Cartilage Free Captain

Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of A Look At The Month Ahead, where we at hoddle headquarters take a look at all things Tottenham in the month to come.

I feel like I’m diving into this month eyes-wide shut. Can you really blame me, though, when you look at the two men who are behind the steering wheel? (Pretend, for this analogy, that it’s a tandem steering wheel).

Still, there’s a fair amount of football to play, so let’s get to it.

Tottenham Hotspur women:

The women’s squad is coming into this month a little bit humbled after a 5-2 defeats against Arsenal and Manchester City in back-to-back weeks. Spurs are fifth in the table of the Women’s Super League, but these two results show us there remains a sizable gap between Tottenham and the top four.

Still, it’s a big improvement from last year. The manager at the heart of this improvement, Martin Ho, was recently handed a new, long-term contract with the club (although the club did not actually say how long this one was).

This month doesn’t get any easier with a derby against Chelsea in the Women’s FA Cup and a home game against Manchester United later this month.

It’s a pretty tough end to the season. If we’re looking even further ahead, there’s still matches against London City and Brighton (who sit seventh and sixth in the table, respectively).

April schedule: at Chelsea (FA Women’s Cup, 6 April); Manchester United (26 April)

Tottenham Hotspur men:

Gosh, where do I even begin?

Tottenham sit one point above the relegation zone and have a new manager in Roberto De Zerbi, whose appointment was met with vociferous opposition from this community and a swathe of other Spurs fan groups.

There are seven games left in the Premier League season. One of those includes De Zerbi’s former club. Another is against bottom-club Wolves. This doesn’t look like a club that’s winning and the mood, from my observations, are even more rancid today than they were when Spurs lost 0-3 to Forest the other weekend. That’s saying a lot.

April schedule: at Sunderland (12 April), vs Brighton (18 April), at Wolves (25 April)

Fitzie’s track of the day: New Birth In New England, by Phosphorescent

And now for your links:

Dan Kilpatrick: “Spurs and Roberto De Zerbi – would it be worth alienating a section of the fanbase?”

The Guardian: “Tottenham Supporters’ Trust expresses ‘serious concerns’ over De Zerbi’s support for Greenwood”

Football London: “Tottenham announce gigantic loss and reveal huge debt in latest financial results”

The Times: “Roberto De Zerbi signs five-year Tottenham deal and will stay if relegated”

This is a very dark and sad day for many Tottenham Hotspur supporters. I don’t have to tell you that. Nor do I need to tell you about my personal opinion on today’s appointment of Roberto De Zerbi as the newest head coach of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

But I will anyway: I hate it. I hate that it happened, I hate that it has apparently been a club priority since last summer, and I hate that despite volumes of negative reactions, including public statements from five of Tottenham’s most prominent and public official supporters groups — the Supporter’s Trust, Proud Lilywhites, THFC Flags, Women of the Lane, SpursREACH — the club has decided to ignore them and do what it wants without regard. Tottenham Hotspur is now managed, ostensibly for the next five years, by a hotheaded and irascible person who is on record not only actively recruiting, but defending a credibly-accused sexual assaulter. It really, really sucks.

I have been thinking about what Cartilage Free Captain should do as a blog in the wake of this appointment. I want to begin by saying that I respect the opinions of any supporters or readers of this blog that wish to end their support for the club, or take a “hiatus,” or whatever that means to you. I get it. I understand completely, and I would never criticize supporters for making a decision to step back from support over a sports club that fails to meet your moral and ethical expectations.

This blog is in a different situation. We chronicle news. We make a home for Spurs fans who may not feel comfortable in other parts of the club’s fandom. We try to make space for fun, for goofiness, for expressions of fandom that don’t exist elsewhere, and I want to continue to be a place for fans who want to continue to engage with the club. This place is, first and foremost, a community of fans. That will not change.

Also I feel Carty Free has an obligation to chronicle and continue to report on the club during the De Zerbi era. Managers come and go. Players come and go. CEOs and Sporting Directors come and go. The club and its fans remain, and so will this blog. I can’t force any of you to continue checking the blog, but we will continue to be here, talking about and sometimes arguing over this crazy north London club with the silly name and a chicken on its badge. To do otherwise feels like a betrayal to everything this community is and has built over the past 16 years.

That said, this is still a blog with an opinion, and I intend to exercise that opinion frequently. You may not always agree with that, which is fine. The comments are, and have always been, an outlet for free (and respectful) conversation and debate. However, I have not and will not tolerate apologia for what De Zerbi has said and done about Mason Greenwood while at Marseille, nor will I tolerate defense of Greenwood’s actions on any grounds. That is a hard red line for me and I will enforce it strictly.

We will continue to cover men’s matches as we have done, though I am planning to continue the cessation of player ratings until at least the end of the season. I also plan to further increase coverage, as much as I am able, of Spurs Women who are also caught up inadvertently in this whole drama. The chaos of the men’s team doesn’t mean you should not support the Women — in fact, supporting Spurs Women may make what’s happening right now a little easier to take. They are a good team full of likeable players and characters. They are having a good season. They deserve your full-throated and vigorous support, now more than ever.

This is a time of anger, sadness, and frustration for many. It may be a time of excitement and hope for others. The blog’s stance on Roberto De Zerbi is now apparent, but I do want to make space for those who may disapprove of the manager but still want to support the club. Please keep your interactions with each other respectful, kind, and introspective, as the vast majority of you do and have done. Exercise patience, and kindness. We need more of that now more than ever. And remember that nothing lasts forever.

For those of you who are leaving, we will miss you, and we will be here if you ever decide to return. For the rest, remember that no matter what happens with this stupid, stupid club, the community remains.

In Ledley we trust.

—Dustin George-Miller

Managing Editor, Cartilage Free Captain.

“I am delighted to be joining this fantastic football club, which is one of the biggest and most prestigious in the world.

“In all my discussions with the club’s leadership, their ambition for the future has been clear – to build a team capable of reaching great achievements, and to do that playing a style of football that excites and inspires our supporters. I am here because I believe in that ambition and have signed a long-term contract to give everything to deliver it.

“Our short-term priority is to climb the Premier League table, which will be the complete focus until the final whistle of the last game of the season. I’m looking forward to getting out on the training pitch and working with these players to achieve that.”

”The fact is that he hired him [Greenwood] as a player, and then continue to publicly back him and support him, sympathise with him. For me, that’s just unforgivable. I think that speaks to the character of De Zerbi.

”I don’t want him anywhere near my football club.

“This is about how we feel, this is about values, this is about integrity and, ultimately, it’s about safety. It’s about women feeling that they are safe around other men.”

”All I can see is that Mason seems a good lad, he paid in a strong way for what happened. He has probably here found the right environment for him, which gave him affection, and held out its hand to him.

“When I look at him as a person, I feel sad for what happened in his life, without getting into the details. Because the person I know here is very different to the one that has been described, especially in England.”

Despite criticism from some Marseille fans over signing Greenwood - which stemmed from the one-time England international previously being accused of attempted rape, assault and coercive and controlling behaviour, before all charges were dropped - De Zerbi has stuck by the 22-year-old. Before Greenwood signed, he said: “What I can say is that once a player signs with Marseille, all the players, he becomes like a son to me and I will protect him from anyone. If I have to pull their ears or put him against the wall I will — but in front of people, I will defend him like a son.”

The Athletic says that De Zerbi’s words ‘resonated’ with the former Getafe loanee, who later gave his approval for the transfer to Marseille.

—Goal.com

Good morning everyone and welcome to your monthly EFL Championship Roundup, where hoddle headquarters takes a look at all things in the second tier of the English football pyramid. This has been a regular feature of the hoddle for years and one I hope I do not have to change to the “Premier League” roundup next year.

——

Tottenham Hotspur aren’t the only club out there frantically searching for a new manager.

Bristol City have announced that Roy Hodgson - yes, ROY HODGSON - is taking over the club for the remainder of the season.

The Robins’ season started well enough but have collapsed in 2026. They have a 4-3-8 record since the turn of the year, and are winless in their last five games (honestly, I’d take that at this point).

They now sit 16th in the Championship, although are comfortably well above the drop zone (12 points clear). Stil, you never quite know in the Championship.

And I guess that’s why they brought ol’ Roy out of retirement. For him, this is nothing more than a short-term stint to see the club through the remainder of the season.

You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Bristol City for making a solid short-term hire who can steady the ship before looking for a permanent manager in the summer. This guy’s got some good credentials, too, even if he’s been out of the game a couple of years.

Bristol City will probably sit comfortably if they can take care of business against Charlton this weekend.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty close race to the bottom.

Blackburn Rovers, West Brom, Portsmouth, Leicester City and Oxford United are all separated by just four points (with Wednesady a distant, distant 24th place).

Here are a couple relegation six-pointers I want to put on your radar in the coming weeks:

Portsmouth vs Oxford United (6 April)

Blackburn vs WBA (6 April)

Portsmouth vs Leicester City (18 April)

Blackburn vs Leicester City (2 May)

There are some other games out there with relegation permutations (and more!). All this is gearing up to a heck of a final month of football.

EFL Championship Top Six (39 MP unless otherwise specified):

Coventry (80 Pts, +41 GD)

Middlesbrough (71 Pts, +22 GD)

Ipswich Town (69 Pts, +28 GD, 38 MP)

Millwall (69 Pts +9 GD)

Hull City (66 Pts, +5 GD)

Southampton (63 Pts, +15 GD)

Bottom Three:

Fitzie’s track of the day: One Thing At A Time, by Courtney Barnett

And now for your links:

The Telegraph: “De Zerbi facing Tottenham fans’ backlash before he has even taken job”

The Guardian: “Igor Tudor has gone but Tottenham are still hollow, confused and in deep trouble”

The Athletic ($$): “Mauricio Pochettino insists he is open to staying on as USMNT coach after World Cup”

BBC: “‘This is bigger than football’ - DR Congo bid to end 52-year World Cup wait”

It’s grim out there, folks. News from multiple outlets including Fabrizio Romano (ugh) and The Athletic that Tottenham are deep in discussions with former Brighton and Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi to become the next permanent manager of Tottenham Hotspur. The Athletic had earlier reported that De Zerbi was reluctant to join the club now and would want to wait to the summer for a hypothetical appointment. But Ben Jacobs has an EXCLUSIVE that a breakthrough has been reached on a long-term contract that would see De Zerbi take charge of Spurs’ relegation-threatened team now.

God, this makes me so angry. Set aside De Zerbi’s apologia for sexual assault and his support of credibly-accused rapist Mason Greenwood — and the statements in opposition from this blog, Proud Lilywhites, SpursREACH, and other prominent supporter groups. I just can’t fathom what in De Zerbi’s record makes him the one candidate that Spurs seem to be pulling out all the stops for. He’s like Antonio Conte, but without any of the success. And in the process of appointing him, clearly not listening to the supporter base, they are running counter to and even setting fire to the culture and community that make this club what it is.

I’m not surprised De Zerbi was holding out for a long-term contract. When things end up going badly, and it inevitably will go badly, he’ll be able to bounce after a year or 18 months or whatever and rack up a huge payday. It’s maddening.

Now is the time, if you are in opposition to the idea of Roberto De Zerbi taking over as manager, to make your voice heard. I have sent another email to the club, including supporterservices@tottenhamhotspur.com, vinai.venkatesham@tottenhamhotspur.com, and the emails of several prominent members of the board at Tavistock. I would encourage you to do likewise.

Good morning everyone.

For those of you who haven’t checked the hoddle these last few weeks, then you might’ve missed that I’ve begun documenting my training for my next marathon, which is on 4 April. The goal is to smash by personal best and see just how close to a 3-hour marathon I can get (pretty close, I think).

The whole point of this is to almost document my anxiety from all this training. It’s a big commitment to run a marathon. The worst of winter has come and gone, although it could return this week. Still, we’re counting down the remaining weeks until race day.

(Catch up on Weeks 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 here)

Week 16:

This is it - it’s race week! After months of training in difficult conditions and hundreds of miles run, it is nearly time for the day of the marathon.

I’m in my second week of the two-week taper feeling pretty good. I hardly was able to run from Tuesday through Saturday because of work and travel, but I did a nice Sunday run to remind myself that I’ve still got plenty of conditioning in me. Plus I try to remind myself of some of all the running I’ve done. That includes:

Four 16-mile runs

Three 18-mile runs

Two 20-mile runs

One 20-mile run

All but one of those runs were done in challenging conditions: sub-freezing temperatures, rain, snow and blustery winds. It was the most brutal training blocks I’ve endured.

That gives me a little bit of confidence heading into this weekend. It’s going to be raining all week in New Hampshire, including on Satuday, and the temperatures are going to dip.

The anxiety is beginning to build, so I’m very much focusing on resting the rest of the week (especially to make up for the lack of sleep from last week). So I’ve got some easy runs in store, plus I’m going to spend a lot more time reading.

Essentially: Less running, more sitting.

Sunday: 12 miles

This might’ve been about two miles more than I should have done, but the lack of running the five days before this really got to me. I wanted to feel like I could run again, so I took it very, very easy.

The hardest part of the run was actually dodging all the tourists around the cherry trees. Perhaps that’s just practice for this weekend.

Monday: Rest

Today’s plan: Sleep, relax. That’s all I’ve got, plus some light stretching.

Tuesday: 3 mile recovery

Easy run. Not shooting for any records here.

Wednesday: 4 miles

This will also be a pretty easy run. I’m considering breaking the run down like this:

Just to get me remembering what running at MP is like

Thursday:3 miles easy

Another very easy run just to get some fresh air before my flight to New Hampshire.

Friday: 2 mile shakeout

There’s lots of debate over how much to run a day before a marathon (if at all). I like to run a little bit. I think a shakeout will be necessary the day after a flight, too, just to loosen up the legs. Then there’ll be some stretching and lots of time watching television.

Saturday: RACE DAY

The big day - get excited !!! There’ll be a full hoddle to come later this week!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Runnin’ Down A Dream, by Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Roberto De Zerbi and the tricky new Tottenham manager scenario after Igor Tudor exit”

BBC: “Spurs want De Zerbi to be new permanent boss”

The Athletic ($$): “Tottenham had to part ways with Igor Tudor, but this shambles goes far beyond just him”

Matt Law: “Tottenham Hotspur part company with Igor Tudor”

The Independent: “Next Tottenham manager: Six options to replace Igor Tudor”

”Jermain’s achievements as a player speak for themselves, but what stood out to us during the process was how he sees the game, how he drives standards, and his approach to leadership and player development.

“We have a clear plan for where we want to go as a club, and we believe Jermain is the right person to build on the strong foundations already in place and help take us forward in the next phase of that journey.”

Igor Tudor’s time at Tottenham Hotspur has come to an end.

Tottenham on Sunday announced they and Igor Tudor have agreed to mutually part ways after 44 days in charge and one point above the drop zone.

The Croatian won one point in his five Premier League games in charge, with Spurs’ 0-3 home defeat appearing to be the result that sealed his fate.

Tudor went on bereavement leave immediately following the game, which Spurs acknowledged in their statement:

“We also acknowledge the bereavement that Igor has recently suffered and send our support to him and his family at this difficult time,” the club said.

Tottenham also announced Tomislav Rogic and Riccardo Ragnacci have also left their roles with the club.

The club did not announce a replacement.

Fitzie’s note: This is just a short post to get you all started in your commenting desires. Menno or Sebastian will take over proper writing duties when they’re back.

Fitzie’s track of the day - sorry force of habit

We haven’t really talked about it here, which is partially my fault for not bringing it up, but Tottenham Hotspur Women have a HUGE league match today. It’s the Women’s North London Derby, and Spurs Women are heading to the Emirates.

Earlier this season Spurs were level on points with Arsenal in fourth place in the WSL. Recent results — losses to Chelsea, Everton and Manchester City — have changed that. Arsenal are six points ahead of Spurs in the table and also have two games in hand. But Spurs are still in fifth, nine points above Everton, and are well positioned back in their usual place of Best of the Rest.

It’s hard to overemphasize how much of a gulf there has been between Arsenal and Spurs Women. Arsenal are a women’s football juggernaut, winner of multiple top division trophies. Spurs only promoted to the top division in 2019. But that gulf has narrowed significantly in recent years. Spurs and Arsenal have played each other 20 times; Spurs have beaten Arsenal only twice in that time, with four draws, all of them recently.

To be sure, Arsenal are a better team right now that Spurs. They’re bigger, richer, more talented. They’re playing at the Emirates today in what will be a well-supported and charged atmosphere. But Spurs under Martin Ho have a puncher’s chance of picking up an upset, or at least a result. They’ll have to play exceedingly well to do so, but they’ve got a chance.

Lineups

Lineups will be posted when released by the clubs.

How to Watch

Arsenal Women vs. Tottenham Hotspur Women

Emirates Stadium, North London, England

TV: not televised (USA), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)

Stream: ESPN Select (formerly ESPN+)