NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 481
Submitted by Norman Giller

Here we go again! For me, it's the start of the 75th year since I first saw mighty Tottenham play (a 1-1 draw against Charlton at The Valley in the Push and Run Championship season of 1950-51) and I promise watching gets no easier as we brace ourselves for yet another campaign.

I refuse to take any notice of the Mickey Mouse matches against Bayern Munich as we go into the season opener at Leicester next Monday - Monday! This reveals the grip the TV companies have on our football.

Being too analytical of our close season matches is like trying to judge racehorses on the gallops. You never know exactly how we will perform until under starter's orders for the real thing.

Continuing the horse racing metaphor, I can assure you that Tottenham have bought a real thoroughbred in Dominic Solanke - or, to give him his full name - Dominic Ayodele Solanke-Mitchell.

I used to live in dozy, delightful Dorset (what a D-Day that was) and as I was on the doorstep of Bournemouth, I kept a close eye on their affairs, and the moment 'Dynamic Dom' arrived from Liverpool he looked the business.

Now let's see how he fits into the Ange Postecoglou jigsaw, playing most likely as the central striker between Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min as our sharp-witted Aussie manager continues to encourage a positive, pressing game.

I hope this positivity rubs off on a crowd of our supporters, who were souring the social media with their negativity during a summer that has left me with Olympic circles under my eyes.

But I still found time away from the screen to put the finishing touches to 'Sir Bill', the definitive biography of Bill Nicholson that I am writing in harness with Steve 'Skip' Perryman. I promise not to mention it more than half a dozen times between now and its publication date next month.

Our guru Paul H. Smith gives his thorough report on Saturday's 'Visit Malta Cup' match against Bayern HERE, but the only truly memorable thing about the occasion was the pre-match presentation by Ledley 'The Legend' King to returning heroes Harry Kane and Eric Dier.

I wonder if any of those fickle fans who continually made Dier feel unwelcome in his last couple of seasons choked on their cheers as he warmly waved to the crowd.

Am I being a sentimental old fool in hoping for Harry to come back to Spurs for the wind-down session of his career? Remember, he is now the same age (31) as the great Jimmy Greaves when he hung up his boots.

See you here on Tuesday week. It's going to be a long season.

We kick off our eleventh season of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League with a new King on the throne in Jonathan Fellows, pictured below with his framed certificate earned in a photo-finish against a gaggle of regulars.

Spurs Odyssey Quiz League Champion Jonathan Fellows

Our new champion is a 65-year-old semi-retired Staffordshire accountant, who voluntarily keeps in the numbers game with the NHS. Jonathan says: 'I can't wait to defend my title. Like Big Ange. I am determined to be positive.'

I hope you are all going to compete again but here's some daunting news: I am allowing three-times champion David Guthrie back in after eliminating him to the bench last season. It was painful to have DG continually answering the questions even while in exile and so he is reinstated.

Just to remind you, the previous SOQL champions have been:

David Guthrie (Wokingham) 2015, 2018 and 2023)
Glenn Scarcliffe (Hampstead) 2016
Edward Benson (New York) 2017
Graham Eyre (New South Wales, Australia) 2019
Emily Hadjinicolaou (Reigate) 2020
Peter Lawton (Israel) 2021
David Matthews (Cheshunt) 2022
Jonathan Fellows (Staffordshire) 2024

So here we go with week one of season eleven of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League challenge, and the question is:

Who won 80 international caps, was an FA Cup winner with Spurs wearing the No 10 shirt, and in which country did he play his final games in the 1990s?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 1. 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 ten 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 real stinker of a tie-breaking poser that is based on opinion rather than fact.

This year's main prize will be a framed certificate announcing the winner as SOQL champion 2025, plus three signed books to be revealed at a later date. See you back here, uh, on Tuesday. COYS!

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