PREVIEW: Forest vs Spurs 14/12/2025

12 Dec 2025 · 1 h 3 min · 25 chapters

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In short

A Tottenham Hotspur match preview for Forest vs Spurs (14/12/2025), framed around Spurs’ recent uptick in form, Thomas Frank’s approach, and how Xavi Simons and Archie Gray could help Spurs break down a Sean Dyche Nottingham Forest side.

Guest backgrounds

No guests are identified in the transcript; it’s a solo host episode (“welcome to the inner sanctum… peek behind the paywall”).

Key claims

  1. Spurs’ improved performances suggest Thomas Frank may be “cracked it,” but the host argues Frank should be judged on results and home form (currently “relegation worthy”).
  2. Xavi Simons’ creativity and elite mindset are central to Spurs looking more like a creative side.
  3. Archie Gray’s technical fundamentals (head up, crisp passing, scanning) address a Spurs weakness in basic technical play.
  4. Fans’ positivity may create momentum, though the host admits it’s intangible.

Notable examples

  • Spurs beating Brentford and earlier wins vs Slavia Prague; Fulham match described as an “abomination.”
  • Dyche’s teams are expected to be “very difficult” to break down.
  • Simons’ Wayne Rooney show comments: wants Premier League, discipline from his mother, and aims to win titles this year.
  • Solanke injury update: training fully/available soon; Brennan Johnson also expected back.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Intro to the Podcast

0:22 to 0:35

Welcome to the Tottenham Hotspur podcast with a humorous take.

“18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply.”

Reflections on Recent Matches

0:35 to 1:00

Discussing the recent performance of Tottenham and player insights.

“I bet$10 and got$150 in bonus bets, just for signing up.”

Contemplating Team Dynamics

1:00 to 1:40

Exploring the dynamics of the team and coaching staff.

“You survived the Miami weekend, nailed the speech, and maxed out your credit card in the name of friendship.”

The Noughties Nostalgia

1:40 to 3:20

A humorous nostalgia trip reflecting on cultural differences over time.

“Do you know what's good about the noughties, right?”

Accountability in Social Media

3:20 to 4:40

Discussing the challenges of putting content online and accountability.

“If it helps, I'm uploading it for you first.”

Spurs' Recent Performance Insights

4:40 to 6:10

Analyzing Spurs' recent matches and managerial decisions.

“Well, it is nice to be positive about that, isn't it?”

Managerial Challenges and Fan Reactions

6:10 to 8:00

Exploring the complexities of fan reactions to the manager's performance.

“I've been made fun of for my referencing of results being par.”

Debate on Future of Frank

8:00 to 10:00

Debating the future of Thomas Frank amidst mixed performances.

“Apparently they've had a fairly impressive start.”

The Importance of Winning

10:00 to 12:00

Discussing the significance of winning games for Spurs.

“We've done that to death last week, but still.”

Looking Ahead for Spurs

12:00 to 14:00

Considering the future trajectory of the team based on current performance.

Show all 25 chapters

Assessing Spurs' Current Form

14:00 to 18:10

Discussion on Tottenham's recent performance and managerial stability.

Philosophical Thoughts on Fan Influence

18:10 to 21:00

Exploration of the intangible impacts fans have on club performance.

“But we are going to have a pretty stern test, I think we can say, against this Nottingham Forest side on the weekend.”

Previewing the Nottingham Forest Match

21:00 to 24:15

Analysis of the upcoming match against Nottingham Forest and potential challenges.

“Xavi Seamans fresh off the back of his tour around N17 with Ledley and Dawes, which I will be a bit more cynical about.”

Previewing the Nottingham Forest Match

24:18 to 24:47

Analysis of the upcoming match against Nottingham Forest and potential challenges.

Xavi Simons and His Aspirations

25:17 to 28:00

Discussion on Xavi Simons' interview and his ambitions at Tottenham.

“There is a part of me that sees as probably a brand team there and people above the brand team, Vinay Venkateshin or whoever, who are saying, we spent a load of money on this lad.”

Xavi Siemens: Mindset and Potential

28:00 to 29:05

Explore Xavi Siemens' strong mentality and his approach to seizing opportunities.

“and prove to himself that he could do it.”

The Promise of Archie Gray

29:05 to 31:08

Discussion on Archie Gray's skill set and how he stands out among Spurs players.

“And I know players can come out of a lot of waffle, and I know players can often rehash all the sort of same old platitudes that they've heard their favorite American or wherever other sports star saying.”

Fundamentals of Football: A Spurs Perspective

31:08 to 35:34

Analysis of the technical skills lacking in Spurs players, focusing on passing and game control.

“He's a lad that wants to achieve things.”

Injury Updates and Club Communication

35:34 to 37:59

Insights into club communication regarding player injuries and team updates.

“As Charlie said to me, maybe we've got our own Adam Wharton within our ranks.”

Match Expectations Against Sean Dyche's Team

37:59 to 41:26

Preview of the upcoming match against Sean Dyche's team and expectations for performance.

“Look, I know, I think the problem is none of this stuff is linear, right?”

Managerial Relationships and Competitive Spirit

41:26 to 42:01

Discussing the dynamics between managers and the competitive nature of football.

Managers' Relationships and Team Consistency

42:01 to 45:49

Explore the dynamics among football managers and the importance of consistent team performances.

Managers' Relationships and Team Consistency

45:52 to 46:12

Explore the dynamics among football managers and the importance of consistent team performances.

“That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance.”

Facing Nottingham Forest: Historical Context

46:44 to 56:00

Delve into the rivalry and historical matchups between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest.

“They asked why Brennan Johnson missed out on Slavia Prok, said it was a minor injury, expect him to be available for Forrest.”

Previewing Nottingham Forest vs Spurs

56:00 to 1:03:11

Discussing Spurs' history and current performance against Nottingham Forest.

“And he said it was such a cruel kind of bump back down to earth.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

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0:28Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calshi.com slash regulatory. Well, Lorenzo, the pitch looked good. Yeah, so green. USA Keeper was decent enough. Didn't have much to do. Ugh, 99 minutes. Not a single goal. Well, Bet365 sure came through, though. I bet$10 and got$150 in bonus bets, just for signing up. At least someone scored. Bet365. Winning is everything. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. 21 plus only. Must be physically located in Illinois. T's and C's apply. In-app only. You survived the Miami weekend, nailed the speech, and maxed out your credit card in the name of friendship.

1:11Now you've got one hangover, four pastel dresses, and zero reasons to wear them again. Sell them on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. And you at least get some of your dignity, money back. Someone on Depop wants what you've got. Start selling now. Depop, where taste recognises taste. Ba-ba-ba-da-ba-ba-ba. Ba-ba-da-ba-ba-ba-ba. Just testing the microphone out. I think it's working. I think we're in business. I think we're cooking. Cooking with gas. Do you know what's good about the noughties, right? There was a sort of playful naivety to everything in the noughties.

1:59whereby like a Michael Bay film could have something like that, you know, like the title of the film would be like, Cookin' with Gas, strap line, time for dinner, you know? And it's LL Cool J and Ben Affleck, two cops in Miami, but not Miami Vice. um but it was like playful different times different times you know people could go on things like little britain and uh do blackface it was all harmless fun better times eh i'm just saying now i'm joking i'm being silly right i'm doing the thing where you know when people reflect on things and say how much better it was and ignore the things that weren't really better about that place and time and then if those things are pointed out to people it's then always like well no it's just a bit different you know well yeah okay it doesn't really work when you have to explain it does it but that's what it's like you know it's this it's it's a it's a it's a what can i say so it's a terrifying thing putting content out online now because if you say bad stuff then people will pull you up on it um so you gotta be careful you know you gotta be careful because people are out to get you that's what it is so it's not you know it's not be careful with what you say it's it's the other people them them out there they're out to stop you from saying bad stuff holding you to account this is an interesting way to start a Tottenham Hotspur podcast isn't it welcome to the inner sanctum um this is a peek behind the paywall um i didn't put out a podcast after the slavia prague match the other night so i thought you know what i owe everybody one patrons i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm giving the great unwashed a free podcast that you have paid for.

4:19If it helps, I'm uploading it for you first. But yeah, patreon.com slash RTR pod. You can get more stuff like this before every single game, every single Tottenham Hotspur football match. What a week. What a couple of weeks, really. Has Thomas Frank cracked it? Well, it is nice to be positive about that, isn't it? It's nice to suddenly be in a world where we can even say that, where we can even explore that as a thought, right? Isn't it? Even, come on, come on. Delve into your cold, jaded, frank-out heart and tell me, right? Go past that. Look behind the frank bit and look at the big Tottenham Hotspur badge there, right?

5:13you know hold on to that bit and tell me Spurs playing a bit better Spurs actually seemingly knocking the ball about a bit now lo and behold you put our you know expensive summer signing who is known for his creativity and flair into the side we start to look like a more creative side I mean I it is it is you know it is astonishing but still let's bench the cynicism for a second all right let's focus on the fact that javi siemens is in the side fit and firing definitely on the pr offensive right now we'll talk about that in a bit and spurs are winning games now i i understand the the knee jerk to this will be it's only Brentford it's only Slavia Prague well still to win in the Champions League never going to sniff at that and Brentford decent enough side I've been uh made fun of which isn't very fair you know but still again it's one of those you know like I was saying at the top it's one of those things you put stuff on the internet, people are going to come for you, aren't they?

6:36I've been made fun of for my referencing of results being par. I'm not saying that to be a killjoy. I'm just trying to be, you know, I don't know, forensic about it, right? And I do feel that a win over Brentford is par for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, especially at home. but that doesn't mean I'm not happy about it and it doesn't mean that it's not at least a certain mark of progress you know Thomas Frank against his old side against his protégé who am I alone in thinking am I alone in sensing there was a certain colder I'm not going to say animosity I think animosity is over the top. And as I'm sure you know, I am anything, but I'm under the top, if anything.

7:35But I felt there was a certain cold detachment, shall we say, when he was talking about Keith Andrews. And there was a side to Thomas Frank that came out a bit that I quite liked, really. It felt a bit like, it felt just a little bit like when, you know, the press was sort of trying to get a comment from him about Keith Andrews, about the work he was doing at Brentford. Apparently they've had a fairly impressive start. They've done all right. I mean, considering, you know, they've lost their manager, most of their coaching staff, a number of their good players this summer. there was some sort of hint of them saying basically he's done a good job hasn't he and frank was kind of like yeah you could say it's a continuation of the work we've been doing over the past few years but yeah he's done a good job and i just think thought there he is there's that there's that competitive there's that competitive nasty alpha right there he is underneath the big baggy, the baggy ill-fitting Nike tracksuit that the brand team have made you wear.

8:53And underneath all those, let's talk about how great the opposition are, how brilliant the opposition team are, how brilliant the opposition manager or player is, right? Underneath all those platitudes and meek kind of showings in public, look there, there's that nasty man. Brentford, that's my team. And I've come from there and I'm looking down on them now and I'm going to beat them. And beat them he did. We can act like narrative. We can act like these stories outside of the 90 minutes don't mean anything, but they do. And I think again, within the context of this season, within the context of that moment in the season when people were genuinely starting to say, I think he probably has to go after that Fulham game.

9:51I mean, that Fulham game was disgusting. And people can say, Spurs fans are getting too hasty, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I can't be bothered to go back into that conversation. We've done that to death last week, but still. Spurs fans are too hasty. Why are they booing? Why are they angry? Come on. We all know. we all know that Fulham game was an abomination. It was disgraceful. The manner of it, the way we conceded go, all of it, awful. And so people naturally were drawn to the idea that Thomas Frank was out of his depth. And I don't think it was over the top. Again, let's say that. Yes, it probably was a bit soon, but, you know, we have these notions don't we we have these notions as football fans i've watched loads of football and i know when it's not working anymore and then when a manager has a week like this like you know the week we've just sort of had last couple of weeks whatever we then tend to be like yeah well yeah you know um let's wait and see let's see what happens it's probably somewhere in the middle isn't it somewhere in the middle well actually no I don't think it's somewhere in the middle I think we should be further from let's get rid of Frank I don't think it should be 50 50 I don't think it should be 50 50 between let's see where this goes let's see if this upticking form actually means anything and let's get him out the door because it's not going to work and I don't like his type of football and and and and and it's not healthy for the football club to keep cycling through managers and unless we actually do start to find ourselves in that death spiral which i think we were teetering on the edge of but i don't think we were there then that's when you kind of should be having the more serious conversations about getting rid of him people are free obviously to critique the style of football up until that point that they don't like it that they don't you know they don't find that palatable that they don't think that is befitting of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club but that to me is a different matter entirely that is you want to get rid of the manager because you don't like the type of football winning at all costs is not the way you want to engage with the sport and i totally appreciate that and i think that's all right and i think that's fine and i definitely see a younger version of myself was you know i would say much more puritanical about that type of thing right the older me that is kind of now thinking well if it took a 70 if it was 17 years in between the last ones you know you don't know what's around the corner basically you don't know i don't want to get too like mawkish about all that type of thing but you don't know what's around the corner i want spurs to win and i've sort of reconciled if i'm brutally honest i like seeing spurs win mad I know right hot take but I do I like I like seeing Tottenham win and I think that to me is is at the top of the that you know the sort of hierarchy of needs in a footballing sense I mean who am I kidding in a general sense really isn't it but still proper football lad me top of the hierarchy of needs tottenham winning games underneath that is tottenham winning games in a nice way but still i'm just just saying right the cards there's a table in front of me cards are on it and all those cards say spurs winning games is good

13:54you know um so look if the home form doesn't pick up and then we start losing games away from home as well then i think the conversation should be frank has to go because then we are in serious trouble at home form right now to this point is relegation worthy um i will hope that it will improve but you know it should do but right now up until this point it's not been very good has it it's not been very good for quite some time um but if this little uptick in form continues then you know let's let's go with it let's see what can happen and let's give him at least at least a season um adam who had on the pod the other day made the very good point that you know you should be hopeful about your football club you should be aiming for you shouldn't be sat here saying well you know let's let's if we finish i think i think the example used that somebody had said is if spurs finish 11th you should be held up as a good season or whatever and his point was that's nonsense you know that's that's ridiculous way of looking at it and if Spurs are finishing 11th and if we're feeling that if we're feeling happy with an 11th place finish for Tottenham Hotspur football club considering where we are now as a football club people should be losing jobs and I I think it's I think it's a fair point you know um there's a lot of this kind of chat isn't there's a lot of chat around fans and how much they control the destiny of a club outside of the support they can lend to a team in within the 90 minutes and i don't think it's i don't think it's one of those things where there is actually a clear answer really there is a part of me that you know one that leans into the more sort of nihilistic side of football which is our part in all of this really doesn't matter that much.

16:07Yeah, we can get behind the team on a match day, but outside of that, does it matter to the fortunes of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club if I buy some tat from the club shop and, you know, wear it every now and again, day to day, here and there, oh, let's get a Spurs Christmas jumper to wear to the office party type thing, you know? Does that make a difference? Does that mean that Xavi Simmonds maintains his form? Does that mean that Archie Gray goes on to become a superstar? It's all a bit intangible, isn't it? Because even those little bits, if a melt buys a Spurs jumper in the forest and nobody is around to see him wear it, do Tottenham Hotspur win a football match?

16:59That's a great philosophical quandary I put to you.

17:08the point is there's lots of intangibles right we don't know what momentum is created what the the sense of good feeling goodwill around the football club the energy that that can create the momentum that that can create you start to see Spurs fans talk more positively online then journos are like all the Spurs fans are being quite positive and yeah that also relies on journalists not being cynical snarky tossers and saying the Spurs fans are all getting deluded and getting ideas above their station but I tend to feel that there are a number of decent journalists that would probably have our back and say Spurs fans are all happy Frank's doing something right that gets filtered back to players we know players are online and so on and so forth you know so maybe maybe maybe we can play our part in all this equally maybe we can't you know equally maybe it is just simply the fact that the teams that spend the most money win games simple as that good coaches can lift teams into a let's say false position but usually there's a there's a margin there isn't that where a team say a team that is poorly coached but has had a lot of money spent on it and manchester united for example when they're not having an aberratively abysmal seasons like last year similar to us a manchester united that has been poorly assembled but has been assembled with a lot of money and you know they do have a lot of very high quality players but when they're poorly coached the margin will be that they probably finish five places below where they should and equally equally you would say that a team that is very well coached can maybe finish four or five places above where it should do in terms of the spending i think of a brighton or somebody like that for example right i mean i don't know if my numbers hold up to any form of actual scrutiny but it sounds quite good when I sit here saying it at 22.42 on a Friday evening.

19:29Ultimately, look, Spurs are doing okay. But we are going to have a pretty stern test, I think we can say, against this Nottingham Forest side on the weekend. We know how Sean Dyche likes to play football. we know that it can be difficult to break down if we play in the way that we have played for large parts of this season we will struggle to break this team down if we play in a way that we have been for the past few games if Xavi Siemens is starting the match then I will be much more hopeful that Spurs can perhaps do something here. Forrest are, you know, they are one of those teams that want to be our rivals.

20:27That is an element to this game. Maranakis will probably have had a word with them all before this match. You remember what happened in the summer? Let's show them who's boss. Morgan Gibbs-White. is he gonna have his as a moment against us as well who knows you know these are these are all things that can happen obviously but there is also that bit in the back of my head that is like we're better than them we're a bigger team than them and if we can believe that if we as fans can believe that put that energy out there into the universe man then maybe those players can cup that up they can scoop it up gobble it up and use that to power them forwards in this game at the city ground talk about that a bit more in a moment i did want to have a little look at so javi seamans went on wait i think it was it the wayne rooney show um wayne rooney who is quite an interesting character he's doing quite a bit of media stuff nowadays um and i do feel like he's almost been somebody that's been somewhat mischaracterized he actually does seem like quite a considered and dare i say nice bloke from the i i'll be honest i don't watch his show religiously but for anybody you know anyone that's online will know you know you get service stuff don't you and your various different social channels or whatever that you're using and you'll just watch the odd little clip of a video and stuff like that and i was i always think he seems like quite a nice fella really wayne rooney um so So he's had Xavi Seamans on there this week.

22:24Xavi Seamans fresh off the back of his tour around N17 with Ledley and Dawes, which I will be a bit more cynical about. Like, I think it is nice. I think it's good that the club are doing that. I think I've seen quite a few people. I've been quite surprised being like, it's so awesome that, you know, this guy really wants to get to know the club better. and is trying to understand what I mean. That's kind of he's been told to do that, hasn't he? Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe he's knocking on the door of the senior management at Tottenham Hotspur and saying, show me more about the area. Take me around.

23:12Introduce me to people who live in the community, blah, blah, blah. Maybe he has done that. Maybe he has done that. Maybe I need to practice what I preach and put some of that positivity out there. But equally, if your business runs on five different apps, 12 browser tabs, and one spreadsheet that everyone's afraid to touch, it's probably time for Odoo. Odoo is an all-in-one business management software that connects every part of your business into one powerful, easy-to-use platform. So instead of wasting time switching between disconnected systems, your entire business works together in real time.

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24:47They say you can tell a lot about a person by the contents of their freezer. So what does a bottle of Jägermeister say? It says you have standards, you don't cut corners, and you like your Jägermeister shots the way they're meant to be enjoyed. Ice cold. As for the frozen taquitos and mystery leftovers, we'll keep that between us. Drink it cold, or don't drink it at all. Jägermeister. Damn, that's cold. Drink responsibly. Jägermeister liqueur 35 % alcohol by volume. Imported by Masked Jägermeister, US White Plains New York. There is a part of me that sees as probably a brand team there and people above the brand team, Vinay Venkateshin or whoever, who are saying, we spent a load of money on this lad.

25:28We want him to be the face of the football club. We want him to be one of our franchise players. We need to start doing a bit more work on this one. Let's get him out into the community and all that type of thing. So I don't really, you know, I don't really need to be picking this away. I don't need to be splitting hairs like this. I'm just, it's my podcast, right? I sit here and talk to myself. Thoughts come into my head and I splurge them out and then they go, you know, don't need to cling on to this stuff too much. But still, you see what I'm saying? But anyway, regardless of that, it's nice.

26:01There were nice bits of content out the back of it. It was nice seeing him go to like the Antwerp Arms, which is one of those sort of pubs that still, it feels weird to say right and it's not just that kind of like you know oh i'm such a nerd i like star wars you know the most famous film franchise of all time oh i'm so quirky i'll go to the antwerp arms but i still i still sort of think of the antwerp arms as being one of those pubs that nobody really knows about if you get what i mean like it's it never seems like one of those ramo tottenham match day pubs but obviously everyone's sort of been there from time to time and it just, I don't know, it just, it still feels, even though it's a stone's throw from the ground, it feels like one of those pubs that's still off the beaten path a bit, right?

26:46Off the beaten track, off the beaten path. You can go with both, can't you? So it's quite interesting seeing him there, proper old-fashioned boozer, wandering about with Ledley, obviously, at Ledley's mural, and, you know, Dawes, lovely lad. I think it's, again, splitting hairs. Because it just sort of made me wince a bit seeing like Ledley King and Michael Dawson introduced as legends. Ledley, definitely. 100 percent. Don't be wrong. What I'm saying is Dawes, lovely bloke, good player when he played alongside Ledley, especially. But legend, I don't know. You know, let's tone that one down a little bit.

27:31But still, I don't need to be mean spirited like that, do I? I'm just saying. I'm just saying. But he also, so Xavi Simons as well has been on Wayne Rooney's pod. And I haven't watched the whole thing, but I know there's certain bits that are quite interesting that have come out the back of it.

27:54He was especially sort of talking about wanting to play in the Premier League. He said that he wanted to play in the best league in the world and prove to himself that he could do it. he said that's the motivation I've always had with no disrespect to any other league there's everything here technical physical and tactical coaches so technical players physical players and tactical coaches the project at Tottenham is really exciting we have a lot of good young players in the squad and that's what got me most excited I want to win titles this year and I want to compete for everything so this was the right decision for me um then he sort of said like his you know his mentality is very strong because of his mom uh he's he's got a lot of discipline he doesn't negotiate with himself um blah blah blah blah blah every day i wake up i say to myself i need to stand up today is a new day and a new journey and i just i wanted to highlight this because I do feel like Xavi Siemens just seems like a player who, he's very exciting as a player, but just has that elite mindset.

29:09And I know players can come out of a lot of waffle, and I know players can often rehash all the sort of same old platitudes that they've heard their favorite American or wherever other sports star saying. right and try and reappropriate those try and repackage those um even timothy chalamet does that doesn't he you know when he's talking about winning awards as an actor um

29:37but the thing i feel about javi siemens is that there is a player there that we all got very excited about when he signed and then yeah look it's not kicked off for him immediately and we'd sort of forgotten about and it feels like not just us the club the media at large are all suddenly now all being like oh actually he's quite decent isn't he and i don't think it's i don't i don't think it's just off the back of like a couple of decent performances for us again this is sort of like that energy that momentum i was talking about in general I just think things kind of go in waves and I think sometimes the universe aligns in such a way that people are like hang on that Xavi Siemens lad at Spurs let's talk to him let's talk about him let's do some stuff with him and at the same time maybe Xavi Siemens is thinking hang on I'm that Xavi Siemens lad I've come through Barcelona's academy I've played at PSG gee, I'm really good.

30:41Time to show it. And I know people have been sort of annoyed when he's, you know, throwing his hands up in the air and stuff when Frank substituted him during games. Don't like that attitude. Don't like him doing that. Why not? You know, I think you want a player to be hungry. You want a player to be out there. We've not seen any kind of leaks to the press or anything about he's unhappy with his game time, all that sort of stuff. He just seems like a lad that is focused. He's a lad that wants to achieve things. And we have in the past couple of weeks gotten a real little hint at what he could be capable of.

31:22So that to me is very, very exciting. And he forms a part of this sort of bigger picture at Spurs right now, alongside Archie Gray as well, who I am really excited about. Like, I think I was talking to Charlie earlier, and the point I was making there is that, you know, Archie Gray is, I think he's showing up quite a few of the players in our squad right now, not because he's been absolutely spectacular. I think he's been really good, don't get me wrong, but what I'm saying is I don't think he's been absolutely spectacular. he's showing that yeah there's a lot of promise there and we're really excited about him but as i've said for quite some time in the in the instances that we've seen archie great i think i've always seen and i'm not saying i'm not saying that like oh i have seen i'm an oracle i'm just simply saying i've always noted that the fundamentals of his game the basic things about the sport of football, he's really, really good at trapping a ball, passing a ball crisply, cleanly, just hitting a pass with at least some purpose, right?

32:43So many players just put their foot for a ball, just knock it into some space and hope somebody can get on the end of it. Gray always looks like his head's up. He's looking around, he's scanning, he's looking for the right pass, has the technique to pull off those passes. and I think it does reveal something that we've many people have been moaning about for quite some time at Spurs is that we quite simply don't have that many technically proficient footballers their their base technical proficiency doesn't seem all that high at all and it's not to say they're useless it's not to say they're not really good at lots of other things right Lucas Moura was good at plenty of things right dribbling shooting instinctively look at Amsterdam you know look no further than Amsterdam but when you're wanting to control a game be on the front foot control a game with passes with a game plan that requires a say a certain level of tactical rigidity or at least an adherence to a tactical game plan somebody like Lucas Moura was hopeless in in that respect he was complete chaos agent and I'm not you know Lucas Moura is a random really random example to be honest but what I'm saying is that Spurs tend to have a lot of players that are really like quite good at things and they have their moments Brennan Johnson there's there's an appropriate example right now Brennan Johnson who is really good a couple of things really really good at drifting into space finding those pockets of space that thomas muller type whatever you call it ram dointer or you know the the space invader type thing right he's really good at doing that he's got a decent knack of arriving right place right time back post back post brennan ask him to do much else and he just isn't really that good um being linked with crystal palace actually uh crystal palace move in january and you know thank you very much again as as i sort of say as a caveat most brennan johnson discussions with thank you very much for uh bill bow and i will gladly you know bid him farewell on his on his on his way to Crystal Palace I think that is one that we should get done but back to Archie Gray look the point is I think we have loads of players that aren't really very good at passing aren't really good at just the fundamentals of football Archie Gray is really really good at that I would imagine he's really good at loads of other things we've sort of been clamouring after Adam Wharton.

35:37As Charlie said to me, maybe we've got our own Adam Wharton within our ranks. You know? And that's really, really exciting. I'm liking the Gravi partnership that seems to be developing on the football pitch. So more of that, please, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. will they start against forest i don't know remains to be seen it will be interesting i hope they do because as i've already said we're going to need to do something to uh break through a sean dyche team basically a sean dyche team that's really going to want to beat us quite obviously thomas frank has had his press conference today um

36:30what's the update on the team news uh he said everyone who was available for slavia will be available for forest he said to him that dominic so i don't know if anyone else did see this by the way dominic celanke posted like an instagram post of himself playing football remember that and with some hourglass emojis on it so uh one of the journalists has said to him Dominic Solanke has posted an hourglass emoji on social media can we expect him back soon Thomas Frank has said I guess it's good news that he's posted that as I said with Dom it's an injury he picked up in July and it's dragged on for a while I would much prefer to say instead of he's back soon and all that that he's training fully with the team and he's available for selection that's when I'm going to say something maybe there will be lots of footage of him training but yes that's my message so again it's it's semi kind of cryptic i get it he's he's said a few times now he doesn't really want to keep talking about this all the time kulisevsky and stelanke that now really he just wants to say when they're going to be back um i guess he doesn't want to comment on speculation fair enough He doesn't want to be held to any sort of deadline or something that he perhaps isn't qualified to give.

37:55Equally fair enough. From our perspective as fans, it does feel kind of weird that the club tends to prioritise secrecy when it comes to injuries and such. We've done that for many, many years. I don't think that's a managerial thing I think certain managers I think Andrew would get quite frustrated about that Conte definitely used to I think even Poch every now and again had a few little nibbles about that type of thing so yeah I don't know if it's just a club policy or whatever we never really get involved in it but you know it does breed a certain restlessness it breeds a sense of contempt I think with the fan base and I just think the club can probably...

38:45Look, I know, I think the problem is none of this stuff is linear, right? I think we all know that. But I think at least if there was a touch more clarity there, it would just help, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it help a lot of us? I don't know, maybe. He was asked, have you taken the handbrake off? The team has scored more goals of late. He said, I don't think we've taken the handbrake off. We work with things. Football is so beautifully simple sometimes, but also complicated. I think a lot about the relationship, the team being in sync, the right players being sharp and in form. All of that at the same time helps.

39:26There are three players I would like to mention. Richie is maybe not in his best form ever, but is in a very good place. And also physically. Mohamed Koudous is, after a great start to the season, a little dip and a minor injury, back in full energy and looking sharp. and Xavi is performing at a good top level. Those three together give the offensive part of the game much more. Fine, fair enough. He said there are a few darts fans in the squad. Can they go and watch the World Darts Championship this month with your permission in their spare time? He said every player has their own hobbies and what they think is interesting.

40:06I always expect them to be professional and 24-7 pros. If they go to the theatre or the darts, it's up to them i mean yeah he is thomas frank isn't it i i get the point it's quite a boring answer isn't it maybe he did i haven't actually watched a press conference this week um so maybe he answered it in a more interesting fashion but fine fair enough i get it you know if he's he's not going to police what they do in their own time fine fair enough point to make isn't it he was asked has the mood felt different in the last couple of weeks around the club um wins and good performances always help no doubt about that it just makes things a little bit lighter and everything is a little bit more positive so of course that means something um we want to work to constantly improve that he was asked what would you say has clicked between the three players you mentioned and uh he said it's just one simple thing all three of them are in form sharp and confident at the same time it helps blah blah blah blah blah do you fancy yourself to go and get another win this weekend he says have you seen sean dyche's teams over the years do you think they're easy or difficult to play against very difficult i expect a very very difficult game against a team that is managed by a good colleague a friend of mine in the game and every single time i see his team uh and i'm analyzing them they're extremely competitive they're playing at home difficult place to go so i expect a tough tough game we're in a fine place not an exceptional place but a fine place we've been good away from home very competitive i expect us to go there with confidence and belief um with a good chance of getting three points but it will be unbelievably difficult fine fair enough you know i mean uh how do relationships work between managers do you ever go for a drink together um he said well of course some you meet with different circumstances or whatever but we come together all the coaches talk about life and football it's fair to say that we're the only ones that really understand each other we're in the same situation and dealing with the same problems and the same so he did say in this bit we're all dealing with the same shit i think as well didn't he which they're not you know censorship woke then they're not writing it verbatim what he said um but it's fair point isn't it um so it's nice to share experiences and thoughts with good colleagues friends there of course when we play against each other it's very competitive he said all this didn't he the other week about playing paddle and stuff which yeah whatever how do you get more consistency in the team's performances he said if you look into performances it's about having consistent performances what he if you look into performances it's about having consistent performances and then some of the consistent performances don't necessarily pay off in a good result fine english is not his first language i'm not trying to make fun of him for that i'm just saying it's just a it's just such it's a very thomas frank way of putting something isn't it um god he's sort of saying the same thing over and over those performances i think have been fairly consistent have been three games i'm very unhappy with in terms of performances i mean this is just it's all just quite garbled i can't really be bothered to go whatever um are you deliberately playing archie gray in a position you think he's best in he said I like what I see from Archie very talented young player big potential we've seen glimpses of that said a few times before the Monaco game he was on a high really needed to kick on and unfortunately got a calf injury I mean isn't that just typical but still whatever now I think he's back in a place where he's ready to compete again like what I've seen everything from the Burnley game in the beginning of the season to those bits of the Fulham game I liked from him uh definitely very good bits in the brentford game and also the slavia game

44:22how do you manage to unwind when you've only had a couple of days off it's really random questions isn't it they get asked sometimes um fine fair enough you know it's just a remark from my part um of course i try to relax a bit um i have time with my wife maybe see some friends for lunch or dinner i must say there's still bits to be done so unfortunately these days were not purely days off but at least i was at home there were meetings i had to prepare bits and pieces for i think the next day where i do nothing um football is maybe in march there's a transfer window coming up i'm still new in the job lots of things to be done asked how important ben davis is he said very important good to have him out there for the first time this season playing minutes.

45:09We've missed him with his injuries. It's good that he's ready. He's important. He can be both a left back and a center back. If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions, and sleep duration. Then, every morning it combines these factors into an easy-to-understand score, from 1 to 100, so you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from okay to very high. Know your sleep score with Apple Watch. iPhone 11 or later required.

45:49This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips? That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over 19 ,000 local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs so you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go online at statefarm.com. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. We gather here tonight to bring women back to their rightful place. The Testaments, a new Hulu original series from the executive producers of The Handmaid's Tale.

46:25It's easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters. The battle isn't over. There comes a time when you have to take action, when you have to choose your own destiny. Never quite as it seems. Watch the new Hulu original series, The Testaments, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. They asked why Brennan Johnson missed out on Slavia Prok, said it was a minor injury, expect him to be available for Forrest. Dominic Solanke, he says, is... Is Dominic... So he's gone into this a bit more, okay, again so he's gotten he's gotten bitey again is Dominic Solanke training by himself at the moment he is yeah look I'm happy to answer these questions I'm bored of it though because let's talk about Forrest it's more interesting it's much better news when you say now he's training fully with the team he's available soon I know you guys need to ask these questions though

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47:25he's clearly getting a bit wound up about that isn't he um how close were you to signing archie gray at brentford and what did you like about him last season he said i think what i like about archie is he's good on the ball um i like that he plays with his head up so he can play short he can drive the ball past to pedro poro for the penalty against slavia excellent pass perfectly weighted playing in behind great capacity to cover the pitch good pressing skills he's young but a very good character i think he could be a leader in the future it's exciting is that how long does it take for players to buy into a manager's philosophy there's a lot of things um when you play a lot of games you need to rotate and you need to find a team um but it's not only about what i want there's a lot of circumstances that make it more tricky um where we want to be or if we're going to go there as quickly as possible i experienced a buy-in straight from the off the psg game where we played one system three days later another system was two good signs of how willing they are to go all in city a little bit after that then we've had let's say some results that didn't go our way and now again it's positive that's all part of the journey going forward there will hopefully be even longer spells of good performances i mean yeah i know i'm just i'm just saying i'm just saying points like that hopefully there will be longer spells of good performances no going forwards we are going to drive to keep winning you know do you know what i mean like just flip it a bit again it's probably important context english is not his first language so fine um there's gonna be ups there's gonna be some downs we need to get through that i think the only way to get closer to each other is time and working on relationships and working on understanding each other's ideas that's the biggest thing um and it's how we together handle the bad spells because there will be bad spells how will we handle those it is i i don't think it's harsh to say i don't i say i don't think it's a harsh thing to note that he does tend to veer towards the negative side of things a bit too often.

49:47I think that is a worthy and fair enough observation to make about a lot of what Thomas Frank says. You know, as I said before, Thelonious said on the fine cock the other day, players should never be going onto a football match thinking about losing. They should only be told like the ways in which they're going to win a game, not the ways they're going to lose it and I just think still a little bit you know when when people are making those comments myself included about not comment but say that starting the conversations at least about whether or not Thomas Frank is equipped to deal with football at this level there are just that is one of the main sort of flags for me with him is that sometimes I think he's just too eager to to lean into their catastrophizing right leave that to me leave that to the fans leave that for us to worry about all the permutations of what could go wrong your job is just focus on how are we going to win what are the good things that are going to happen what are all the glorious things we're aiming to win not there's going to be bad spells and we're going to have to learn how to navigate those like yeah i'm not saying what he's saying isn't true of course there's going to be bad spells it's bad spells for all teams and how you navigate those is important but what i'm saying is i feel like frank focuses on that stuff perhaps a disproportionate amount of the time right i think let's just try and flip the script let's get things a bit more but flip the script there we go like i was saying at the top you know like the noughties that was almost flip the script was maybe even a bit more 90s

51:47yeah um we have got nottingham forests i don't like nottingham forests never really liked nottingham forests it's not even a maranakis thing they've never been a team I particularly loved they are a team that we have played in all competitions 88 times Forest have won 26 times against us Tottenham Hotspur have won 46 times drawn 16 games I think there's a quite an interesting thing here right you know when we're sort of talking about the fact that everybody hates us even though Tottenham Hotspur Football Club have never been a club that's had a, say, dynasty at the top of the table, winning three or four league titles in a quick sort of succession.

52:38We have been a team that has been incredibly successful a lot in the past. We are a team that has won the FA Cup a lot in the past. The FA Cup obviously used to be a massive, massive deal. Winning the FA Cup was a huge thing. And I feel like a lot of teams have a kind of hatred for Spurs because I feel like for a lot of football, perhaps pre-Premier League, Spurs were held up as like this really good team, a really exciting team. There was quite an interesting thing. There was like a Mick Jagger interview I saw that got reposted. I think it was one from the 60s, maybe early 70s, late 60s, early 70s, of him being asked about if he supports Tottenham and Arsenal.

53:38And if I recall correctly, his point was, well, Arsenal can sort of get the job done, but Spurs are always the more exciting team to watch. you know spurs are always uh they're just they're a good team and everyone likes them kind of thing and i feel like that is something that you know bill nick and the push and run and all that type of thing that follows around i did some so yeah the reason why i didn't do the slavia prague thing is i was up first thing um on a train up to liverpool i was doing some filming up there um with some liverpool fans and stuff and i was talking to this old lad who this old liverpool fan that we were doing this little piece on and he was talking to me because he was just very interested he was in his early 80s and he was interested in who I supported oh where are you from all right you're from down south who do you support Spurs oh sorry lad you know but you don't like coming up here and I was like no I don't um probably you know I think the only people who like coming up here less are Tottenham Hotspur players way and we have a little chuckle and And he was saying, no, you know, it wasn't always like this.

54:54Liverpool didn't really start to become a proper team until the 70s. They spent a lot of the 60s perhaps growing, trying to emulate a team like Spurs. And he literally said that. And he referenced one week in particular, because he was saying nowadays, he was like, you know, I can't hide it from you. I love beating Spurs. Spurs are one of the first fixtures I always look for every single season because I remember when I was a young man, I think it was during like Bill Nick's tenure. I think it was 63, he said, if my memory serves. And so he said that earlier on in the season, they beat Spurs 3 or 4-1 at Anfield.

55:40And that was huge for them back then. And they'd beaten like the mighty Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield. Maybe they were turning a corner. Maybe this was like a huge thing for Liverpool. Maybe they were finally going to be one of the top teams in the country, so on and so forth. And then in the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane, we smacked them 7-1. And he said it was such a cruel kind of bump back down to earth. And it showed them that they weren't quite at that level yet. They weren't quite ready. And he said, though, that that chastening result against Spurs, he feels, again, really was like a fire lit underneath Liverpool Football Club.

56:25I mean, we saw it latterly as well with Jurgen Klopp at Wembley. But still back then, you know, he said it was always one of those that they always, you know, he always really admired Spurs. He always really admired what the club was about and what it stood for. but still couldn't you know he loves beating him loves beating Spurs and still does to this day and I feel like there's just a lot of stories like that surrounding this football club I feel like lots of teams like to beat us either because there's these like perceived like these ideas you know we think we've got ideas above our station we're entitled we're deluded we're this with that you know there's always some reasons to why Spurs fans are the worst fans in the world just because we you know we have high hopes for our football team you know shock horror how terrible are we um but I don't think we are particularly brash I don't think we are particularly kind of bolshy or you know I think we just tend to know when we're good and we're not scared to sort of back our team and say that we would like to win the big things um you know that's just kind of part of football isn't it i feel like we are a sort of i think it's more do you know what i think a lot of this is if i was to sort of really dive into this stuff and you know i just think the society over here we've got this thing of you know we all need to be sort of a bit deferential don't we we all need to know our place and don't leave the confines of the shire do you know what i mean like just get on with it know your place let everything tick by leave the leave the rich beautiful people to be rich and beautiful and we make the best of what we can get and i think the thing about spurs is we always want to be a bit more than that and i mean i don't i don't think we are like you know shire dwellers we are one of the most successful teams in the country and we are real you know we are people that have we've been pioneers in football you know first team last century to win the double first British club to win a European trophy all those types of things right

58:50and I think that's the bit that everyone wants us to forget everyone wants us to just see that as like that's the thing that happened in black and white and that's not what you are anymore but what is our day in dna and what isn't you know it's always it's always all so selective there's always like a narrative that we are supposed to just so finally fit into but then when it suits people the narrative can be flipped again spurs fans have no ambition spurs fans are small time they talk about how their club is x y and z They had useless Spurs-y this and that. Flip it the other way, we start saying we're good, we're going to do this, we're going to do that.

59:30Back in your box. Can't believe you think you're going to beat Manchester United in the Europa League final. Back in your box. It's, you know, it's nonsense. I mean, I get that this is a sort of meandering point now, but look, you know, you're here, you've been listening to this for the past few years. Unimagined now, you know how this goes.

59:50People just like to have a pop at Spurs. other teams like to raise their game against us and they all have these funny little stories about us don't they um that's just me trying to join the dots and see why that might be the case here are some match facts about the nottingham forest game though having lost six consecutive premier league games against spurs between 1998 and 2024 nottingham forest did the league double against spurs last season Tottenham haven't won any of their five Premier League away games when conceding against Nottingham Forest drawn one lost four all three of their victories at the city grounds have been to a nil there to a nil there you go so I'm guessing that means we only ever win when Nottingham Forest don't score only bottom side Wolves have failed to score in more different Premier League games than Nottingham Forest this season.

1:00:51So that's nine games for Wolves, eight games for Forest. However, when they do manage to find the net, Forest are unbeaten in their last 11 league games. They've won six of those. And that's since a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in April. Following a 2-0 win over Brentford last time out, Tottenham are looking to win consecutive league games for the first time since August when they beat Burnley and Manchester City in the opening two games of the season. Only Crystal Palace have won more Premier League away games than Spurs, while Spurs are also the only sides to have scored in all of their games on the road so far this term.

1:01:36Tottenham have the largest difference between goals scored and expected goals in the Premier League this season, netting around 10 more than their XG suggests they should. Forest manager Sean Dyche has won just two of his 17 Premier League games against Spurs. Drawn five, lost 10. Wow. With both victories coming with Burnley, 2019 and 2022. Sean Dyche's next Premier League defeat will be his 153rd in the competition, putting him joint seventh on the list of most managerial defeats in the competition, alongside Arsene Wenger. albeit the Frenchman had managed 488 more matches in the competition than Sean Dyche.

1:02:25There you have it. Do I think we'll beat Nottingham Forest? I think we have it well within our powers to beat Nottingham Forest. I do think we should be capable of doing that. Will we do that? I don't know. It remains to be seen but I am going to be positive about this one and say, yes, I think we're going to beat them. And I think we might just go out and comfortably dispatch them 2-0. Let the momentum roll on. Let Spurs continue to celebrate and let me do many, many more happy podcasts. But for now, I think that's quite enough for one evening. So please do enjoy your weekends up until the point at which Spurs play.

1:03:11Worst bit of the weekend. um i will be back after that fixture if you have enjoyed this you can get more of these pods on patreon patreon.com slash rtr pods uh where i do a preview pod ahead of pretty much every single game you will also find behind the patreon paywall a load of evergreen content that i record during off season um yeah so come and do that lots of nostalgia pods talk about kits talk about favorite teams of yesteryear all evergreen so you know if you ever find yourself needing something to listen to there's plenty of stuff there archived behind the paywall thanks for listening enjoy your weekends up the spurs bye-bye menards is your one-stop shop for all your summer essentials.

1:04:08Whether you're stocking up on everyone's favorite snacks, making a patio perfect for entertaining family and friends, or getting ready to gather around the grill, Menards has everything you need for your get-togethers all summer long. Save big money now at Menards. Plus, don't forget to check out our weekly flyer on menards.com for all the great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards.

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