THERE will be some Spurs fans picking up the newspaper this morning feeling a little disconsolate and not wanting to read this column. Sometimes it hurts me to write it too.

A golden chance to win their first major trophy since 1991* has slipped away with defeat at lower league Sheffield United, a double disaster given how the draw had opened up an easy path to Wembley.

But chin up, I say, for who else will be able to say they have a massive go-kart circuit being built in their stadium, as announced by Tottenham this week?

OK, yes, everybody sighs at a macho best man who suggests go-karting, just as much as one who thinks clay pigeon shooting or a blow-out in Faliraki is any sane person’s idea of fun. Most people old enough to actually be on a stag night, after all, have swiftly grown out of the idea of driving a lawnmower around in a boiler suit for the bantz.

Reasonable people, you see, do not look at the professional rinse crew on A League Of Their Own and think “Flintoff, you’re a lad” and wish they too could guffaw loudly in their mates’ faces when they finish last in a dare.

Yes, there is also a certain uncomfortable metaphor for Spurs to consider in installing their new attraction: buzzing around, all excited but ultimately just going round in circles is hopefully not how Harry Kane assesses his career when he finally hangs up his boots.

But Spurs – and only Spurs – will be able to say they have a go-karting track in their stadium. Brm! Brmmm!

• ANYWAY, Arsenal.

There will be some readers with the receipts and will be aware that earlier columns suggested in quite stern terms that Mikel Arteta might not be the right man to manage the club. It still seems unusual that a man with no direct managerial experience walks into the Gunners’ top job.

There are still things that are maddening: a calmer approach on the touchline might actually lessen the pressure on players suddenly in a title race; it’s confusing how he waits so long to make substitutes; Fabio Vieira should get more airtime; and we must only hope that not finding a more lethal striking option in the January window does not prove haunting.

But it’s March now, and Arsenal are still top of the league. With a youthful squad playing such exciting football, that’s an achievement for the manager in itself.

That burning smell? Oh that, that’s just a heap of old columns stacked up in a pyre alight on the top of Primrose Hill. A beacon to being a football fan.

* Spurs won the Carling Cup in 2008