TBR Football

TBR Football understand Tottenham and Crystal Palace have both been in touch with RC Lens to ask about Andy Diouf.

Spurs and the Eagles have already been active in the January transfer window.

Tottenham have just sealed a £12.5m deal to sign Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague – as Ange Postecoglou struggles to adequately replace the injured Guglielmo Vicario in goal.

In regards to the south Londoners, Crystal Palace have bid for Ben Doak – the Liverpool winger starring on loan at Middlesbrough.

TBR Football understand Crystal Palace are also ready to bid for Jobe Bellingham as a result of his excellent performances at Sunderland.

Now, sources have informed Graeme Bailey – Chief Correspondent at TBR Football – that both Crystal Palace and Tottenham have enquired about Andy Diouf.

Crystal Palace and Tottenham make Andy Diouf enquiries

We are told that Spurs have made contact with RC Lens to ask about the French central midfielder – although Crystal Palace have submitted the most recent enquiry.

RC Lens are eager to keep Diouf until the summer – at least – although it is believed the Ligue 1 outfit need money.

The French side only signed the 21-year-old in a €15m (£12.4m) move from FC Basel in July 2023, and he has since racked up 48 appearances, scoring two goals while also providing one assist.

RC Lens No.18 has been compared to Adam Wharton

Diouf – despite his potential – is yet to become a household name, so a comparison to a better known player may help provide some understanding as to what type of player he is.

Interestingly, the man born in Neuilly-sur-Seine has been compared to Adam Wharton in the past, the Crystal Palace No.20 and England international who took the Premier League by storm last season.

Diouf was also named UEFA Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season in the 2022/23 campaign, making the Team of the Season in the competition that term too as Basel reached the semi-final.

Antonin Kinsky has revealed what Ange Postecoglou and Johan Lange told him about joining Tottenham Hotspur ahead of his move from Slavia Prague.

Spurs have moved quickly to replace the injured Guglielmo Vicario having signed Kinsky in a deal worth around £12.5 million. The goalkeeper is expected to challenge the Italian for his starting spot when he returns from his ankle injury.

Kinsky has been speaking about his move to the North London club and how it convinced him to make the switch to the Premier League.

Antonin Kinsky on Ange Postecoglou’s message

Antonin Kinsky has explained how Ange Postecoglou’s message to him before signing for Tottenham really excited him and he had a great feeling about the move.

Kinsky told Spurs Official: “I spoke with the coaches, I spoke with the sporting director, almost with everyone and I really got the feeling that this is going to be the right choice.”

The 21-year-old admitted it was a huge honour to sign for the Lilywhites given how big their names is around Europe.

“It’s been amazing to sign the contract. Tottenham is a big name in Europe and the world, especially in the Czech Republic, so for me, it’s a big honour and I’m really happy.”

Tottenham forced to see off strong competition for Antonin Kinsky

TBR Football can exclusively reveal that Tottenham had to beat off competition from Newcastle, Brighton, Brentford and Celtic to sign Kinsky.

The three Premier League clubs and Celtic had all shown an interest in the Czech star before Spurs made their move, sources have told TBR Football’s chief correspondent Graeme Bailey.

Vicario is due back from injury at the end of February and with Fraser Forster the new number one, they were left with no choice. Brandon Austin made his debut for Spurs after nine years at the club in their defeat to Newcastle with Forster unwell.

Tottenham desperately needed a new goalkeeper and paid £12.5 million to land Kinsky from the Czech champions.

Tottenham’s rotten form continued against Newcastle United as they were beaten 2-1 at home to continue what has been a miserable run over the festive period.

Spurs are riddled by injuries at the moment and ended up with a back four on the field that was effectively all full-backs as Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon had to fill in.

With Radu Dragusin putting in a nervy display again and then going off with what looked like another injury, Tottenham are very much down to the bare bones and conceding goals for fun.

This season, despite scoring 42 goals in the league – more than Arsenal in second – it’s the goals against column that is really hurting Spurs.

Spurs have shipped 30 goals so far, just three more than third from bottom Ipswich Town and 12 more than Arsenal.

And worryingly for Tottenham, it means they’re now edging ever closer to a Manchester United record that we thought would never be broken.

Tottenham just 13 games of matching Manchester United record under Sir Alex Ferguson

While Manchester United were known for being the most exciting team to watch under Sir Alex Ferguson, a lot of it was down to how they attacked rather than concerns over shipping goals.

That often led to games not being 0-0, and United currently hold the record for most Premier League games without a 0-0 draw at 114.

However, Tottenham are now closing in on that record and the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle now means that it’s a whopping 101 games for Spurs without a stalemate.

The issue for Spurs, however, comes in that the stat is mainly down to them losing games. Sure, they score plenty of goals but as current form shows, they’re losing more than they’re winning.

Tottenham don’t do draws

When it comes to Tottenham, you automatically think of entertaining football and historically, they’re a team who either win, or lose.

Indeed, going back to 2019, Spurs set the record that year for most games without having a Premier League draw at all. Tottenham went 29 games that year without a draw, albeit they excelled in the wins column that season, winning 22 of those 29.

On the flipside, Bolton are next in line with 28 games without a draw but they showed the opposite end of that run, losing 21 of those 28.

Tottenham have lost four of the last six matches, giving them a 66% loss rate. Continue that form, and they could be looking over their shoulder at the bottom three before long.

One Tottenham Hotspur left Newcastle United’s supporters really impressed by his performance despite being on the losing side.

Newcastle claimed three points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they came from behind to win 2-1. Goals from Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak cancelled out Dominic Solanke’s opener to hand Eddie Howe’s side another massive win.

Ange Postecoglou was left with a depleted squad against the Tyneside club but his remaining players still produced an impressive effort and one of the youngsters in particular did very well.

Newcastle fans really impressed by Lucas Bergvall

Newcastle fans have expressed their admiration for Lucas Bergvall following his display in Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat. The Swede produced perhaps his best performance in a Spurs shirt in a tough game against Eddie Howe’s midfield trio.

Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes is one of the best midfield trios in the league right now, however, Bergvall managed to hold his own in the middle. The 18-year-old played in a single pivot in the Tottenham midfield and produced a very tidy showing.

The youngster hasn’t had a great deal of opportunities this season but he is starting to really showcase his potential. He’s been forced into the team with Yves Bissouma underperforming and Rodrigo Bentancur suspended. After the game, Newcastle fans took to X to praise Bergvall.

One supporter said: “It’s the first time I’ve seen him play. Before the game I was pleased he was playing, but I thought he was excellent. Really calm in possession. I was pleased when he went off.”

“Was pleased when they took Bergvall off, he was dominating our midfield,” added another.

Another Newcastle supporter couldn’t believe he was taken off so early: “Surprised at Bergvall being taken off looked like Spurs better player.”

There was more praise for the teenager: “Bergvall has been superb for Spurs today,” and another supporter stated: “Taking Bergvall off, he’s asking to be sacked!”

Tottenham fans react to Lucas Bergvall’s withdrawal

Tottenham fans were not happy with Postecoglou’s decision to take off Bergvall on 62 minutes with his withdrawal being met by a chorus of boos.

There is no doubt the midfielder was superb but the Australian wanted to get more attacking players on the pitch as they pushed for an equaliser and with Liverpool in the Carabao Cup in mind.

Tottenham Hotspur could be one of the busier teams in the Premier League in the January transfer window.

Spurs are already closing in on their first signing in the shape of Antonin Kinsky, while Tottenham are looking for three signings this month.

Marcus Rashford has been suggested to Spurs as a potential signing, and Rashford is ready to leave Manchester United amid recent struggles at Old Trafford.

Speaking on the mufcMPB YouTube channel, Ben Jacobs has been discussing Rashford’s situation, and he’s claimed that Spurs do have a historical interest in the England international.

Jacobs says that nothing is advanced on this front, but Tottenham have had an interest in the attacker in the past.

Tottenham have historical interest in Marcus Rashford

Jacobs shared what he knows about Rashford.

The journalist says that PSG aren’t all that keen on the forward but Spurs do have a historical interest in the attacker.

“My understanding is that Manchester United are not in the mix for Nkunku, PSG may be and Luis Enrique may prefer that kind of profile to Marcus Rashford,” Jacobs said.

“Of course we hear links with Arsenal with Raheem Sterling injured, and Tottenham who did have a historical interest in Rashford, but, at the moment, there has been no approach, nothing advanced from either of those clubs.”

What Harry Kane said about Marcus Rashford

Spurs have had a historical interest in Rashford, and one of Tottenham’s greatest players in recent memory is a fan of the winger.

Indeed, Harry Kane has always had good things to say about Rashford during their time together as England teammates.

“He’s been outstanding. Full credit to him, he deserves his place. We are looking forward to meeting him when he reports next week, seeing his ability,” Kane said, via The Independent, in 2016 just after Rashford’s England debut.

Kane also hailed Rashford in 2020, via The Star.

“Marcus is a great player – we’ve obviously spent a lot of time together with England and you can see the quality he has with the ball, his finishing and his all-round game really.”

Whether or not Tottenham decide to reignite this past interest in Rashford remains to be seen, but with the Manchester United star potentially on the market, it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Spurs had a little look at Rashford.

Tottenham Hotspur’s terrible recent run of form has continued as they lost to Newcastle on Saturday afternoon.

Spurs lost 2-1 to the Magpies to extend their run to just one win in seven league games, and Ange Postecoglou may now be under pressure.

Postecoglou’s job was safe heading into the Newcastle game, but this run of form surely can’t go on for much longer.

There’s a real case to be made that Postecoglou should be sacked, and one man who believes that the Australian should go is former Tottenham CEO, Claude Littner.

Littner was the CEO of Tottenham during the Alan Sugar era, and while he no longer has any control at the club, he believes he knows who should replace Postecoglou as the Spurs manager.

Claude Littner calls for Thomas Frank to replace Ange Postecoglou

Littner made it clear that he has absolutely no faith in Ange Postecoglou anymore.

Tottenham are sitting firmly in mid-table halfway through the season, and if results don’t go their way this weekend, they could be say 14th in the table after 20 matches.

Littner has seen enough, and he’s agreed with one Spurs supporter who suggested that Thomas Frank should be brought to Tottenham as Postecoglou’s replacement.

Frank was linked to Tottenham before Postecoglou was hired, and Littner believes that the Dane would be a great choice for Spurs.

Thomas Frank compared to Ange Postecoglou

Of course, it’s not necessarily fair to compare the manager of Brentford to the manager of Tottenham in terms of pure results.

Indeed, Spurs’ budget is exponentially bigger than Brentford’s.

However, despite the gulf in these two teams’ respective budgets and ambitions, Frank’s results do stack up well against Postecoglou’s.

Frank’s win percentage at Brentford is only slightly worse than Postecoglou’s at Spurs, and that is rather stunning.

Back in 2019, Spurs were playing in a Champions League final while Brentford were in the Championship, and yet, somehow, Frank has a record comparable to Postecoglou’s.

Brentford will go above Tottenham in the table if they get a result against Southampton on Saturday, and that is telling.

Whether or not Postecoglou remains in his post remains to be seen, but if Spurs do decide to make a change, they could do worse than hiring Thomas Frank.

Tottenham suffered yet another Premier League defeat against Newcastle United and it seems Spurs fans are becoming increasingly concerned by one player’s performances.

Ange Postecoglou looked on and saw his team fall to another loss and the Aussie will be hoping he gets some players back soon as well as backing in the January window.

As seems to be the case with Spurs a lot recently, they only had themselves to blame.

Defensively, with the patched up pairing of Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin at the heart of the back four, they looked all over the place.

And when it came to Romanian defender Dragusin, it seems the Tottenham fans are on edge whenever he’s in possession.

Radu Dragusin makes Tottenham fans ‘nervous’ against Newcastle

Speaking on the game for the BBC, former Premier League defender Curtis Davies passed comment on Dragusin and revealed that the Tottenham fans were nervous whenever he got on the ball.

“Tottenham can consider themselves lucky with the score after the openings which Newcastle have had. Radu Dragusin is having a sticky time,” Davies said.

“He is meant to be a leader, but he has played two balls out of play and played one ball straight to Alexander Isak. When Dragusin gets on the ball the fans are very nervous.”

Tottenham need more from Dragusin

The idea of Spurs paying more than £20m to sign Radu Dragusin was that he could come into the team when Micky van de Ven or Cristian Romero were out and slot right in.

However, it’s just not happening for him.

As Davies pointed out here, Dragusin was a ticking time bomb against Newcastle and it was little surprise to see him taken off at the break.

Tottenham Hotspur were the Premier League’s biggest spenders during the summer transfer window, and they look set for a busy January too.

Indeed, Tottenham are eyeing three signings in January, and it looks like they may have already landed their first target.

Spurs have a goalkeeping crisis on their hands at the moment.

Guglielmo Vicario is injured, and with Fraser Forster set to miss the Newcastle game through illness, Spurs are threadbare in terms of goalkeepers.

Luckily, help is on the way, as according to Fabrizio Romano, there is a goalkeeper now set for a medical at Tottenham.

Antonin Kinsky set for Tottenham medical

According to Romano, Slavia Prague goalkeeper, Antonin Kinsky, is set for a medical at Spurs.

Kinsky is a 21-year-old Czech goalkeeper who is the son of another former Czech goalkeeper of the same name.

Tottenham had been linked with Sam Johnstone before going for Kinsky.

Kinsky is set to sign for Spurs in the near future, with a medical pencilled in for after the Newcastle game on Saturday.

Kinsky is already in London, and he may well be in attendance to watch Spurs face Newcastle.

Antonin Kinsky stats

You would be forgiven for not knowing very much about Antonin Kinsky. After all, he’s a young goalkeeper playing in the Czech League.

However, he does have plenty of experience under his belt already, with over 100 appearances to his name at B-team and senior level.

Goalkeepers are always tough to judge by their stats, but Kinsky’s numbers do look good given his age.

Kinsky is conceding just over one goal per game so far in his career. In comparison, Guglielmo Vicario is conceding at a much greater rate.

Standing at 6 ft 3, Kinsky is an imposing presence in goal, and at the age of just 21, he has plenty of time to grow and improve in this Tottenham team.

Whether or not Kinsky is coming in to replace Fraser Forster as Spurs’ de facto number two remains to be seen, but he will be adding some much-needed goalkeeping depth to this Spurs side.

Tottenham Hotspur defender Djed Spence has enjoyed a superb turnaround at Spurs this season.

The Tottenham full-back has gone from being a near-certainty to be sold to recently securing himself a new Spurs contract until the summer of 2028.

Spence initially struggled to make an impact at Spurs after joining from Middlesbrough back in 2022.

Prior to this season, he had made just six appearances for Spurs and was sent out on loan three times while on the Lilywhites’ books.

However, Spence worked hard in pre-season ahead of the 2024/25 campaign and has forced his way into Ange Postecoglou’s plans.

The 24-year-old has made nine appearances so far this season, scoring once and grabbing two assists.

And with Destiny Udogie now injured, Spence is set for an extended run in the Tottenham starting XI.

Postecoglou, speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Newcastle United, lifted the lid on Spence’s turnaround at N17.

Ange Postecoglou says Djed Spence has ‘really knuckled down’ at Tottenham

Postecoglou, speaking to football.london, said Spence has “really knuckled down” and is making the most of the opportunities presented to him.

“Djed, a lot of it is just down to him,” said the Tottenham manager. “He’s really knuckled down. He’s had to be patient.

“I think he’s been really good for us. Even in tough times you get these spurts of opportunities for others that maybe wouldn’t have happened.

“The reality is with everyone healthy maybe he wouldn’t have got the opportunity and in January we’d be looking at a different scenario for him, but right now, he’s performing really well.

“He is very important for us. With Destiny going down, especially. Not because he’s available but he’s played well, made an impact.

“Maybe he senses the opportunity to become not just part of Tottenham on a permanent basis in his own mind, where he feels settled, but now pushing to be a starting player and I think he has the capacity to do that.”

Postecoglou discusses Spence change in mentality

Postecoglou was then asked whether there was something lacking from Spence’s attitude or game that had held him back before.

“I don’t think there was something missing,” he replied. “There was possibly a reason he wasn’t settled but at the start of pre-season I mentioned there was an opportunity for him here.

“We were going to give him that opportunity and not necessarily get him out on loan. The rest was up to him and a lot of that is how he dealt with the fact he had to train hard everyday without a lot of prospect of playing.

“He impressed everyone with his attitude towards that. Maybe in the past he was a little bit impatient, maybe his attitude wasn’t great in terms of the fact he wasn’t playing and wasn’t feeling like a regular.

“This year he’s had to bide his time and he’s done that in the best possible way and waited for his opportunity, and now when he’s got it, he’s grown.

“Some of it is maturity as well. He’s not a young boy any more and probably feels like if he’s going to have a Tottenham career now is the time to grab that, and I think he has done that.”

Spence lays foundations for big 2025/26 campaign

It wasn’t that long ago that Spence was being talked about as a potential departure from Spurs, but he has worked hard to get back in the picture.

Tottenham have been impressed enough to offer him a new contract, and now he is set for an extended run in the starting XI in wake of Udogie’s injury.

Spence’s Europa League squad omission was a blow, but Postecoglou made it clear that this was due to the team’s lack of eligible club-trained players as things stood.

Should Spence impress in the Tottenham first team, there’s no doubt that he’ll be setting himself up for a big campaign next season.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has come under a bit of pressure recently.

The Australian took charge of Spurs in the summer of 2023 and instantly changed their style of play. His attacking philosophy was a breath of fresh air for Tottenham fans, who had suffered while watching Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho play defensive football.

The North Londoners started the 2023/24 season in magnificent fashion, but things slowed down due to injuries and other issues in the second half of the campaign.

Tottenham’s 2024 wasn’t particularly a great one as a result, but Postecoglou feels there are positives to take.

Ange Postecoglou on what ‘people keep forgetting’ about Tottenham

Tottenham are not in a great place right now.

They have lost more games than they have won this season and are 11th in the Premier League table. There is a chance that they could miss out on European football next term if things don’t change in the coming months.

That is why many people are not happy with Tottenham’s performances in 2024, but Postecoglou is adamant that it was a positive year.

That’s because he helped Spurs finish fifth in the Premier League, which was an improvement on where they ended the 2022/23 campaign.

Postecoglou feels that everyone keeps ‘forgetting’ that Tottenham were in a much worse position before he took charge of the club than they are in now.

When asked if he’s happy to see the back of 2024, Postecoglou said, as per Football London: “No, because then you dismiss all the good stuff.

“You know 2024, which I know right now people don’t recognise as anything, but we finished fifth last year. We finished eighth the year before and people keep forgetting that. I didn’t pick up a club that finished third or fifth.

“Even though the back end of last year was a struggle for us, I thought it was still a real positive season on the back of what we had to do in terms of player turnover because we lost some significant players.

“I enjoyed 2024, it was a big challenge for us and yes it didn’t finish well, but that’s the case for every year; all of us have challenges within it. I guess going into 2025 now it is about making this year better than the last, but that should be the aim every year.”

Where did Tottenham rank in the 2024 annual Premier League table?

Postecoglou is right to defend himself and Tottenham while talking about 2024 – Spurs faced many challenges from start to finish.

However, it has to be said that Spurs were far off where they should really be – they barely made it into the top 10 in the Premier League’s annual table.

Tottenham played 37 games in 2024, won 15, drew six and lost 16 times. They picked up 51 points in the Premier League, the same as Manchester United, and rank ninth in the table.

Spurs have to aim for a much higher finish in 2025. If things don’t improve in the next few months, we won’t be surprised at all to see Daniel Levy show Postecoglou the door.

It wouldn’t be the right decision, but it’s definitely a possibility.