The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Thursday, May 6

Hi, all!

That’s forward Lucy Quinn at the top today.

Ramble of the Day

Gareth Bale’s hair is constantly evolving, meaning the Gareth Bale hair discourse never really ends. I have, in private, had one question about his current style all season — there’s no way that can be done by a professional, right?

Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

I don’t feel the need to criticize the style itself — it isn’t to my tastes, but I don’t really have passionate feelings on it. My issue is with the execution, because the line that separates the shaved hair and the regularly growing hair looks sloppy to me. I imagine it might be a difficult task to create a clean separation, since hair growing patters are pretty weird. It looks like an almost successful at-home job, but I would expect a cleaner line if I went to a professional.

While watching OL Reign’s win over Kansas City on Monday night, I realized that someone nailed the execution on this particular look: the Reign’s Jess Fishlock (pictured here during her recent loan spell at Reading).

Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images

Her cut is shorter than Bale’s, and actually might be slightly shorter now than it is in the picture. The line separating the shaved hair and the rest is much cleaner on Fishlock than on Bale. It could be that it’s easier to get a cleaner line there, but the execution is better overall. She wears it well.

tl;dr: I think OL Reign’s Jess Fishlock is rocking a better version of Gareth Bale’s haircut.

Stay informed, read this: Nicole Sperling profiles actor-director David Oyelowo on how his son led him to his directorial debut, The Water Man, and to fight for representation in children’s films for The New York Times

Links of the Day

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was racially abused on Instagram after his team’s Champions League win over Paris Saint-Germain.

Maurice Ross resigned from his role as Notts County assistant after racially abusing Enzio Boldewijn, one of the club’s players.

Hertha Berlin fired Jens Lehmann from its supervisory board after he sent a racist message to Sky Germany’s Dennis Aogo on Whatsapp.

NWSL has been sued by the family of 15-year-old Olivia Moultrie, claiming the league’s rule banning players under 18 from playing is an antitrust violation.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino won his legal battle to have a special prosecutor removed from an investigation into Infantino’s meeting with the former Swiss attorney general.

A longer read: Michel Martin interviews Musa Okwonga on English football’s social media boycott for NPR