NORMAN GILLER’S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 430
Submitted by Norman Giller

Following Saturday's walloping at Leicester, there is now a fear that the Tottenham season can start to disintegrate if they lose in Milan tomorrow. It becomes a huge match for Antonio Conte as he dithers over whether to sign a new contract.

Only Spurs could lift us to the heavens of hope with their victory against Manchester City last week and then dump us into the cellar of despair with their inexplicable capitulation at the King Power Stadium.

My regular readers (okay, reader) will know I always try to look for the positives in a Spurs performance, but there was absolutely nothing to lift the soul at Leicester.

The defence, missing the suspended Cristian Romero, played as if they were passing strangers, and newcomer Pedro Porro was like a man lost in a maze. He must have wondered how quickly he could get a flight back to Portugal.

Most worrying of all was the sight of Rodrigo Bentancur limping off with a knee injury to join Hugo Lloris and Yves Bissouma on the crocked list.

Footnote: We have an injury crisis, too, here at Spurs Odyssey. Our guru Paul H. Smith is sidelined with a damaged toe. The depressing job of reporting Tottenham's surrender at Leicester fell to Declan Mulcahy, who gives the sad match details HERE. Not for any Spurs fan of a nervous disposition.

Somehow the passionate Conte, just recovered from his gall bladder operation, has to motivate his players for tomorrow's visit to the San Siro Stadium. Just as important, he has to motivate himself after his surgery and a succession of blows in his personal life.

If Spurs lose this crucial match in Milan, don't be surprised if that convinces Conte to quit the club at the end of the season rather than sign a new contract. Yes, it is that big a game tomorrow.

Sorry to add to the gloom with my morose mood. Let's hope we have all got reason to smile next week after the Italian Job followed by a visit from West Ham on Sunday. That fourth spot is still a big possibility, particularly with Man City facing at least a considerable points deduction for alleged financial irregularities, There, see, I DID manage to find a positive thought.

COYS!

Week 24 of our ninth year of Spurs Odyssey Quiz League challenges:

Who was man of the match in a famous 10-4 Tottenham victory, later played for Watford and for which team did he score a promotion-clinching goal in 1963?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com with Quiz Week 24 as the subject heading. Deadline midnight this Friday. I will respond to all who participate, taking time off from writing my next book: The G-Men, an intimate close-up of Greavsie and Gilzean.

The rules are the same as in previous 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 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 … Week 23: Who made his Tottenham debut as a substitute in a 4-1 win against Southampton last summer, has won 28 international caps and which Spurs shirt number does he wear?

Answer: Yves Bissouma and the No 38 shirt .Hopefully he will show us his Brighton form when he recovers from his recent injury.

See you back here next Monday. COYS!

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