A tiny supporter holds up a giant stopwatch in an empty stadium while a faceless man in a dark jacket looks on.

Match ReportThe High Road Herald

Redknapp Top Six Call Sends Supporter To Empty Stadium To Time The Hurrying With A Stopwatch

Desmond Parry · Chief Football Correspondent6 October · Reading time: one pint

Harry Redknapp told OLBG's The Jeff Stelling Show that he expects Tottenham to finish in the top six and that they had better hurry up, with the club winless in their first five league games of the season.

A Tottenham man spent Wednesday morning outside the stadium, on a day with no fixture, holding a stopwatch, having concluded that Harry Redknapp's remark that the club "better hurry up" applied to the immediate area.

The Herald understands the remark was made on OLBG's The Jeff Stelling Show, as reported by Football.London, during which Redknapp, 79, said he expected Tottenham to finish somewhere between fourth and sixth. The club have not won in their first five games, having finished 17th in each of the last two seasons.

The man arrived at 8:15am and immediately marked three chalk marks on the forecourt, which he identified as fourth, fifth and sixth. He stood slightly behind sixth, which he described as the realistic one.

It says hurry up. So I'm hurrying. Somebody has to be seen to.

The stopwatch, last used at a primary school sports day, has so far recorded a single pigeon crossing the forecourt in 11.4 seconds, a time the man called solid and not yet a trend.

A steward on duty confirmed the gates were locked, the turnstiles idle and the only scheduled activity of the day a delivery to the megastore, which the man has declined to time on the grounds that it is not football.

He has also taken note of Redknapp's observation that the summer signings are not exactly serial winners, and now finishes each lap of the forecourt with a raised fist, as a precaution.

He intends to remain until the bet comes good, which he puts at May, and his flask at lunchtime.

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A snowball rolls from a microphone through nine doorways, growing huge before it reaches a supporter at his breakfast table.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Podcast Remark About Richarlison Grows One Adjective Per Website On Its Way To Tottenham Kitchen Tables

Philippa Crane · Media Editor6 October · Reading time: one pint

The original remark was made on a podcast and is available to listen to in full, a fact only two of the websites mention.

A remark made on a podcast about the expected January departure of Richarlison had been reproduced by nine websites by breakfast on Tuesday, each adding a little to the wording and none adding anything to the facts.

The Herald has traced the story to its source, a single episode of the Here We Go Podcast, in which Fabrizio Romano said he expects the forward to leave in the New Year.

On the first website the exit was expected. On the second it was set. By the third it was poised, and by the sixth the story had acquired a door, which was being closed.

The Herald understands the ninth website did not so much report the remark as inherit it, along with the headline, the photograph and a paragraph about Everton that had been in every previous version.

It was expected when I made the tea. By the time I'd buttered the toast it was practically signed.

The man, who read all nine versions on a phone propped against a marmalade jar, said he felt well informed and could not say on what.

Our correspondent compared the nine pieces line by line and found no new information in any of them, though the third did include a sentence beginning It is understood, which on inspection referred to the podcast.

The man has since opened a tenth.

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