NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 445
Submitted by Norman Giller

So, here we are in the post-Harry Kane era, and aware that life goes on without the most explosive and exciting British finisher in the modern game. As master manager Bill Nicholson told me many years ago: 'No player - nobody, even the manager - is bigger than the club.'

Let's face it, we had got a Harry Kane complex and new manager Angelos Postecoglou can now continue his rebuilding plans without the headache of having to keep Harry happy.

Farewell Our Harry. Thanks for the fabulous service and the record haul of goals. Most of us would have liked you to stay at Spurs and gone flat out for that all-time Premier League record that remains safe in the hands of the gloating (jokingly) Alan Shearer.

Kane was with Spurs for nearly 20 years from the age of 11 after that lot down the road had decided he was too podgy to make the grade. We watched him grow and glow as one of the world's great strikers and he owes us nothing as he seeks trophies on foreign fields with Bayern Munich.

There was no way the under-fire Daniel Levy was going to let him go to Premier League rivals, and he stubbornly refused to listen to offers from Manchester City two years ago, when his brother/agent Charlie Kane was convinced he had negotiated a move to the Emirates.

The Tottenham test now is how they invest an offer godfather Levy could not refuse, 100 million pounds in the Spurs coffers. We all hope they make a better job of it than when spending the Gareth Bale windfall. Only Christian Eriksen and, arguably, Erik Lamela proved worthwhile arrivals in the wake of Bale's departure.

There were plenty of positives to take out of the 2-2 draw with Brentford in a somewhat bizarre season opener, reported HERE by our ever-present guru Paul H. Smith. The game plumbed new depths when it was delayed because of a sanitation problem, but Tottenham had excellent midfield water carriers in James Maddison and my Man of the Match Yves Bissouma, who flourished the classy form he used to show with Brighton.

Postecoglou has Spurs playing a progressive pressing game on the front foot and Saturday's visit from Manchester United will be a true test of whether it is going to bring success in the Harryless era.

Eric Dier will probably again be absent from the squad as rumours gather strength that he is on his way out. Like Harry Kane, he has always given his best to Tottenham, and I just cannot understand all the hatred aimed at him on social media for standing up for himself. I detest the growing habit of so-called Spurs supporters pouring vitriol on their own players. I suggest they look up a dictionary and see exactly what the word 'support' means,

It's a cruel old game.

Meantime, I invite you to live in the past for a little while and let me have your memories of the G-Men, Greavsie and Gilzean, for publication in my latest book, with a donation for each copy sold going to the Tottenham Tribute Trust to help our old heroes who missed the gravy train.

If Harry is worth 100 million pounds at the age of 30, what would Greavsie and Gilly now have cost at their peak? The mind boggles.

Please email your G-Men memories/tributes to me at normangiller@gmail.com If you want to order the book, please go to www.normangillerbooks.com Thank you.

COYS!

Week two of season nine of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League challenge, and the question is:

Which Swedish-born defender started his football career in South Africa, won 61 international caps and who was White Hart Lane manager when he captained Spurs in an FA Cup final?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 2. 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 eight 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 main prize will be a framed certificate announcing the winner as SOQL champion 2024, plus three signed books to be revealed at a later date.

Last week's question:

Who won 17 international caps, was a League Cup winner with Spurs wearing the No 14 shirt, and which manager bought him from Newcastle United?

Answer: David Ginola and Gerry Francis.

See you back here same time, same place on Monday. COYS!

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