The Warm-Up: Naughty, naughty Tottenham Hotspur
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Updated 08/04/2020 at 09:01 GMT
If sacking Mauricio Pochettino and furloughing an entire workforce didn’t ruffle you, surely pictures of Tottenham players sneaking in some training will tip you over the edge.
José Mourinho von Tottenham Hotspur
Image credit: Getty Images
WEDNESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Another Tottenham fail
No more Mr Nice Guy. The kind gentleman who helped package goods for the elderly in Enfield is no more. The dastardly tactics of Jose Mourinho have returned.
Mourinho has left Tottenham chiefs "very unimpressed" after he organised a one-on-one training session for Tanguy Ndombele on Hadley Common in Barnet yesterday, flouting social distancing rules, with Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon also in attendance nearby.
Now obviously the club’s reaction is irrelevant due to their inability to pay their staff – just perform a U-turn, lads – and the Warm-Up can sympathise with the under-pressure Mourinho. Fail at Tottenham and his legacy in England will be in tatters. He's not tried to be secretive about it, holding the session in a public park in his plum training top, so we'll chalk this down as foolish rather than illegal (mainly so the government don't shut the parks as we're holed up in a tiny flat).
Sadly, it's the latest in a string of high-profile incidents that make footballers, and the rest of the game, look a bit naff. Jack Grealish crashed his car. Kyle Walker hosted a sex party. Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Norwich furloughed their staff, although the former tried to win public credit for backtracking.
A Spurs spokesperson said: "All of our players have been reminded to respect social distancing when exercising outdoors. We shall continue to reinforce this message."
Cool, but pay your staff please.
Berbatov tells Kane to look elsewhere
The good news keeps rolling in for Tottenham fans...
Dimitar Berbatov has gazed into the mind of Harry Kane and suggested his fellow striker is ready to leave Spurs in pursuit of trophies, just like the Bulgarian did in 2008.
I see a lot of similarities in the situation I went through and what is happening with Kane. I feel that it's also a similar time in his career that I was at, you start to think if you're on the right path and you think about winning things.
Bebartov, who two Premier League titles at Manchester United, added: "There is a strong connection between Spurs and Manchester United, Teddy Sheringham was at Tottenham then went to Old Trafford, I was a Spurs striker and went to United and now Kane, who's also a striker, is being linked with a move there."
Ronaldinho returns
Ronaldinho’s career at Paraguay outfit Prison FC is over after he paid a £1.3 million release fee.
The Brazilian bows out with an impressive record from his one reported game, scoring five and setting up six in the prison 'final'.
Ronaldinho and his brother were locked up after allegedly attempting to enter the country with fake passports but will now be placed under house arrest in a hotel in capital Asuncion while an investigation continues.
Anyway, it was fantastic to see social distancing enforced upon his release:
PODCAST
How many times has your mind drifted off in recent weeks, transporting you to a fictional world where Haaland and Sancho join your club and run riot? But could it be a reality?
Check out the latest Game of Opinions podcast, where we were joined by the superbly-named Tom Mueller from Germany to discuss Borussia Dortmund’s latest stars…
RETRO CORNER
It’s 22 years since Alan Shearer made his full debut for Southampton. And it was a good one…
HAT-TIP
Famed investor Warren Buffett once said it was only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked and the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic has dragged football’s tide way out beyond the pier, forcing lots of embarrassed bathers to scurry back to their beach huts. Since the Premier League was suspended, the news cycle has been dominated by talk of bail-outs, pay-cuts and potential lawsuits, as the professional game has struggled with the greatest financial threat it has faced in peacetime.
This piece from Matt Slater of The Athletic fame (£) on the "terrible" state of Premier League finances is worth getting hold of.
COMING UP
The Champions League quarter-finals are really hotting up. Or they would be if they weren’t postponed.
Andi Thomas, one of the best social distancers in the game, is here with tomorrow's Warm-Up
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