Cartilage Free Captain

Tottenham Hotspur fans aren’t very happy right now and with good reason. That feeling is mostly directed at first year Spurs manager Thomas Frank, who has underachieved this season and is coming off of a humiliating 3-0 away loss to Nottingham Forest, who entered the match just above the relegation zone in the table.

But if you thought that meant Spurs would be posting a photo of a stadium detail on social media and appointing an interim head coach, think again. According to an article in The Athletic yesterday by Jack Pitt-Brooke, while Tottenham officials have held discussions about Thomas Frank, they are at present making the decision to stay the course and give Frank the time and resources he needs to succeed in the position.

Spurs have been in this position before, many many times. But until now it’s always been under the leadership of former chairman Daniel Levy, who was let go earlier this season by the Lewis family in an attempt to modernize Tottenham’s fooball operations. Spurs fans had a pretty good idea of what Daniel Levy would do in this situation — replace the coach — but we have no idea what this new group of executives and owners are thinking or what their predilections are. The Lewis family and CEO Vinai Venkatesham have made it clear in the past that they are shooting for long term, sustained success on the football pitch, but that the club needed to change to be a more modern footballing organization. This is the clearest indication yet that the Lewis Kids are taking the long view. It’s not a formal and public declaration of support (the dreaded “Vote of Confidence”) but it’s pretty significant.

You can understand the impulse. It doesn’t take much of a genius to see that there are bigger problems at Tottenham than simply who is leading the team in training and out onto the pitch. Spurs have an extremely flawed squad that’s still hurt by several long term key injuries, and there are major questions to both the construction of the squad over the past few summers and the overall organizational structure from the top down. If you subscribe to the theory that when the team plays bad the head coach gets sacked, then that’s evidence towards letting Frank go. But the “Magic Manager” theory isn’t a magic bullet, or else Spurs would have a lot more success over the last two decades than they have. There are big questions that need to be addressed, and not all of them can be fixed by replacing the manager. The efficacy of Co-Sporting Directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici are part of this equation as well, especially with a January transfer window upcoming, and it seems as though, for now, the new Spurs leadership is giving Frank the space to try and do what he can to turn things around.

That doesn’t mean that Frank is ultimately the right guy to lead Tottenham Hotspur. There are, as we have discussed ad nauseum on this blog, big, big questions about Frank’s tactics, personnel decisions, and team play and just because the board are backing him now doesn’t mean he’s going to be in charge this coming summer, or in March, or even in January. A lot can happen in football that can force a club’s hand, and Spurs have a tough challenge this weekend when Liverpool come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The one thing that pretty much all Tottenham Hotspur supporters can agree on is that Spurs have not historically been a well-run club from an organizational level. Now, that’s gotten significantly muddied since the owner uprising that led to the sacking of Daniel Levy by the Lewis Kids, but there’s been so much change at the executive level over the past number of years you’ll be forgiven if you can’t remember all the backroom staff who have come and gone (remember Todd Kline?)

So I bring you this news with very little opinion or judgement — according to David Ornstein in The Athletic, Spurs are in advanced talks to appoint Manchester City football executive Rafi Moersen as Head of Football Operations. Moersen is currently Head of Football Transactions with the City Group, and previously worked with DC United and NYCFC in MLS.

What does this mean? Beats me! Most of Ornstein’s article provides a summary of the executive shuffling and changes that have gone on at Spurs over the past few months and years, and it’s not especially clear what it is exactly that Moersen will be doing at Tottenham. Is his position one that is above those of co-Sporting Directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici? Is it under? What is his remit and what will he do? We have no idea! I’d kill for a Tottenham Hotspur org chart!

I’d like to say that appointing a former City execeutive to Spurs would be a good thing but we tried that once before with Scott Munn and that clearly didn’t work out either, so I don’t really have a ton of guidance on how to interpret this. What we can intuit is that at minimum there’s recognition by the Lewis Kids that Spurs need(ed) an organizational shakeup, and Moersen fits into that org structure, somehow. I guess we’ll have to wait to figure out what that means. I hope he’s good!

With all the talk surrounding Thomas Frank’s future at Tottenham lately, I thought it could be time to check in two other Spurs-related mangers whose jobs are also under scrutiny: Scott Parker and Ryan Mason. Both have failed to live up to expectations so far this season. Will either survive?

In the case of Parker, his Burnley side look doomed for relegation after a record-setting spell in the Championship last season. They’ve lost their last five matches after beating Wolves in late October. They now sit 19th in the Premier League and six points adrift of safety (plus a worse goal differential than Leeds).

For those who’ve followed Parker’s managerial career, one could make the argument that this isn’t very surprising. All that’s a shame because he is a fantastic dresser.

But look at his career: Promoted Fulham after a caretaker spell, relegated with Fulham and then left by mutual consent. Brought Bournemouth back to the Premier League in 2022, and then sacked after a dismal return to the Premier League. Then he had a strange stint with Club Brugge, an appointment that was never going to work out. It didn’t. He was sacked.

Now we’ve got a similar story brewing with Burnley. Parker guided Burnley back to the Premier League and is now flirting with relegation. This begs the question if he’s capable at managing in the Premier League. I do wonder if he’ll get the sack again (they should’ve beaten Forest for Sean Dyche). With a realistic shot at survival, one wonders if the higher-ups are considering it.

And then there’s Mason, who’s struggling in his first big-boy job at West Bromwich Albion. The Baggies entered the season with an eye on the playoffs at a minimum. They’re currently six points away and currently sitting in 16th place.

They were unlucky to lose to Coventry in November after blowing a 2-0 lead (owing to a stupid foul from Jayson Molumby).

And perhaps a 2-0 win against Sheffield United this past weekend gave Mace a little more breathing room, but how much? Aune Heggebo seems to be doing the most to salvage the season for Mason but there are challenging games coming up against Hull City, Bristol City and QPR before the a winnable game at Swansea.

I would think even mixed results there would put Mason in a difficult position because he’d have Leicester and Middlesbrough coming up right after that.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Cobra, by Geese

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Thomas Frank could be saved at Tottenham by crucial technicality ahead of transfer call”

BBC: “What fans, insiders and stats say about embattled Frank”

The Independent: “Enzo Maresca defiant over bombshell ‘worst 48 hours’ at Chelsea comment”

Look, nobody wants to talk about Tottenham Hotspur right now, I get it. It’s fine and completely understandable. So instead, let’s talk about a player who USED to be at Tottenham Hotspur but has managed to escape from its evil clutches and make his own way. According to Fabrizio Romano, former Spurs left back Sergio Reguilon has come to an agreement to sign with MLS Cup champions Inter Miami on a free transfer. Reguilon has been without a club since being cut by Spurs this past summer.

With the signing of Reguilon, Inter Miami are moving from the desiccated corpse of Jordi Alba to someone… well, at he’s least younger than Alba, right? Reguilon actually makes a lot of sense for Inter Miami, and MLS makes a lot of sense for Reggie. Say what you want about his time at Tottenham, he proved at minimum that he could be a somewhat cromulent Premier League caliber fullback after loan spells at Manchester United and Brentford.

At Inter Miami, Reguilon will presumably be given the keys to the starting left back position and will get to play with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets. And he gets to live in Miami, a famously pleasant climate in which to exist and play football. Not too shabby. And it’s hard to feel too bad for him considering he won a Europa League medal with Spurs last season despite playing a grand total of 196 minutes.

It took a while, but it sure looks like Sergio managed to land on his feet and with a club that recently won a trophy. Good for him.

Welcome to another edition of Trending Up / Trending Down, where Hoddle Headquarters takes a look at all things Spurs to see who and what is trending up, and who’s trending down. Let’s get started:

Trending Up:

Champions League hopes: A win over Slavia Praha last week has Spurs sitting comfortably in 11th in the Champions League standings. They need just one point to make it out of the ‘group stage’ and have a chance to get a straight ticket into the knockouts. But that all depends on how they perform against Dortmund next.

James Maddison content: Oh look, another Madders recovery video dropped this weekend. Might be the best 45 minutes put together by Spurs:

Trending Down:

Thomas Frank: Things are looking pretty bad for Thomas Frank right now, and I do wonder how much confidence this new Spurs ownership structure has in him. The football is terrible, the stats and vibes even worse. With games against Liverpool and Crystal Palace coming up, I don’t see how Spurs pick up another point before 2026 rolls around.

Guglielmo Vicario: I’m certainly not advocating for putting in Antonin Kinsky ahead of Vicaro, but the Italian keeper’s had a few bad looks in recent weeks. First was that ridiculous attempt against Arsenal, and then a horrendous clearance against Forest on Sunday.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Good Morning Blues, by Ella Fitzgerald

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Thomas Frank expresses need for time at Tottenham after Forest defeat: ‘This is not a quick fix’”

The Telegraph: “Spurs must sign a new goalkeeper in January after indefensible display”

BBC: “‘Burning, annoying’ - Frank calls for time after ‘very bad’ Spurs loss”

Alasdair Gold: “Every word Thomas Frank said on his Tottenham future, Djed Spence incident and strange substitution”

Burn after reading. Tottenham Hotspur have not enjoyed their matches against Nottingham Forest the past few seasons, and today was another disheartening performance at the City Ground. Tottenham looked second best from the opening kick, conceded a brace to Callum Hudson-Odoi and an absolute cracker from Ibrahim Sangare, and shambled to a 3-0 loss to Forest on Sunday.

The stats are grim: Forest out-xG’d Spurs 1.91-0.37, and out-shot them 15-6 despite the possession being basically even. Tottenham actually looked somewhat okay defensively — two of the goals were flukish — but once again looked completely lost going forward with no creativity, terrible passing, and a complete lack of ideas of what to do when the ball got near the Forest area. This was against a Forest team that started the match in 17th place and that’s on its third manager of the season.

It was bad, folks. Real, real bad.

The loss drops Spurs down to 11th in the table, well off the pace for anything close to European qualification, and not exactly setting a good tone as they head into the crowded festive fixture period. There was not much to like today.

Here are my match reactions.

Match reactions

The past few matches have seen Spurs take advantage of over-matched opponents through movement and incisive passing. The opening part of this match felt like a real regression. Spurs just looked off the pace from the opening kick.

Simulating contact doesn’t feel like a Sean Dyche thing, but Forest’s players got away with two pretty obvious dives in the opening half hour while also giving cheap shots off the ball to Spurs players (e.g. Murillo’s super dirty shoulder barge on Xavi).

Archie got dispossessed on Forest’s opening goal, but Vicario did him super dirty. There’s no reason for him to make that outlet pass when Archie was under pressure. That goal was 70%-30% Vicario’s fault, imo.

I know it’s the fan’s job to support their team and harass the away players, but god, Forest’s crowd was just miserable, booing and screaming every time one of their players got touched. Obnoxious.

No way to sugar-coat it — an awful first half. Ball progression was… okay, not great but okay, but there again did not appear to be a plan on how to get the ball into areas where Spurs could generate an attack. Richarlison completely invisible, Kolo Muani isolated, Simons neutered, Kudus intractable. Pretty gross stuff.

Look, I’m obviously not a professional head coach of a Premier League football team but I’m not sure Ben Davies and Joao Palhinha are the guys you want to bring in when you’re down 2-0 midway through the second half and haven’t generated much of anything by way of offense. (Bergvall I give a pass to)

This was a bottom 10% Guglielmo Vicario performance. He was very, very bad. Same goes for Richarlison, who didn’t attempt a single pass in the first half. Nobody was very good in this one, but those two in particular stood out.

Pedro Porro lost his head midway through the first half after he got (dirtily) popped in the mouth by Elliot Anderson and never put his head back on. He was raging out there and was taken completely out of his game.

The worst part about this loss is that Forest never seemed to get out of first gear. They weren’t very good. Spurs were just comprehensively worse in every facet of the match, and that’s pretty damning on everyone involved, including Thomas Frank.

What did we learn from this match? I don’t think much. We know what’s wrong with this Spurs side, and we know that Tottenham have put in this kind of performance in matches a lot more often than they have looked good. Spurs were outplayed and out-managed today by a team just above the relegation zone today. An extremely disheartening match to have to suffer through on a Sunday.

Was your Christmas wish a visit from Sange-a Claus? Sorry to disappoint, but the shade of red you’re about to see is slightly different: we’re on our way to see the Ginger Mourinho instead.

That’s right, Tottenham Hotspur are headed to Nottinghamshire to take on Sean Dyche’s iteration of Nottingham Forest, following the axing of both Spurs alums Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou (by which I mean their firings at Forest, not Spurs - though both are technically correct, the best kind of correct). Dyche has more than steadied the ship at the Tricky Trees, picking up wins against Porto and Liverpool, as well as a point against Manchester United.

The ship seems to have righted somewhat as well at Spurs. Thomas Frank’s rotations finally seem to have found some sort of balance, and summer signing Xavi Simons has hit form, creating what looks like some semblance of cohesion on the pitch. What hasn’t righted for Spurs though is the injury situation, with Destiny Udogie and Brennan Johnson the latest to enter the medical ward (though Frank has said he expects Johnson to be available against his old club).

It’s hard to say which way this one will go. Spurs’ away form has been quietly excellent, but this Forest side looks a different proposition under Sean Dyche. Frank and the team can’t estimate the challenge this match could present. I’m quietly confident - let that not be the death knell for this match!

COYS!

Lineups

Lineups will be posted closer to kick-off.

Live Blog

How to Watch

Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Hotspur

The City Ground, Nottingham, UK

Sunday, December 14, 2025

Time: 9:00 a.m. ET, 2:00 p.m. UK

TV: Not televised in USA, Sky Sports Football (UK). Check international listings at livesoccertv.com

Streaming: Peacock

Match thread rules

The match thread rules are the same as always. To any visitors coming here for the first time, welcome! We’re glad you’re here! Wipe your feet, mind the gap, and be sure to check out the other pages at this outstanding site. While you’re here, though, we have a few rules and regulations:

Absolutely no links to illegal streams. They’re bad and they get us in trouble. Violators will be warned or banned.

We have rules against “relentless negativity.” Nobody likes a Negative Nancy. Don’t knee-jerk and post outlandish or hurtful things just because you’re frustrated.

Along those lines, outright abuse of players or match officials is also not allowed. It’s fine to say “wow, that was a really bad call,” but it’s NOT okay to direct copious amounts of abuse in the direction of said official over a call you did not like.

Treat other people in the match thread the way you would want someone else to treat your grandmother. Be nice. This is a community of fans, not an un-moderated message board.

NO SPIDERS!

Finally, while we don’t have a rule against profanity, please try and keep the naughty words in check. Also, language that is sexist, racist, transphobic, or homophobic in nature will be swiftly deleted and you will be immediately banned. This is an open, supportive community.

Have fun, and COYS!

According to Tom Bogert writing for The Athletic (£), MLS club Colorado Rapids are expected to name Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach Matt Wells to be the club’s new manager, replacing the departed Chris Armas. The announcement is expected to be formally made shortly.

A product of Tottenham’s youth academy, Wells never made his senior football debut due to a string of injuries and retired from playing, but immediately went into coaching, and is now considered one of England’s top up-and-coming assistant coaches. He has worked as an assistant coach for Spurs’ U18s under the late Ugo Ehiogu before leaving for Fulham to join Scott Parker’s staff, eventually working his way up to Assistant Head Coach under Parker. Wells returned to Spurs as one of Ange Postecoglou’s top assistants in 2024 and was one of the few Ange coaches to stay at the club, though he moved from senior assistant to just assistant coach under Thomas Frank.

At just 37, Wells will be one of the younger managers in MLS, but it would be a very good opportunity for him. With time I’m sure he’d have had the chance to manage a Championship or League One side in England, but at the Rapids he’ll take over a club that only just missed the MLS playoffs this past season. It’s a pretty good gig.

Spurs have remained silent on the matter, as have the Rapids, so we don’t know if Tottenham will make an appointment of their own to replace Wells, but I’d expect this move to be officially-official before too long. And then we go from there.

Not too long ago, this was looking to be a massive week for the #narratives surrounding Tottenham Hotspur. Last weekend it was Thomas Frank’s struggling side facing off against the place that he should never have left, while this weekend it was a fixture against Nottingham Forest, who employed Nuno Espirito Santo for four times as many matches as Spurs, then sacked him for the Lilywhites’ first trophy-winning manager in nearly two decades.

Instead, Frank got past Brentford, apparently solved the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium problem, and now sees his club facing neither of its previous managers at the City Ground. Instead, Sean Dyche has arrived to save Forest from relegation, though there is a long way yet to go for his team which currently sits in 16th place. This has been a good past week, but everything can crash back down quickly.

Match Details

Date: Sunday, December 14

Time: 9:00 am ET, 3:00 pm UK

Location: The City Ground, Nottingham

TV: Peacock (US), Sky Sports Football (UK)

Table: Forest (t-16th, 15 pts), Spurs (t-11th, 22 pts)

Nuno’s side beat Ange’s in both contests last season. Boxing Day saw Forest hang on for a 1-0 win at home that featured more Tottenham red cards than xG. The reverse fixture landed in April right as Spurs were beating Frankfurt in the Europa quarters, with Forest scoring twice in the first 20 minutes and riding it out from there; Richarlison scored late, but it was not enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat.

Three Big Questions

Is the away form faltering? While Spurs have won consecutive home matches (across all competitions) for just the second time all season, the results on the road have suddenly soured quite drastically. Now, Forest is nothing like Newcastle (twice), Arsenal, or PSG, but Tottenham’s performance away from home is really the only reason it has not dropped to a dangerous part of the table.

Wins against West Ham, Leeds, and Everton should give Frank confidence in his side’s ability to handle these environments and recognize the opportunity of playing against this sort of opposition in a context that might leave them a little more open. Dyche is not going to be as wild as his predecessor, but one would expect some action on both ends of the pitch, which would seemingly suit the visitors.

Is the new manager bounce dissipating? Speaking of Dyche, the shine has started to wear off a bit at the City Ground. After starting 2-1-1 in the league, including a draw against United and 3-0 win over Liverpool, he has lost two of the last three, beating only Wolves. Forest looked bad against Everton last weekend, being outplayed and physically overmatched by Dyche’s previous outfit.

However, results in the Europa League have been much better, and — perhaps like Postecoglou — that is where Dyche will focus. Thursday brought yet another positive result, beating Utrecht on the road, and maybe that inspires the play this weekend. Still, it is clear that Forest will have a long road ahead domestically this season, and hosting Spurs might not be the time to push in all the chips.

Is Frank still tinkering? It has been fun to check the lineups ahead of each recent match, truly having no idea who Frank will choose and where he will place them. It must be said that he is seemingly acting much more strategically, and more often than not he is making better decisions. How Frank sets up away from home compared to his last two XIs will be interesting to see.

Two key places to watch for me: First, central midfield, where Archie Gray has suddenly become a preferred option. Does Frank stay with the promising youngster, or will he revert back to the Joao Palhinha-Rodrigo Bentancur pairing on the road? Secondly, how aggressive will he be up top? Can both Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons be deployed, leading to more of a free-flowing contest? Is the Randal Kolo Muani-Richarlison pairing too attacking and potentially narrow? Tune in Sunday to see!

OK, with this I think I’m caught up now, though I’m not looking forward to doing player rating articles during the busy festive fixture season. These are hard and take time! But thanks for your patience.

Tottenham Hotspur played a home football match in the Premier League and won! That’s exciting! The 2-0 win over Brentford was not only the first home win since week 1, it was also one of the best matches Spurs have played this season. This match had EVERYTHING: offensive nous! Goals from open play! A shutout! Goals from the Pigeon and Xavi! What more could you ask for?

The theme for this article came from a Carty Free reader but I confess while I thought it was a fantastic prompt I can’t remember who suggested it. Whoever you are, good job you. I took that ball and ran with it. If there’s one thing that footballers like to do aside from playing football, it’s writing an autobiograhy, or employing someone to write one for them. I won’t confess to reading any of the books on this list (most footballer autobiographies are bad) but as a Dad Joke Aficionado, I have a highly developed respect for the craft of punnery. So we’re ranking player performances this time to the theme of puns in footballer (auto)biography book titles. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do, or at least groan at the appropriate places.

Get it? Eh? Yeah? Get it? Masterful job, Johan.

Xavi Simons (Community — 4.5): I’m probably overrating Xavi’s match performance a little bit here, but who cares — he had a goal and an assist, and looked very comfortable in that advanced 10 role, especially with players to pass him the ball. Five star ratings have been rare this season, so I’m happy to fan-crush him a bit here.

I might not especially like the player (Le Tissier has been, um, extremely controversial on a variety of subjects over the past decade) but I do have to tip my hat on an impressive pun. He certainly has taken the piss on a variety of topics and on any occasion he can.

Micky van de Ven (Community — 4.0): Outstanding match defensively and wasn’t afraid to move forward with the ball either. Man, he’s so good.

McAteer retired from the game in 2007, the first year I became a Premier League football fan, so I never watched him play. I just think “Blood, Sweat & McAteer” is a great biography name, especially for a Republic of Ireland player.

Cuti Romero (Community — 4.0): Wild scissor tackle that earned him a yellow but otherwise pretty imperious at the back with a couple of lovely sliding challenges. Kept Igor Thiago quiet, which has been tough to do lately.

Djed Spence (Community — 4.0): Good on both sides of the ball. Forced a quality save from Kelleher going forward and got back repeatedly to make defensive stops. Solid match.

Pedro Porro (Community — 3.5): Just a solid match. Indefatigable with his movement and set up the first goal with a lovely ball from deep.

Randal Kolo Muani (Community — 3.5): Worked his tail off but didn’t get a ton of service. That said, you can see what he’s trying to do out there and it adds a lot to the team. I thought he was great.

Thomas Frank (Community — 4.0): Has he finally figured out his good team? Seems like he might, but let’s see if it continues.

Haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on whether this is an explosive tell-all about life between the sticks as a professional footballer. If it isn’t, well it should be.

Guglielmo Vicario (Community — 3.5): Blessedly didn’t have much to do, so fewer opportunities to screw up. (He was fine, honest, I’m just cranky.)

Rodrigo Bentancur (Community — 3.5): A little iffy to start but came into the match well. One of his better performances this season, I’d say.

Archie Gray (Community — 4.0): Arch continues to improve his game in midfield and Spurs looked a lot better with him in there. I don’t think he was exceptional in the role, but he played a relatively simple midfield game, and that’s enough to make Spurs’ offense look so much better just by him being in that role.

Mohammed Kudus (Community — 4.0): We got the full Mo Kudus Experience™ in this one — some nice moments and good balls in, forced a couple of saves, but still dribbled himself into trouble on numerous occasions.

Pretty good effort for the man once voted “the 17th hardest footballer of all time.”

Richarlison (Community — 4.0): Did well to be in the right place at the back post for Xavi’s cross, and smashed it home. Didn’t do a ton other than that, though.

Joao Palhinha (Community — 3.5): Came on as an impact sub and did the job.

The obvious choice for a Lamps book, and would also work for a Thomas Frank bio, though I think he should go with “Frankly My Dear…”

Wilson Odobert (Community — 3.0): Didn’t really get much of a chance to establish himself, and had at least one dumb/bad offside in buildup. Not a terrible match, but not his best outing either.

Yes, yes, we get it, you played for West Ham. Very clever. Were you also frequently drunk? (Probably)

No Tottenham players in this category.

I’m going to cut Jude some slack here since this is a biography, not an autobiography, but to Graeme Croser, who wrote it, come on buddy. You can do better than the most obvious pun of all time combined with a title convention that uses the word “rise” twice.

No Tottenham players were as bad as writing a biography about Jude Bellingham titled “Hey Jude.”

Tom Carroll Memorial Non-Rating

Pape Matar Sarr, Kevin Danso

Erik Lamela Memorial Shithouse Award

Cuti Romero — It was for that tackle. Definitely yellow worthy, but just on the edge of acceptability. A true shithouser’s tackle.