The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, November 21

Hey, everyone!

I will officially be working on a one night delay with I’m a Celebrity, but I imagine you’re not coming here for my immediate reactions. Anyway, I’m here to talk an episode of camaraderie amongst all the contestants and Harry Redknapp stories.

Ramble of the Day

One of the most surprising things for me, an American who is watching I’m a Celebrity (any nation’s version) for the first time, is how nice the contestants are to each other. It’s something that has been touched on by several commenters of American and British reality television, so I probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. Yet, Monday’s episode was all about making sure everyone else was feeling good.

To recap what everyone not named Harry Redknapp was up to before I get to what you came for, Emily Atack of the yellow team performed excellently in the first Bushtucker Trial, which required her first to grab stars from snakes and then lie in a box full of them for several minutes. She got to switch to the red team, while the yellow team got tighter after her departure as they worked to make Anne Hegerty feel more comfortable in the jungle. Later, Hegerty and Fleur East did a Dingo Dollar Challenge dressed up as gnomes, but teammates James McVey and Rita Simons didn’t answer a question right about kids aspiring to be YouTubers, so they didn’t get more food. Eventually, the red team was offered the opportunity to get luxury items for the yellow team by pressing on a button while bugs fell on them, which they’re really happy to do.

It made me think of something that one of the hosts, Declan Donnelly probably, said in the first episode about how they all like each other now, but at the moment, I can’t see them not liking each other as things move on. Anyway, there was a notable absence from all of the togetherness of episode 2, and it was Redknapp. I used bystander to describe him in episode 1, and he was ultimately that the next day. That didn’t mean, though, old ‘Arry was boring — he hardly ever is.

The man with the anecdotes, he started off with life tips about cold showers. Redknapp likes to take a few a day to keep himself fresh and energetic throughout the day. It worked right away, as John Barrowman noted that the shower “invigorated” the former Tottenham boss. He went on to share a nickname his wife has for him, Mr. Pastry, because he messes almost everything up. Again, no one took the opportunity to make a football joke, but his teammates felt he was doing well to keep the camp’s spirits up. I suppose that’s a form of doing something for others, but it seemed like Redknapp was just being himself for himself. That said, it would be hard to imagine Redknapp doesn’t tell stories the way he does because people don’t enjoy them.

Anyway, he had a few more before the episode progressed to the various challenges both teams had. He shared that he doesn’t have the ability to smell, and that’s why this tweet exists:

Redknapp, continuing on the energy from an ice cold shower, proved to be the “Royal correspondent” that Donnelly teased earlier in the episode, and luckily for us all, ITV decided to share one part of it on Twitter.

The video cuts off just as he begins telling a tale about the time his son Jamie invited him to a dinner where he ended up talking about horse racing with a young lady who he didn’t recognize was Princess Beatrice of York, but let’s track back to the above video. I believe just about all of it, but there’s one detail that won’t leave me alone. I can’t believe Redknapp reads the Evening Standard, but maybe he had just picked up a copy randomly on his way to the doctor’s office. Last time I was in London, I ended up with a random copy of the Evening Standard, too, which I later used to jot notes down while watching Jason Bourne on the plane. Let’s just enjoy the fact that Redknapp has no idea who famous members of the British royal family are, though. It’s fun.

The whole thing led to one of the hosts, I believe Holly Willoughby, remarking on how she could listen to Redknapp tell stories for quite a bit of time. I think I agree with her, or whoever said it. It might be fun to just give Redknapp a podcast, and by that I mean someone give him a hook and let him just keep talking while someone recorded him and cut him off around the hour mark once a week. Plenty of contributions for the opening half hour, but he wasn’t heard from until he ate wallaby, threatened to go vegetarian, and said it tasted like kangaroo.

However, Redknapp has once again been up to his usual business. As everyone else rallied to help each other, Redknapp wasn’t there. He was on the sideline, acting as the entertainer he is, but hardly demonstrating an ability to survive in the jungle with and without his cast mates. He wasn’t involved in any challenges in episode 2, which he isn’t alone in; McVey and Simons didn’t, either. I’m here writing about Redknapp, though, and I’m getting into this show and want him to be around a very long time. As fun as he is to listen to, I need him to be more of a participant.

I suppose I want him to surprise me, and for whatever reason, I believe he can. At least he isn’t focused on bacon sandwiches anymore (total count: zero).

tl;dr: Storytime with Harry Redknapp.

Links of the Day

The FA will recommend that each team be allowed 13 foreign players regardless of how an eventual Brexit deal might look, if there is one at all.

Championship clubs may file a lawsuit or hold a no-confidence vote about the EFL’s new agreement with Sky, arguing that the deal does not benefit clubs in the second tier.

A recent Kick It Out report revealed that 54% of respondents have witnessed racist abuse at a football match.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé and Neymar were injured while playing in matches for their national teams on Tuesday.

David Squires tackles the UEFA Nations League in his latest cartoon.

Today’s longer read, taken straight from yesterday’s comments: John Nicholson on Richard Scudamore’s £5 million parting gift and the people that truly benefit from the Premier League for Football365