SPURS ARE LEFT RED-FACED AFTER JIBES FROM SPONSORS

TOTTenHAM were embarrassed by their new sponsors Dulux — minutes after they had been announced as the club’s official paint supplier yesterday. Twitter users were quick to mock the club after the new partnership was announced in the morning. And Dulux themselves joined in the mickey-taking with claims that their famous Old english Sheepdog mascot ‘might do a better job’ at centre-half than some of Tottenham’s defenders and that they would be unable to give a new coat to the club’s trophy cabinet as ‘surfaces should be dust-free before painting’. Dulux’s social media team later apologised for the messages, confirming their plans to investigate tweets that ‘do not reflect how proud we are to be the Official Paint Supplier of the Club’. But Tottenham saw the funny side of the incident, replying that they were happy to ‘gloss over it this time’. ‘The relationship will see us benefit from the unrivalled expertise in paint and colour that Dulux provides,’ proudly boasted the club. Dulux’s iconic mascot, a sheepdog called Madison, was given a tour of the club’s stadium and, soon, Dulux’s social media team were running amok, too. When Twitter users latched on to the new partnership to poke fun at Tottenham’s failings — ‘paw timing’ was among the predictable jibes — Dulux were only too happy to join the pile-on. After one fan said they should use the cabinet to store tins of paint ‘as we don’t seem to put anything in there’, the company mocked-up a photo of an empty glass cabinet with Spurs’ logo alongside the caption: ‘For sale: unused trophy cabinet.’ Then, when jokingly asked: ‘Can the dog play centre-back?’ the company replied: ‘He might do a better job.’

The tweets were soon deleted and, by the evening, Dulux issued an apology — tail firmly between their legs. ‘We’re deeply sorry for the posts from Dulux this morning in response to the announcement of our relationship with @SpursOfficial,’ tweeted the same account. ‘We’re investigating what happened and apologise to all Spurs fans.’ Asked about it ahead of tonight’s clash with everton — a huge game in the battle for the top four — Jose Mourinho was unaware of the whole affair. ‘I don’t know what you are speaking about but maybe it is an amazing strategy move,’ he said. It was certainly an odd one.