The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Wednesday, May 26

Happy Wednesday, Hoddlers (whoop-whoop)! Today’s feature image is Kit Graham, who was NOT part of yesterday’s 11-player cleanout at Tottenham Hotspur Women.

Now that the pandemic is starting to ease and we’re all starting to peek our heads out from inside our bubbles, I have a question to you: did you have a COVID rabbit hole that you went down during lockdown? There have been countless stories about people cultivating sourdough starters or learning to cook, teaching themselves a new skill or falling down a well of research on an obscure topic.

I’ve had a couple of them over the past year, but since this is a Song of the Day Hoddle I’ll tell you about a musical rabbit hole that fell deeeeeeeeep into: 1970s Turkish psychedelic rock.

... No no, wait, stay with me here. Where are you going?

During the depths of a long COVID YouTube session fueled by angst and abject boredom, I came across the incredible Anatolian Rock Revival Project, a glorious mash-up of music and unique art that is dedicated to bringing back the best of memory-holed Turkish rock songs back into the mainstream. The videos combine remastered LP recordings of Anatolian rock songs, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, combined with original artwork by Turkish artists. And oh buddy, this stuff blew my mind.

Today’s Song of the Day is by Erkin Koray — “Cemalim” (1974). Sure, the lyrics are all in Turkish (he’s singing what I understand is a version of a Turkish folk song) but the performance would not have been out of place on a Woodstock stage. It’s hypnotizing. It’s incredible. I bought the album.

What were your COVID rabbit hole projects? Share them in the comments.

And now, the news...

England manager Gareth Southgate has released his preliminary EURO squad, and Harry Kane is the only Tottenham player on it.

The Independent has ranked every EURO 2020 kit from worst to best.

In what looks like another annoyingly good transfer, Liverpool look set to sign defender Ibrahima Konaté from RB Leipzig.

After taking the NWSL to court, 15-year old Olivia Moultrie has been cleared by a USA federal judge to play professional women’s football.