The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Thursday, October 21

Hello, everyone!

Here’s a quote from USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn on one FIFA talking point justifying its plan for a biennial World Cup.

Ramble of the Day

There’s never a bad reason to talk about kits on a football website (yes, I remembered this is sometimes a football website), so I come with another. I will warn you, though, that it’s hideous.

The above is the result of a collaboration between Chelsea and Dodici Otto, a Leicester-based clothing brand, to celebrate the team’s Champions League victory. The update to Chelsea’s current home kit is all about injecting Dodici Otto’s aesthetic into it, an exercise I’d argue was doomed from the start.

Dodici Otto clearly prefers some maximalism, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Chelsea’s home kit this year, though, is a horrible base for the people at Dodici Otto to use; it creates a much messier design that is difficult to comprehend at first glance (and second glance, and third glance). This Chelsea kit’s selling point is organized chaos, but it can be extremely difficult to add any other design element to it. The sponsor is hard enough to ignore on the kit as it’s normally presented, but I try to do my best with as many kits as possible. The additions from Dodici Otto are not meant to be ignored, though, and through that organized chaos into complete disorder. I honestly just find it difficult to look at.

tl;dr: Chelsea collaborated with Dodici Otto, a Leicester-based clothing brand, for a shirt celebrating the team’s Champions League victory. It sucks.

Stay informed, read this: Greg Wood on the British Horseracing Authority, which launched an investigation after jockey Bryony Frost accused fellow jockey Robbie Dunne of bullying for the Guardian

Links of the Day

Steve Bruce left his role as Newcastle manager after two years with the club.

FA Wales became the first footballing body to sign the Muslim Athlete Charter.

Newcastle told supporters to avoid the “culturally inappropriate” gesture of wearing traditional Arabic clothing if they do not normally wear it.

Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin suffered a setback while recovering from a quadricep injury.

West Ham’s Tomáš Souček needed plastic surgery after picking up a facial injury against Everton.

A longer read: David Hytner provides an explainer on the Premier League clubs’ emergency meeting and their decision to temporarily limit Newcastle’s ability to make sponsorship deals for the Guardian