Time wasting at 0-0, fans chanting ‘boring, boring Tottenham’. We done out here. It’s a matter of time.

It looks like Fabio Paratici is going to leave & that it is his choice, but it’s good news & he should’ve been fired anyway. Johan Lange’s job should also be on the line. The managerial appointments are obviously borderline catastrophic, but the summer recruitment looks embarrassing in retrospect.

Hopefully Frank works on attacking patterns in months 6-12 🙄

Merry Christmas to all and solidarity with those who are now suffering from colds brought home from nursery or school. I suspect this is the shape of my Christmas for several years 😭 Thank you for all the support for both me and The Extra Inch podcast this year. Much love 🤍

I’ve been working on this on and off for a bit but I used some of the notes from my monologue on @theextrainch.bsky.social this week to finish it off. windycoys.com/2025/12/cons...

I feel down about yesterday, as it came after a ‘good’ week where you could squint & see progress/tweaks/changes, albeit against poor quality opposition. Forest felt like the shittiest extremes of Frank all at once. The subs, omg, the subs. Totally inexcusable.

While it’s true that time and patience is needed to really grow something meaningful at Spurs, we also have to be confident that we’re investing that time in the right person.

That was really terrible

WELL THIS IS FUN!!!

I actually agree with Frank’s point about booing Vicario but beefing with the fans with that home record to back you up is a terrible, terrible idea. Can’t see how this ends well tbh.

Whatever happens with Frank, whoever the next manager is, the one thing that we absolutely must prioritise across literally all of our recruitment - and I’m sorry for being so repetitive on this - is passing ability.

I’ve seen last night’s shape referred to mostly as a diamond but I did not see it as such, to me it was a 4-2-2-2 or a narrow 4-4-2, however you prefer to describe it, Gray was in a pivot with Bentancur and each had the license to push on situationally (eg Richy goal).

Last night I had a really vivid dream that someone created an Extra Inch Wikipedia page and added a controversies section which kept getting more and more extreme and I was unable to edit it to fact check it. I think this was because I was reading Paul 'Des' Ballard’s page before bed.

I think if you go there with that system and don’t get anything from the game you deserve maximum criticism. I could see the logic and that was the approach I expected and after thirty I thought we’d frustrated them well and was feeling relatively optimistic. But after that: disastrous.

Last night felt great. I maintain that we were playing against a poor opponent who gave us a lot of time and space - demonstrated by Bentancur & Palhinha both looking like world beaters - but some extremely promising signs and good individual performances (including by those two) - some thoughts...

On the pod we were talking about how we get the crowd back onside. Job done, lads.

MICKY SON DE PUSKAS

An unexpected and interesting in possession tweak is Odobert being the one holding width with Udogie inside quite a bit (though not every time). We know how much Udogie enjoys playing inside.

To me, today was pretty similar to Villa. That game wasn’t a reason to completely panic in the same way that this isn’t one to get overly excited about. We’re doing some good things and have set pieces in our locker but there’s lots we could be doing better. I think it’s been a solid enough start.

My god I love Vicario so much, so underrated

Looks like we are 3-4-3 with Johnson RWB (Porro RCB) and Kudus / Simons as 10s.

Totally agree with this from Dan. The part of the discourse I struggle with is the constant blanket statements about players just being not up to it. Bergvall was probably our worst player last night & we know he's good/potentially great. So there's more to it. It's confidence, it's the...

People don't like the long throws. I don't get it. Why don't you like the long throws? We're HUGE and we've got a set piece coach, we've got a real nice advantage from them I think.

Feel like I'm going to be facing an uphill battle defending Frankball for the next x months & I'm not defending it because I think it's great atm, I'm defending it because I'm willing to let it play out. That's not to say I don't have concerns. That pivot makes my eyes bleed, stop it Thomas.

PODCAST! Spoke to @windycoys.bsky.social to alleviate the international window blues. - Spurs attacking issues, system or players? - The Odobert debate - Listener questions! - Kane vs Bale vs Modric - Mikey Moore, written off too soon? All this and more: pod.fo/e/33a294

Gray's movement has added loads (again), he needs to start.

The Bentancur contract news being followed by the most Bentancur performance ever. Sell his ass.

We’re going to score from a Danso long throw tonight

Really noticeable how often we tried to switch play last night, to mixed results. Palhinha found it easier from a deeper starting position. At the moment often the passes are ‘successful’ but don’t achieve the outcome we want because the details in the pass are off.

That was the best I’ve seen Spurs play in a bit against a gooood Brighton team. I even liked the way we progressed the ball, especially once Simons came on for Bentancur - hopefully a blueprint for the future.

Djed Spence absolutely rocks.

At the end of this window, I really want to be in a place where Bentancur doesn’t start for us. Ideally I’d sell him but given he has been discussing a new contract I doubt that happens.

Morgan Rogers as main target with Ademola Lookman, Lucas Paqueta, Maghnes Akliouche and Xavi Simons as alternatives, reports Delaney. This is such a mess. What the hell is going on behind the scenes at Spurs this summer?

S10E8 Thomas The Spank Engine @barditei.bsky.social, @nathanaclark.bsky.social and @windycoys.bsky.social have another exciting win to discuss. theextrainch.co.uk #COYS #THFC #Spurs

The new ROUTE ONE is live and it’s a fiery one. We’ve got @windycoys.bsky.social on Spurs, @tim-stillman.bsky.social on Arsenal and @tomwfootball.bsky.social because we can’t get enough of Marseille. ROUTE ONE in association with @fotmob.com podfollow.com/route-one/ep...

For the past few years I’ve not been supportive of the Levy Out out campaign, not because I think he is incredible at his job (those days are long past imo) but because I have felt the alternatives would likely be worse for a variety of reasons.

S10E7 Filthy Rich @barditei.bsky.social, @nathanaclark.bsky.social and @windycoys.bsky.social talk about an opening day win. Note: S10E6 was the live show episode. The most exclusive TEI episode of all time. theextrainch.co.uk #COYS #THFC #Spurs

Been told by two sources that the Eze deal is still very much on despite some suggestions it’s complicated

The Spursy thing is getting pretty old, isn't it? Let's be honest, we all thought they'd get dicked and then they nearly won it. @windycoys.bsky.social brings a bit of balance to the bantz while JJ Bull tells us all about Leoni A new ROUTE ONE is here for your delectation podfollow.com/1823912083

Absolutely outstanding across the board but the levels Spence, Richarlison and Kudus have played at 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

Really pleased with the loans we’re arranging - need to see integration next year though so that we can demonstrate a pathway. This should have happened three years ago & then two years ago & now we should be starting to see integration but it’s understandable that Frank isn’t ready to do that rn.

New ROUTE ONE is up. Spurs have had a very difficult weekend, is it time to worry, @windycoys.bsky.social? Can Atletico Madrid win La Liga?The Outsiders is back with @dermotmcorrigan.bsky.social And is Strasbourg a multi-club success story? We ask @tomwfootball.bsky.social 
 pod.fo/e/30a0fd

I've only watched the first 65 minutes so far as work got in the way but one takeaway for me was that space was our friend. Under Ange, space too often became our enemy. Make the pitch work for you, work with you - not against you. Just a few pragmatic tweaks have made such a difference.

I love Sarr’s new role of smashing into everyone and scoring every time he shoots

I think there’s signs that Thomas Frank is doing some really good work with this group. Just need those passy peeps so bad.

So disappointed in that midfield selection, it is my firm belief that you *have* to go profile over experience, but especially after you've seen how the the Reading & Luton games went. In the absence of Maddison, Donley or Odobert at 10 for some creative passing would have been my strong preference.

All of my contacts have gone quiet - I don't know if it's because we're not doing anything, or because we're running a tight ship. Getting more worried with each passing day...

Someone on our discord did this

Midfield is such an interesting area for Spurs because I think on paper it’s where we have the greatest depth but also the lowest quality level. I think we should be open to loaning or selling all of our existing pivot players except Bergvall to make space for upgrades.