NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 514
Submitted by Norman Giller
It was as bad as we feared at Anfield yesterday, and now departing manager Ange Postecoglou must try to pick up the pieces before Thursday's Europa Cup first leg semi-final against a relatively unknown team from Norway.
I describe Ange as 'departing' because there is no way he will be allowed to survive with that horrific statistic of 19 Premier League defeats hanging over him like a guillotine.
Sympathetic supporters like me will point out that at least 12 of the defeats came during the worst injury crisis in the club's history, but for weeks now there has been a hate-filled movement among the fickle fan base to force Ange out.
The Lynch Mob will get its wish once the Europa Cup business is finished, hopefully with silverware to stand up Ange's claim that he always wins something in his second season.
I will be happy to see Ange depart for the sake of his health. We have watched the likeable Aussie age considerably under the pressure of what Gerry Francis told me yonks ago was the 'Impossible Job.' He has managed to morph into a twin of the great Ferenc Puskas, the manager for whom he was skipper and interpreter in his Aussie championship-winning days in Melbourne.
Three previous Spurs managers - Billy Minter, Arthur Rowe and Jimmy Anderson - have had nervous breakdowns while in the Spurs hot seat, and even the great Bill Nicholson was on the verge of breaking in his final weeks.
Laid-back Ange does not seem the type to buckle, but he must be feeling the strain of having so many supporters turn against him. Those who are the most vociferous and vicious are usually protected by the armoury of anonymity.
I will never understand how they can boo and jeer members of their own club, and the online abuse is totally out of order. I suggest the keyboard warriors have a look at themselves in the mirror and ask whether they have become the enemy within. It is they who spread a mood of negativity and pessimism.
It is I believe their duty as 'supporters' to help the club battle through the low moments, instead of which they seem to be relishing kicking a man while he is down. Brave people, probably the same ones who complain about Spurs becoming a club of all-sports and events.
They just don't understand the economics of sport. In all my years on the periphery of the game as a sports journalist chairmen have tried to come up with ideas to make the ground earn more than once a week. Daniel Levy creates a plan that works and is crucified by critics who have probably never supervised as much as the building of a roof extension.
There were plenty of people sneering on line on Saturday during the enormously successful Eubank-Benn boxing showdown, losing sight of the fact that the club were earning and Tottenham Stadium was getting international prominence. Dozens of local citizens were picking up pocket money as stewards, ushers, waiters and bar staff.
Some of us remember boxing at White Hart Lane in the 1940s' days of Freddie Mills and Len Harvey, so Tottenham were simply carrying on a tradition. The ignoramuses knocking the idea have no grasp of club finances.
It is vital that Spurs have a comfortable lead from Thursday's semi-final against Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt before going to the Arctic Circle for the return leg on artificial turf that makes every step a challenge.
Our Spurs guru Paul H. Smith gives the horrific details of Tottenham's disintegration at Anfield yesterday HERE, and will be worth reading later this week on his prophecy for Thursday's crucial match.
I am expecting Spurs to win as comfortably against the Norwegians as Liverpool did against tired-looking Tottenham yesterday, then clinching a place in the final in the second leg in the frozen north. It would be petty of us not to congratulate Liverpool on their Premier League triumph. They are comfortably the best team in the land, but not quite as good as Spurs made them look!
Sadly, I expect Ange to be out in the cold once the Europa Cup adventure is over. That will be another link with the great Ferenc Puskas, who knew the down sides of the 'Beautiful Game' as a manager.
I make no excuses for repeating my personal plea for you to support my latest publishing venture. It is a joint effort by my 'child bride' Joyce and I that tells the story of our nine decades on this mortal coil, starting out 500 yards apart in London's East End before Hitler unleashed his bombers and The Blitz.
Our journey reached a pinnacle with my 90-year-old wife being awarded an MBE and me writing my 122nd book. Most important of all, £5 from every book sold will will go to the Music Man Project, which supports and encourages people with learning difficulties to grow and have a full life through music. Let me tell you how you can get YOUR name in the book.
I hope you can put money where your hearts are. Please contact me at normangiller@gmail.com and I will give you full details. Thank you. So far just one of you has been in touch. I know I can expect better from my Spurs Odyssey friends.
COYS!
Week 34 of our eleventh season of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League, and the question is:
Which Yorkshireman scored in the semi-final and final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1963, and which London team did he join from Spurs?
Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 34. 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 followed his older brother as a professional, has won four international caps, scored against Liverpool and what number shirt does he currently wear with Tottenham?
Answer: Lucas Bergvall/15
See you back here on Monday. COYS!
