Football London

Ange Postecoglou is speaking to the media following Tottenham's 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest on Monday night in the Premier League.

The Spurs boss had made five changes with Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert all coming in for the the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Forest scored five minutes into the game though when Pedro Porro headed a corner across the Spurs box and it fell for Elliot Anderson to hit a powerful shot that deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and Guglielmo Vicario could not stop it from crossing the line.

Chris Wood had an effort ruled out for offside but did get on the scoresheet on 17 minutes when he took advantage of non-existent marking to head home Anthony Elanga's cross.

Spurs produced shot after shot with Matz Sels making a series of saves and it wasn't until the 87th minute when Richarlison finally took one of his chances with a great header from Porro's cross, his fourth goal in his past five Premier League appearances.

In all, Tottenham had 22 shots to Forest's four and 70% possession but couldn't find another way through.

Our Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the game. Scroll down for the latest updates from the press conference at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham Hotspur went down 2-1 Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Monday night and here are our Spurs player ratings from the match.

Spurs were hoping to build on Thursday night's win in Frankfurt which put them into the Europa League semi-finals, where they will take on Norwegian team Bodo/Glimt over two legs in May. This game gave Ange Postecoglou's side a chance to climb up into 13th place in the Premier League table.

The Spurs boss made five changes with Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert all coming in for the the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

However, Forest scored five minutes into the game. Pedro Porro headed a corner across the Spurs box and it fell for Elliot Anderson to hit a powerful shot that deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and Guglielmo Vicario could not stop it from crossing the line.

Chris Wood had an effort ruled out for offside but did get on the scoresheet on 17 minutes when he took advantage of non-existent marking to head home Anthony Elanga's cross.

Spurs had shot after shot with Matz Sels making a series of saves and it wasn't until the 87th minute when Richarlison finally took one of his chances with a great header from Porro's cross. Tottenham had 22 shots to Forest's four and 70% possession but couldn't find another way through.

Here are our Tottenham player ratings:

Guglielmo Vicario

Pushed away an early effort from Gibbs-White but will feel he should have done better with Anderson's deflect strike from the edge of the box five minutes in. Then got nowhere near the ball as Wood headed home. Had nothing to do in the second half but the damage was done. 3

Pedro Porro

Headed Forest's corner across his own box leading to their early goal. However, he created chances for Spurs with one corner headed at goal by Kulusevski but cleared off the line. Then put in a lovely cross for Richarlison to score with four minutes of normal time remaining. 7

Cristian Romero

All over the place in the early stages and had no idea Wood had drifted in behind him to score Forest's second. Came off at half-time. One of the days when the red mist looked like it was descending. 4

Micky van de Ven

Grappled with Wood before losing him for his first half header and never really looked on his game either. The Dutchman also came off at the break. 5

Djed Spence

Not on top form but still caused Forest some problems down that left flank. 6

Pape Matar Sarr

Plenty of running but without much quality when he had the ball. 5

Rodrigo Bentancur

Anderson's early shot took a deflection off him to give Vicario a problem. The Uruguayan worked hard in the midfield and other than the odd sloppy moment was one of Spurs' better players. 7

Dejan Kulusevski

Looked rusty with not much coming off for him, including a glancing header cleared off the line by Toffolo. 5

Wilson Odobert

His only contribution in the first half hour was a bouncing shot that Sels pushed aside but he improved after that moment and looked a threat, with a great cross that Richarlison should have headed in, only to fade again in the second half before coming off. 6

Richarlison

Sent a header wide from Odobert's cross before the break when he should have got it on target and then headed wide Tel's cross. Was denied by Sels from close range midway through the second half and had a header saved well by the keeper. Finally had his moment when he headed home Porro's cross. Should have scored more goals on the day but made an impact in the end. He's scored four goals in his past five Premier League appearances. 7

Mathys Tel

Spurs' best player in the first half, creating chances for himself and others. Kept working hard in the second half and was one of the more promising things to come out of the match as he seems to be getting sharper. 7

Subs

Kevin Danso

On at the break and he tried to increase the tempo from the back. Sent a shot wide with his left foot midway through the second half. 6

Ben Davies

Dealt well with most of what Forest threw at him and he fired a shot over the crossbar from distance. 6

Dominic Solanke

Came on but had little impact other than bringing another presence up front. 5

Brennan Johnson

Didn't offer much from the bench in the final half an hour. 5

Lucas Bergvall

VAR was temporarily suspended during Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Monday after a fire alarm sounded at its Stockley Park control centre.

Sky Sports commentator Seb Hutchinson alerted viewers to the fact as the two sides resumed play for the second half.

He announced: "A few changes made by either side. Also hearing some information from the VAR hub at Stockley Park that a fire alarm's gone off so VAR not in operation for the time being.

"We'll keep you updated but we hope everything's okay, that it's not a fire and only an alarm."

It meant referee Peter Bankes and his assistants Marc Perry and Nick Greenhalgh were forced to operate for a brief time without the help from the VAR or newly-introduced semi-automated offside technology in the event of any decisions.

However, thankfully the officials were not required to make any tough calls in brief spell that they were eithout.

Sky's announcement was subsequently followed by statement from the Premier League's Match Centre on X, published at 9.08pm.

It read: "The match will be operating without VAR until further notice due to a fire alarm at the VAR Hub at Stockley Park."

It was followed up by another at 9.09pm that stated: "VAR is now back up and running."

At the time of the unfortunate mishap, Nuno Espirito Santo and Forest were 2-0 up against his former side Spurs. Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood had struck before the break.

But showing just how important the technology is, the latter had seen another striker ruled out retrospectively as he had trailed offside.

This is also not the first time this same occurrence has happened this season as the VAR team were forced to vacate their Stockley Park control centre when the fire alarm went off during Ipswich Town vs Manchester United last November.

Yellow

Another yellow card for Forest as Toffolo is booked for fouling Johnson.

Forest sub

Sosa replaces Gibbs-White for the final few minutes of stoppage time.

Yellow

Yates gets a yellow after hauling down Bergvall with Spurs looking to attack.

Richarlison scores!

Finally Spurs put the ball in the net as Richarlison sends a lovely header home from Porro's cross.

Save

Now Richarlison sees a header saved well low down by Sels from Porro's cross.

Wide

Kevin Danso fires a shot wide from outside the box.

Save

Now Richarlison has a shot saved after a mistake at the back from Forest.

So close

Kulusevksi header from Porro's corner cleared off the line by Toffolo.

Forest subs

Yates and Hudson-Odoi on for Dominguez and Danilo.

Almost 3-0

Brilliant chance for Forest as Gibbs-White and Wood team up on the edge of the area.

The former could only shoot wide of the target, though.

Nottingham Forest sub

Morato on for Elanga at the start of the second half.

Spurs subs

Romero and Van de Ven off at the break with Davies and Danso coming on.

Added time

Three added minutes at the end of the first half.

Header

Now Richarlison heads wide from a Tel cross. Spurs are now carving out opportunities but doing nothing with them.

Wide

Finally a great cross from Odobert and Richarlison heads it wide when it should be in the back of the net.

Off target

Tel flashes a shot high and wide after a ball drops to him in the box.

Over

Mathys Tel, who has been Spurs' best player so far by a distance, sends a header over from Porro's deep cross.

More on the goal

It's so easy for Wood as he goes between Romero and Van de Ven and is unchallenged as he heads home Elanga's cross.

No goal

The goal is ruled out for offside by VAR.

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has explained his thinking behind his team selection for Monday night's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.

Postecoglou had confirmed pre-game that he was going to make "five or six changes" for the Forest game following Thursday night's Europa League win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

Spurs have two huge Europa League clashes against Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final at the start of May, with their Premier League campaign seeing them sitting in the bottom half of the table.

Five changes were made at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski, Pape Sarr, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison all starting from the off. James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke all dropped to the bench.

Speaking to Sky Sports before the game with Forest, Postecoglou explained how he plans to use the Premier League to maintain momentum with the double-header with Bodo/Glimt in mind.

“For me, what’s really important is that we’ve hardly had a squad to choose from and we’ve suffered from that," he said.

"We’ve been very thin for a long time this year and we couldn’t rotate, which added to our injury problems. We only played like 40 games last year, we’re into the 50s now.

"The fact that I do have a squad of players, it’s a balance between some needing a little bit of a rest, because it was a big night the other night, but also getting some minutes into some guys who could very well be very important for us in the league because they’ve missed a lot of football, whether that’s Kulusevki, Odobert, Richarlison.

"It’s a balance of both but hopefully, for me, it doesn’t impact the performance.”

The Premier League has confirmed why VAR overturned Chris Wood's goal in Monday night's Premier League clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.

Forest stormed into the lead inside five minutes thanks to Elliot Anderson's long-range effort. Nuno Espirito Santo's men then thought they had doubled their lead when Chris Wood converted inside the box after being played through by Anderson.

However, VAR checked the goal at Stockley Park and overturned the goal. Wood was deemed to be offside in the build-up of the goal after venturing forward too quickly just outside the box.

The Premier League explained the decision via their @PLMatchCentre page on X, formerly Twitter. The statement read: "VAR checked the referee's call of goal - and established that Wood was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed."

Unfortunately for Spurs, they did find themselves 2-0 down not long later when Wood did get his goal six minutes after having his first chalked off. A teasing ball from Anthony Elanga was perfectly directed into the bottom corner by the New Zealand striker, who was left unmarked by Tottenham.

Spurs' Premier League campaign has been a write-off for some time now, with Ange Postecoglou's men sitting 16th. Wolves' win over Manchester United on Sunday meant the north Londoners dropped another place in the bottom half of the table.

Fortunately, the three bottom teams have managed just 10 wins between them this season. Ipswich Town, who mathematically still stay up, are 16 points behind Spurs.

If you are a football fan and user of the social media platform X, chances are you will know that Will Still once managed French side SC Reims to a 19-game unbeaten run in the 2022/23 campaign.

You may also be aware of the fact that the 32-year-old is now one of the brightest young coaches in European football since moving across Ligue 1 to take up the job with RC Lens.

His good work across the English Channel has seen him linked with jobs in this country, particularly Southampton, as they head back down to the Championship managerless after sacking Ivan Juric upon their mathematical relegation.

So, there should be some excitement brewing as Sky Sports have confirmed Still as a guest pundit for Monday Night Football coverage of Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest.

Here, football.london takes a look at the man behind the manager.

Still's career so far

Still was born to English parents but raised in Belgium. The area where he grew up had local and Dutch influence, as he played football until reaching the age of 17, when playing the popular Football Manager game series helped his decision to switch to coaching.

Years dedicated to study and work experience lead to backroom video analyst and academy positions in England and Belgium, then the assistant manager role at Stade de Reims', until being given the opportunity to step up as caretaker manager two months into the 2022/23 campaign.

An undefeated run of five matches earned him the full job. That unbeaten streak extended to 19, as mentioned earlier, and the club finished the season 11th.

Because he did not hold his UEFA pro license at the time, Reims were fined €25k (£21.4k) for every match he managed.

Still won 25 of his 64 matches in total before departing at the end of the 2023/24 campaign and, two months later, was offered a job at RC Lens. They sit eighth in Ligue 1 with six matches to go.

Net worth

Still's net worth is unknown, as is his salary with Lens after taking up their job offer last summer.

The only information available towards his earnings as a top-level coach was what he took home previously from Reims. The Daily Mail say he earned €18,500 (£16,075) in the Grand Est region, which is actually barely above the French coaches' union permitted minimum salary of €17,920 (£15,571).

Famous girlfriend

The Englishman went public in a relationship last summer with Sky Sports presenter Emma Saunders, who is often seen presenting Premier League coverage live around the grounds each weekend.

The couple posted to Instagram together at England's Euro 2024 group stage fixture with Denmark in Germany's Deutsche Bank Stadium.

Unfortunately, Still and Saunders have faced a tough time lately, as during this season she has been affected by thyroid cancer and then encephalitis, an uncommon but life-threatening brain condition if not dealt with urgently.

After Lens beat Marseille last month, he told L'Equipe: "It's tough.

"We realise that there are more important things in life than a football match or a shot that goes into the top corner. I was honest with the guys. My girlfriend was in a coma. We had to be with her, we had to take care of her.

"The group reacted admirably well. My girlfriend is stable, she's fine. That's the most important thing. When I came back last Saturday, I knew she was in the best possible place to get treatment.

"I asked her the question openly: 'Do I go, do I not go?' She said to me: 'You have to go.' I thank the staff and my brothers who were there to do the work when I wasn't there."

And Saunders shared an update to her 73.3k Instagram followers six weeks ago to explain that she is taking time away from presenting to recover but hopes to be back before the end of the season.

Premier League allegiance

Back in 2023, Still told talkSPORT he is a supporter of West Ham United.

"If I say it, I’m scared other teams aren’t going to ring me up," he began, before finally admitting: "West Ham, I’ve always been a big West Ham fan."

Perhaps he was hoping to be given the job that Julen Lopetegui got last summer. The Spaniard has since already been replaced by Graham Potter.

Tottenham Hotspur are back in Premier League action as former head coach Nuno Espirito Santo brings his Nottingham Forest team to N17 on Monday night.

Spurs will be looking to build on the momentum of Thursday night's win in Frankfurt which put them into the Europa League semi-finals, where they will face Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt over two legs in May. As well as their European exploits, Tottenham have six tricky Premier League fixtures remaining and while they are safe from the spectre of relegation after a difficult season, they need to clamber back up the table to restore some pride and prepare themselves for the crunch European ties.

Ange Postecoglou made it clear ahead of the game that he was going to make "five or six changes" against Forest after Spurs' exploits in Germany, and the Australian has certainly changed things up with five changes.

Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski, Richarlison, Pape Matar Sarr and Wilson Odobert all start the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while Destiny Udogie gets a rest from this matchday squad.

Here is the Tottenham team Postecoglou will selected for the match:

Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action on Monday night as they host Nottingham Forest in the Monday Night Football.

Spurs go into the fixture on the back of a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League in midweek, which saw the club reach the semi-final of the competition.

Ange Postecoglou and Co. will now be determined to continue their winning form with another victory, this time in the Premier League against Champions League-chasing Nottingham Forest.

Tottenham are currently in 16th place in the Premier League table, but defeats from Manchester United and Everton over the weekend give Spurs the chance to climb the standings on Easter Monday.

Here, football.london takes a look at the TV info needed to be able to follow the Premier League clash between Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.

What time does Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest kick off?

Tottenham's clash against Nottingham Forest is scheduled to kick off at 8pm on Monday, April 21, from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League.

Is Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest on TV?

Yes, Sky Sports has chosen Spurs vs Forest as part of its weekly Premier League coverage, with the match taking centre stage for Monday Night Football.

The coverage will get underway on Sky Sports Premier League (Sky channel 402) at 6.30pm, with around 90 minutes of analysis and pre-match build-up before kick-off. The match will also be available to watch on Sky Sports Main Event (Sky channel 401) with coverage on that channel getting underway at 7.30pm.

How to live stream Tottenham Hotspur vs Nottingham Forest

Thanks to Sky Sports covering the game, fans will also have the option of live streaming Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest in the Monday Night Football.

Sky customers will be able to stream the action online as well as on the Sky Go mobile app.

Alternatively, NOWTV will also be live streaming the match online, mobile and via their TV app. This service will be available to paying customers only.

James Maddison has sent Jude Bellingham a message following Real Madrid's 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao. Federico Valverde fired Carlo Ancelotti's side to victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday evening, finding the top left-hand corner with a brilliant strike in stoppage time.

Los Blancos returned to winning ways after crashing out of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. Arsenal knocked Real Madrid out of the competition on Wednesday evening, winning 5-1 on aggregate.

With six games remaining, the Spanish giants trail Barcelona by just four points in the title race. The two rivals will meet in the Copa del Rey final later this month before locking horns in La Liga at the Camp Nou on May 11.

Nevertheless, Bellingham marked the weekend's victory with a celebratory post on Instagram. Captioning a carousel of action shots from the match, the 21-year-old midfielder wrote: "So important! Wow Guacho! @fedevalverde."

Speaking to Stephen Hendry on the snooker world champion's Cue Tips series in February 2024, the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder was asked if there's much competition for his position in the England set-up.

Maddison laughed: "No, not much. Just Bellingham! He's ridiculous. So good. He's a great lad as well, Jude. I absolutely love him. For such a young kid, his mentality is like that of a 30-year-old.

"He loves footy, you know when you just know someone loves football. That's why me and him get on so well. He's just obsessed with the game and I love that about him."

A few weeks later, Maddison changed his tune after coming off the bench to set up Bellingham, who scored a 95th-minute equaliser against Belgium. The Tottenham midfielder said: "There is big competition, a lot of quality in the squad.

"You have to make sure when you are called upon, you do the business. I don't lack the confidence and belief in myself to do that. I just want that opportunity, I want that time on the pitch, because I know what I'm capable of.

"I know my quality can help this team, most definitely. I show what I have in training every day. The manager sees it. You've also got to show it, and you've also got to have the opportunity to show it. I didn't feature in the first game, which was disappointing.

"Watching on the side (against Belgium), I could see there was quite a lot of space between the lines, where I like to play, so I was thinking, 'Come on, Gareth…there's a lot of space!'"

Despite Maddison's confidence in claiming a place in the Gareth Southgate's 26-man squad for Euro 2024, he was left at home. Unlike Bellingham, the Tottenham midfielder failed to convince the former Three Lions boss during the 33-man training camp at St. George's Park prior to the tournament.