Spurs Reserve Right On Man City Verdict And By Third Website It Is A Major Fight

The Herald has spent the morning tracing a single sentence from ESPN, to the effect that four clubs including Tottenham have reserved the right to seek compensation from Man City should the guilty verdict be upheld, through every outlet that has since picked it up.

In the original, the clubs had reserved the right. That is the whole of it. Nothing was launched, nothing was filed, and Spurs declined to comment on what their next step would be.

By the time the story reached Spurs Web, which cited ESPN, which in turn cited sources, the clubs had laid the groundwork and were preparing for a major fight. The Herald has been unable to locate the point at which the groundwork was laid. It is understood to have happened somewhere between two paragraphs.

The figures behaved in much the same way. ESPN said Tottenham could legitimately argue the verdict cost them at least £120 million in lost Champions League revenue. Spurs Web, relaying other reports, put the figure at around £200m. Neither outlet explained the difference, and a Tottenham man at a kitchen table in the north of the borough did not ask.

It was only a right a minute ago. Now they're preparing. Somebody's been in a meeting.

He read the story on his phone, then on his wife's phone, then on the phone belonging to a neighbour who had come round to return a ladder. Each version contained the same facts in the same order. Each was, in his words, worse.

Man City have appealed the verdict and continue to maintain their innocence. This appeared in every version, generally after the word fight. The club's decision not to comment appeared in all of them too, in the same position as the sugar.

The Herald's count of new information added across the versions stands at none. The count of adjectives added stands at several.

The tea has gone cold.