NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 510
Submitted by Norman Giller
Happy St Patrick's Day to one of our greatest ever Irish players, Pat Jennings. Concentrating on this pleasant formality gives us all the chance to catch our breath and calm down after yesterday's disappointing defeat by Fulham on the banks of the Thames.
We now need the famous Jennings spirit to help us through these final weeks of a season in which tempers and tensions of the Tottenham fans are as taut as I've ever known them in 75+ years of following Spurs.
The Ange Postecoglou lynch mob went into a frenzy when Fulham sent Spurs plummeting to their 15th top-flight defeat of the season. I remain in a shrinking minority that believes the Greek-Aussie should keep his job.
It would, in my humble opinion, be unwise for Daniel Levy to ask somebody else to take the reins while the prize of a Europa Cup is still in our sights. My firm belief remains that Postecoglou should be allowed to see out the season and then take stock.
I might be singing a different tune if I felt there was a chance of Spurs slipping into the relegation rat race, but I am confident that is not going to happen, mainly because four of the teams below Tottenham are simply appalling.
What will be gained by sacking Ange? The Jekyll and Hyde performances of his team are as much a result of awful injuries as his tactics which, when they work, provide football as exciting and positive as anything to be seen in the Premier League.
My Spurs Odyssey team-mate Declan Mulcahy (happy St Patrick's Day!) gives his account HERE of the flattering flattening by Fulham. Try saying that quickly while drinking a glass of water.
My dear old pal Pat Jennings will confirm that if we can't laugh in adversity there's no chance for us.
The Tottenham demise came just as they were looking the team most likely to score. it was rubbing salt in the wound that ex-Spur Ryan Sessegnon produced the goal of a mediocre game to knock the stuffing out of Spurs and make him once again a favourite of Fulham.
I wish some of the (nearly always anonymous) keyboard warriors would lighten up a bit instead of using their energy to make vile attacks on this old git, who only has Spurs interests at heart. Goodness knows what sort of abuse they dish out to Ange and Daniel! Grow up, you idiots. It's only a game :-)
I will see you in TWO weeks time after the international break. I have an imminent visit to Buck House to look forward to while my child bride, 90-year-old Joyce, collects her MBE for services to the local community.
I wonder if Spurs will collect medals in the Europa League? Ange, I believe, deserves the chance to make it happen. But he'll need the luck of the Irish.
COYS!
Week 30 of our eleventh season of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, and the question is:
Which former Spurs skipper won 56 international caps, and against which team did he score a penalty in an FA Cup final?
Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 30. Deadline: midnight this Friday. I will do my best to respond to all who take part. There are around 60 out there within shooting distance of the SOQL title. You will soon hate me. What fun!
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.
Last week's question: Who won one Scottish amateur and one professional international cap, played for Spurs and Arsenal and against which team did he score a crucial FA Cup final goal at Wembley?
Answer: Jimmy Robertson/Chelsea
See you back here in TWO weeks' time. COYS!
