Cartilage Free Captain

”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+)

To whom it may concern,

My name is Dustin George-Miller. I am managing editor of Cartilage Free Captain, the largest Tottenham Hotspur fan blog in the United States. But I am writing to you today as an international Spurs fan deeply disturbed by some of what I am hearing in the media.

Recently there have been rumors, some from well respected journalists, that the Club is considering appointing Roberto De Zerbi as its next permanent manager. While I fully understand the extremely unreliable nature of “transfer rumors,” especially regarding such an incredibly high profile appointment as the Head Coach of Tottenham Hotspur, this particular rumor seems to have more gravitas than most. I acknowledge that the situation surrounding the managerial position at Spurs is complicated, in flux, and highly dependent on the Club’s status at the end of the season, but I wanted to personally write and express my emphatic opposition to the appointment of De Zerbi and would strongly suggest that the Club look to other candidates, of which there are no doubt many.

Roberto De Zerbi is without a doubt a talented football manager. He is also a highly divisive figure within the coaching ranks. His public falling out with his previous managerial appointments at Brighton and Marseille should be a huge red flag for the club when it comes to who should take charge. De Zerbi has proven himself to be caustic, acerbic, high strung, and confrontational in his interactions -- just one example is the sideline confrontation he had with Cristian Stellini that resulted in both managers being ejected and issued heavy fines. We have had hot-tempered managers before. It rarely ends well, or long.

But more importantly, I am extremely concerned with the club’s (apparent) flirtation with De Zerbi considering his history of apologia for sexual violence and rape. In particular, his decision, while at Marseille, to acquire and vigorously defend Mason Greenwood, a player credibly accused of rape and sexual assault, should be disqualifying for a club of Tottenham Hotspur’s stature. Hiring a manager who showed support for Greenwood at a time when he was exceedingly toxic throughout world football sends a terrible message to Tottenham supporters who are survivors of sexual assault -- it suggests the club prioritizes on-pitch results more than relationships with its own supporters.

I would remind the Club leadership of the fan outrage that emerged a few years ago when Spurs seemingly were interested in appointing Gennaro Gattuso to the managerial position. That proved to be exceedingly unpopular. This would be far, far worse. Some things are more important than football. This is one of them. Tottenham’s culture needs a hard reset after the past two years, but I can’t think of a worse way of establishing that culture than by alienating a significant portion of the fan base that are sexual abuse survivors. I have heard from many, many Spurs fans through my connections at Cartilage Free Captain and on social media, and the vast majority oppose the idea of appointing De Zerbi.

Obviously, I do not know for sure whether the Club is seriously considering the appointment of De Zerbi. If it turns out the Club is not, I would welcome that news. I would however again reiterate my, and my blog’s, strong opposition to his hypothetical appointment. There are plenty of managers who would do an excellent job managing Tottenham Hotspur, in whatever division they find themselves in, that do not contain the excessive baggage that Roberto De Zerbi carries with him. I would, in the strongest possible terms, suggest the club eliminate him as a potential candidate.

Tottenham Hotspur fans are smart. They understand the realities of modern football, but also are not willing to appoint problematic characters for the sole purpose of winning football matches. They also deeply care about the culture within the club. The fan protests over Gattuso (and, related, the attempt to join the Super League) should prove that. It did not work with Jose Mourinho. It did not work with Antonio Conte. It will not work with Roberto De Zerbi, and his appointment would only prove that the Club leadership is willfully blind to the real pain suffered by its supporters who are survivors of sexual abuse and rape.

Please choose someone else.

Tottenham Hotspur Women have put an emphasis on locking down their best players this week. After the hugely important new contract from Olivia Holdt earlier this week, in the past two days the club also announced two more important contract extensions — Swedish winger Matilda Vinberg and head coach Martin Ho.

Vinberg first — she’s been a revelation this season under Ho, adding width, pace, and crossing ability from the left flank this season. She’s developed a lot over the past season and locking her down to a new long-term contract feels more than appropriate. The Swedish international currently has one goal and two assists in 11 matches so far this season.

Ho’s extension is even more appropriate. He’s taken a team that nearly got relegated under now Portland Thurns head coach Robert Vilahamn, enhanced them through key signings in the transfer market such as Cathinka Tandberg, Signe Gaupset, and Toko Koga, and got them playing an offensive-minded, progressive style of football that they have responded to dramatically. Spurs are still knocking at the door of the big WSL clubs that perennially qualify for Champions League, but they’re back on their perch as Best of the Rest in fifth place in the table, and are continuing to improve. Ho has a clear plan on how to develop this team, and he’s worked wonders so far. It’s certainly worth committing to him and his tactics, since the players are absolutely responding to his coaching.

Ho has described Tottenham Hotspur Women as a “sleeping giant.” He’s currently in the beginning stages of waking them up, and it’s gratifying to see the club recognize that fact, and reward him for the excellent work he’s already done.

You know how Guglielmo Vicario’s stats and metrics have been dropping like a stone this season, going from statistically one of the best shot stoppers to one of the worst in the Premier League in recent months? Turns out there’s a reason for that — he’s likely been carrying an injury for months and been playing through the pain.

According to an article in Football.London and citing Vicario’s Instagram, assistant coach Fabian Otte replied to a Vicario post after his hernia surgery and implied that he’s been dealing with this for a while now.

Months? MONTHS? Well, that certainly explains a few things. That statistical drop was dramatic, and fanalysts had already picked up on it. It was suggested that Vic’s performance drop was due to him being on a bad team that faces more shots than before, or that he was just having a bad season, or maybe was reverting to the mean after overperforming since joining Spurs.

But this suggests something different, and depending on how you view things, infuriating. Playing through injury is rarely a good idea, and Vicario’s stats seem to prove that. I mean, it’s already a bad season and it’s a little tricky to try and unpick how Vicario’s regression is intertwined with Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor’s tactics, the regression of the team as a whole, and the injury itself. It’s probably a bit of everything. It’s also impossible to know whether the team would’ve been better off if Vicario had had the hernia surgery much earlier and put the club in the hands of Tonda Kinsky for a few weeks. Maybe it would’ve been better, maybe worse. Who can say!

This is not going to do anything to appease the section of the fan base that is convinced that Spurs’ medical staff are comprised of cloned copies of Dr. Nick from the Simpsons, or mannequins with cleavers instead of hands, and they have a point — it’s a little infuriating to learn that your starting, and struggling, keeper has apparently been playing through pain for months in an attempt to help the team, when he might have actually been doing the opposite. Add another narrative point in This Effing Season™ I guess.