Tottenham look stuck in Premier League’s not-quite-elite netherworld | Andy Brassell
Ange Postecoglou’s more resolute approach brings the same result in another defeat for Spurs at St James’ Park
There are statements to be made in the transfer window or, if not, immediately after it. If much of the preface to this game concerned itself with Eddie Howe’s feelings on Newcastle’s summer of trading – or lack thereof – then Tottenham had their own questions to answer on this pilgrimage north. After this harsh defeat, doubts may linger in the mind for the length of an uncomfortable international break at least.
On surface level a relatively tidy Tottenham transfer window, bringing in players such as Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odobert – the latter the author of a bright cameo in the win against Everton – had almost been forgotten. Giovani Lo Celso’s departure back to Real Betis on deadline day, curiously, cast a shadow over that work by harking back to the big window of summer 2019, with none of Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon or Lo Celso working out (or recouping costs) after being recruited at considerable expense. Unfairly so, perhaps, but optics are everything especially with Jack Clarke – another of that summer’s eight-figure recruits – sold on by Sunderland to Ipswich in the later days of August for a healthy profit.
