Cartilage Free Captain

Following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season, Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the outgoing members of their senior men’s squad early today:

Alfie Whiteman, Fraser Forster, and Sergio Reguilon are the players to depart, with their contracts coming to an end, while Timo Werner’s loan has ended with Spurs obviously not too keen on a longer stay for the German at the club (I’m sure the feeling is mutual).

None of these departures are particularly surprising. Whiteman has never really sniffed the first team, with a couple of unsuccessful loans in recent years his only real senior football of note. An enigma of a man who loves cinema, music, and actually sent Dustin an email one time because he’s just that cool, it’s hard to say where his career takes him next; or if he’s seen enough of football and his future lies in other endeavors.

You could ask a similar question of Timo Werner in some ways; he was decent in his first half-season at the club, but in 24/25 just looked utterly devoid of confidence. It does make you wonder how a player that much in their own head continues in professional sport, but I’m sure he’ll head back to somewhere in Germany and lace up his boots again. All in all, it’s hard to imagine what could have been after his latest stint - not just in terms of Timo’s own performance, but what it could have meant in terms of alternative signings had the club looked elsewhere.

Fraser Forster had a bit of an ignominious end to his time at the club. A strange signing at the time (and seemingly an attempt by the club to increase homegrown numbers for cheap) he always seemed like a bit of a square peg in a round hole. Uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, he didn’t quite fit in a side trying to modernize their football, and this was no clearer than in Spurs’ 4-3 League Cup win over Manchester United where Forster nearly single-handedly gifted the Red Devils two goals while trying to play out from the back. That said, his physicality on set pieces and his shot stopping at times were excellent, and though he was quickly usurped by new signing Antonin Kinsky in January, he never complained as to his position in the squad and was always ready when called upon.

That leaves us with Sergio Reguilon. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly where it went wrong for the Spaniard; in some ways the exciting, athletic fullback seemed perfect suited for the Spurs way, and his career with the club started extremely well. Unfortunately, he started to struggle with injuries, and as his availability declined, so did his football. Sometimes mercurial in his defensive duties, he also really struggled with the interplay required in an attacking side, with his short passing especially poor and perhaps a reason why Ange Postecoglou opted not to rely on him unless absolutely desperate. He seemed content though to collect a paycheck, train hard, and commit himself to be Spurs’ unofficial “hype man” - often present cheering his squadmates on in matches, active on social media, and very visible in some of the post-Europa League trophy celebrations. What’s not to love?

There’s one interesting absence of note from that list: Ben Davies. His contract officially ended at the closure of this season as well, but there was an option with the club for a one-year extension, and reporting late last year indicated the club was looking to exercise said clause. That seems to fly in the face though of some of the rumors flying around in recent days linking Gentle Ben to Wrexham, so who knows what to believe. Perhaps the club has given Ben time to negotiate with the Welsh club, and if negotiations are unsuccessful, will sign him on for another year? He has been a faithful servant to the club for 11 years, and at this point has earned the choice of what he does next. It would be a sentimental move, albeit a much warranted one.

Farewell, then, to Fraser, Sergio, Alfie, and Timo. It’s a squad that makes a team, and so their contributions can’t be understated. Thank you for your service to the club, and all the best for whatever comes next - whether that be in football or outside.

It’s been a strange season. Tottenham Hotspur lost a Premier League club record 22 matches in 2024-25, falling all the way to 17th place, a situation literally as bad as you can get without being relegated. The only thing that has prevented this from being an unequivocally catastrophic disaster was the fact that Spurs managed to win the Europa League, thereby qualifying for Champions League next season. Imagine — England’s representatives at the highest European club competition are the teams that finished first through fifth... and also 17th.

There are plenty of caveats to Spurs’ league finish, which include one of the worst injury crises I’ve ever seen at a football club, combined with Spurs going deep in the Europa League and the two domestic cup competitions with a wafer-thin squad. That said, there’s also no question that most of Tottenham’s returning players took a step backwards statistically.

Those injuries are in part why it’s so difficult to pick a Player of the Season. You can make arguments about a bunch of different players, and it depends on what nebulous criteria you use to make the judgement. Purely a goals-in-net person? Brennan Johnson is right there with 18 in all competitions. Most important player? Dejan Kulusevski carried Spurs in the first six months of the season before injury derailed him. Most influential? James Maddison might be your man. Defensive efficacy? Cuti Romero. Availability? Pedro Porro. But nearly of them carried injuries, most of them significant and lengthy.

So what’s a blogger to do? I went back to the well, to the person who had the best mix of stats, influence, and vibes. My Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Season is Son Heung-Min.

Has he taken a step back statistically this season? Yes, but so has the majority of the team. Ahead of the Europa League final, I was leaning towards Dejan Kulusevski for this award. But 11 goals and 11 assists to go along with a team-leading 0.53 xA+xG/90 (>1000min) for this deeply flawed team is still impressive. He led the team in shots, and shots on target/90. Son struggled at times with how he fit into Ange Postecoglou’s offense, and that changed even more when the early Ange-Ball returns went sour and Postecoglou started tweaking tactics. Even so, he’s still the best player on this Spurs team, and the squad missed him when he was not available.

Sonny’s ability and willingness to play through injuries to help the team can be a strength or a weakness depending on how you look at it. I find it a bit infuriating, to be honest; we found out he was playing through a niggling foot injury for a good part of the spring, and didn’t feature in Tottenham’s final match of the season against Brighton because of that same injury. The truth is, Sonny took his role as captain seriously, to the point where he gave 100% when he himself was not 100%. 11 goals represents his lowest goal tally since his first year at the club, and yet is there a player who was more influential on this team, with his assists, with his leadership, and with his effort? I’d argue not.

For me, this award crystallized as I watched Sonny lift the Europa League trophy, Tottenham’s first silverware in 17 years, and the first Spurs European title since 1984. Son didn’t start that final and didn’t score after coming on at halftime. But he was the most important player on that pitch in Bilbao. Can you imagine anyone else lifting that trophy in that moment? I cannot.

He is a treasure, a confirmed Spurs legend, even if in a season of staggering highs and incredible lows he did not hit the individual heights he wanted. He’d probably be the first person to admit it, and apologize to you in the process. That’s maybe another reason why he deserves Player of the Season. We don’t have many more years with Son Heung-Min, it’s important to enjoy what little time remains.

Commentariat Choice: Pedro Porro

It’s not exactly a runaway choice, but it is a pretty substantial victory for Pedro Porro from the commentariat poll. And there’s a very strong argument to be made as to why Porro deserves it. For one, he’s been healthy all season, something that the majority of his teammates can’t say. Secondly, he’s been simply impressive. He finished the season third on the team with 9 assists as an attacking fullback, and has improved his crossing and set piece delivery dramatically. His defensive positioning has also improved a ton, to the point where I no longer instinctively feel nervous seeing him trying to defend speedy attackers on his side. He’s also The Athletic’s choice for Player of the Season, and who am I to disagree with Jack Pitt-Brooke? (Well, me. I am, and I already have I guess.)

Look, it’s a good choice. I’m not going to argue it. What’s interesting to me is Brennan Johnson coming in second, 20 votes ahead of Dejan. I think there’s a bit of recency bias at play here, and I’ve been making a bit of fun with Brennan as a talented but flawed player by calling him the “Lionel Messi of Nacer Chadlis” all season. That said, “POY should be the player who scores the most goals” is a perfectly valid rationale. Honestly, it’s kinda cool that there are numerous good options for Player of the Season, even a completely sicko season like this one.

Is there a chance we’ll see Ben Davies on FX next season? According to a new report from Football Insider, there’s a chance that might just happen. The report states that Wrexham, notably owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney and who just successfully promoted for the third straight year, are in talks to sign Davies this summer on a free transfer.

OK, so let’s talk about a couple of things. First, Football Insider is, uhhhhhhhhhhh, not typically a source we rely upon for accurate rumors. That said, in a vacuum this deal might make a weird sort of sense. Wrexham are now in the Championship and need a serious upgrade in talent in order to stay there. In past seasons, the owners have done this by signing older, experienced professionals like Jay Rodriguez, Steven Fletcher, and James Maclean who are near the ends of their careers and don’t mind dropping down a level or two as their bodies start to break down. Davies would certainly fit that model, and he’s Welsh so it would be a kind of homecoming for him (even though he’s a Swansea lad).

But Wrexham signing Davies on a free transfer would seem to contradict news from earlier this season. Jack Pitt-Brooke wrote back in November that Spurs were planning on exercising a one-year extension in Davies’ contract, something that Daniel Levy loves to tack on in contract extension negotiations, and that would keep Davies at Spurs through 2025-26. We don’t actually know whether the club exercised that option or not, and Spurs typically doesn’t announce when they do, they just brief the media like they did back in November. The Football Insider article seems to suggest they have not.

So what gives? There are a couple of possibilities.

The Wrexham story is bullshit

Spurs didn’t actually exercise Davies’ contract extension, either because they decided not to or Davies requested that they not, and they agreed to that request

Spurs DID exercise the contract extension and are either willing to let Davies out of his deal, or receive a small transfer fee from Wrexham to send him there.

It’s an interesting thought experiment, for sure, and it’s clear even if he wants to stay at Spurs for another year that he won’t have his contract renewed past 2025-26. Wrexham, meanwhile, are Wrexham — the Welsh celebrity club with its own TV show. Davies would be a pretty big get for them, even if he’s a little past his prime and slightly gone to seed. But it’s also clear that Davies won’t be short of options; Leeds is another possible destination, as is just staying at Tottenham and retiring a legend. That said, if Wrexham is where he wants to go, then I’d guess the club would be amenable to making it happen. Plus we’d get to see him possibly hugging Ryan Reynolds on the telly next year.

But let’s wait for some more reliable sourcing, first.

After a weekend filled will football action, we have a much clearer picture on what the English football pyramid will look like next season. Let’s take a a look in the latest Lower Leagues roundup:

League One

Going up: Birmingham, Wrexham, Charlton

Going down: Crawley Town, Brisol Rovers, Cambridge United, Shrewsbury Town

Playoff winners: Charlton

A gutting loss for Leyton Orient in the playoff final, but they didn’t really even show up to Wembley. In a battle of two London clubs, it was the South London outfit Charlton who came out on top.

The winning goal came off a free kick, and Spurs loanee Josh Keeley probably could have done better to save it.

It’s exciting to see Charlton back in the EFL Championship after a few seasons away. For Leyton Orient, next season will bring about a large degree of uncertainty. They’ll be losing Keeley and Jamie Donley, two Spurs loanees who were key to their success this season.

League Two

Going up: Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale, Bradford City, Wimbledon

Going down: Carlisle United, Morecambe

Playoff winners: Wimbledon

This season will be remembered as one of the biggest collapses in the league’s history. Walsall were 12 points clear at the top in January. Once Stoke City recalled Nathan Lowe from loan, the Saddlers fell off the top of their perch. Tragic, really.

But we’re happy to see Wimbledon climb back up.

National League

Going up: Barnet, TBD

Going down: Dag and Red, Maidenhead, Fylde, Ebbsfleet

Playoff final: Southend United vs Oldham

This is the last big football match of the year - Southend United versus Oldham Athletic. The teams finished seventh and fifth in the league this year, respectively.

Every season the question arises if there should be two automatic places for the National League. The answer is yes. The gap between League 2 and the National League is very small, and I suspect the winner of this playoff final will be pretty competitive in the fourth tier of English football next year.

The final is this sunday - GET HYPED!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Cissy Strut, by The Meters

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold: “Remarkable Lucas Bergvall development will cost Tottenham extra cash right now”

The Athletic ($$): “Tottenham Hotspur squad audit: How the team is set ahead of the transfer window”

BBC: Ella Toone: “‘I don’t think I grieved, I don’t think I thought it was real’”

Hey, you might have heard this, but Tottenham Hotspur are going to be playing Champions League football next season. Why, you ask? Because despite finishing 17th in the Premier League, Spurs won the gol-danged Europa League thereby qualifying for the competition!

Let’s just reiterate that again, because it never gets old: Tottenham Hotspur are Europa League Champions!! Yeah. Still feels pretty great, doesn’t it?

Champions League qualification still isn’t finished as there are still about 7 slots up for grabs that will be resolved through a qualification playoff process. That said, Football Rankings have given their projections for the pots for next year’s competition, and according to their projections Spurs will be in Pot 3.

So when I first saw this, I’m so CL Draw-pilled that my first inclination was to get mad. Whaddya mean Pot 3? We’re gonna get screwed in the draw! But then I remembered the format change to the Swiss Model — no matter what pot Spurs end up in, they’ll still be drawn against two teams from each pot, so the pots really don’t matter all that much. You could get tough home/away draws against difficult opponents from every pot, but there aren’t any “groups of death” anymore. I kind of like it.

That said, we can glean a little info from the pots. For example, we know we’ll be drawn against two of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Dortmund, or Barcelona from Pot 1, because the rest of the Pot 1 clubs are Premier League, and we can’t be drawn against teams from our own federation.

Second, while the names without a check mark are unconfirmed, there are some very familiar names in those pots. Bodø/Glimt, Frankfurt, Slavia Praha, Galatasaray, Olympiacos, Athletic Bilbao, and Ferencvaros were all in the Europa League last season, and Spurs finished higher than all of them. (And hey, weren’t we just told a couple of weeks ago that playing clubs like Bodø/Glimt and Frankfurt devalued the importance of the Europa League competition? Big Thinky Emoji goes here.)

The level of competition is obviously higher in the Champions League, but Spurs are pretty much guaranteed a mix of teams substantially better than them as well as substantially worse. There’s the whole luck of the draw, of course, but looking at those pots I can see Spurs potentially being at least competitive. Maybe they won’t be top eight like they were this season, but perhaps the playoffs?

Tottenham Hotspur midfield target Johnny Cardoso had a bad day yesterday, flashing a wide-open shot over the bar for Real Betis and losing 4-1 to Chelsea in the Europa Conference League final.

Now, there’s some good news — he’s a wanted man, and is likely going to be departing Betis for another club. As we reported earlier in the year, Tottenham Hotspur have a priority option to sign Johnny during a two week period at the start of the summer transfer window, which opens on June 1. But according to MARCA (aka the Spanish Daily Mail), Atletico Madrid are also keen on signing Johnny, and he has become a “priority target” for them next month.

It’s probably a good idea to revisit Johnny’s agreement with Spurs, first. Here’s the important paragraph from back when we first reported on the deal.

In short, McGrath confirmed the Cardoso option via comments from Betis president Ángel Haro. The deal is as follows: Spurs have a priority option that lasts for two weeks next summer whereby they will be able to purchase Cardoso for a fee of £21m. Should they decide NOT to sign him, other clubs will be available to make an offer for Cardoso when that two week window closes.

NOT reported in McGrath’s writeup is a reported sell-on clause in Cardoso’s contract whereby Tottenham would receive a percentage of money from Johnny’s sale if he DOESN’T move to Spurs. That was initially reported in the lead-up to the agreement, but it feels a touch weird — it’s undoubtedly a fantastic deal whereby Spurs would get future money from a Cardoso sale despite not actually owning the player, but I’m not seeing any confirmation post-window close of that clause existing. I’m now wondering if the reporting conflated Lo Celso’s sell-on with this hypothetical one for Cardoso. I’ll keep looking.

I haven’t seen anything since that would contradict what I wrote back in September. That two week window would presumably kick in June 1. But there is a complication — there are some reports of dubious providence floating around that Johnny isn’t exactly keen to come to Spurs and would much rather move to a club like Atletico, hence the interest from them. It’s also interesting that we really haven’t heard much about Johnny since arranging this priority option last summer.

It makes me wonder if we’re either kicking the can down the road a bit due to the ambiguity around Ange Postecoglou’s job status and the reshuffling of the deck chairs. Does Fabio Paratici want Johnny Cardoso or not? It’s not very clear. Nor is very clear whether he’s the kind of player Spurs want or need at them moment — he profiles much closer to a 23-year old Yves Bissouma, when really what Spurs need is someone who can pass.

What is clear is that if Spurs are going to exercise their option to purchase Johnny, it’ll happen in the next two weeks. And even if they don’t sign him it sounds like they might get a little cash out of the deal anyway. Guess we’re going to find out.

Sampdoria are headed for Serie C for the first time in their history - or are they?

We don’t know the answer to that question yet, and apparently a 38-game season in which Sampdoria finished 18th wasn’t enough to decide it.

Now I know what you’re asking: “Why do we care at all about Sampdoria? Is Ange in or out? Tell me you coward!”

Settle down, my dear hoddlers. Some things are more important than the future of Tottenham Hotspur’s manager. One of those things is the second-tier Italian football club that Spurs loaned Harry Winks out to two seasons ago.

According to The Athletic, Italian football’s supervisory body informed Serie B that it was investigating Brescia over alleged financial irregularities.

The penalty would be a four-point deduction if they are found guilty, which would push Sampdoria into the relegation playoffs.

The relegation playoff between Frosinone and Salernitana has since been postponed. If Brescia are found guilty, then Frosinone would be safe from relegation altogether.

Brescia said it would appeal. Here’s the English translation:

Following the press reports that emerged today and the notice of conclusion of the investigation received from the FIGC for alleged irregularities in payments, Brescia Calcio Spa announces that it will appeal to any sporting venue and, if necessary, extra-sporting venue, to protect its position believing that it has correctly fulfilled the federal deadlines and acted in accordance with state and sporting regulations.

The stakes are huge. No one wants to be relegated to Serie C. That’s where football dreams go to die. And it would be a huge shame if Sampdoria fell into that black hole.

But this is Italian football and twists are aplenty.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Got My Mind Set On You, by George Harrison

And now for your links:

The Athletic ($$): “Tottenham’s player of 2024-25: Pedro Porro – nobody gave them more”

ESPN: “Man United suffer post-season defeat to ASEAN All-Stars”

BBC: “Head coach Muslic to leave Plymouth amid Schalke link”

Ready for some transfer slop? Oh fam, you know I’ve got you. Sky Sports understands that Atletico Madrid are ready to make an approach to sign Cuti Romero this summer, and that they could offer as much as £39m for him!

Wow! That’s a lot of £! Except it really isn’t for one of the best central defenders in the Premier League.

There’s a lot of hedging in this short article, which comes from Lyall Thomas via the Sky Sports transfer tracker. First, there’s the suggestion that Atletico WILL approach Tottenham but haven’t yet. Then there’s the price, which feels pretty risible for a player who has won the World Cup. Sky says Spurs value Romero “in excess of £49m” (a weirdly specific number) and likely that valuation is even higher.

Now, look — there is an argument to be made that now is the time to cash in on Romero for the right price and use those funds to improve the squad elsewhere. Kevin Danso is looking like he could be a decent player alongside Micky van de Ven so the drop-off might not be as steep as it was at the beginning of this past season. We also know Atletico has long been a fan of Cuti, and that Romero, answering a leading question from an Argentine journalist, said he’d love to play in La Liga someday.

But if that happens it won’t be for cheap and it won’t be unless Cuti pushes for it to happen. And if you read the tea leaves in the media, it’s starting to sound like Ange Postecoglou and Cuti Romero might be a package deal — if Ange stays, Cuti stays, and vice versa.

The summer just started, and while I doubt this is something we need to worry about in the short term I also suspect this could be a long annoying summer of Romero Out rumors, or at least until we get some further clarity. Brace yourselves.

If the Daily Telegraph is correct, Ryan Mason may be the new manager at West Bromwich Albion within a matter of days. John Percy wrote in the paper yesterday that Mason, a Tottenham academy graduate, former player, and assistant coach and who has taken charge of Spurs’ first team on an interim basis twice, is the “top choice” for the Baggies to permanently replace Tony Mowbray at The Hawthornes next season.

Mason is regarded as an impressive young assistant coach and has been linked to a number of recent job openings over the past couple of seasons. The closest he got to an actual head coaching position was last October, when he was a finalist for the job at Anderlecht, though he and the Belgian club “mutually” withdrew interest after talks. He also had attracted interest from a couple of unnamed Championship clubs right around the time Ange Postecoglou took the head coaching position at Tottenham.

The Telegraph writes that West Brom is likely to approach Tottenham about appointing Mason “within 48 hours,” though this article published yesterday so the time frame is probably shorter than that now. Either way I’d guess that we’ll get a resolution of some sort yet this week.

Mason is an ambitious young coach. After his second stint as interim manager of Tottenham, after Spurs sacked Cristian Stellini, Mason threw his hat in the ring for the Spurs job. He was never likely to get it, especially since he had zero head coaching experience, but he got points for chutzpah.

In truth, West Brom is a pretty good gig for Mason. They finished mid-table in the Championship last season with a +10 GD in a highly disruptive season. They also have a genuine young star in 21-year old midfielder Tom Fellows, who had 4G+14A for the Baggies last season; keeping ahold of him would be key, but might also be difficult as he’s heavily linked with a summer move to Everton where he’d replace Jack Harrison.

Will “BIG WILLY LANKS” Lankshear also spent the spring at WBA on loan, and Mason’s obvious connection to Spurs could mean a fruitful Championship loan pathway for Tottenham’s young stars-in-waiting.

But more than that, it’s probably just time for Mason to make the jump to an actual head coaching position. He’s spent a number of years now working under some of the biggest names in football — we may have feelings about Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but you can’t argue that they’ve definitely proven themselves. Mason has also been one of Ange Postecoglou’s top assistants the past two seasons, coaching a vastly different style of football.

This is without question the most prominent job he’s been linked to and it says a lot about him that a club that has been in the Premier League as recently as 2021. I’m actually really curious as to what kind of manager Mason will be and how he would lead a Championship team that should have a lot of promise. We may soon find out.

I’m not quite ready to joing the Ange In/Out discourse. I understand the uncertainty heading into this offseason, but only one week has passed since Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League.

And, you know what, I’m still riding that high.

To me, Spurs were like Sisyphus, condemned to an eternity of pushing a boulder up a hill only for it to always roll back down after nearly reaching the top.

Last Wednesday, Tottenham finally pushed the boulder to the top of the hill. And I fell to my knees.

I almost didn’t know what to do in a love that, up until that point, had consistently rewarded me with heartbreak. I was in sheer disbelief.

Here we are a week later, still Europa League champions. Various renditions of Free From Desire, Waka Waka, When the Spurs Go Marching In and Can’t Smile Without You have been ringing in my head these last seven days.

The deafening roars of the fans singing outside the stadium on Friday and again on Sunday - during and after a 1-4 defeat to Brighton - were remarkable. And the images of Heung-min Son and Ben Davies with the trophy will remain in my memory for quite some time.

That euphoria lifted me the next few days. I spent a hell of a lot of time singing “Championes!” to my friends on the phone, my cowokers and the random two Spurs supporter I happened to come across at the Irish Channel the other night.

Because that’s what this trophy means to me and to so many of us. It means the joy of finally reaching to the top of the hill, and the relief of finally being able to let go of the boulder. And to sing our hearts out.

I’m going to hang on to that joy for a little while longer.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Just Like Heaven, by The Cure

And now for your links:

Telegraph: “West Brom to hold talks with Tottenham’s Ryan Mason over manager’s job”

Alasdair Gold: “Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray explain exactly why Ange Postecoglou must remain at Tottenham”

The Guardian: “Giovani Lo Celso: ‘Lots happened at Spurs but I’m in the place I want to be’”