NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 526
Submitted by Norman Giller

Let's be honest, you must be as one-eyed as Nelson if you think Tottenham deserved their draw up in the Arctic Circle last night, but the disappointment in the performance comes wrapped in admiration for the character Spurs showed in battling back from 0-2 down to somehow finish at 2-2. If it had been 5-2 to Bodo that would have been a fairer reflection of a match played on a treacherous artificial surface.

As our Spurs Odyssey guru Paul H. Smith confirms HERE, Spurs were second-best for most of the evening in Bodo, where the Norwegian champions treated the game like a cup final, and our lads played like passing strangers on the manufactured pitch that made every step a challenge. Twice Spurs fell behind, twice they scrambled back. The final score flattered Tottenham, and Thomas Frank knows it.

What matters now, though, is not so much the escape act in Norway, but how we take the lesson into Saturday's clash with Leeds United. That is the real test for Frank and his squad who were watched with close interest by the new Tottenham hierarchy.

I was fascinated to see them all on the trip: leading shareholders Vivienne Lewis and her son-in-law Nick Beucher, Spurs director of finance Matthew Collecott, technical director Johan Lang, and the new all-powerful CEO Vinai Venkatesham, who used to hold the same position at Arsenal - everybody but Daniel Levy who suddenly becomes persona non grata.

Spurs without Levy to barrack is like Batman without The Joker.

Gossip continues to carry weight of a Tottenham takeover, but I am assured the club is not for sale.

Elland Road on a Saturday afternoon is not for the faint of heart. Leeds will not gift us the space Bodo sometimes allowed. They will not wilt late on. They will hound and harass for the full 90 minutes, spurred on by one of the most partisan crowds in the land.

Thomas Frank has cut a reassuring figure since taking charge, the Dane with the calm voice and sharp mind, but he is no fool. He will know that the lethargy we showed in Norway cannot be repeated in Yorkshire. His time on the Brentford touchline taught him all about the relentlessness of Elland Road; he knows full well how Leeds feed off any hesitation.

So where does that leave us?

The defence still looks like a riddle in search of an answer. Too often in Bodo Spurs were cut open by simple one-twos and runners not tracked. Leeds thrive on just that sort of chaos. Our midfield, meanwhile, lacked bite and it's there that Frank will surely focus his thinking on the trip to Yorkshire. Who carries the fight? Who matches Leeds stride for stride? If he gets the balance wrong, Leeds will be all over us like Starmer attacking Farage. (Please, Norm, no politics - Ed).

Yet amid last night's stumbles there were some positives. Twice we clawed our way back from the brink of defeat. The second equaliser may have been a double-deflection stroke of fortune, but it was forged in persistence. The lads didn't throw in the towel, and that speaks to a spirit Frank is quietly nurturing. We've seen Spurs sides in the past fold in similar circumstances. This one, at least, kept fighting to the end.

Supporters of a certain age will be delighted to see the long-throw coming back into fashion. We remember when Dave Mackay and then big Martin Chivers used to hurl the ball into the penalty area from the touchline. Those were the days, my friends.

Last night's comeback spirit must be allied to a sharper edge at Elland Road. We had only fleeting moments of quality in Bodo - a clever flick here, a sudden dart there - but against Leeds we'll need more than flicks. We'll need fire.

Spurs fans, ever the romantics, remember the great away days: Greaves silencing hostile crowds, Hoddle gliding on enemy pitches, Bale running riot in blistering conditions. Elland Road has hosted its share of those stories, but only when Spurs sides have matched skill with steel. That's the tradition Frank has to tap into.

A wobble in Norway does not undo the work Frank is doing. Spurs are still alive in Europe, still in the thick of things domestically, and still learning the ways of their new manager. Patience is always stretched at our club - the ghosts of Rowe, Nicholson, Burkinshaw, Venables, and Pochettino all whisper from the stands - but what matters most is progress.

Saturday is the perfect opportunity to measure that progress. Go to Leeds, play with authority, fight for every ball, and come home with a win - that would do more to steady nerves than any post-match platitudes.

Another stuttering display, another "lucky" result, and doubts will spread like fires fanned by wind. So let's park Bodo as the get-out-of-jail card it was, and focus on what's next. Elland Road. Leeds United. Noise, fury, and a test of our mettle. Spurs have the talent. Now they need to show the toughness.

Because, as we learned on a strange, fraught night in the Arctic Circle, you can't rely on Lady Luck to keep bailing you out.

COYS

Still time to submit your dream Spurs team for publication in my SPURS SELECT book. Send your selection to me by email to normangiller@gmail.com, plus a maximum 50 words. Two things to remember, you must have seen the players you pick in live action, plus they need to be British or Northern Ireland born. You can pick any formation. Look forward to seeing YOUR line-up.

Here we go with the seventh week of our quiz that tests your knowledge of Tottenham players and the club's history ... delayed this week because I wanted to wait for last night's match:

Who won 35 caps for England, collected an FA Cup winners' medal in 1967 and was a goal-scoring captain for Spurs against which team in a Uefa Cup final?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 7. Deadline: midnight this Saturday. I will do my best to respond to all who take part.

The rules are the same as in the previous 11 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 is when I lose what few friends I have.

This season's main prize will be a framed certificate announcing the winner as SOQL champion 2026, plus three signed books to be revealed at a later date.

Last week I asked: Who won 23 caps for England, collected a League championship, two FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup medals with Tottenham, and from which League club did he join Spurs?

Answer: Maurice Norman/Norwich City

See you back here on Monday..

COYS!

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