A tiny supporter inspects an oversized barometer outside a floodlit stadium while two distant silhouetted players embrace.

Match ReportThe High Road Herald

Maddison And Kulusevski Return To Bring Another Atmosphere, So Supporter Outside Stadium Takes Barometer Reading Hourly

Desmond Parry · Chief Football Correspondent20 October · Reading time: one pint

The Evening Standard reports that Roberto De Zerbi believes there is another atmosphere in the dressing room with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski back, after Spurs' first league win at home this season, against Coventry. The man's barometer has so far read 1013 millibars on every occasion.

A Tottenham man spent Tuesday outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a barometer on a tripod, having read in the Evening Standard that Roberto De Zerbi believes there is "another atmosphere" in the dressing room with Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison back.

The instrument, which the Herald understands was taken from a hallway in Edmonton at ten past eight, has been pointed at the stadium on the grounds that the dressing room itself is underground and was locked.

The article, by Sam Tabuteau, covers Spurs' first league win at home this season, against Coventry, and describes Maddison's first start in 17 months and Kulusevski's return from an injury of nearly 18 months. The man has read it three times and has concentrated on one word.

He has also taken note of the figure for home wins. Spurs have managed six in their past 37 home league games, a ratio he has described to passers-by as "a front, essentially".

He said another atmosphere. I'm not saying I doubt him. I'm saying I'd like it in millibars.

Readings were taken at nine, ten and eleven. All three were 1013 millibars. The man recorded each in a notebook with the time, and has now begun adding a column headed "Mood", which has so far been left blank.

A steward who passed twice with a tray of paper cups said the pressure outside the ground had been "fine" and that she had not noticed anything different about it. The man has noted this as inconclusive.

The reading at time of going to press was 1013.

Send this to a mate

Before you go

The Monday Post-Mortem

The match report, in your inbox the morning after every game.

Free. One email per fixture. Unsubscribe whenever you like.

Anonymous passengers in the back row of a bus hold a mock inquiry beside an oversized bell button, with plain white and navy shirts hanging from the rail.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Arthur Dias €21m Bid Reportedly Rejected, So Back-Row Passengers Convene Inquiry And Press The Bell

Philippa Crane · Media Editor20 October · Reading time: one pint

CaughtOffside reports, citing Spain, that Tottenham are monitoring the 19-year-old Athletico Paranaense defender, whose club reportedly turned down about €21m and values him at around €30m.

A group of passengers on the top deck of a London bus reached a formal position on Arthur Dias on Tuesday morning, after the matter was raised between the second and third stops.

The Herald understands the 19-year-old Athletico Paranaense defender is being monitored by Tottenham, according to reports from Spain. The group accepted this as evidence because one member had read it on his phone on the stairs.

The chair, a Tottenham man wearing a work lanyard, noted that a reported offer of about €21m had been turned down and that the player is valued at around €30m. The gap, he said, was nine million, and he asked that it be minuted.

Nine million is a lot. But nobody on this deck has been asked to find it.

Barcelona, said to want a partner for Pau Cubarsi, were noted. So were Newcastle United, which drew a short silence from the back row and a point of order on whether the club was Newcastle or Newcastle United.

A motion to keep an eye was carried with one abstention, from a passenger who was eating. A second motion, to move quickly, as the report puts it, was deferred because the bus was in traffic.

The panel recorded that the player is left-footed. No member present had seen him play, which the chair described as no bar to a view.

The inquiry rose at the next stop but one, the bell having been pressed twice.

The bus continued to Walthamstow Central.

Send this to a mate

Before you go

The Monday Post-Mortem

The match report, in your inbox the morning after every game.

Free. One email per fixture. Unsubscribe whenever you like.