The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Monday, January 9

good morning everyone - Today begins a trilogy of hoddles from fitzie’s roller-coaster of a saturday. it also features the first Mingus Monday of 2023!

Your hoddler-in-chief did something on saturday that he rarely does: skips a morning run.

You see, every Saturday, regardless of the weather, I throw on my running shoes and go for a run. It makes me feel good physically and mentally.

Over the years it has become ritualistic.

But this weekend I was tired - my eyelids drooped even after I woke up, and I felt my hamstrings constrict after mid-week runs and leg workouts.

So I skipped my run. Weird!

Instead I went back to bed for a half hour, turned on the Tottenham footie, had myself breakfast (cereal, which I don’t often have for breakfast, and coffee). Then I went to the car wash, which can get quite busy.

But look - it is nearly empty at 9:30am! Huzzah!

From there: second breakfast at a small diner in Alexandria. My weekend edition of Wall Street Journal in hand, I had yet another coffee, a waffle (a luxury) and a few slices of bacon (another luxury!).

At 2:15pm, going for a mid-afternoon walk, I catch a bird hop around the grass to my left.

Out from the underground comes a worm! It falls back on the grass and before it is again gripped by the bird’s beak.

Perhaps your ‘morning-person’ HIC could learn a lesson from this late-sleeping aviary.

Fitzie’s track of the day: Orange Was The Color Of Her Dress, Then Silk Blues, by Charles Mingus

And now for your links:

Alasdair Gold’s latest video on Djed Spence and more

The Athletic ($$) on why Pape Mate Sarr is making himself known in Spurs’ midfield

Dan KP: Bryan Gil ‘changed everything’ to convince Antonio Conte to keep him at Spurs

Stevenage stun Aston Villa in comeback win during FA Cup

For those curious: Here’s the fourth round of the FA Cup draw in full