The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur News and Links for Tuesday, February 1

Hi, all!

At the top today is defender Ashleigh Neville.

Ramble of the Day

Yesterday was a busy deadline day, which makes it an inherently good deadline day. As a result, I’m going to dedicate space in the ramble itself to recap the day’s transfers. Before we get there, I have an interior design ramble that’s perfectly on topic.

Football is a very silly sport, but nowhere is the potential for silliness higher than during the transfer window. It’s not just that we get interesting storylines about possible moves every window — it’s that we get several amusing stories along the way. There’s always something funny or dramatic happening, and that’s why Fabrizio Romano has a deadline day show on Twitch, sponsored by Heineken.

FabrizioRomano/Twitch

It was not exactly riveting viewing, but it was never going to be. What I found more interesting was the setting, the Heineken Experience in Amsterdam. As far as rooms designed to represent a brand, it isn’t bad. I think the walls and floor are well chosen, providing a very nice foundation for the rest of the room. The wall color seems like a more subdued version of Heineken’s usual green, and I find that a lighter brown floor complements a lot of different spaces.

I think some of the furnishing does not live up to that potential, though. The bookshelves and vintage kits are lovely additions to the space, and I wouldn’t change a thing about them. I like the idea of the tables, which seem to have repurposed Heineken bottles in the center. The lime green light coming from the table, though, reminds me more of Mountain Dew.

My least favorite thing about the furnishings, though, is the attempt to blend in with the floor too much. It’s forgiving in a table color, but I don’t think that brown or silver are the best way to highlight the bottles. The one thing I find unforgivable, though, is matching the couches to the floor. That shade of brown is great for a floor, but not at all for a couch. I think a similar brown might’ve worked for the couch, but ideally I would go for some contrast here.

As for those transfers, here’s a chronological list of select deals from Deadline Day:

• Burnley signed Wout Weghorst from Wolfsburg.
• Manchester City signed Julián Álvarez from River Plate, and then loaned him back.
• Brentford signed Christian Eriksen on a free.
• Newcastle signed Matt Targett on loan from Aston Villa.
• Everton signed Donny van de Beek on loan from Manchester United.
• Brighton signed Deniz Undav from Union Saint-Gilloise, and then loaned him back.
• Arsenal signed Auston Trusty from the Colorado Rapids, and then loaned him back.
• Crystal Palace signed Jean-Philippe Mateta from Mainz.
• Brighton signed Benicio Baker-Boaitey on loan from Porto.
• Newcastle signed Dan Burn from Brighton.
• Crystal Palace signed Luke Plange from Derby.

tl;dr: Deadline day interior design thoughts and transfers.

Stay informed, read or watch this: Jim Williams on “Showing Black Life,” an exhibition at Chicago’s Stony Island Arts Bank for CBS Chicago

Links of the Day
content warning: sexual misconduct

FIFA will investigate ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment.

The NWSL and NWSLPA agreed to the league’s first collective bargaining agreement.

Everton hired Frank Lampard as the team’s new manager.

Nike suspended its relationship with Manchester United’s Mason Greenwood following his arrest on suspicion of rape and assault.

A longer read: Tariq Panja on FIFA’s failure to punish Miguel Macedo, an ally of president Gianni Infantino, after he was found guilty of sexual harassment for The New York Times