A tiny supporter fixes a giant satellite dish to stadium railings in front of a huge rippling flag.

TransfersThe High Road Herald

Pavlidis Said To Be On Tottenham Radar So Supporter Has Fixed A Dish To Stadium Railings

Barry Napier · Transfer Correspondent7 October · Reading time: one pint

A Bola reports that Benfica forward Vangelis Pavlidis is on Tottenham's radar as a possible new number nine, and the dish, which was a neighbour's, has been secured with eleven cable ties.

A Tottenham man spent Wednesday morning fixing a satellite dish to the railings outside the stadium, having read that Benfica forward Vangelis Pavlidis is on Tottenham's radar and concluded that someone ought to supply one.

The report, attributed to Portuguese newspaper A Bola, says the 27-year-old has eight goals and two assists in seven appearances this season and is viewed as a candidate for the number nine role. It adds that Richarlison is not in the club's plans and that Dominic Solanke has been short of form.

Tottenham have scored two Premier League goals in five matches and have yet to win. The man, a season ticket holder, was aware of this and described it as the reason for the dish.

It says radar. Somebody has to put up the radar. I'm not an engineer, but I've got a ladder.

The dish was obtained from a neighbour's shed and arrived with a small amount of ivy attached. It has been secured to the railings with eleven cable ties, one of which he says is purely for morale.

It is pointed at Portugal, so far as he can judge, by reference to a compass app on his phone and the general direction of the Lidl. He has taped a piece of card beneath it noting that Transfermarkt values the player at £30m, in case of enquiries.

The Herald understands the report suggests any move may have to wait until next summer, as Benfica may be reluctant to sell in January. The man has taken this on board and says he will adjust the angle seasonally.

At close of play the dish had received one local radio station.

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

ESPN reports that Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United have reserved the right to seek compensation from Man City, who have appealed the guilty verdict, and Spurs Web carried the story under the words '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.

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