A tiny lone supporter sits at a small table for one at the end of a huge banquet table where a huddle of faceless players dine together in a night-time stadium.

Match ReportThe High Road Herald

De Zerbi Wants Marbella Squad To Dine Together And Season Ticket Holder Books Table For One

Desmond Parry · Chief Football Correspondent13 October · Reading time: one pint

Spurs Web reported that Coventry City's 4-1 win over Newcastle left Tottenham 19th ahead of Monday's home fixture, and that De Zerbi is taking the squad to Marbella to go for dinner together. The nine-day break is the longest of the season so far.

A Tottenham man has booked a table for one at a carvery on the Tottenham High Road, in order to stay together with a squad currently preparing to fly to Marbella.

The booking was made at approximately 8:15am on Tuesday, shortly after he read that Roberto De Zerbi wants his players to go for dinner together during a warm-weather training camp. The Herald understands he regards the instruction as applying to all parties.

The background is as follows. Spurs drew 1-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday, and on Sunday Coventry City beat Newcastle 4-1, a result that lifted them out of the drop zone and left Tottenham 19th. Spurs Web described the position as bad news. The man described it as a sign.

If they're having dinner in Spain, somebody has to be having it here. Otherwise it's not together, is it. It's just them.

He arrived at the restaurant at 5:30pm, forty minutes before the kitchen was ready, and asked for a seat facing south. Staff said the room had no windows facing any direction and offered him the one by the gravy.

Our correspondent observed him lay a second place setting opposite, then remove it, then replace it, on the grounds that the squad is understood to number more than twenty. He settled on one fork, which he described as representative.

The squad returns over the weekend, with Coventry due at the stadium on Monday. The man has asked the restaurant to keep his table until Sunday evening and has been told the carvery closes at nine.

He ordered the beef.

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A tiny supporter seen from behind faces a stadium ticket window while an enormous receipt unrolls across the pavement and a distant coated figure shouts through a megaphone.

LettersThe High Road Herald

Cassano Calls Tonali Fee Madness And Supporter Outside Stadium Asks For Receipt

Edith Marlowe · Letters Editor13 October · Reading time: one pint

Former Italy striker Antonio Cassano said on the Viva El Futbol podcast, as reported by FCInter1908, that €110m for Sandro Tonali was madness, and a Tottenham man has been at the main gate since 7.15am with a plastic wallet folder.

A Tottenham man has spent the morning outside the stadium attempting to obtain a receipt for Sandro Tonali, after former Italy striker Antonio Cassano described the fee paid for the midfielder as madness.

The Herald understands the man read the remark at 6.40am and was at the main gate by 7.15am, carrying a plastic wallet folder, a biro and a flask.

Cassano, speaking on the Viva El Futbol podcast and reported via FCInter1908, set the €110m Tottenham paid against the €75m Newcastle paid. The man has taken the difference, €35m, as the sum in dispute and has written it at the top of a clean page.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I'm saying there should be paperwork, and I'd like to see it.

Stadium staff directed him to the ticket office, then the megastore, then back to the gate. He was eventually handed a leaflet about stadium tours, which he has accepted without prejudice.

The man acknowledges that Tonali was outstanding at Old Trafford on Saturday, set up a goal and finished the 1-1 draw at left-back, with Spurs 19th and still without a win after six games. He has recorded this in the folder under the heading Condition on delivery: good.

He intends to remain until Monday, when Coventry City visit, at which point he says he will inspect the goods in person.

The tours run on Thursdays.

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