Chris Weatherspoon

Amid the Spurs horror and hand-wringing it is again worth saying THIS IS WHAT A SPORT SHOULD BE. Bad teams should be punished for being bad. Though it is a sign of quite how bad Spurs are that they're managing to do *this* with the odds so heavily weighted their way

Nobody is going to save Spurs but these players. They have to start performing (Gift Article) The reality is that if the worst happens over the last 10 league games, it will mark the reputations of this group forever

Have we been so consumed with the politics at Spurs this season that we have let the players off the hook? Has that lack of responsibilty contributed to Spurs' struggles?

My mea culpa column:

www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

The Mbappe Project: Making a Superstar Making a Superstar

Publication day! My new book, "The Mbappé Project", is officially out today. It is not a biography, but an attempt to understand and explain how a football prodigy was built into a global star by his entourage and by himself, retaining control every step of the way.

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

#LFC accounts for 2024-25 confirm club booked £104.7million profit on player sales last summer (£5m higher than projected in below piece)

Club's 2025 net spend, inc. fees on new deals for Van Dijk and Salah, was £273.4m

#LFC accounts for 2024-25 confirm club booked £104.7million profit on player sales last summer (£5m higher than projected in below piece)

Club's 2025 net spend, inc. fees on new deals for Van Dijk and Salah, was £273.4m

Two league wins in four months!

Just very difficult to overstate how much trouble Spurs are in now

Went to see the Xmas one. Good God.

Oddly I don't mind the movie as much. The TV show is so bad I see the former in an okay light. The worst thing is he doesn't even get that much TV but when he does it is this he demands, every time, without fail

Wolves! Has a team ever stayed up by mistake?

AND YET newly promoted Sunderland have 40 points in the Premier League, something they didn't manage in any of their five previous Premier League seasons. With nine games left. Some going

My son is maddeningly obsessed with Paw Patrol. I, therefore, as is the equilibrium of the universe, despise Paw Patrol. And yet Leeds v Sunderland was so astonishingly awful to watch that I found myself half-hoping he'd wake, scale the stair gate, come downstairs and demand I put Paw Patrol on

Ooh thank you, will see what I can do

👊 hope she's doing okay with them - our son is great with his albeit seems to be slowly realising he can yank them out when he doesn't want to listen to us 😃

Highly leveraged!

bsky.app/profile/cwea...

Can't tell you how important normalising this stuff is

Burnley under current ownership
Sunderland under previous group

There'll be others but very few and far between

They can use losses to offset tax charges elsewhere but it's still money they're spending

Re: graphs, do you mean owner funding ones? Answer is no, but can do

Stoke City made a profit in 2024-25! But only after £90m owner loan write-off. Strip that and £4m cost linked to ground returning to club hands and #SCFC lost further £25m last season

Coates family put in £46m cash, taking total funding since May 2006 takeover to nearly £400m

Stoke City made a profit in 2024-25! But only after £90m owner loan write-off. Strip that and £4m cost linked to ground returning to club hands and #SCFC lost further £25m last season

Coates family put in £46m cash, taking total funding since May 2006 takeover to nearly £400m

Increasingly important(!)

Hell of a chart, this, from @financialtimes.com. Spot the JCPOA.

on.ft.com/4kSuQYO

Manchester United’s wage bill falls year-on-year, latest financial results show United's total revenues fell to £330.7m, though, compared to £341.8m over the same period last year.

Manchester United's Q2 results for 2025-26 are out and show improved profitability

But any financial improvement this season will be restrained by falling revenues and continued high transfer spending

Analysis w/ @mjcritchley.bsky.social

@theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

Good morning. Did you see this?

Because if not, you're gonna wanna see this

Sunderland in talks with U.S. investment fund Sixth Street for women’s team sale The club has received multiple offers from would-be buyers or investors over the past 12 months as they aim to reach the WSL again.

🚨𝗡𝗘𝗪 @theathleticfc.bsky.social: #SAFC remain in talks to sell a 'significant majority stake' in their women's team, even as an exclusivity period with Sixth Street ends today

Club has received multiple bids for SAFC Women in past 12 months

w/@mjslater.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

West Ham’s 2024-25 accounts: Record £104.2m pre-tax loss cause for concern Significant player spending and a rising wage bill have not translated to improved performances on the pitch, a trend maintained this term

West Ham's record £104m loss last season is bad enough but of greater concern is something we've highlighted before: low liquidity.

Club took out £124m loan in July and admits player sales needed to meet liabilities this summer.

Analysis @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

Dan Ballard signs contract extension at Sunderland as reward for fine form The centre-half has put pen to paper on a one-year extension that will keep him at the Stadium of Light through to 2029

Dan Ballard contract extension at Sunderland. Well-deserved. www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

West Ham’s 2024-25 accounts: Record £104.2m pre-tax loss cause for concern Significant player spending and a rising wage bill have not translated to improved performances on the pitch, a trend maintained this term

West Ham's record £104m loss last season is bad enough but of greater concern is something we've highlighted before: low liquidity.

Club took out £124m loan in July and admits player sales needed to meet liabilities this summer.

Analysis @theathleticfc.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/707...

And now a £104million loss at West Ham reported for last season. That ludicrous Chelsea number. Championship clubs lobbing eight figures down a well every year. And a hunk of yesterday hearing about booming 'asset' values and growth. My head is on Mars with this sport

Sunderland in talks with U.S. investment fund Sixth Street for women’s team sale The club has received multiple offers from would-be buyers or investors over the past 12 months as they aim to reach the WSL again.

🚨𝗡𝗘𝗪 @theathleticfc.bsky.social: #SAFC remain in talks to sell a 'significant majority stake' in their women's team, even as an exclusivity period with Sixth Street ends today

Club has received multiple bids for SAFC Women in past 12 months

w/@mjslater.bsky.social

www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

Three EFL Championship clubs have released 2024-25 financials in the past day

Pre-tax losses:
• Middlesbrough £11m
• Coventry City £25m
• Cardiff City £35m

Operating (pre-player sales) losses:
• Middlesbrough £37m
• Coventry City £28m
• Cardiff City £34m

Insanity