NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 409
Submitted by Norman Giller

The Premier League is 30 years old today and was alive and kicking in the 2022 version of the Battle of Stamford Bridge yesterday. There will be repercussions for the way managers Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte exploded against each other on the touchline, but PLEASE powers-that-be don't take the passion out of the game.

Banishment to the stand for a couple of matches will be sufficient punishment for two characters who have brought old-fashioned enthusiasm and emotion back to football. Any old timer like me will tell you that it has become too sanitised and we want to see people who care and are totally dedicated and involved.

Tuchel and Conte definitely fit into the bracket of football fanatics and I applaud and appreciate the fervour and spirit each shows for the Beautiful Game. Anybody who saw Conte in his playing days will know that he approaches management with the same intense commitment and vision that he used to reveal in midfield for his beloved Italy.

I wonder if entrepreneurial Daniel Levy has considered topping the bill with them in a return at the all-purposes Tottenham Hotspur Stadium? Just a thought.

Referees have been encouraged to let games flow this season, and at steaming-hot Stamford Bridge you knew the heat being generated was not down to climate change. This was football at its most competitive, cutting-edge action that had we spectators on the edge of our seats. That's the way the game used to be in the days when it was about physical contact as well as skill.

Those who say it is a better spectacle than it used to be clearly did not see players of the calibre of Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney and, later, George Best and my old mucker, Jimmy Greaves. Those were the days, my friends.

We all know that Spurs were fortunate to get away with a point yesterday but the Harry Kane guided goal in the 96th minute proved yet again that Conte has built a team of character that never gives up.

Unless you are completely one-eyed, you will have to admit that Chelsea had a case in insisting that referee Anthony Taylor missed two fouls on the way to both Tottenham goals.

Our Spurs guru Paul H. Smith gives the nuts and bolts of the game HERE. And I am sure he will need a rub down with the Sporting Life after reporting the red-hot action. It was particularly encouraging to see new signing Richarlison bringing another dimension to the Tottenham attack. He is not a pretty sight but mightily effective with his galloping runs.

Conte's Spurs are still very much a work in progress, but just to remind you – Tottenham are unbeaten and in fourth place and the dreaded Chelsea game at the Bridge is now behind us. The draw felt like a win and by a Tottenham team that in the old days would have caved in, but now they have heart and soul to go with their footballing skill. It's called passion, folks.

Next stop is Wolves (at home) on Saturday, and it will be interesting to see where Conte is sitting in the stadium. Wherever he is, you will be able to feel his passion … and long may it last. The FA disciplinary chiefs must not squeeze it out of him.

In Conte the Conqueror we trust. COYS!

Week three of our ninth Spurs Quiz League challenge.

Which Tottenham player has won 113 international caps and scored 32 goals for his country, has played in a World Cup final and with which club did he win a Serie A championship medal in 2021?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com with Quiz Week 3 as the subject heading. Deadline midnight this Friday. I will respond to all who take part.

The rules are the same as in previous seasons. I ask a two-pronged ques-tion 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 lose the few friends that I have. But, hey, it's fun. Please join in.

This year’s prizes for the champion will be announced later in the season, but most important of all, they will include a framed certificate announcing the winner as 2023 SOQL champion.

Last week … Question 2: Who has won 106 caps and scored 40 goals for his country, was signed for Spurs by Martin Jol as a defender in 2007 and which is his current club?

You all knew this one … Gareth Bale, who has started the final lap of his glittering career with Los Angeles Football Club.

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

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