Spurs keen to brush off Dulux gaffe
BOSS COY ON SPURS ISSUES
TOTTENHAM were left red-faced after they were turned into a laughing stock following a PR own-goal by their new sponsors.
The Dulux Twitter account caused a stir by christening their new partnership in a series of mocking online posts.
In response to seeing images of the brand’s famous old English sheepdog at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, one fan asked if he could play centre-back.
“He might do a better job,” came the reply. The Twitter account then posted a picture of an “unused trophy cabinet”, mocked up with the Spurs badge. Dulux issued a grovelling apology and said in a statement: “We’re investigating what happened and apologise to all Spurs fans. We’re deeply sorry for the posts from Dulux in response to the announcement of our relationship with Spurs. These do not reflect how proud we are.”
Tottenham responded, saying: “We’ll gloss over it this time.” But manager Jose Mourinho claimed not to have seen them. He said: “It is not a football-related thing.”
JOSE MOURINHO may have tried to gloss over things but Tottenham are very much a club in turmoil.
It would take more than a tin of brilliant white trade diamond eggshell – or the Spurs manager’s determinedly blank expression – to cover up the fact there are some worrying cracks.
The jokes about the empty trophy cabinet – Tottenham have not lifted silverware since they won the League Cup in 2008 – could be answered next weekend if they beat Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final.
First, though, is a Premier League trip to Goodison tonight which could end any faint hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. If they fail, Spurs will only have themselves to blame. After Manchester United came from behind to win 3-1 last week, it is now 18 points Tottenham have surrendered from winning positions.
About the only joke not doing the rounds, after Dulux announced a partnership with the club and then poked fun at their lack of silverware, was that the reason there was an old English sheepdog bounding around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was because once again Spurs had let go of a lead.
Mourinho claims he knows the reasons but was keeping tight-lipped nevertheless in his pantomime of a press conference.
“I know why it happened and I know also you can look at it in a different perspective,” he said.
“A team that starts matches well and starts winning matches means something positive that you like to forget, the positive aspect of that.
“But I agree with you in the sense of when you are in winning positions and you lose points, there is also a negative to it. It has to do with some of our qualities as a team but I’m not ready to discuss with you – maybe never.”
He was also not ready to discuss the whole Dulux saga. If anything, his innocent “What’s Dulux?” intervention was as convincing as his acting in his Paddy Power commercials.