Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has gone into partnership with Formula One, which is nice.
Meanwhile, Spurs football team continues to chug along a road to nowhere. Nowhere disastrous - they will probably have European football next season and have not been relegated from the top flight in 46 years.
But nowhere glorious - their last trophy, an EFL Cup, came in 2008 and they have not won the top-flight league title since 1961. They have a puncher’s chance of going deeper into this season’s Champions League - they need to overturn a 1-0 deficit against AC Milan to progress to the last eight - but there is a reason they are 33-1 outsiders to win the whole thing.
The last of Spurs’ eight FA Cup successes came in 1991 and the ninth will not be happening any time soon. And before you say it, yes, the Spurs team that was sent out to tackle a Sheffield United side that was far from being Paul Heckingbottom’s first-choice XI should have had enough under the bonnet to power past the Championship outfit.
But that is not the point. Antonio Conte and man-on-the-ground Cristian Stellini should have gone full throttle at Bramall Lane and that should have meant starting Harry Kane, simple as that.
Do these coaches not pay attention to occasions such as the one at Wembley last Sunday? Do they not see what it means to supporters to be part of such a day? Were they not moved by the elation of Manchester United fans and players when the trophy was hoisted aloft?
Should Tottenham have gone all-out to win the FA Cup? Have your say in the comments!
There was unadulterated euphoria at Wembley five days ago and, with respect to the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup is a huge upgrade. But, never mind, Wolves away in the Premier League this Saturday is the priority.
How can that be? Spurs are not going to win the title. To go back to F1, they are the modern-day McLaren of the Premier League - often, third or fourth row of the starting grid but whose only hope of getting close to the top step is if the Red Bulls, Ferraris or Mercedes crash or burn.
If Spurs see fourth place as more important than the chance of winning the FA Cup, it is a damning indictment of those in executive power. And if he insists his main career goal is to win silverware, it should be a tipping point for Kane.
Let’s get one thing straight. If Kane is happy at Spurs, then fine. It is a good club. If he is settled and does not want any personal upheaval, also fine. And his catalogue of personal achievements should be suitably acclaimed, particularly if he hunts down Alan Shearer’s Premier League scoring record to go with his club scoring record.
To mark that club scoring record, Kane had a special pair of boots made for him. Inscribed with the words ALL-TIME TOP SCORER and the date when he passed Jimmy Greaves’ total and also the number 267 to mark his total, they were snazzy shoes.
And they will look nice alongside the others he treasures so much. Kane once took a Premier League Golden Boot on holiday with him and posted pictures of it beside a swimming pool. For Christmas of 2018, he topped off the tree decorations in the family home with his World Cup Golden Boot.
And when he scores the one goal needed to take him beyond Wayne Rooney’s England record of 53, there will, without doubt, be more commemorative footwear rolled out. But if Kane stays at Spurs and those in charge keep the same mentality that saw them lose in Sheffield, when he comes to hang up all those fancy boots, there will be no medals to go with them.
