A tiny supporter in a white shirt, seen from behind, sets down the last of ten pebbles along a stadium wall, beside one giant pebble.

Match ReportThe High Road Herald

Bent Says Spurs Sold Lankshear Out Of Snobbery And Supporter Lays Ten Pebbles On Stadium Wall

Desmond Parry · Chief Football Correspondent15 October · Reading time: one pint

Darren Bent told talkSPORT Drive that Tottenham showed 'big club snobbery' by selling Will Lankshear, who has scored 10 goals for Middlesbrough, more than Spurs have managed in eight games, and the wall in question is eleven bricks long.

A Tottenham man spent Thursday morning at the perimeter wall of the stadium laying out ten pebbles in a straight line, in what he described as a matter of proportion.

The gesture followed remarks by Darren Bent on talkSPORT Drive, in which the former Spurs striker said of the club's sale of Will Lankshear that "sometimes there's a big club snobbery". Lankshear, 21, has since scored 10 goals for Middlesbrough. Tottenham have scored fewer than that in eight games across all competitions.

The man arrived at approximately 9:40am with the pebbles in a freezer bag. The Herald understands they were taken from a flowerbed on the way, one at a time, with some deliberation.

Ten. That's ten. Put them next to what we've got and tell me that's not snobbery.

He was unable to say which of the pebbles represented Tottenham, and eventually settled on a small grey one at the end that he described as "doing its best". The remainder, he said, were Middlesbrough's.

He has also taken steps to address the snobbery personally. By 11:00am he had greeted a steward, a man in a hi-vis jacket and a delivery driver as equals, and had asked the pigeon on the forecourt how it was getting on. Our correspondent notes the pigeon did not respond, which the man took as further evidence.

At time of going to press he was holding an eleventh pebble, undecided whether it belonged to Dominic Solanke, whom Roberto De Zerbi has called a complete striker, or whether it should simply be put back.

He put it in his pocket.

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Two faceless footballers seen from behind at a breakfast table, with a giant megaphone shouting at a tiny figure while four identical puffs of steam repeat along the table.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Baena £70m Story Is Told Back To Itself Four Times Over Breakfast, Adding Only Volume

Philippa Crane · Media Editor14 October · Reading time: one pint

La Razón reports that Tottenham are ready to enter the race for Atlético Madrid's Alex Baena, with a possible €80m (£69.6m) offer, and Atlético are said to have no intention of selling in January.

A single paragraph about Alex Baena was read at a North London kitchen table on Wednesday morning in four separate versions, none of which contained anything the first did not.

The original appeared on Spurs Web, which reported that, according to La Razón, Tottenham are ready to enter the race for the Atlético Madrid midfielder and could put €80m (£69.6m) on the table. The Herald understands this to be the whole story.

By the second website the offer was ready. By the third it was huge. By the fourth it had become, in the words of the headline, a big statement of ambition, although the figure beneath it remained €80m throughout.

It's on four sites now, so it must be true. That's four sources.

The man was asked whether the four sites might be drawing on the same Spanish newspaper. He said this was a separate matter and returned to his toast.

Also unchanged across all four versions were the injuries to James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Xavi Simons, the €42m (£36.5m) Atlético paid Villarreal in 2025, and the report that Atlético have no intention of parting ways with Baena in January. That last item was read aloud once and has not been mentioned since.

The kettle was reboiled twice. The offer, at press time, had not been made.

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