NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 542
Submitted by Norman Giller

You could not make it up - Michael Carrick being in charge of Manchester United for Tottenham's next journey into the unknown. Many of us will remember young Michael in his White Hart Lane days before taking his enormous talent to Old Trafford as a player. I wonder what awaits our Jekyll and Hyde team, that has more mood swings than Donald Trump?

I wouldn't have given tuppence for their chances of stealing a point against United's neighbours and rivals at half-time yesterday after 45 minutes in which Spurs were as bad as I've ever seen them for years.

And talking of neighbours and rivals - can you imagine what Premier League leaders Arsenal were thinking as we looked like lying down and letting Man City walk all over us? It was embarrassing to watch, and there were some among the Gunners who must have thought we were deliberately throwing the match just to make it harder for them to win the championship.

Then, just as I was thinking that perhaps all those fans taking cheap sniper shots at Thomas Frank were possibly right, Spurs produced a monumental fight back that in truth deserved the reward of all three points.

None of us will ever forget Dom Solanke's incredible 'Scorpion' goal that earned Spurs a point for a nice sting in the tail of a remarkable match. His brace conjured memories of Harry Kane, and I understand the good news is that he will be fit for battle against United on Saturday.

There was a whole team of heroes in that astonishing second-half, and the two recent additions - Xavi Simons and Conor Gallagher - were both exceptional, along with young Archie Gray. The future's bright. The future's Gray.

Our Spurs Odyssey guru Paul H. Smith gives his disbelieving eyewitness account of yesterday's game of two halves HERE, and like me feels as if supporting Spurs has become an aging process. They certainly put years on us yesterday.

All those of you who had lost faith in Tottenham (I almost joined the pessimistic majority), must remember that artists of the calibre of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison are recovering from their injuries and will soon be ready to put their significant shoulders to the Spurs wheel.

There is a new cliche flying around Westminster: Psychodrama. That's exactly what we experienced yesterday and all those campaigning for a change of Tottenham ownership must have felt their case had been made out for them by half-time.

Daniel Levy, looking to sell his third interest in Spurs for a cool billion, will have thought he had a walk on part in Hitchcock's Psycho in that first 45 minutes.

But then came the amazing revival. The odds of Spurs getting a point must have been, well, a billion to one.

As an old mate used to say, 'It's a funny old game.'

Here we go with the 23rd week of our quiz that tests your knowledge of Tottenham players and the club's history ...

Who scored an FA Cup final goal for Spurs while wearing the No 11 shirt, and for which player was he swapped as a makeweight in what was then a British record transfer deal?

Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 23. 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 joined Spurs from Brighton, wore the No 38 Tottenham shirt on his debut and against which country was he recently sent off in the quarter-final of the Africa Cup of Nations?

Answer: Yves Bissouma/Senegal

See you back here on Monday.

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