Greetings Hoddlers!
It’s me, Dustin — I’m hijacking Fitzie’s Hoddle for an important announcement, one that gives me great pleasure. Since Sean’s departure as deputy manager at the end of last season, I’ve struggled to find someone to replace everything that he brought to Carty Free over the nine years we’ve worked together. No, actually, that’s not quite true — I haven’t struggled, I put it off. The truth is I love writing about Tottenham, but I frequently dislike a lot of the other stuff that goes along with running a blog, including hiring people. For me, it’s draining and unpleasant, even though I know it’s necessary. I like to think I’m a pretty decent writer. I know I’m not a good administrator.
But I still needed a new No. 2, because the amount of work I’ve been doing lately is unsustainable, no matter how much I love doing it. One person kept jumping out at me and it’s someone who was right in front of me this whole time, someone whom I didn’t have budget to pay when I did the last round of hiring but whom I invited to join us and participate in whatever manner he wished as a volunteer. As I procrastinated and put off the daunting prospects of another open call for writers, I kept circling back to this person until finally, with the force of a gigantic Nerf hammer bonking me on the noggin, the solution was obvious. And you know this person too, because like Sean and like me, he’s been a commenter on this blog a long, long time.
So with that I’m thrilled to announce the new Deputy Manager of Cartilage Free Captain is MattyFlatt. You’ll be seeing more of his work over the coming weeks, months, and hopefully years. He’s one of our own, and I’m so happy to have him in this new, more prominent role.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Hoddle. (Sorry, Fitize.)
good morning! No worries D-menno. This saves a hoddler-in-chief a little bit of work 😉
And a HUGE congratulations to MattyFlatt! One of my favourite Harry Winks apologists on this site (although we don’t need to apologise for our love towards Winksy – nor have I ever).
So let’s keep this hoddle in the southern hemisphere in honour of our kiwi deputy manager.
Ange Postecoglou has certainly brought some good vibes to Tottenham in recent months and he has not failed to disappoint yet.
He recently spoke during Tottenham’s fan forum yesterday. Here’s what he had to say about Sheffield United’s time-wasting the other day, as per a fan’s reporting:
Ange – Did you discuss the time wasting at half time on Saturday “yes absolutely but it was important that we remained disciplined, the message to the players was clear, remain disciplined, they were going down a lot, we couldn’t do the same. It went against SUFC in the end. We
— Return of the Shelf (@ROTS1882) September 19, 2023
“We are the fittest team in the competition. If anyone wants to add 30 minutes, bring it on.”
Goodness it feels amazing to have confidence in your team’s fitness again – those were some dark years.
We’re all feeling pretty good here with Postecoglou at the helm!
(For those interested in fitzie’s tennis endeavours – he was up 6-1 1-2 in mixed doubles on tuesday
Fitzie’s MattyFlatt’s track of the day: Kare Kare, by Crowded House
And now for your links:
Daniel Levy says Spurs inserted buy-back clause during Harry Kane transfer
The Athletic ($$): Long live the ‘Top 11’ in the Premier League
Celtic lose to Feyenoord in Champions League opener
Spanish government says its football federation is making ‘a fool’ of the country
