NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 511
Submitted by Norman Giller
I think I can claim to have been watching Spurs longer than most of you - okay, ALL of you - and I have never known such a deep fracture between management and the fanbase. It became really toxic during the defeat at Chelsea and there were rumblings of discontent yesterday during that abysmal second-half against doomed Southampton.
Let's hope we can all pull together for Thursday's crucial first leg Europa quarter-final match against Eintracht. It is anybody's guess which Tottenham will turn up, but we are going to need a victory to take with us to the second leg in Frankfurt.
Ange Postecoglou is showing the body language of a man who knows he is going to walk the plank unless Spurs somehow manage to lift the Europa Cup. In fact I wonder if he has been told he will be sent packing with a £4m consolation package even if Spurs win it.
He has been saying some mightily weird things such as speaking about the managers out there who are well qualified to take his job. That translates to me as gallows humour.
The Lynch Mob want him out regardless, and will then turn their hatred on his successor unless he is instantly giving them baubles, bangles and bright shiny trophies. They are from the fast food generation who want everything NOW. No patience, no tolerance, no mercy.
I remember Gerry Francis saying to me after he had given up the ghost during his management challenge at White Hart Lane: "It's the Impossible Job. You can never satisfy everybody at Tottenham."
Ange would no doubt echo those 'Impossible Job' words, particularly with the extra aggravation of VAR in his life. I joined him in blowing a gasket after the farces both at Stamford Bridge and yesterday at Tottenham Stadium.
I agree with Ange that VAR is ruining the game. It should work but it's the human element that is continually causing the problems. With AI, it should come up with an answer within seconds. All that measuring and meandering is so unnecessary and robs the game of its vital immediacy.
Our Spurs Odyssey guru Paul H. Smith gives his reading of the game against Southampton HERE, and believes along with me that there must be a huge improvement if Tottenham are to master Eintracht Frankfurt.
My sympathy was with Brennan Johnson that he was prevented from taking the penalty against Southampton that would have given him his first ever Premier League hat-trick. It would have been a huge confidence booster going into the Frankfurt match.
That's what we all need ... a huge confidence booster, Ange more than anybody. He is in danger of losing that Impossible Job.
Eintracht translates as Harmony, but it will be more disharmony for Tottenham unless the Germans are conquered.
Frankly, I would not give a sausage for Ange's chances of surviving an elimination against Frankfurt. But he still has my support. There are others out there who seem to be almost wishing for a Spurs defeat. This sad old git, fresh from taking his child bride to Buckingham Palace to collect her MBE, is just not on their wavelength.
You don't win medals by throwing in the towel.
COYS!
Week 31 of our eleventh season of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, and the question is:
Who followed his father as a professional, has won 35 caps, scored against Belgium in 2022, and on which ground did he net his first goal for Spurs in 2023?
Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 31. 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: Which former Spurs skipper won 56 international caps, and against which team did he score a penalty in an FA Cup final?
Answer: Danny Blanchflower/Burnley
See you back here on Monday. COYS!
