Gray Skies Clearing

Well, maybe things are still looking a little cloudy in the big picture for Spurs Men, but we'll always have that moment of Archie Gray scoring his first goal for the club. It was a long time coming, but he's been putting in the work over the last few weeks and deserved a moment of redemption after his goal-conceding error a few games back.

It's a mark of the uncertainty around the team's direction that a lot of fans were still feeling discontent despite the clean sheet win at Crystal Palace. I think that transfer rumor season kicking into high gear has contributed to the unsettled mood as well. There's potential for the second half of the season to rescue the 2025/26 campaign—assuming we get some injured players back quickly and make some impactful signings, none of which are givens. But things could just as easily go further south if we make an early FA Cup exit or entrench in the bottom half of the Premier League table, either of which would put Thomas Frank's job at true risk, before we even consider the likely lost cause that is the Champions League.

In this issue: Crystal Palace recap | Transfer talk

Technically, the second half of the season won't begin until after we face Sunderland, though we play the Brentford reverse fixture for actual matchday 19—just a quirk of the schedule.

We still have over two weeks until Spurs Women return to action, but they've already been busy in the transfer market before the window has even opened, taking advantage of player signings from the Scandinavian leagues that just wrapped up their seasons.

It's clear which Spurs team is more prepared for the new year, but the proof will be in the results. Of course, I am hoping for both teams to have a strong start to 2026, but that's a much bigger ask of the Men's team with the current status quo.

PL MD 18 | Crystal Palace 0 - 1 Tottenham

Gray 42'

This was kind of a strange game in the sense that the play was very end-to-end, and that usually would have led to a high-scoring match—if Crystal Palace had been at all efficient with their attack. Thankfully, they weren't, and we were able to hold onto a first-half lead and maintain a rare clean sheet.

The concerns about Spurs' own attack being inefficient from open play persist, as we only scored from a set piece. But it was a nicely worked corner routine, and I don't want to hear anything about it being a lucky goal. The flicked-on assist from Richarlison was 100% intentional, and Archie Gray was well-positioned to head it home.

Richarlison certainly deserved an assist after having his two goals both chalked off for offside—the first was in the buildup, but the second he was culpable for.

The goals (valid and offside alike) were the few moments of sharpness from Spurs; otherwise, there was a lot of sloppy play, to the point that we only managed 38% possession. Palace didn't do much with their possession, so it worked out in our favor, but it's still an issue that the team is looking so disconnected.

We also had another injury scare when Lucas Bergvall went out with what seemed like a potential groin issue, but it turned out to be just a minor tweak, and he's likely to be fit for the midweek game.

Defensively, Kevin Danso put in a strong effort as he started in place of the suspended Cristian Romero, with Micky van de Ven taking on the captain's armband in the latter's stead. Unfortunately, Danso picked up a yellow card and is now added to the card accumulation watch for the 19th game.

Notable & quotable:

• Archie Gray became the youngest English goal-scorer for Spurs in the Premier League since Dele.

• He also reached his 60th appearance for the club in all competitions.

• Richarlison has reached double figures for goal contributions in league play, and is in the top 7 in the PL goal contributions leaderboard, joint-third with Hugo Ekitike and Morgan Rogers.

• Radu Drăgușin made his return from an ACL injury, coming off the bench to play the last five minutes plus stoppage.

I knew the road was going to be long, but I knew there was going to be a light at the end of it. Today, I've seen the light. I can't even describe the feeling I'm having. I miss this feeling, I miss this atmosphere, the fans, and my team-mates on the pitch. I miss the football. I'm just so happy right now.

• Thomas Frank weighed in on the result:

You achieve nothing if you can't get wins like this. This is something I'm very happy with in terms of resilience. It was not a perfect performance, not at all, but the desire, the effort, the character, all that, you need to be a good team. That was a very good foundation today, which I'm very pleased with.

• Gray reflected on his milestone goal coming so soon after the tough game against Nottingham Forest:

It was a difficult, difficult game for me at Forest. I think the mistake, it was obviously my fault, but I just tried to get on the ball as much as I possibly could and tried to be positive. Today still wasn't, you know, the best game, it was a bit of a scrappy game but to get the goal is something that every child dreams of.

My dad's always said to me, ‘just go and get on the ball, don't be scared’ and I think that stuck with me. After that mistake happened at Forest, I'd never go and hide from the ball or anything like that. It's not something that I've ever done and ever will do. If I make a mistake, that's football sometimes. I'll just have to learn from that - and I have. I've been working in training every day to put it right.

• Kevin Danso is bringing some optimism into the new year:

I think it’s given us a lot of confidence the way we’ve performed in some of the games over the past few weeks. The results are not always going our way, but I think we showed the character and the togetherness we have. Sometimes we have to grind out results like we did today, and I feel once we hit that step and we learn to do that consistently, we'll be a real tough force.

Transfer talk

It's a bit of a good news, bad news situation with Spurs Women in the transfer market. The good news is that they've been very proactive, to the point of securing three signings before the transfer window has even officially opened. The bad news is that we are still stubbornly sticking to the Nordic region for all of these signings.

In addition to the previous signing of Signe Gaupset, we have added:

• Hanna Wijk
• Matilda Nildén

Both players join us from BK Häcken on long-term deals. And yes, Matilda is Amanda Nildén's sister.

Wijk is a 22-year-old fullback who can play on either side of the pitch. Her signing is likely a succession plan for Ash Neville, who nevertheless still has a lot to give to the team and is in no hurry to retire. Manager Martin Ho identified Wijk as a "modern, athletic fullback" and highlighted her versatility. There was apparently competition from other teams to sign her.

The younger Nildén is a 21-year-old midfielder/winger. She is not exactly the immediate starting winger we were hoping for to replace Jess Naz during her ACL recovery, but she can certainly develop into that role after a couple of seasons of providing depth from the bench—or even compete with Martha Thomas for the starting spot as the season progresses. Ho described her as a versatile winger who plays with "pace, bravery, and intent." Perhaps significantly, she has taken the kit number of on-loan Anna Csiki.

With three positions of need already being addressed for Spurs Women's squad, the last crucial signing we need once the window opens is a defensive midfielder to back up Eveliina Summanen. But there will surely be some outgoings (permanent or loan) to accommodate all of this transfer activity, so stay tuned.

The men's transfer window is also opening imminently, and rumors already abound about some possible exits and additions. But I prefer to deal with the concrete updates, so stand by for official announcements.

A quick Spurs Men loan army update: While rumors abound of several players being recalled early from their loans (mostly for the purpose of being loaned to a different club, hopefully for increased game time), two players scored superb goals in the Championship on Monday. Alfie Devine's strike gave Preston North End a chance to push for a point late on, but they still fell 2-1 at Wrexham. Yang Min-hyeok, on the other hand, scored the game-winner for Portsmouth in their home match against Charlton Athletic, deep into stoppage time. If you haven't seen the goal yet, you must.

That was some truly exceptional footwork, not to mention the quality of the shot. Hopefully he gets more game time going forward with Portsmouth.

Up next:

January 1 | Spurs Men @ Brentford
Team news — Lucas Bergvall available; Destiny Udogie back in training, but not ready to play; Cristian Romero returns from suspension, but Xavi Simons still suspended

I'm going to give one New Year's resolution to each senior team that I would like to see them (at least try to) keep.

Spurs Women:  Don't look back. Or, in other words, avoid the usual second-half-of-the-season slide.
Spurs Men:  Develop more confidence as a team, not just individuals. And with the fixture congestion picking back up again, we'll need starters and bench players alike to be in sync.

Have a Happy New Year, and see y'all in 2026!

COYS

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