Lewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tottenham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Charlton Athletic have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Joseph Morris. The answer from Tottenham has not changed — yet.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Tottenham hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Tottenham have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Jul 2045
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Charles Hunter is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The offer from Rotherham United for Daniel King was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Christopher Dixon will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tottenham the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Jun 2045
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The phone has started ringing about Adam Clark again, and this time the name on the line is Sheffield. Tottenham are listening politely and promising nothing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Djibril Coulibaly and Tottenham agree another 2 years.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Edward Allen again, and this time the name on the line is Huddersfield Town. Tottenham are listening politely and promising nothing.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The words a physio says slowly. 29 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tottenham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel King will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tottenham the goodbyes have quietly begun.
58 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tottenham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad17 Apr 2045
Lewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.50 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Mar 2045
Lewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Tottenham and West Ham United in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tottenham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.29 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.49 for the rest of it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 40 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.37 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings30 Jan 2045
Up for the corner, and Darryl Bakola delivers — 7.70
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Darryl Bakola scored, was marked 7.70, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bolton Wanderers will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tottenham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.10 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Player ratings16 Jan 2045
Up for the corner, and Darryl Bakola delivers — 7.63
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Darryl Bakola scored, was marked 7.63, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The offer from Burnley for Daniel King was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad16 Jan 2045
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tottenham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tottenham can pretend not to have heard.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Michael Johnson has just signed for Tottenham, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad27 Jun 2044
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Edward Allen has come up in conversations Tottenham were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The offer from Sheffield for Daniel King was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nazar Fedoseev has agreed terms with Blackburn Rovers for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tottenham is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The target is the manager, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
12 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and the manager clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
The coaching staff has emptied out entirely and there was nobody internal to promote, so the club has appointed a name almost none of its supporters will recognise. Clubs recover from this; none of them enjoy explaining it.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad6 Jun 2044
Lewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Christopher Dixon again, and this time the name on the line is Ipswich Town. Tottenham are listening politely and promising nothing.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 May 2044
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Wilson Odobert signs something — a contract at Tottenham or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tottenham have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad18 Apr 2044
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tottenham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Derby County will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Tottenham were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.18 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.73 for the rest of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Mar 2044
Lewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Andre Mota has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Position 18 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel King will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tottenham the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Darryl Bakola was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniel King will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tottenham the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
19 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The terraces25 Jan 2044
The mood at Tottenham has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
119 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tottenham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $7.9M has been paid because Benjamin Foster is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Benjamin Foster is living that version at Tottenham, and it tends to show in the first month.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tottenham they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
In brief
SquadLewis Miley falls out with a teammate over standards
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tottenham lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tottenham this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Paulo Queiroz has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Tottenham heard it as anything else.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad4 Jan 2044
Words at Tottenham training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lewis Miley is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.