NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 196
Submitted by Norman Giller

So the secret we at Spurs have known for some time is now out: Harry Winks is a shining diamond of a prospect. He was comfortably the most creative and influential player on the synthetic pitch in Lithuania yesterday.

There’s nothing false about ‘Our Other Harry’. He plays with his heart and head and should become a regular in the England team on the way to the World Cup finals in Russia.

Harry Mark 2 is the understudy and occasional side-kick of the polished Christian Eriksen at Tottenham, and Mauricio Pochettino would I am sure have no qualms about making him the main playmaker if the Great Dane is ever sidelined.

Like Harry Mark 1, he has been brought up to play it the Tottenham way, doing the simple things well and putting a mix of accuracy and artistry above arrogance. There is an almost old-fashioned innocence about his play that makes you want to hug him.

As an old hack, I have a memory long enough to be able to say that Winks has Push and Run written all over him. I can hear Arthur Rowe and then Bill Nicholson quoting from way back: “When not in possession get into position.”

Pochettino, of course, was not around to see the great Rowe and Nicholson motivated teams, but his philosophy is similar and could have come out of the same coaching manual.

It’s all about style yet simplicity, team work and yet bringing the best out of individuals, attacking yet remembering the disciplines of defence. All for one and one for all.

Winks has been educated to play the Spurs way, and is proving the perfect pupil. Full international honours have come quicker to him than expected, but he is proving an old football saying stands up in this modern world: “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

Harry, like ‘the other’ Harry, has inherited that give-it-and-go attitude that has marked the play of a procession of outstanding Tottenham footballers. Anybody of a certain age who remembers the way it was in the glory-glory days will confirm that Winks is out of the old Spurs mould. It is going to be fun watching him develop.

(Anybody who follows the social media online will have been amused by the number of posts calling for Harry to wear the No 40 (Winks) shirt). We’ve been using that line on Spurs Odyssey for months. Wake up :-)

Now that the international break is coming to an end, we can get our concentration back on the Premier League with Bournemouth’s visit to Wembley on Saturday. Let’s bury that Wembley ‘jinx’ nonsense for good. You might also like to have a look at these Premier League betting offers with the coming week-end fixtures in mind.

Then it’s the little matter of the Champions’ League challenge against mighty Real Madrid in the Bernabeu Stadium tomorrow week.

Harry Winks will probably be on the bench in Madrid, but Professor Pochettino will have no hesitation about calling his prodigy into the battle if needed. He will lose no sleep over ‘Forty’ Winks.

WEEK 9 of the Sports Odyssey Quiz League 2017-18. The rules are simple: I ask one Tottenham-related question for which a right answer earns you two points, and then a related teaser that can bring you an extra point.

The questions are always easy, provided you know the answers!

The winner this season will get a framed certificate proclaiming him (or her) the Spurs Odyssey Quiz Champion, plus a no-longer-in-print autographed GOALS book by Spurs idol Jimmy Greaves and another collectors’ item from my Greavsie collection: Football’s Greatest Entertainers, signed by Jimmy and Tottenham’s Mr Loyalty, Steve Perryman.

Now here comes the ninth question of the 2017-18 SOQL season:

Which former Tottenham player appeared in 108 matches for his country and was a World Cup winner? Against which team did he once score four goals for Spurs?

Please email your answers by Friday’s midnight deadline to: soql9@normangillerbooks.com.

Keep a check on your points score, because I can never rely on my server that often loses emails in the ether.

I test you with Spurs questions until the last few weeks of the season, when I introduce the dreaded tiebreaker teasers that call for your opinion as much as your knowledge.

But please remember, we are all in this just for fun, with the common bond of admiring all things Tottenham.

Answer to last week’s question was David Ginola, who was signed for Spurs by Gerry Francis.

First name drawn from the correct answers was Lee Nicholas, from Teddington. He has been a Spurs supporter since 1980. I will send Lee a screen version of my Spurs ’67 book (I have now sold all copies, and the book raised £4,000 for the Tottenham Tribute Trust to help our old heroes. Thank you all those Spurs Odyssey followers who gave their support. Have you thought of writing a book yourself? My latest book, ‘How to SELF Publish’ is now going to press. Full details at http://www.normangillerbooks.com).

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

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