The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, November 23

Hi, everyone.

I’m just going to cut right to the chase today: please take time to read some of today’s links.

Content warning: verbal, emotional abuse

Ramble of the Day

I had plans for a different Hoddle, but transparency is important so I will share something. I have been staring at a blank page for probably more than an hour now. I’m still consuming the latest news in the National Women’s Soccer League, that the now former Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames was accused of verbal and emotional abuse by several players.

The news comes from a brilliantly reported piece by Molly Hensley-Clancy of The Washington Post, which I will link to here and link to below. If you can’t get around the paywall, here’s a detailed summary from Jeff Kassouf of The Equalizer.

I want you to read this because these stories keep breaking in the NWSL. I want you to read it because it outlines a system of abuse, from the things abusers do to the way people condone it. I want you to read it because the report demonstrates how institutional failures can leave survivors of abuse powerless. I want you to read it because the NWSL is definitely not the only place this happens. I want you to read it because abuse goes unpunished because abusers, survivors, and enables feel no one cares, and I think people don’t care because they don’t know about systems and acts of abuse. I want you to read it so you know. I especially want you to read it if you don’t follow the NWSL because it is just as important that you know.

I think what I ask for is simple, but is meaningful.

tl;dr: I think you should actually read at least some of the links today. There’s a report about another NWSL coach being accused by several players of abusive behavior. (If you do read the ramble, I explain why I think it’s important you give the story your attention.)

Stay informed, read this: Denmark’s FA lays out how it plans to raise awareness for human rights abuses in Qatar after the team qualified for the 2022 World Cup (via the Guardian)

Links of the Day

Portuguese investigators searched Porto’s headquarters over commissions related to football transfers.

NWSL expansion side San Diego Wave signed Abby Dahlkemper as the team’s first player.

England manager Gareth Southgate signed a contract extension until 2024.

Barcelona’s Pedri was named Europe’s Golden Boy.

A longer read: Molly Hensley-Clancy on ex-Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames, who was accused by multiple players of verbal and emotional abuse for The Washington Post
For a detailed recap that is not behind a paywall, read Jeff Kassouf’s piece for The Equalizer