NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 384
Submitted by Norman Giller

Before the snow storm wiped out yesterday’s Burnley/Tottenham showdown at Turf Moor, I found myself having to battle on line to defend the rights of young Oliver Skipp to a place in the Spurs starting team.

There was a faction picking on him after the humiliation against Mura and blaming him for one of the most depressing defeats in Tottenham history. One of his critics claimed he should never wear the Spurs shirt again. I countered by suggesting he should never post a comment again for being that harsh on a home-grown player who has managed to break through the must-be-a-foreigner barrier. What on earth happened to that old football habit of supporting rather than slamming players from your own team?

Skipp, ‘Skippy’ to all his mates, is far from the finished article, and needs every ounce of our encouragement as he bids to climb the slippery pole of football fame. He certainly does not deserve this kangaroo court on social media.

It is harrowing to see the number of youngsters who come through the Academies, only to have their hearts broken at eighteen by being tossed on the soccer scrapheap.

Oliver started with Spurs at the age of – wait for it – FIVE when he joined the juniors. The boy from Hertford via Welwyn Garden City has come through all the age categories, playing along the way for England Under-16s, Under-17s, Under-18s and Under-21s.

He was loaned to Norwich to help with his football education, and became a huge favourite at Carrow Road as he helped them to promotion from the Championship with his steely competitive performances, mixed and shaken with the ball-playing skill that is part of his Tottenham DNA.

In my opinion, it is only a matter of time before he gets a full England cap. He is a born ball-winner, fetching and carrying in midfield and always putting the needs of the team first. There are few better at riding shotgun together than Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Skipp. What they desperately need is a Christian Eriksen-style third man to whom to pass the ball and make things happen.

Antonio Conte has certainly not given up on Our Olly. He showed his hand yesterday by naming his team before the Burnley match was called off:

Lloris; Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Hojbjerg, Skipp, Reguilon; Lucas, Kane, Son.
Subs: Gollini, Doherty, Tanganga, Sessegnon, Winks, Alli, Ndombele, Gil, Bergwijn.

Skipp was back in the Premier League line-up after his suspension, taking the place of Harry Winks, who was set to join the out-of-sorts Dele Alli on the bench until the snows came.

I wonder what the January transfer window holds in store for Winks and Alli, following on from this programme:

Brentford (home, Premier League), Thursday December 2, kick-off 7.30
Norwich City (home, Premier League), Sunday December 5, kick-off 2.00
Rennes (home, Euro Conference), Thursday December 9, kick-off 8.00
Brighton (away, Premier League), Sunday December 12, kick-off 2.00
Leicester City (away, Premier League), Thursday December 16, kick-off 7.30
Liverpool (home, Premier League), Sunday December 19, kick-off 4.30
West Ham (home, Carabao Cup quarter-final), Wednesday, December 22, kick-off 7.45

Skippy could give us the bounce effect.

The 16th week of season eight of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League challenge, and the question is:

Who has won an Olympic silver medal, collected 35 international caps and from which club did he join Spurs in 2018?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 16. Deadline: midnight this Friday. I will do my best to respond to all who take part.

The rules are the same as in the previous seven seasons. I ask a two-pronged question with three points at stake – two for identifying the player and one for the supplementary question. In the closing weeks of the competition I break the logjam of all-knowing Spurs-history experts with a tie-breaking poser that is based on opinion rather than fact. That’s when I become as popular as Sol Campbell in an Arsenal shirt.

This year’s prizes for the champion: A rare out-of-print book from my now very special Greavsie collection with autographs from the late, great Jimmy Greaves, Dave Mackay and Steve Perryman, and, most important of all, a framed certificate announcing the winner as SOQL champion 2022. Plus a signed copy of My 70 Years of Spurs book AND a special bonus prize, the Eighty At Eighty book that I have written in harness with Sir Geoff Hurst, still the only man to score a World Cup final hat-trick.

Answer to question No 15: Who scored two goals against England in a 2008 Euro qualifying match before signing for Tottenham and which team did he join from Spurs in 2012?

Roman Pavlyuchenko who went back to Moscow to play for Lokomotiv. An enigmatic but often entertaining character.

See you back here same time, same place next week. COYS!

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