NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 92
Submitted by Norman Giller

Norman Giller's 100th book!

It was like welcoming back an old friend to see Christian Eriksen firing on all cylinders at Swansea yesterday. His two rifle-shot goals gave Spurs a precious point in a rollercoaster match that had more twists and turns than Donald Trump’s hair.

For those who somehow have not appreciated Eriksen’s input since arriving from Ajax, let the facts speak for themselves: 24 goals in 90 appearances, and a hand – or well-placed foot – in dozens of other goals.

He is just 23 and plays with the maturity of somebody of vintage years, and at his best is equal to the much-missed Luka Modric with the precision and penetration of his passes.

Somebody whose opinion I rate said that he just decorates matches, completely missing the point that there have been at least ten matches in which his goals have made all the difference. He decides as well as decorates matches.

I personally would prefer to see him as captain instead of Hugo Lloris, who literally has his hands full trying to keep the ball out of his net and is unable to make his presence felt outside the penalty area.

Eriksen would, I feel sure, thrive on the responsibility of leadership, and it would be another stepping stone towards him becoming an exceptional midfield marshal.

He comes from (prepare for fourth form sniggers) Middlefart, and his family legend has it that he could control a ball and dribble from the age of just three. As Denmark is the land of fairy tales, let’s hope he’s going to live happily ever after with Spurs.

His recent injury-forced lay off means he has made a sluggish start to his comeback, but his pulsating performance yesterday suggested he has got the rust out of his limbs and is ready to resume as chief playmaker.

The match against Swansea was the most entertaining of the season, with both teams committed to attacking football and neither parking the bus. I thought a draw was just about the right result, because there were several times when the Swans might easily have gone 3-1 into the lead before Eriksen’s magnificent free-kick equaliser. Then it looked as if Spurs would steal the sea-saw match.

Nobody is beating Harry Kane up more than Harry Kane after his freak own goal. It sickened me to see him being ridiculed on line by so-called supporters who, of course, have never made a mistake in their lives.

To all those knocking Kane, get off Harry’s back. He will start finding the net again very soon.

The right one, of course.

Next up after the international break is Rodgersless Liverpool. Everything to play for. Just three points off second place in the table, and the only League defeat has been in that first match of the season at Old Trafford to, uh, an own goal.

Don’t forget the Ps: Positivity, positivity, positivity.

Excuse me blowing my own trumpet, but it’s a big week for me. My 100th book goes off to the printer today. It’s my life story, Headlines Deadlines All My Life.

The book is a journey through my life and times from the bomb-blitzed East End, and my adventures as a world-travelling sports reporter, television scriptwriter (attached to the This Is Your Life team for 14 years) and a publicist and ghostwriter working with dozens of celebrities including Eric Morecambe, Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, Henry Cooper, and Tottenham legends Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower. I also have tales of the unexpected to share about the Kray Twins and Jimmy Savile.

I hope you will share the journey with me by ordering a signed copy here: http://www.normangillerbooks.com/my-100th-book/4567099727

Jimmy Greaves, with whom I have collaborated on 20 books, was going to write the foreword until his recent violent stroke.

My old mate Ricky Tomlinson has kindly stepped in as substitute and writes: “Anybody who can mention knowing Bobby Moore, Jimmy Greaves, Eric Morecambe, Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery and the Kray twins in the same breath deserves to have his story heard.”

I hope you will join me. I promise you an entertaining and enlightening read.

Let’s not call it a journey. Let’s call it an odyssey!

SPURS ODYSSEY QUIZ LEAGUE, Week 9

Week NINE of our Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, and it remains tight and crowded at the top of the table, with the majority of you again collecting three points last week by correctly answering this teaser: “I won 53 caps, played in three FA Cup finals for Spurs and used to be regularly selected by Arsene Wenger. Who am I and against which team did I make my last playing appearance for Tottenham?”

Yes, of course, it was one of the great legends of the Lane, Glenn Hoddle, whose last appearance in a Spurs shirt was in the game that burns in our memories like hot coals: the 1987 FA Cup final defeat by Coventry City. Glenn played under Arsene Wenger at Monaco, and reached deaf ears when he once recommended him to the Tottenham board.

This week’s challenge: “I scored more than 100 goals for Tottenham and 12 in 22 international appearances, and I won an FA Cup winners medal and two League Cup winners medals at Wembley. Who am I and against which English team did I win a Uefa Cup winners’ medal with Tottenham?”

You get two points for identifying the former Tottenham player and a bonus point for naming the team he helped Spurs beat in a Uefa Cup final.

Keep a check on your points tally, because the contestant topping the SOQL table at the end of the season will receive a huge, personally autographed photograph of Spurs legend Jimmy Greaves, plus a signed, framed certificate announcing the winner as the 2015-16 Spurs Odyssey Quiz League champion.

Email your answers, please, to SOQL9@normangillerbooks.comGive your name, the district where you live and how long you’ve supported Spurs. I will respond, and will email a screen version of one of my Tottenham-themed books to the sender of the first all-correct answer drawn at random. Closing date for entries: midnight this Friday.

First name drawn at random from the correct answers last week is Michael Wicks, of Hastings. I will email a screen version of one of my Tottenham-themed books to Michael, who says has been a Spurs supporter “since the day I was born in Edmonton in 1963.”

Thanks for your company. See you same time, same place next week. COYS!

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