Ex-Tottenham teammates Eric Dier and Matt Doherty trade one-word digs on social media
As they discussed Aston Villa’s claim of a penalty last weekend, Eric Dier and Matt Doherty exchanged humorous jabs.
In injury time of Sunday’s 1-1 draw between Wolves and Villa, former Tottenham right back Doherty seemed to bump Villa scorer Ollie Watkins in the area.
Dermot Gallagher, a former Premier League official who studied the incident on Sky Sport’s Ref Watch, said the official must have determined that Doherty’s contact wasn’t sufficient to merit a penalty.
Doherty unmistakably concurred with the VAR’s assessment that the decision stood since it wasn’t a blatant error.
The defender used X, now known as Twitter, to post a quote from the discussion’s video along with the word “Never.”
Then a former teammate of Doherty’s, Spurs defender Dier, made a joke with the Ireland international that Villa should have been awarded a penalty kick.
And it didn’t take long for them to respond with funny one-word jabs at one another.
Dier responded to Doherty’s article with “Penalty.”
Doherty said, “Experience,”
Then Dier replied, “Laziness.”
From 2020 until 2023, Doherty and Dier shared the same team at Spurs. The fact that they were good friends and frequently visited each other at home suggests that the back-and-forth was just harmless conversation. In January, Doherty left the team and joined Atletico Madrid. The next summer, he made a free transfer to his old team, Wolves.
Ange Postecoglou has struggled to get Dier into the lineup, and the England international has yet to play this season. Next summer, when his contract expires, the defender is anticipated to leave on a free transfer.
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Three Aston Villa players Johan Lange could sign for Tottenham after move confirmed
Latest Aston Villa news from BirminghamLive looks at the players Johan Lange might look to poach after becoming Spurs’ new technical director
Johan Lange has left Aston Villa to become the new technical director at Tottenham.
The 43-year-old Dane will take over the role left by Fabio Paratici after the Italian was ordered to leave Tottenham back in April, as a result of his worldwide ban imposed by FIFA following his involvement in Juventus’ 15-point deduction over legal issues.
Monchi came into the fold over the summer as Villa’s president of footballing operations, taking over Lange’s job in the process, which has left him to move down to North London as a result. Lange, of course, could now look to raid his former club – and Birmingham Live takes a look at three players who could follow him to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the future.
Nicolo Zaniolo
Zaniolo has impressed following his loan move from Juventus. It would be no surprise to see interest from other Premier League clubs next summer.
With Harry Kane having left Tottenham for Bayern Munich, Spurs had been in need of a new talisman to lead their line. But Son Heung-min is having a superb season for Ange Postecoglou and Richarlison is an adequate backup, which means that options could be needed elsewhere given they formerly played on the left.
Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson could occupy the right-wing slot, whilst Richarlison could even move out left to accommodate Postecoglou’s hard-working three man attack. But the Brazilian is needed as Son’s replacement, and that could leave Zaniolo as the man firing down the left flank with his dribbling, composure and passing ability more than good enough for most, if not all, Premier League teams.
Tyrone Mings
Mings has only made one appearance in the Premier League this season. Spurs’ new cetral defensive partnership of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have earned plaudits.
But Eric Dier has only one year left on his contract, and with Davinson Sanchez being sold to Galatasaray, it’s left Spurs quite short in terms of their back-up ranks.
Boubacar Kamara
Kamara can play at both centre-back and in the holding midfield roles, which would kill both birds with one stone – and at just 23 years of age, he would have a huge longevity in north London. He would likely cost a pretty penny given that he will have three years left on his Villa contract come the end of the season, but if Spurs do want to spend some genuine quality in their ranks, Lange may consider the Frenchman.
Yves Bissouma and Papa Matar Sarr have been excellent in Tottenham’s since Postecoglou took over in the summer. But again, a lack of backup in key areas could derail Spurs’ season if they don’t act accordingly to recruit in a proper fashion.
Only Oliver Skipp and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are the backups in place at the minute thanks to Rodrigo Bentancur being out with injury, but with Hojbjerg being linked with a move away from the capital, that could open the door for another option in the position.
