The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Friday, September 18

Hello, all!

Let’s play some music.

Ramble of the Day

I think today is shaping up to be a fairly memorable day. I haven’t fully materialized my feelings about Gareth Bale’s return to Tottenham, but I am in full recognition of the fact that this is a big deal, and that sometimes big deal days require playlists, because music is a great accompaniment to our feelings. Now, I present the playlist Everybody (Bale’s Back)

The title is a reference to the Backstreet Boys’ 1997 song “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” which does make the playlist, as did the number of recommendations a few of you shared yesterday. It’s a collaborative playlist so as always, you can add as many songs as you like. Allow me to share a couple of my choices:

First up is Helen Love’s “A Boy From Wales Called Gareth Bale,” and even if it’s about him and Wales going to France for Euro 2016, it’s a most obvious selection. After all, it’s the only English language song about Bale on Spotify, and let me tell you, there are a lot of songs about Bale on Spotify.

If it’s a Tottenham playlist, Adele has to be there and “Water Under the Bridge” is the pick for this one. I feel like the opening lyrics of the song paint the picture really well of a transfer that we all should’ve moved on from a while ago, but perhaps gets us more excited than we could’ve anticipated.

If you’re not the one for me
Then how come I can bring you to your knees?
If you’re not the one for me
Why do I hate the idea of being free?
And if I’m not the one for you
You’ve gotta stop holding me the way you do
Oh honey if I’m not the one for you
Why have we been through what we have been through?

My younger sister picked out Maggie Rogers’ “Light On,” and I really resonated with it because it describes my own feelings quite well. I made my peace with Bale leaving a while back, and I made my peace with him never coming back. I’d like to think I’d make my peace if the deal doesn’t come good, but it’s a smaller risk than it could’ve been, so for now I’m okay with that, too.

Anyway, the playlist is here for your enjoyment and collaboration. As usual, I’ll add them for you if you don’t want to as long as you share them in the comments.

tl;dr: A Gareth Bale playlist!

Stay informed, read this: Alex Ross on the history of Black classical musicians and the systemic racism in the industry for The New Yorker

Links of the Day

Quique Setién and his coaching staff are taking legal action against Barcelona because the club did not meet the terms of their agreement when they fired the coaches last month.

The life of Portland Timbers’ Jorge Villafaña will serve as inspiration for Sueño, a tv drama at Fox from producers Greg Berlanti and Robbie Rogers.

Transfer updates: West Brom signed Conor Gallagher on loan from CHelsea; Roma signed Marash Kumbulla on loan from Verona

A longer read: Tariq Panja on the moves Barcelona higher ups are making to get rid of club president Josep Maria Bartomeu for The New York Times