GRRRREETINGS from Melbourne where Tottenham are not the coolest thing around this week.
That is because the Aussie city has been hit by his coldest winter for years.
Temperatures have dipped below ten degrees and Juventus stars decided to cut short their open training session ahead of tomorrow night’s clash against Spurs after it was hit by SLEET would you believe!
The icy conditions had Juve’s woosies running for the dressing rooms after only half an hour.
But Tottenham players showed they are made of sterner stuff as they not only trained in front of hundreds of hardy fans but they also spent ages signing autographs and posing for selfies with shivering supporters afterwards.
Top men.
I would have taken my hat off to them had it not been so blooming freezing!
DESPITE the weather, I decided to broaden my footballing horizons on Sunday afternoon by going to watch the Hawthorn Hawks take on the Richmond Tigers in the Aussie Rules version of the game.
The sport, in spite of the vests and short shorts, is captivating once you know the rules. And you can’t help but admire the way their players batter each other in a game with no yellow or red cards or play-acting.
But most impressive is how AFL clubs treats fans.
I was in a crowd of 51,000 at the famous MCG and yet unlike my regular visits to the far less impressive Den and Wembley, I never once had to queue up for a pie or a pint.
This was due not only to the number of kiosks open but the way beers were pre-served and food readily prepared. This is something those running the catering at English stadia need to learn.
Likewise, supporters who travelled to the game in cars were guided to areas where they could park instead of just being warned where they could not.
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Yet best of all, was the price of the tickets – about the equivalent of watching a non-League match . . . five years ago!
A family sat next to me in the lower tier, around 20 rows from the pitch, were season ticket holders with adult seats costing AUS$240 (around £150) each for 11 games.
Only AUS$40 more than the most expensive seat in the same stadium for tomorrow night’s clash between Spurs and Juventus.
No wonder only 23,000 fans turned up to watch Juve’s 1-1 draw with the Melbourne Victory on Saturday.
I know Tottenham wanted the tickets made cheaper but were powerless to act as the prices were set by the organisers of the International Champions Cup.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO and his men have only been here a couple of days and already one member of the squad has been axed.
But fans reading this need not worry as it is not one of the players.
No, the translator hired to relay multi-lingual Tottenham’s media interviews to a worldwide audience has been given the bullet after his very first Press conference.
As nightmare debuts go it was right down there with Federico Fazio’s or, dare I say, Vlad Chiriches’!
The translator had a shocker as he attempted to translate Erik Lamela’s question and answer session with journalists from Spanish into English and vice-versa.
The poor chap was so poor that even Lamela and watching boss Pochettino were left scratching their heads and trying not to laugh.
Not surprisingly, a tournament organiser revealed the translator was told afterwards: “Adios.”
Which they probably had to explain to him is “goodbye” in Spanish and not a sportswear manufacturer.
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