A story about 15th v 14th in the Premier League

The last time Tottenham Hotspur fans organised an official protest to voice their contempt for the manner in which Daniel Levy is running their club they occupied 11th place in the top flight and were still fighting on three other fronts. A few months, two predictable cup exits and with their team in freefall down the Premier League they decided it was time to highlight their displeasure again. While Football Daily has long questioned the effectiveness of the kind of protests that involve people walking from a pub they were almost certainly going to be in anyway to a stadium they were already planning to attend, Sunday’s march did at least serve to raise awareness of the frustrations that come with being a high-spending fan who unconditionally loves a football club that doesn’t love you back. And while it is almost certainly fair to say that Levy was already under no illusions about the low regard in which he is held by most Spurs supporters, news of the protest did at least spook club suits into sending out a pre-emptive email containing the usual bland and detail-free platitudes about “the need to be united”, etc and so on.

While fans are well within their rights to feel aggrieved by Levy’s apparent determination to provide them with whom they view as lemonade footballers on a budget that really ought to stretch to the finest champagne, at least they can have no quibbles about the opulence of the cathedral in which they regularly convene to cheer on (or lament) the trophy-dodgers who habitually line up for their team instead. And while it must be infuriating for them that, in terms of peak performance, Beyoncé remains the benchmark since the magnificent Tottenham Stadium first threw open its doors, at least on Sunday Spurs got to welcome opposition whose club is even more of a bin fire, with even more unlikable owners and whose once great stadium is now a complete dump. In a match that was in direct contravention of its Sky Sports Super Sunday billing, Spurs took advantage of extremely profligate Manchester United finishing to take all three points, their winner coming from James Maddison, one of the five players to return from knack that unsurprisingly improved their team.

While it would be naive for anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Tottenham’s work to read too much into this victory until we see if they can escape from Ipswich without blunderbussing themselves in both feet later this week, Ange Postecoglou was visibly relieved by his tactically inflexible team’s win, lifting them up from 15th in the table. In stark contrast, Ruben Amorim, his even more stubborn opposite number, spent the closing stages of the game hunched over in his touchline seat staring mournfully at the floor as they assumed the position. Having been the subject of criticism bordering on outright mockery by Roy Keane in the build-up to this match, Maddison’s celebratory “shush” to the cameras following his uncontested tap-in was widely interpreted and subsequently confirmed as a genuinely amusing riposte. Sadly, Keane wasn’t in London to give his thoughts on the matter, presumably because he was busy polishing his vast collection of medals at home.

Join Michael Butler from 8pm GMT for hot Championship minute-by-minute coverage of Leeds United 2-2 Sunderland.

“I think with Bellingham’s red card, [the referee] didn’t understand the English well … I don’t think it’s something offensive” – yes, it’s the big semantical discourse of the weekend: Jude Bellingham getting sent off for effing and jeffing during Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw at Osasuna. “He said ‘[eff] off’, not ‘[eff] you’ – that’s way different,” added the Italian, although that didn’t stop Hansi Flick, from old rivals Barça, wading in. “It is disrespectful, but I’m not the one who should comment on it,” tooted Flick, commenting on it. “That’s what I’ve always told the players. Why waste time and energy arguing with the referee regarding the decisions he makes?”

Mikel Arteta started Mikel Merino on the bench for Arsenal’s match at Leicester. After 69 minutes he brought the midfielder on to play in attack and Merino scored the goals to secure victory. Was this woolly thinking on Arteta’s part?” – Ed Coutts.

Re: Noble Francis’s evidently prize-worthy letter in which he quotes Tom Lehrer (Friday’s Football Daily letters), I would like to be among the 1,057 Tom Lehrer aficionados who consume your semi-humorous daily missive to point out that, while the man is certainly ‘great’, it may come as somewhat of a surprise to the 96-year-old to learn that he is ‘late’” – Mick O’Regan (and 1,056 other Tom Lehrer aficionados).

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Ed Coutts! Terms and conditions for our competitions – when we have them – can be viewed here. 

Big Website’s bookshop has a host of great new tomes waiting to be added to your basket. There’s Anoraknophobia by Rob Grillo and David Squires’s latest brilliant collection of cartoons: Chaos in the Box. Get shopping!

The new League of Ireland season is under way, with a record crowd at the Aviva Stadium to witness Bohemians’ 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers. And it’s also kicked off away from the pitch, with Rovers’ boss Stephen Bradley decrying recent comments from Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson, who suggested players need to do one if they want to get in his squad. “We have got an international manager telling my players to leave to have a chance to play for Ireland,” sniffed Bradley. “That’s incredibly disrespectful to me and everyone who works every day in this league. That’s the message that came out after our European run at Christmas time … That our players need to move to give themselves a chance to play for the Ireland team is absolutely ridiculous.”

The FA is examining claims that Burnley’s Hannibal Mejbri was racially abused by Milutin Osmajic during their Championship game at Preston.

Having been sidelined since a cardiac arrest last June, Nabil Bentaleb is back in the game, scoring on his return for Lille in their win over Rennes. “It’s worthy of a film,” whooped coach Bruno Genesio. “He deserved it … it’s an incredible, wonderful story. Nabil’s goal put us on cloud nine. [It] will remain engraved in the history of the club, of this season. And in Nabil’s mind, of course.”

If title-chasing Liverpool are getting nervous, Virgil van Dijk is just revving up. “We just have to buckle up and enjoy the ride,” roared the leader of the pack after their 2-1 victory over Wolves. “There will be a lot of twists and turns.”

Meanwhile, the suits at Anfield will not be raising season ticket prices for 2025-26. Junior Reds will also continue to have entry frozen at £9. Bad news for those elsewhere pleading over profit and sustainability, tough economic circumstances, the price of fish, etc and so on. Speaking of which …

Fulham fans seeking to visit Manchester United in next month’s FA Cup tie are protesting about being charged from £51 to £61, far higher than the price cap of £30 per ticket that applies to away supporters in the Premier League.

Chloe Kelly, who made her Arsenal return in Sunday’s 5-0 gubbing of Tottenham, has been recalled to the Lionesses squad. She had initially been excluded following a lack of game time.

Manchester City’s chances of winning at Real Madrid? Just “1%”, according to Pep Guardiola. “It will be minimal, but as much as you have a chance, we will try,” he cheered after warming up for their Bigger Cup playoff second leg with a 4-0 smiting of Newcastle.

Cambridge United boss Garry Monk has been shown the Abbey Stadium door marked Do One. “In the end, the table does not lie,” sighed majority owner Paul Barry, looking upwards from 24th position in League One.

And Macarthur captain Valère Germain is citing flamin’ Australian refereeing standards as reason to terminate his contract with the A-League Men’s club. Germain was due to face a hearing over an alleged lewd gesture at a ref.

Patrick Barclay, who has died aged 77, was among the very best football writers of the last half-century. Read Kevin Mitchell’s warm tribute along with his obituary by Matthew Engel.

Get your 10 talking points from the Premier League weekend.

“Even Manchester United’s bench was a jaw-dropper, like an A-level geography trip waiting for the train to Lyme Regis, a row of eager haircuts on best behaviour.” Don’t miss Barney Ronay on the Jeremy Kyle Clásico.

Chelsea proved they are mentality monsters while Elisabeth Terland and Khadija Shaw showed scoring prowess. Check the latest WSL talking points.

Bayern Munich set up to frustrate Leverkusen and got exactly what they wanted in a goalless draw, reports Andy Brassell.

Nicky Bandini hails Randal Kolo Muani’s assist in Juve’s 1-0 win against Inter in her latest Serie A despatch.

Another week, another dominant win for Lyon. Les Gones are setting their sights on Bigger Cup, explains Eric Devin.

And will Roma live to regret offloading Enzo Le Fée to Sunderland? Louise Taylor on the midfielder with a touch of Luka Modric about his game.

To January 1939 and a trip to the drink for Charlton Athletic’s Bert Tann, trying his best to retrieve his ball during a day on the golf course at Sundridge Park. Teammate Don Welsh is doing his best to cling on to Tan, while Jack Oakes looks on from the bridge. The squad were bonding before their FA Cup tie against Cardiff, though not much good it did them: they lost 1-0 in south Wales.