The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, January 17

Hi, everyone!

For the first time at the top of the Hoddle, it’s Gedson Fernandes!

Ramble of the Day

Let’s address the elephant in the room (a phrase that Alexandra Burke obviously introduced to the people of the United Kingdom).

I’m not here to lust for the old days when teams were just on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram or anything like that. I also understand that TikTok is popular enough to be worth the effort. My impression of TikTok, though, is this: there’s clearly a way to make a good TikTok, but it requires a very deep understanding for the art form. Anything less creates, at best, a mediocre TikTok and, at worst, a terrible one. There’s a specific ask in the question of why Tottenham would create a TikTok account.

Let’s face it: The Spurs social media accounts are fairly plain, which is not a criticism of the operation. There are worse ways to run a football team’s social media channels — the mediums are difficult in their own way, and navigating the demands of representing the club and dealing with everyone that would possibly follow such an account. Still, TikTok is a different beat: it’s not suited for general updates and requires a level of creativity. Spurs haven’t proved that they’re the TikTok type brand, so that’s why I ask what they’d do on TikTok.

It turns out, a social media team that hasn’t proved itself to be the TikTok type so far ... isn’t the TikTok type. The club, so far, has three TikToks and they’re pretty boring.

What can I say? This is just players making random celebratory gestures to a Drake song. That makes for a very boring TikTok!

They went for it a bit more with this one, but it feels so tame. The people behind this account have quite a ways to go to hone the TikTok talent — that isn’t to say that they won’t get there (though I’ll try not to get too optimistic).

tl;dr: Spurs have a TikTok now, and I have to ask: Why?

Links of the Day

Crystal Palace’s Lucy Gillett said she and her teammates suffered sexist abuse during the team’s match at Coventry United last weekend.

The EFL has charged Derby for breaking financial fair play rules during the sale of Pride Park.

Non-league player Finn Tapp left Oxford City to compete on this season of Love Island.

Arrival producer Shawn Levy will produce Shared Wisdom, a film based on the real life story of a Texas boys’ high school team comprised completely of refugees.
Supplemental reading: Anna Katherine Clemmons’s article for Bleacher Report, the source material for the upcoming film

Today’s longer read: Bruce Schoenfeld on RB Leipzig in the context of German football history, its unique approach, and its reputation in the country for ESPN