IF SPURS’ GROUND ISN’T READY, TITLE BID COULD BE OVER BEFORE IT STARTS

ToTTENHAM get very upset at suggestions that White Hart lane will not be ready for next season. So would you if you had sold 40,000 season tickets for a ground that might not exist. That’s 40,000 very unhappy customers on line one. The important date is Saturday, September 15 — the weekend after England play Switzerland on September 11. The Premier league can follow precedent and give Tottenham their first three fixtures away from home, everything before the international break on September 3. After that, it becomes problematic. Not least because Premier league rules state that wherever a club plays its first designated home match must remain its home until the end of the season. If there is a chance White Hart lane might be unfinished in mid-September, Tottenham’s options are limited and mostly disadvantageous. If they go to Wembley, they potentially make it their home for another year, unless Tottenham can persuade the Premier league board to grant special dispensation allowing them to switch mid-way. Daniel levy is lucky his fate is not in the hands of fellow chairmen, given how few friends he will have made in boardrooms with his hard-nosed transfer dealing. There is also the matter of six elite clubs chasing four Champions league places. Why would Arsenal, Chelsea or liverpool, for instance, wish to help Tottenham? ‘The only place to watch the Champions league in london’, smirked an advertisement for Tottenham’s new ground. So while the Premier league as a body might be sympathetic to an extra game or two at Wembley — after all, the new White Hart lane is a fabulous facility, and investment of that nature should be nurtured and encouraged — levy must hope the owners of his rivals in the

capital don’t spend much time reading the hoardings from limousine windows. And, if they do, they don’t bear grudges and start applying pressure upstairs. The alternative would be to ask for a longer run of away matches, but how many can be granted before it affects the dynamic of the league? Blackpool were given permission to start with two away games in 2010-11, but were at home to Fulham on August 28. Liverpool played three games away at the start of 2016-17, while work on the new stand at Anfield was completed, but hosted Leicester on September 10. west Ham began last season with a trio of away fixtures while the London Stadium was converted after the athletics world Championships. Again, though, they were in after the international break for a September 11 game against Huddersfield. So three is the maximum until now and there is no guarantee Tottenham would be well-received if asking for more. Half the league has to play two of their first three matches away, so an extra trip is not seen as greatly disruptive. But stretch that to four, or five or more and it could play havoc with the schedule. The Premier League product exists on very precise lines. Even if they were successful, what effect might there be on Tottenham’s season? In April, Mauricio Pochettino (below) admitted finally what others had suggested for several seasons: that Tottenham’s slow start to the campaign had cost them. He said next year must be different. But how difficult will it be if Tottenham have to play three away games, maybe more? west Ham struggled to recover from three straight defeats by Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle, while Liverpool’s away fixtures were against Arsenal, Burnley and Tottenham, and delivered four points from nine. Pochettino’s point was that by the time Tottenham stabilised this season, Manchester City were as good as over the horizon, and there is no reason they won’t start that way again. with three matches now looking the minimum absence, and the Premier League’s fixtures announced on June 14, time is not on Tottenham’s side. Neither is next season’s schedule, unless Pochettino can reverse the habits of old.