A small supporter seen from behind looks up at a stadium railing hung with two gold stars and three oversized flip-flops.

Supporter Hangs Two Stars And Three Flip-Flops On Railings After Spurs Draw 1-1 With Manchester United

Maureen Tench · Player Ratings Editor10 October · Reading time: one pint

Tottenham remain winless in the Premier League after Dominic Solanke equalised from a Sandro Tonali cross at Old Trafford, according to a ratings piece headed 2 stars, 3 flops, and the railings are 140 metres long.

A Tottenham season ticket holder has hung two cardboard stars and three flip-flops from the railings outside the stadium, following a ratings piece on Spurs' 1-1 draw at Old Trafford that was headed "2 stars, 3 flops".

The draw, which left Spurs winless in the Premier League, came after Bryan Mbeumo's finish, a red card for Rodrigo Bentancur and a late equaliser from Dominic Solanke off a Sandro Tonali cross. The man has not mentioned any of this to passers-by. He has mentioned the headline.

The Herald understands he arrived shortly after eight on Sunday morning with a stepladder, a roll of garden twine and a carrier bag from a seafront shop, which had one pair of flip-flops in his size and none in anybody else's.

It says three flops. I'm not having anyone say I didn't count.

He was unable to explain why all three flip-flops are left feet, saying only that the piece "didn't specify" and that he had been "very careful not to assume".

The flip-flops bear no names. The stars bear no names either. He has also laid out five satsumas along the base of the wall, to represent two tackles and three interceptions, which he said "ought to be visible to somebody".

The stadium is closed until the next home match. A groundsman who passed at around ten o'clock confirmed that the railings are municipal, that the twine is a matter for the council, and that he had not yet read the piece.

The man has said he will take the flop section down on Tuesday, when rain is forecast.

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A huge teapot looms over a pitch while a tiny anonymous player dribbles a ball past, watched by three small laptops on its rim.

Paper TalkThe High Road Herald

Wesley Interest From Three Clubs Grows From Monitoring To Pursuit Across Four Websites Over Tea

Philippa Crane · Media Editor10 October · Reading time: one pint

TEAMtalk reports that Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are monitoring Roma defender Wesley, and the Brazilian is 23 and can play on either flank.

A Tottenham man at a kitchen table at 7.40am has read the same story about Roma defender Wesley four times, and reports that it grew more serious on each occasion.

The original, attributed to TEAMtalk, said Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham were monitoring the 23-year-old Brazilian, with scouts continuing to follow his development. It was a single sentence of fact and has not been added to since.

The second website said the clubs were keeping tabs. The third said they were eyeing a move. By the fourth, on a phone propped against the marmalade, the three clubs were circling, and Roma were said to be bracing.

It's gone from watching to circling in twenty minutes. Nobody has even been to Rome.

The Herald notes that all four versions carried the same central finding, that a player who can operate on either flank would be useful to a club with two flanks. Each presented it as news.

All four also concluded that it remains to be seen whether the clubs will formalise their interest in the coming transfer windows. Nobody had seen anything. The word windows was plural throughout.

A fifth website is understood to be preparing its own take. The man has opened it in a new tab and is waiting for it to load.

The tea is cold.

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