NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 517
Submitted by Norman Giller
How best to steady your nerves as shaky Spurs approach their Europa Cup final showdown with equally brittle Manchester United at neutral Bilbao on Wednesday? Easy. Today I am featuring the dreaded decider of the Spurs Odyssey Quiz League.
This is the tie-breaker that makes me many enemies and few friends. It is when the 60 or so contestants in the running for the title of 2025 Spurs Odyssey Quiz Champion must show Trump-like selecting skill, i.e. pick a side by the seat of your pants!
It is when knowledge gives way to opinion, and when you try to read my mind. That is certainly not easy because there are those who consider me certifiable for continuing to give my support to the under-fire Ange Postecoglou.
If your choice agrees with my selection, it could bring you the treasured title, a framed certificate proclaiming you champion plus three of my autographed Spurs-themed books (Back of the class whoever said my signature devalues the books).
Just to remind you, the previous SOQL champions - featured left to right in the heading above - have been:
Graham Eyre (New South Wales, Australia) 2019
David Guthrie (Wokingham) 2015, 2018 and 2023
Glenn Scarcliffe (Hampstead) 2016
Edward Benson (New York) 2017
Emily Hadjinicolaou (Reigate) 2020
Peter Lawton (Israel) 2021
David Matthews (Cheshunt) 2022
Jonathan Fellows (Staffordshire) 2024
I have arrogantly ignored the plea of 2022 champion David Matthews, who wanted a postponement because he will be driving down to Bilbao ... along with a few thousand others. Think of it as something to take your mind off the match, David!
All of you with more than 80 points over the season are in the running for the title. You all start this decider on level points.
The bad news for all of you is that three-times champion David Guthrie - a walking record book on Spurs history - is up among the joint leaders, and somebody who has been matching even 2020 champion Emily Hadjinicolaou with her Tottenham wisdom is the omniscient Mrs Sue Webb.
So, friends, I have come up with my usual vicious tie break challenge that will have you wanting to hang me from the nearest goalpost as you become a Tottenham selector rather than supporter. Or even worse, force me to sit through a repeat of the Eurovision Song Contest! (A chap with a girl's voice won it this year, so anything is possible).
The competition continues to have an international flavour, with contestants firing in their occasional answers from far and wide, including the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Holland, South Africa, Singapore, Hungary, Hawaii, Israel, Cyprus and Vietnam!
As regulars will know, this is when we fall out, because it is really only my opinion that matters in this tiebreak decider. You become manager for the day to play the selecting game, and all you have to do is just try to agree with my choices to take the prestigious SOQL title. Easy!
Please address any complaints or protests to the Spurs Odyssey Ombudsman (which is also me, and I will ignore you ... a bit like Daniel Levy cocking a deaf 'un to the 'Levy Out' chants).
Remember, this is all just for fun while feeding your appetite for all things Tottenham Hotspur. And it gives this old hack the weekly opportunity to bore for Britain. Thanks for listening.
Spurs Odyssey web master Paul H. Smith and I would like to thank all those who regularly compete in our weekly challenge. Without you, I'd be talking to myself (true, nothing new).
Talking of Paul, I am sure you all realise this is a labour of love for our guru. It would be generous and thoughtful if you could make a small donation in the PayPal collection box at the top of this page as a gesture of thanks for all his efforts to keep us informed and entertained. I just wish some of the players could show his commitment and enthusiasm.
To try to separate you all and come up with the 2025 champion we arrive at the dreaded tiebreak teaser. Are you sitting comfortably? You soon won't be ...
Tottenham have won three major European finals, famously the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984.
All you have to do is select a Spurs side from those three teams with a maximum of four from any year, then add five subs from Tottenham's 2019 European Cup final squad ... including the obvious goalkeeper.
You get three points for every selection that agrees with mine, and a bonus point for naming the same team captain as me. That's a possible 49 points in total. The contestant with most points takes the crown. If more than one agrees with me - and also choice of skipper - then we would have another tie-breaker if their points tally is equal.
Summary: 16 players, a maximum of four from the trophy-winning sides. And name a skipper. Yes, easy!
The strict deadline for your entry is midnight this Friday, May 23. Email your selections, please, to soqleague@gmail.com. Give your name, age, your occupation, the district where you live and how long you've supported Spurs.
I am the sole adjudicator and will not enter into correspondence with anybody who wants to dispute my selection (megalomaniac, moi?).
Just to make life a little easier, these are the trophy-winning teams from which I have selected my 11 players (remember, a maximum of four from any side) ...
1963 Cup Winners Cup: Brown, Baker, Henry, Blanchflower (capt), Norman, Marchi, Jones, White, Smith, Greaves, Dyson
1972 UEFA Cup: Jennings, Kinnear, Knowles, Mullery (capt), England, Beal, Gilzean, Perryman, Chivers, Peters, Coates
1984 UEFA Cup: Parkes, Thomas, Roberts, Miller, Hughton, Stevens, Perryman (capt), Hazard, Galvin, Falco, Archibald.
Than add your five subs from the 2019 European Cup final against Liverpool.
Enjoy!
I will announce the winner and 2025 champion in my Spurs Odyssey blog next Monday ... hopefully when we are still celebrating a Europa Cup victory. If we win against United I would hope Ange Postecoglou is given extra time until at least Christmas, but from his body language he has already been told he is 'on his bike'.
You can read Paul H. Smith's account of the Tottenham 'B' team's inevitable demise at Villa Park HERE, an unprecedented 21st Premier League defeat. Even my support of Ange is being fully tested. But let's see what we are saying after the Battle of Bilbao that will have everybody but Tottenham and Man United supporters smirking over what they would consider a farce of a final.
Last week's question, No 36: Who won 34 caps for the Republic of Ireland, was signed by David Pleat from Luton and which club did he join from Spurs in 2004?
Answer: Gary Doherty/Norwich City
Norman with his "child bride", 90-year-old Joyce Lambert Giller MBE
My apologies, but I again make no excuses for repeating my personal plea for you to support my latest publishing venture, 'Life Begins At 90'. 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. It is a 21st Century love story, mixed and shaken with stories of my sports reporting life.
Our journey reached a pinnacle this year 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 disabilities to grow and have a full life through music.
I hope you can put money where your hearts are. Please contact me at normangiller@gmail.com and I will give you full details of how you can get your name in the unique book. Thank you. So far just four of you have been in touch. I know we can expect better support from my Spurs Odyssey friends.
COYS!
