A tiny supporter stands under a giant lamp post in an empty forecourt while a faceless footballer seen from behind looks toward him.

TransfersThe High Road Herald

Roberto Fernandez Reported Top Of Spurs List And Supporter Stands In Forecourt To Provide Focal Point

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

TEAMtalk reports that Tottenham scouts are 'hugely impressed' by Espanyol striker Roberto Fernandez, who has scored six in seven La Liga games, and the forecourt has otherwise been swept and is empty.

A Tottenham man has taken up a fixed position in the forecourt of the stadium on a non-match day, having read that Roberto Fernandez is a striker 'built for English football' who can operate as a 'genuine focal point'.

The Herald understands he arrived at 9:10am, read the phrase twice on the bus, and concluded that somebody would need to be standing in the middle of something when the forward turned up.

It says focal point. Well, look around. There wasn't one. I'm not saying it's me. I'm saying there wasn't one.

TEAMtalk reports that Premier League scouting sources describe Tottenham as hugely impressed, with the Espanyol forward said to be right at the top of their list. The man has noted that the word 'right' appears in the sentence and has stood accordingly.

Having also read of the player's 'direct running', he has marked out a chalk line, forty metres long, from the car park barrier to the main doors. He walks it at intervals, briskly, to confirm that it is direct.

He is aware that Chelsea and Brighton have also been linked, and has positioned himself on the side of the forecourt nearest the club shop in order to be seen first. Tottenham sit bottom of the table without a win in five, which he describes as context.

Six in seven. You don't get that by accident. You get that by someone standing in the right place.

A steward confirmed that nothing is scheduled, no striker is expected, and the forecourt was swept at eight.

The man has brought a flask, in case of a delay.

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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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