Cartilage Free Captain

Well, this one has been in the works for a while and according to Fabrizio Romano, it’s a done deal — Andrew Robertson will be signing with Tottenham Hotspur momentarily after reaching full agreement on personal terms with the club. Robertson, a Scotland international fullback, is leaving Liverpool upon the expiration of his contract and will sign with Spurs on a free transfer.

Robertson is a good player and will probably be competing with Destiny Udogie next season at left back, but the real thing he brings to Spurs, according to all the previous reports, are things like experience and leadership and capability. All good things, to be fair! Robertson has lost a step from his peak years at Liverpool and that’s a little scary, but the one thing he does know how to do is pick out a good pass, and that’s something Spurs really really really need.

There’s no word yet on the length of the contract or Robertson’s wages. Robertson reportedly earned £160k/wk at Liverpool and who knows if we offered a bump in his wages — if you listen to Vinai Venkatesham then Spurs have already overhauled and raised their wage cap going forward, so I’d expect he’ll make at least that much at Spurs this coming season, possibly more.

I’m not sure this is a signing that I would’ve gone for if it were me, but I don’t hate it necessarily. If nothing else having a competent natural LB to come in when Udogie’s glass ankles break again will be a good thing. And I can’t remember the last time we had a Scot on the team — Alan Hutton, maybe? Boy, that takes me back.

We’ll wait for the official announcement, which I expect will come soon, or perhaps when the window officially opens in a couple of weeks.

“Since the first day I arrived I feel at home. From the supporters, the crowd. Top club. Who doesn’t want to play for Tottenham and stay here? I have everything here. But this is like a marriage. What I can say to you is I would really like to be here and I enjoy it a lot this season with this club – even with it being a tough season.”

“I think the next season will hopefully be really different and I truly believe,” he said. “This season will help Tottenham for the future. Analyse the season, what we did wrong, what we did well and it will be a big improvement and a big relief after the season.”

To the fans,

As owners of 25 years, we have lived the highs and lows of Spurs with you.

Finishing 17th this and last season does not reflect the stature or potential of this football club. We are bitterly disappointed and share your frustration. You, and we, expect more than this. We know this must never happen again.

Our approach to running the Club is, and has been, to trust the experts to do that, while backing them to be successful. The problems we found were deeper than we realised and were allowed to build over the last few years. We know that has eroded trust and we have to win that back. As owners, we take ultimate responsibility for the situation in which the Club finds itself.

We also take responsibility for rebuilding Spurs. Our ambition is to recapture the spirit of the Club and bring back the excitement, the fearlessness and the bold football we have always felt defined us. That means football comes first. The Board and Executive team have laid out their plans to meet this ambition.

This will require investment – in our teams, the academy, our backroom functions and more - and we are fully committed to this. We are not selling the Club. We are all in. We are investing in it. You will see more of this in the coming months.

We care deeply about Spurs. The rebuild the Club needs, and you deserve, has begun. The change required is deep. It will take time and commitment, but change is happening.

”On my very first day, what I thought would be a realistic target for the men’s first team would be competing for European places. If you’d have asked me a few months after I joined, when I was no longer an outsider, I would have told you the club was in a significantly worse state in some places than I thought.

“That is absolutely not meant to be a criticism of anyone or anything. It was just what I found. It was very clear that this wasn’t some form of turnaround that was required of the club in quite a few areas. It was really a complete reset.

”If I had to generalise, I would say on the non-football side of the club, in particular around stadium operations and commercial, that the club was and is really strong.

”I think if you look at the football side of the club, over a timeframe of five years or so, there has just been an explosion in progress across the Premier League.

”I’m not saying that Tottenham didn’t improve in that period. But what I can tell you is that when you look at where Tottenham were in many of those areas, compared to where I believe other Premier League clubs are, there was a significant gap. In some areas really quite worryingly so.

”I don’t think that there was what I would call a relentless obsession with football success.

”Our training centre is amazing, one of the best, if not the best in the world. But when you look around, it looks more like a five-star hotel than it does a performance environment. That will change over the summer.

“I think there are many areas where the club hasn’t got the right level of expertise.”

”Obviously, we were very disappointed when it became clear that we wouldn’t be appointing Roberto on a permanent basis [in February]. We were then in the interim market, which is generally not the broadest. There were a number of reasons why Igor was selected: he had managed in very high-profile and high-pressure environments - we didn’t want somebody that was going to wilt under that pressure.

”He has a history of making an immediate impact. He has managed in big clubs. He has quite a different personality to Thomas and we felt like something different was needed.

”But of course we were really aware he had no Premier League experience. Was it a risk in appointing him? Absolutely.

“It didn’t work out. I think it’s very clear it didn’t work out. And I don’t think that is in question. I don’t think anybody would argue anything else.”

”I understand the frustration around supporters. I think Tottenham supporters have been frustrated for some time. This is two 17th-place finishes in a row. It’s clearly not good enough. I think that is rational, normal, sensible, and, is what we would expect from supporters.

”The club had some serious challenges that it needs to address on the football side. We know what those are. We are addressing them. We are fixing them. Those challenges have not disappeared overnight. They built up over many years. I wish I could wave my magic wand and fix them overnight, but that is not possible. It takes some time to fix those issues.

“So I have complete confidence in what we’re doing, how we’re doing it. But supporters are rightly impatient. So I have to weather that storm.”

good morning everyone! the hoddle is continuing its roundup of the playoff finals from this weekend. Yesterday was the EFL Championship. Today we take a look at League One:

Bolton Wanderers are returning to the Championship after seven years!

Has it been seven years? That’s crazy. But a huge testament to the club’s turnaround after they entered administration in 2019. They fell as low as League Two in 2020.

Now, they’re back in the second tier.

Bolton handily beat Stockport County 4-1 on Sunday. It was a bit of a disasterclass from Stockport, who were terrible at the back. They handed Bolton a goal in the opening minutes of the game after their keeper failed to control a shot, and then couldn’t get organised in the second which resulted in an own goal.

Stockport’s Josh Dacres-Cogley was also sent off in the 90th minute which resulted in a penalty, but the game was pretty much already decided by then.

It’s a shame because I thought it would be fun to a see a club like Stockport County in the Championship, and a little concerned if they can come back after collapsing in back-to-back seasons.

But for Bolton, they’re back in the championship. And I think they stand a decent chance at staying up. There are some pretty weak clubs there, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Wolves flirt with back-to-back relegations. Plus we also get to see Lincoln City play host to West Ham (lol), while Cardiff City’s return means there’ll be three Welsh clubs in the second tier (along with Wrexham and Swansea).

Fitzie’s track of the day: Lonesome Cowboy Bill, by The Velvet Underground

And now for your links:

The Times: “How Tottenham Hotspur were almost relegated from Premier League”

Alasdair Gold: “Big Tottenham changes - Pitch investigation, psychologist and injury fixes in internal review”

Jay Harris ($$): “Joao Palhinha says he wants Tottenham stay: ‘This is like a marriage’”

The Telegraph: “Tottenham to overhaul medical department after season wrecked by injuries”

A couple of days ago, the subtext of Tottenham Hotspur non-executive chairman Peter Charrington seemed to suggest that everything was business as usual and trust the process regarding the executive leadership positions at the club. I took that to mean that both CEO Vinai Venkatesham and Sporting Director Johan Lange had the vote of confidence from the Powers that Be and were both safe in their jobs, with Sebastian Kehl coming in as a new co-Sporting Director to work alongside Lange.

Tottenham’s non-executive chairman Peter Charrington wrote in an open letter to the supporters on Monday that “the board are committed to this leadership group and will give them the stability and support they need to run this club in the right way”.

That was assumed to include Lange but football.london understands that while CEO Vinai Venkatesham remains part of the club’s plans moving forward, there are those inside and outside the north London outfit who believe it is increasingly unlikely that Lange makes it through the summer, as the football figurehead for a horrendous season, and if he does, it will be in a role supporting a new sporting director.

It’s no secret that I, the rest of the masthead, and the vast majority of regular commenters on this blog dot com are united in the idea of Johan Lange being let go from his job for poor performance. It has baffled me how the club has even let things go this badly for this long without making a move, though previous reports of executive upheaval (“building the plane while it’s in midair”) maybe suggests that not having a Sporting Director was considered a worse outcome than having a bad Sporting Director. Regardless, it’s comforting to know that there’s at least some recognition that the past two years under Lange have been… well, sub-optimal, especially from a squad construction perspective.

If I’m going to be fair, and why not at least make the attempt, Lange has done a decent job at recruiting young talent, bringing in the likes of Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray. So in that sense keeping him on and demoting him to whoever the new Sporting Director is, would be a moderately acceptable outcome, if his remit is structured and limited. But we have evidence now on what Lange’s leadership in recruitment has resulted, and it’s not great. I don’t know what the end result will be and I don’t have a ton of confidence on anyone at the club making the right decision right now until proven otherwise, but there is some small comfort in knowing that there’s at least recognition that after two consecutive 17th placed finishes and a relegation battle that went to the final match, things aren’t exactly going well and a change might be warranted.

Good day, and welcome to this edition of Miguel Delaney Says Stuff. If you’re new to this series (I’m also new to this series), it’s when we report on football journalist and erstwhile transfer rumormonger Miguel Delaney when he writes articles about transfer rumors that essentially report on Things He Has Heard. Some of them are probably accurate. Others… well, maybe not. But he definitely has Heard Things™ and so we are here to summarize them.

I’m being a little cheeky, but Delaney does have the reputation, along with CBS Sports’ Ben Jacobs, of writing up articles reporting on things he’s heard from various agents and elsewhere. That doesn’t mean these rumors are not accurate, but it doesn’t mean they ARE accurate either! Isn’t transfer season fun?

In today’s edition, Miggy has been pretty busy, because he’s dropped a BUNCH of names in his transfer article on Tottenham’s upcoming summer in the Independent. Here’s the Readers’ Digest version:

Roberto De Zerbi wants to raid Brighton & Hove Albion, his old club, for their best players, including defensive mid Carlos Baleba, central defender Jean Paul van Hecke, and goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

It’s pretty unlikely Spurs can sign three players from Brighton this summer, so the club are looking at other targets, including (as we know) Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi and Liverpool left back Andy Robertson, but also City defender John Stones and backup keeper James Trafford.

Spurs highly-rated defender Luka Vuskovic is expected to sign a new contract and then return to Hamburg for a second season on loan.

Micky van de Ven, contrary to popular opinon on this board and elsewhere, apparently wants to stay at Spurs and establish himself as part of De Zerbi’s new look defense.

OK! Now let’s talk about these Things Miggy Said. First, Migs goes on to suggest that Brighton are not going to want to sell Baleba, and that he could cost up to £100m. That’s a lot of money for a pure defensive midfield destroyer when we have a Joao Palhinha at home who would cost significantly less to sign permanently. I’m also wondering about the Van Hecke rumors — they only would make sense if both Cuti Romano and Radu Dragusin leave the club, which at this point does feel pretty likely. I get the sense from Delaney that it could be either Senesi or Van Hecke, but if Vuskovic does decide he wants another year in Germany to play with his brother, that might suggest another defensive opening. As for Bart Verbruggen… well, I’m inclined to sell Vicario, keep Kinsky, and sign Trafford to compete with him. Even though Spurs don’t have European football next season, there’s still no good reason not to sign an English backup keeper for squad purposes.

John Stones is another interesting target. The young future of England’s defense is now 31 with an expiring contract at Manchester City, which means Spurs could scoop him up early for free if they want to. I guess it depends on whether they want to, who’s leaving, who’s staying, and whether he’d be a good fit at Tottenham or not. He played less than 500 minutes under Pep this season. I don’t have a good read on whether this is a good idea or not.

I do, however, take some comfort in the idea that Micky van de Ven is ready to commit his future to Tottenham. I wonder about his long-term future as he’s a center back who is wildly pace-dependent, and I don’t know what happens if he were to lose a step in the near to mid future. But I do know I like him, I’d like to keep him, and he’s definitely one of the first players on my team sheet next season.

As mentioned, we’re going to get a LOT of rumors over the next few days and weeks now that the plug in the door to Bat Country has been forced out. I don’t have a firm sense of what, if any, of the Things Miguel Delaney Says will actually happen. All I know is that he said these things, and I’m here to tell you about them.

Until next time!

Welcome back to Bat Country, everyone! Did you miss the bats? I missed the bats. And holy smokes, are the transfer rumors flying, just days away from Spurs securing safety in the Premier League for another season. Predictably, however, the majority of the rumors are reheated ones from last January or the summer of 2025. That doesn’t mean they’re not real, just that we haven’t gotten too many rumors (from reliable sources) that are new and/or interesting.

But this one is! According to Fabrizio Romano, Spurs are looking to go back in for Manchester City winger Savinho, and it’s pretty exciting!

Cast your mind back a year and you’ll recall that Spurs were reportedly very close to signing Savinho in the summer of 2025 before Manchester City abruptly pulled the plug and said they wouldn’t sell. Savinho then signed a contract extension with City, but that never helped him actually crack the lineup in Manchester. It was a curious decision for him to sign that extension — he only played 821 league minutes this season because City are a sicko club with like five players for each position. That’s probably why he’s open to leaving for a club that will actually play him.

His stats aren’t gaudy, but that’s because he’s young and hasn’t been playing much football. But he’s an exciting talent, left footed but able to play on either flank. Yes, he’s another “exciting young winger” and we’ve had a few of those that haven’t (yet) panned out, but I think Savinho’s on a different level to Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert, and I firmly believe he’ll cook under Roberto De Zerbi. There are also rumors that he’s currently in London.

There’s no mention of the transfer fee and that could be a sticking point. There have been unconfirmed reports that City will want close to £85m for him, which is a lot. My guess is that, if Savinho really wants out, the fee might be less than that, or Spurs arrange a loan with a purchase option/obligation, which is something they tend to do with some frequency.

Anyway, as far as reheated transfer rumors go, I’m on board for this one. Sign me up as a Savio Stan, and let’s hope Spurs sign him up too.

Heading into this weekend it became clearer and clearer that Tottenham would likely play against Hull City in some capacity next season - whether that be in the Championship or the Premier League. After this weekend’s results that question has been answered: Tottenham will play Hull City in the Premier League next year.

Hull defeated Middlesbrough 1-0 in an otherwise drab EFL Championship playoff final on Saturday at Wembley Stadium. It was classic Hull City, really. Sit back and defend, and then convert on the few chances you get.

Boro had the ball for 67% of the game but for all that possession they only managed to put one shot on target. Hull, meanwhile, converted on one of their three shots on target. That goal came in the eighth minute of stoppage time from Ollie McBurnie.

I had no expectation of Hull challenging for a spot in the Premier League this season, let alone get promoted. I’ll actually be big enough to admit that I had them pegged for relegation in my predictions back in August.

They entered this season in disarray and questions over spending, as well as a transfer embargo. They brought in Sergej Jakirovic, a Croatian manager with no previous experience in the UK, and he did wonders with a team that looked more relegation fodder than top-tier material.

And full credit to him for pushing this squad beyond their limits. I’ll be very curious to see what kind of transfer activity they do in the summer. They’ll be needing to do a lot to have a chance at survival next season.

Ftizie’s track of the day: On Green Dolphin Street, by Sonny Rollins

And now for your links:

ESPN: “Tottenham must get rebuild right; Kane makes history with Bayern”

Jay Harris ($$): “Tottenham must address ‘astronomical’ injury crisis, James Maddison says”

The Independent: “Tottenham revel in survival – now they must learn the lessons of a nightmare season”

The season is over, Tottenham Hotspur are safe from relegation, and the Bat Country doors have blasted open like a monk’s vow of silence at an open bar. You remember how quiet it was when Spurs’ future was uncertain? Well, expect a virtual firehose of rumors now. Starting with this one — according to Gianluca DiMarzio, Junventus are trying to hijack Spurs’ deal for Liverpool LB and soon-to-be free agent Andy Robertson.

@juventusfc has inquired about Andrew Robertson. The left-back, whose contract expires on June 30, 2026, will leave @LFC.

@SpursOfficial, however, had him on hold and can maintain priority on the track after securing survival.

Now look, I’m honestly not that wild about the Robertson deal because all the background info about this signing indicates that it’s as much about LEADERSHIP and PASHUN as it is about football ability. And to be fair, Robertson is a good footballer. But he’s 31 now, has lost a step, and I’m really unsure that this is the kind of signing that Spurs should be looking at. That said — he can pick out a pass, and that’s definitely a skill Spurs need to be looking at.

This signing, if it goes through, would be one of a few early free transfers that Spurs can knock out right away, including one for Bournemouth LCB Marcos Senesi. That makes sense to me — get the early, easy stuff done quick and then turn your focus to the big signings (and the outgoings) when the transfer window opens, and set up a bunch of stuff to trigger after the World Cup.

I’d like to think that, as a Scot and a long time Premier League veteran, Robertson would be more inclined to stay in England. But we don’t know what Juventus is offering or even if Robbo is interested, so let’s wait and see how it plays out. My guess is we might not have to wait long.

Last September, we recognised that something seismic had to change at Spurs. The Lewis family stepped in and authorised a full reset. That decision was not taken lightly, and it came later than it should have. But what has been put in motion is real, and it marks a genuine break from what had come before.

As part of that process, we discovered some uncomfortable truths. The qualities that make Spurs distinct, our football, our ambition, the connection between the team and its supporters, had been allowed to fade. Football success had not been driving our decisions. We did not have the right expertise in key roles. We did not build squads good enough to compete in the most demanding league in the world. Two 17th place finishes in a row is not acceptable, and we will not dress it up as anything other than falling well short of what this Club expects.

…

Our commitments to you are clear:

…

There has been speculation about ownership and the future direction of the Club. Let us be direct. Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale. The Lewis family are wholly committed to this Club and to this rebuild. They will provide the stability and investment needed at every level to move us forward, and they see that as a long-term responsibility, not a short-term fix.

This season fell well short of what Tottenham Hotspur demands. We must be in the fight with the best teams in this league, every season, and we are rebuilding this Club with that standard in mind.

This Club lives in the hearts of everyone who has ever loved it. It has been carried through living rooms and stands, weekends and long journeys home.

We will get back to where we belong.