The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Wednesday, January 18

good morning everyone -

Is there anything that could cheer up a moribund Tottenham fan base in the mire of the club’s Premier League turbulence than a hoddle featuring Harry Winks?

Winks has had a very difficult year on loan at Sampdoria. The former England international’s ankle injury persisted to such a degree that he underwent surgery a few months ago:

“Absolutely gutted it’s come to this, I came here with the hope to give my all to this club. However after trying everything to return to playing, a persistent problem I had since the summer has resulted in surgery,” Winks said in an Instagram post.

He hardly got a chance to participate in Sampdoria’s first-team training, let alone feature in any fixture for the club sitting in Serie A’s relegation zone.

But finally - finally! - he made his Sampdoria debut on Tuesday after a six-month injury spell.

Winks got about 30 minutes on the pitch. I’m not sure how he did, as I did not have access to the match (scandalous!). But his performance wouldn’t have mattered.

What does matter is that Winks finally made it back onto the pitch and played meaningful minutes in a Serie A match. It’s a long road to recovery, and Winks took a crucial step against Empoli.

One step at a time, Winksy!

Fitzie’s track of the day: Tripping Party, by Los Bitchos

And now for your links:

Dan KP: Tottenham and Antonio Conte at a crossroads

The Times ($$): Is it time for Tottenham to start from scratch?

Alasdair Gold’s latest video on Conte, Spurs and ‘Daniel Levy deja vu’

Your obscure FA Cup recap: West Brom beat Chesterfield