02:22 PM BST
13 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 1
That was Romero’s last touch. He is immediately substituted but Spurs didn’t play the concussion sub card.
Sanchez ⇢ Romero.
The water’s back on in case you’re there and need the loo.
02:20 PM BST
GOAL!
Brentford 0 Tottenham 1 (Romero) Bulleted in a header from about six yards, kept onside by a defender’s leg, converting Maddison’s viciously whipped free-kick.
02:19 PM BST
Looks onside from the available angle
But the Var check continues.
02:18 PM BST
GOAL!?
Brentford 0 Tottenham 1 (Romero) Check for offside.
02:17 PM BST
10 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
The famous Maddison flop is rewarded by a free-kick parallel with the 18-yard line when he feels some pressure on his back.
02:16 PM BST
9 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
Signs of how Maddison might feed Richarlison with a handsome pass down the inside-right that he almost found him with. Flekken, adding to the general mood among the debutant goalkeepeing fraternity, flaps at a cross from the resulting corner and Collins scrambles it away.
02:14 PM BST
7 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
Thom Gibbs reports from Brentford
Spurs fans are gamely trying to fit “Oh Ange Postecoglou” into the tune of Seven Nation Army. I’m sorry, I know we’re only at the first game of the season, but that is disappointing. You’ve had a full pre-season to figure out a chant for your new manager that scans and that is the sort of weak songcraft which is going to get found out at this level.
We’re now into the third go round of Seven Nation Army, players warming up with jackets off, ref Robert Jones having some exasperated discussions with officials and managers down by the bench. Some chat of a water / sanitation problem at the stadium. Fella on the PA says “We hope to be kicking off shortly”. More Jack White for the time being…
02:13 PM BST
6 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
‘Where’s your Harry gone?’ chant the Brentford fans, Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep still carrying a heavy load fifty years on. Romero, back, on is forced to turn back towards his goal by Wissa’s bite and Mbeumo races towards Vicario who seems to flap at another rushed clearance, finding distance but no direction.
02:11 PM BST
4 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
There is still no water and hence no sanitation. Sky has been told Brentford feel it will be fixed soon and that they should not delay further.
02:10 PM BST
2 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
Vicario is hounded when fielding a back pass and rushes a clearance out for a Brentford throw from which Romero and Mbeumo will need treatment after Romero nutted the back of Mbeumo’s head when they went up for the ball.
02:08 PM BST
1 min: Brentford 0 Spurs 0
Some players pray pre-huddle and then all take the knee as per the Premier League captains’ meeting decision to reintroduce the gesture at various points of the season.
Brentford kick off, attacking towards the river. Brentford push high up the right with Hickey and Wissa but Spurs hold them at arm’s length and they have to retreat for more probing,
02:06 PM BST
Everything seems to be resolved
Just a seven minute delay, then.
02:05 PM BST
Why didn’t they inform the referee earlier?
eE could have delayed the players’ entrance on to the field.
02:04 PM BST
How long will it take Thames Water to reactivate the supply?
You can always rely on Thames Water …
Plenty of meetings on the pitch but no further news yet.
02:02 PM BST
Kick-off will be delayed
There is a problem with the water supply which obviously has repercussions for safety protocols, fire and sanitation.
01:58 PM BST
Out come the teams
Brentford in red and white stripes, Tottenham in shades of blue.
01:56 PM BST
No 10 but they do have a nine
Richarlison has scored 20 goals in 44 Brazil appearances as an put and out striker.
01:43 PM BST
Ange Postecoglou speaks
It’s been an eventful few days. You don’t stray too far from the fact we’ve got our first premier League game of the season and the ultimate thing is we’ve been trying to focus on that.
It’s all a bit new, we’ve been playing differently in pre-season and as a unit we will go out to try to show how we want to play.
Sonny is a real glue for the team, he’s an outstanding footballer. When you look at a leadership role you want someone whose behaviours reflect what you want them to be. He is a Tottenham man. He’s been here a long time.
01:33 PM BST
Daniel Sturridge is a new Sky regular
And he says of Bryan Mbeumo that he is “prone to making defenders do the stanky leg – I don’t know if you know what that is”. We don’t Daniel and his demonstration, a kind of stiff-legged, stilts-like failed attempt to drag the ball, doesn’t entirely enlighten us.
01:27 PM BST
Son speaks
We lost one of the best strikers in the world but we have a good player to replace him. I can’t wait to play with Richie on the pitch. ‘Aitch’ scored so many goals everyone has to take responsibility [to pitch in].
[Ange] has been fantastic. The way he wants to play is really cool and chimes with how I like to play. The first game is going to be really difficult but we’re going to fight it.
01:06 PM BST
Your teams in black and white
01:03 PM BST
Bees hand out two debuts
Messrs Flekken and Collins:
01:02 PM BST
Four debutants for Spurs
Messrs Vicario, Maddison, Udogie and Van de Ven:
10:40 AM BST
Preview: Dry your eyes, mate
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of Brentford vs Tottenham Hotspur which the sportswriter’s obligation to cliché demands is themed ‘The King is dead, long live the King!’ But enough about Pontus Jansson already …
Since all the focus pre-match and throughout the pre-season has been on Tottenham and a certain England captain, it is easy to forget that Brentford finished only one point and one place behind them. They have replaced their Swedish captain, who has returned to his beloved Malmo, with Nathan Collins who has been flipped from Stoke to Burnley to Wolves to Brentford in a little over two seasons, brought in Mark Flekken to start instead of the departing David Raya and made Kevin Schade’s loan deal into a long-term purchase and will entrust him to help Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa fill the Ivan Toney-shaped hole in their attack.
Spurs could not have had a trickier start outside last season’s top five: Brentford lost only two home games in the league last season, beat Spurs 3-1 in the penultimate match of 2022-23 and, with their stadium wigging out to Hey Jude, make life very difficult for all visitors.
Totenham arrive, in case you hadn’t heard, with a new manager, new captain and a new onus on Richarlison to lead the line. Ange Postecoglou is a fine manager who sends his teams out to play stylish, attacking football with plenty of movement and pace. James Maddison is the player they have been missing since Christian Eriksen was sold. Mick van de Ven looks very solid indeed from two brief viewings and Alejo Veliz is the kind of canny signing Man City would make … and then sell him on for £45 million.
While feeling doleful, there are plenty of other reasons to be cheerful, not least: [1] Antonio Conte is not the manager any more and there does not have to be argument and recrimination on the agenda, the feeling that your heart and head are going to burst, ALL THE TIME. [2] When they sold Glenn Hoddle in 1987 Spurs used the money to buy Paul Walsh and Johnny Metgod and accumulated so many trophies over the next decade people now routinely ask: ‘Glenn who?’*
* This might not be strictly true
10:07 AM BST
Postecoglou: No more Fantasy Football for me – it’s real
By John Derek
Born in a suburban town by Athens, Ange Postecoglou emigrated to Australia when he was a toddler and arrived in England via spells in Japan, Scotland and Down Under.
The reality of Postecoglou’s rise hit home when he realised he was no longer able to play Premier League Fantasy Football, which since watching Match of the Day and reading out-of-date magazines in the 1970s had been his link to England’s top flight.
“We are talking late 70s. I was growing up in Australia. Information wasn’t readily available, you couldn’t just jump on the net and get information. My sort of library, I have still got them at home somewhere, were three-month-old Shoot magazines or Roy of the Rovers or Match magazine,” Postecoglou said.
“They were three-months old because they would come over by ship. I would just voraciously read them page to page.
“That early obsession has put me in good stead because I’ve not lost that passion for the game, I still love the game in the same way I did as a kid. I still want to know everything about it.
“We had Match of the Day on a Monday night. First Jimmy Hill, then on a Saturday it was Brian Moore back then. They were a week or two old.
“For the first time in about 20 years I have had to pull out of my friend’s Fantasy Premier League team, which I am gutted about.
“Because I am a Premier League manager. There you go. It’s not a fantasy anymore.”
10:06 AM BST
Postecoglou: Gucci is not for us
By John Derek
Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham will stick to the high street and not go shopping at Gucci as they attempt to fill the gap left by Harry Kane’s departure to Bayern Munich.
Spurs, who have named Son Heung-min as Kane’s successor as captain, are faced with the daunting task of replacing the forward, who scored 30 Premier League goals last season to take his overall tally for Tottenham to 280.
Postecoglou insists the club will not seek a like-for-like replacement and that the departure of Kane will not force a rethink of the club’s recruit strategy.
Asked if Kane’s fee, which could rise to £120million, meant he could target a different market place, Postecoglou was quick to point he is not about to acquire a taste for high-end shopping. “You say Gucci. I have no idea what you are talking about. My wife tells me those kinds of things are one-offs and usually you get a fake replica if you try to get the same one,” Postecoglou joked ahead of his Premier League debut at Brentford.
“With Harry, nothing has changed for us. It is not like Harry has gone and we need to go and replace Harry. We’ve known this for a while. The business we’ve done so far has been in anticipation of Harry going. We are not going to be out there tomorrow looking for a No 9 to replace Harry. That’s not the strategy that is already in place.
“But I still think there’s value there if you get the right players. I don’t think you need to always spend at that top-end. It’s about getting the right fit for your football club. I think [James] Maddison is a great example of that.”