Kane, winter and all that razzmatazz.
First the good news. Kane has signed a new six-year deal, which means that he will be with us until 2024. Of course we all know that contracts are not worth the paper they are written on, nevertheless, with Pochettino signing a five-year deal it means that Spurs are at least looking towards the future. And Kane will stay providing that it seems like we are actually challenging for top honours. The nucleus of a great team is there. All we need now is one or two complementary players that will add to the squad and also replace those that are going to move on.
Kane, scored 30 Premier League goals as we finished third in the table last season and he is also about to lead England to World Cup glory (hopefully). He recently became our leading scorer in the Premier League era. Kane's previous contract, which was announced in December 2016 and was apparently worth more than £100,000 a week, had been due to expire in 2022.
Now we just wait until we hear who our signings will be and who will leave.
With Kane signing a new contract and the new stadium this up and coming season if you happen to be a Spurs players you will feel like Christmas is coming before Christmas.
Now to the League Cup, Micky Mouse Cup or the Carabao Cup.
This coming season the League Cup is to abandon extra-time. Also: all games in the Premier League grounds will use the much mocked VAR system. Isn’t football just becoming robotic and bureaucratic and the fun is going out of football? Anyway, EFL Cup matches will now go straight to penalty kicks if the scores are level after 90 minutes to reduce "additional fatigue issues" following a vote by English Football League clubs. However, if one should get to the Final, then Wembley will play extra-time – if need be.
Seeding will also be removed for the first two rounds of the competition. But round one will remain regionalised into North and South sections.
Winter break for Premier League clubs in February from 2019-20.
The break will be staggered across two weeks, with five matches on the first weekend and five the following weekend.
The FA Cup fifth round will be repositioned to midweek to accommodate the break, with replays being scrapped at that stage.
"It's no secret that we have a very congested fixture calendar, and over recent years we have been working with the whole game to find a solution," said FA chief executive Martin Glenn.
Winter breaks are already being used by the top leagues in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, though they all take place between December and January, which is the busiest period for Premier League teams.
On top of that, the 2019-20 will be a season of even more change following the announcement that Amazon will show 20 Premier League matches a season for three years from 2019 after winning one of the final two broadcast packages. The other unsold package of 20 games was bought by BT Sport for £90m.
Another quick one: with extra revenue coming in from Europe the top six-positions – not top clubs – will get additional monies. This was recently voted on by the Premier League. The top six clubs wanted the money, but they wouldn’t have got the vote through so a compromise was made.
So, a bundle of emotions in those packages (no pun intended). Personally, I don’t agree on winter breaks. It is part of our football heritage. Again, political manipulation by those that don’t really understand football or are even interested in the fans feelings. As for taking away extra-time; this is another case of pen-pushers taking football out of football and making it more robotic. Years ago we used to have replays after replays until there was a final victory, that is until the pen-pushers decided it wasn’t in the interest of “Football Governors,” and sod what the fans wanted. Arseholes are trying to take over football and make it sanitised, cold and regimental. Football is a success, not because of the arseholes that manipulate football, but the fans who energise it and making it what is; one of the worlds top sports. But out of all of this – what I have written – there is some good news… Kane has signed a new contract, and the light shining on Spurs is getting brighter every day.