The Managing Game by Norman Giller
Any Spurs fan on the Internet who hasn't heard about Norman Giller has a lot to learn about sport, football and especially the mighty Spurs!
You see, "Uncle Norm" is the author of no less than 90 (Yes 90!) books, most of which have been about sport and many of which have been about football, especially our beloved Tottenham Hotspur. Norman is a personal friend of my personal favourite ever footballer, Jimmy Greaves, and one of his current projects is to re-visit Jimmy's book, "This One's On Me".
Norman's most recent book is "The Managing Game" (Full details of The Managing Game here. There's a twist here regarding Norman's use of the word "Game". Any football manager would say that the art of management is no game, but this book contains a potted history of every Spurs manager from Frank Brettell (1898-99) to Harry Redknapp (2008 - present day). There's a hell of a lot of history here, and Norman has the knowledge and the style to impart that information to you in his usual homely and humorous fashion. It's a great read, I can assure you!
The second part of the book is dedicated to the choices of countless Spurs fans (and a few Spurs legends, including the late great Bill Nicholson), who were given the task of creating their best ever Spurs team consisting of players they had seen since they first supported the "Lilywhites".
Like so many other fans, I was invited to submit my best ever Spurs team. It features on page 179 of Norman's book. To be honest, I found the task incredibly difficult, and I admit that I did not spend the time upon the task that was really needed for one who has been lucky enough to watch Spurs for the best part of 50 years. (My first game was the friendly against a Hungarian Select XI in November 1965).
The easy answer would have been to say "The Double Team". Many did. Older fans might offer the "Push and run" side of ten years earlier. Norman is one of those who can say he did see that side, and yet in closing the book with his choice, he did not take such an easy option as to pick one of the Championship winning sides.
So, just how do you pick your favourite team, especially if you have seen so many players as some of us have? If I undertook the task again, I'd probably pick Glenn Hoddle. I'd have to have Mackay in there. How could I leave out Gazza? At the time, i was totally enamoured with Luka Modric, who lost chalks with me in the summer with that transfer story fiasco.
It's a bit like that Fast Show sketch when the guys in the pub are trying to pick their best ever England team. They reached no agreement beyond "Banks in goal". In the case of Spurs fans we wouldn't even agree on "Jennings in goal", because older fans might say Ditchburn, and younger fans would offer Thorstvedt.
It's best then to treat the book as a bit of fun, with plenty of serious Spurs history to introduce your personal chance to pick your very own Spurs Dream Team!
Incidentally, Norman is looking for contributors to his next Spurs book, which he describes as a unique publishing venture that will appeal to bloggers or writers who specialise in Tottenham topics. Contact Norman Giller, and he will let you have full details in confidence.
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