Cartilage Free Captain

“I was playing really well, starting to find my feet in the first team, then I think it was just before the Galatasaray game. I trained a couple of days before it, I think I was set to start or make an appearance in that game, then went for a driving lesson that night and all of a sudden I just felt a pain in my chest.

“The doctor called me and just said ‘forget about football for now’. It came back that I had myocarditis, which is a virus and it went to my heart, gave me the pain in my heart. I’m lucky I caught it early because I’m not sure what could have happened after that. I think I was in bed for six weeks. I wasn’t allowed any exercise.

“There was a lot of rumours at that time and it was tough to deal with. That six weeks was not six weeks of improving in the gym like with a usual injury.

“Right now, I feel at my best. I feel kind of what I felt like when I first started playing at Tottenham. That’s all done now. Put it behind me. That’s it, really.”

As the current season winds down (or heats up), we often get the fun little tidbit that is the leak of next season’s kits as designs get locked in and marketing materials start to be disseminated. For some reason, Footy Headlines consistently have the inside channel on these, and next season’s kits are no exception:

Nowadays, we have to be a little more careful with Footy Headlines posts, as they have taken to generating their own “interpretations” based on some of the marketing materials (such as color schemes, etc); but these appear to be the real deal, as over the last couple of weeks, Footy Headlines have leaked both Spurs’ home kit AND their away kit for the 2026/27 season (pictured below):

Alrighty then.

Now I am no barometer when it comes to fashion. I am a deeply uncool Millennial whose fashion sense can probably best be described as “business casual wannabe rockstar dad”. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions.

Let’s start with the home kit. My first thought on this is it’s boring. And my use of the bold font there is more exciting than the kit itself - the fact that font usage generates more of an emotional response kind of says everything. My hot take is home kits should be boring, tried and true classics in the vein of the 2013/14 kit, with maybe a simple design embellishment here or there. These though don’t do enough. The subtle texturing is a nice touch (why, hello Patrick Bateman), but the lack of any trim on the hemline or collar just makes the whole thing feel a little flat.

The away kit on the other hand goes way off in the other direction. One of the most popular kits (and one of my personal favorites) in recent years was the 2021/22 “Galaxy” kit, and it seems like they’ve tried to replicate that beauty with this latest attempt. It’s a deep navy-blue base (described as “obsidian”) with stripes? flashes? chunks? of pink, purple, and orange, and it’s just a pure visual assault. There’s an implied line where the design changes just above the AIA logo where if they maybe kept that which is above (or below) that cutoff it might carry a bit more consistency, but instead it just feels confused.

I could see it running into the same problem as the Galaxy kit as well, whereby Spurs were forced to include a plain patch of fabric on the back for squad numbering in the matchday kits due to the design making legibility difficult.

All in all, the kits are pretty uninspired; some would say perfectly so following such an uninspiring season.

What are your thoughts on these kits? Sound off in the comments!

Spoiler alerts incoming for a 30-year-old book series, but Animorphs was a core part of my childhood. Immediately hooked by cover visuals of kids turning into animals, I eventually had a bookcase filled with the entire series by my early teens: 54 regular series books (each from the perspective of one of the characters), 4 Megamorphs books (which had chapters from each character’s perspective), 4 Chronicles books (spin-offs outside of the main series continuity that added to the lore), and 2 Alteranimorphs books (non-canon Choose Your Own Adventure style). And looking back, I wonder how I was ever allowed to read them.

My parents probably just saw the fun transformation covers; what they didn’t see were the pages filled by teenagers battling a covert alien invasion by “morphing” into animals, complete with themes of body horror, cult indoctrination, the brutality of war, suicide, genocide… and I could go on. Amongst the pre-teen prose, jokes, and 90’s pop-culture references were deep character studies in what a guerilla war could do to young minds. Were the readers part of that study?

So given these books were a huge part of my adolescent years, I AM excited by the announcement of a TV show in development; but also VERY nervous, for a couple of reasons. Firstly: who is this show for? In a preteen book series, you can get away with passages about limbs being ripped off, or characters being disemboweled. You can’t really do that in a TV series aimed at the same age group. Secondly: can they get the audience they need to offset the cost? It’s important to note this has been attempted once before, as an ill-fated Nickelodeon adaptation lasted two seasons but was never really a success: the CGI to produce the animals, transformations, and extremely non-humanoid aliens was either prohibitively expensive or didn’t exist - and the former problem is a very real concern today as well. Will they be able to show what they need to show without it costing an extreme amount (or if it does, generate a large enough audience) to prevent it getting cancelled before it even gets going?

Spurs have another week before they play football again, but there IS football on — the international break is over but this weekend is the Quarterfinals of the FA Cup, and there are three games on for your viewing enjoyment.

Oh, and England is back on DST now so we’re back to a five hour gap between Blighty and the Colonies.

This is your open thread. Happy Saturday!

FA Cup Quarterfinal Schedule

Manchester City vs. Liverpool

TV: ESPN (USA), TNT Sports 2 (UK)

Stream: ESPN Select

Chelsea vs. Port Vale

TV: not televised (USA), BBC One (UK)

TV: ESPN Select

Southampton vs. Arsenal

TV: not televised (USA), BBC One, TNT Sports 1 (UK)

TV: ESPN Select

”I have never wanted to downplay the issue of violence against women, or violence against anyone more broadly. In my life I have always stood up for those who are more vulnerable, more fragile.

I’ve consistently fought and taken a stand to be on the side of those who are most at risk. Those of you who know me well, will know I’m not the type of person who makes compromises to win more games or to win an extra title.

“I’m sorry if this offended anyone’s feelings with this subject matter - I have a daughter and I’m very sensitive to these things, and I always have been.

“I hope that over time people will get to know me better and will understand that at that moment I didn’t mean to take a stance.“

I hate international football.

But sometimes, just sometimes you need an escape from football, and international football (being barely football itself) can provide that! It’s an escape that those following Tottenham Hotspur desperately need, thanks to *gestures vaguely at everything*

It is not, however, an escape Spurs’ squad need, given many of them have played a LOT of minutes this season and the ongoing injury crisis that has torn the Lilywhites to shreds (to shreds, you say?). Tired legs do not need more football, and every time Spurs’ players head away on an international break I cross myself, touch wood, throw salt over my shoulder, and spin around three times to try and ward off any bad injury luck.

Those rituals are clearly not working, because 1) the football gods have already repeatedly demonstrated they hate Tottenham Hotspur, and 2) we have more injuries! Mathys Tel received a perhaps surprise call-up to the French squad, but was immediately sent back to North London with a thigh injury; while Pape Matar Sarr saw 10 minutes off the bench for AFCON Winners Senegal (yes, that’s right) against Peru before missing their subsequent match against Gambia with an apparent shoulder injury.

There was better injury news elsewhere, though, as Lucas Bergvall made his long-awaited return to Sweden’s national team, coming off the bench in both of Sweden’s matches as the Blue and Yellow qualified for the World Cup with wins over Ukraine and Poland. Radu Dragusin also continued working his way back to full fitness, albeit with less success on the pitch, as Romania fell to both Turkey and Slovakia, Dragusin starting both fixtures. The loss to Turkey ensured Romania will not compete at the World Cup in summer.

Elsewhere in Europe, Pedro Porro got something resembling a break compared to what he is normally used to, sitting out Spain’s 3-0 win over Serbia before going the distance in their second match, a goalless draw against Egypt. Kevin Danso also got a bit of a rest as well, subbed at half-time as Austria ran out 5-1 winners over Ghana, before reuniting with his old captain Son Heung-min via the bench, as Das Team narrowly defeated Son’s South Korea side as well with coach Ralf Ragnick using the break to experiment somewhat.

He wasn’t the only coach to treat the matches that way, as Thomas Tuchel brought in an expanded squad for England (sans Arsenal players who all picked up mystery injuries) resulting in perhaps surprising call-ups for Djed Spence and Dominic Solanke. Both started the first match, before Solanke came off the bench in the second fixture, neither able to make a significant impact in two disappointing matches against Uruguay and Japan, the former a draw in bizarre circumstances after Manchester United midfielder Manuel Ugarte was shown two yellow cards but somehow not sent off. Randal Kolo Muani was the other Spurs forward seeing international play, keeping a watching brief as France defeated Brazil before featuring off the bench in a win over Colombia.

There was unfortunately little rest for Spurs’ starting center backs. Cristian Romero played the full 90 in both of Argentina’s friendly wins against Mauritania and Zambia, while Micky van de Ven did the same for Netherlands in a win against Norway, before coming on as a half-time substitute against Ecuador following a red card to Denzel Dumfries. Xavi Simons also featured in both of Netherlands’ matches, coming off the bench against Norway before starting against Ecuador but unable to impact either match.

See? Couldn’t it have been worse? It can always get worse.

I still hate international football.

Spurs International Appearances:

Pape Matar Sarr (10 mins, sub; absent from squad): Senegal 2-0 Peru; Senegal 3-1 Gambia - Friendlies

Lucas Bergvall (21 mins, yellow card, sub; 13 mins, sub): Ukraine 1-3 Sweden; Sweden 3-2 Poland - UEFA World Cup Qualification

Radu Dragusin (90 mins; 62 mins): Turkey 1-0 Romania (UEFA World Cup Qualification); Slovakia 2-0 Romania (Friendly)

Pedro Porro (unused sub; 90 mins, clean sheet): Spain 3-0 Serbia; Spain 0-0 Egypt - Friendlies

Kevin Danso (45 mins; unused sub): Austria 5-1 Ghana; Austria 1-0 South Korea - Friendlies

Djed Spence (69 mins [nice]; unused sub) & Dominic Solanke (56 mins; 31 mins, sub): England 1-1 Uruguay; England 0-1 Japan - Friendlies

Randal Kolo Muani (unused sub; 27 mins, sub): Brazil 1-2 France; Colombia 1-3 France - Friendlies

Cristian Romero (90mins; 90 mins, clean sheet): Argentina 2-1 Mauritania; Argentina 5-0 Zambia - Friendlies

Micky van de Ven (90 mins; 45 mins, sub) & Xavi Simons (21 mins, sub; 77 mins): Netherlands 2-1 Norway; Netherlands 1-1 Ecuador - Friendlies

Fitzie’s note: Your hoddler-in-chief will be traveling for the next few days, which means you’ll have a substitute hoddler-in-chief on Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

Marathon Day is almost here!

Fitzie will be traveling later today for his race this weekend, where his primary goal is to achieve a sub-3 hour marathon. That’s a mean feat (especially considering his previous personal best was 3:37). But that was a couple years ago, and fitzie is a much stronger runner today both physically and mentally.

The race-day kit is complete: Nike Alphafly 3s, Balega mini-crew hidden-dry socks, Asics 5” running shorts, a Rabbit raceday singlet and a cornflower blue Rabbit running cap. Plus a handheld water bottle, three gels and some body glide (look it up).

I’ve spent much of the week on break and doing my best to relax - a trip to the DC Zoo, a matinee showing of Project Hail Mary (review to come), and some time reading my book at the coffee shop (details also to come).

The nerves have arrived. Still, I’m looking back on my 16 weeks of training and taking lots of confidence in that. I also look back on all those long Sunday training sessions where I faced brutal conditions and completed my runs only to come home to Tottenham absolutely stinking it up on the television. At least one of us hasn’t let you down.

Meanwhile, I’m looking at the forecast: Around 6-10 degrees celsius (39-50 degrees Fareinheit), cloudy and with a small chance of rain. Those are really good running conditions.

And we like that because that helps us achieve a sub-3 marathon.

There’s not much else to do but sleep, relax and then race day on Saturday.

Let’s rock and roll baby - New Hampshire here we come!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Rock and Roll, by Led Zeppelin

And now for your links:

Jack P-B ($$): “How Spurs convinced Roberto De Zerbi to become their head coach and how close they came to Marco Silva”

The Telegraph: “Roberto De Zerbi should not be cancelled for calling Mason Greenwood a ‘good guy’”

BBC: “Defoe ready to ‘earn his stripes’ with Woking”

The Guardian: “Skinner urges investment as Bayern end Manchester United WCL run in quarter-finals”

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.”