.

NB: This video is unavailable to watch in the US, unfortunately. But here it is anyway:

It’s annoying some of us actually can’t see what happened in this tweet, but there were two yellow cards that Ryan Mason received:

The first incident occurs when the Baggies player (can’t identify who) is just about through on goal inside the six-yard line when the Portsmouth defender appears to make a pretty clumsy tackle, getting absolutely none of the ball. Mason and Co were screaming for a penaltyh that never came. Instead, Mason saw yellow (and I don’t mean the Portsmouth kits).

The second no-call was much more egregious. WBA’s Aunne Hegebo was clear on goal after a really nice through ball was delivered to him, beating the final defender. But Portsmouth’s defender can be seen grabbing Hegebo by the shoulder, a clear red card for denying him a goal-scoring opportunity. A furiou Mason could be seen bangin his hand on the ground before he was sent off.

According to the BBC’s match report, WBA assistant manager Nigel Gibbs after the game said “everyone in the stadium thought it was a penalty” aside from the referees. And I have to agree with Mason here. There were two very clear missed calls.

With the draw, West Brom sit fourth in the table on goal differential. And it’s got to be very frustrating, as those two points could be a big difference towards the end of the season.

A quick look at the footie stats also shows me this was Ryan Mason’s first ever red card (or double-yellow-to-red card). It’s one heck of a way to do it.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Frankenstein, by the New York Dolls

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “The fascinating thing Thomas Frank did in the dugout and Tottenham’s Savinho transfer hope”

The Athletic ($$): “The Thomas Frank tactic that was crucial to Tottenham beating Manchester City”

The Standard: “Thomas Frank reveals Tottenham half-time team talk which saw off Man City”

The Guardian: “Nuno Espírito Santo to hold talks with Nottingham Forest owner over future”

And now for your extra link:

BBC: “Semenyo wants jail and life bans as racist abuse punishments”

BBC, pt. 2: “Sikh owners, Sikh manager - what Morecambe takeover means to community”

CBS Sports: “USMNT star Weston McKennie target of racial abuse after Juventus win vs. Parma, club says”