NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 556
Submitted by Norman Giller

WHAT was all the fuss about? I never had any doubts that Spurs would survive in the Premier League (he lied). Tottenham must now hit the re-set button and never again put their supporters through the relegation wringer, or I will report them for criminal cruelty.

Our Spurs Odyssey guru Paul H. Smith gives the match facts HERE, but the only stat that really mattered is that Spurs carved out their first home League win of the year to stay at the top table. Never has an ugly winning goal - scrambled into the Everton net by Joao Palhinha - looked so beautiful, to all but West Ham followers.

Let me get on my soapbox for just a moment to say that a lot of Tottenham fans must shoulder the blame for a shocking season, along with the ineptitude of a Board lacking imagination and ideas, plus players not willing to roll up their sleeves and truly earn their obscene wages.

In all my years watching Spurs (often from a Fleet Street closet) I have never known such neurotic negativity from many of our supporters, who continually turned on their team and wrecked their confidence. To boo and jeer your own players never ever makes sense to me. My tiresome but truthful mantra will continue to be, "Get behind the team, not in its way."

Yes, the players got us into the mess. But we were cursed by injuries and a stream of close calls that continually went against us. I don't buy into the conjecture that the Establishment has a thing against Tottenham, but the fact that we went through an entire season without a single home penalty award gives ammunition to those who claim a conspiracy.

My cooling message this scorching Bank Holiday Monday is "Onwards and upwards." In warm, affectionate and eccentric manager Roberto De Zerbi we have a football addict with bright ideas and an ability to inspire. I am confident we will have a great few seasons under his leadership without the relegation fear we have just all had to endure.

I am still considering suing Spurs for putting years on me, confident I can call a few thousand witnesses. Hands up who agrees with me (up go a forest of hands).

Now for a thorough clear out of what has to be described as "dead wood" and a fresh start, with Roberto's Raiders in full cry. Isn't it wonderful to be able to make positive noises again!

Meantime - and much more important - we have a new Spurs Odyssey Quiz League champion. Take a bow ALAN SILVER, a retired 74-year-old pharmacist from Shenley in Hertfordshire. Perhaps from force of habit, he got the right mix!

He is the only one of all the phenomenal contestants who agreed with my 4-3-3 combination from the four European trophy winning Tottenham teams, with the aggravating restriction of at least three players from each side:

			Jennings
Perryman   England   Van de Ven   Knowles
    Blanchflower (c)  Mullery  Roberts
          Jones  Gilzean  Greaves

Subs:  Brown, Porro, Chivers, Archibald, Bentancur

Alan is our oldest ever champion, and has survived as a Spurs supporter since first seeing them play more than 65 years ago. For that alone, he deserves a medal. But he will have to make do with the treasured title of SOQL champion, a framed certificate proclaiming him 2026 King following Queen Sue Webb, plus three of my autographed books.

Many of you were just one or two players away from agreeing with my line-up, but only Alan got it spot on. Like me, he wanted somebody who could give the missing Mackay-style drive to the team and he and I both decided that was a job for the competitive Graham Roberts. He was not quite in Mackay's class (who was!) but had the same will to win and determination that lifted the players around him.

Imagine Robbo and Mullers breathing fire and brimstone in midfield alongside the elegant pass master Danny Blanchflower. It would be a potent mixture, just like one of Alan Silver's chemical cocktails.

And both "King" Alan and I got round the problem of finding a place for the inspirational Steve Perryman by picking him at right back, from where he could patrol as a sweeper behind the imperious Blanchflower, who would have the captain's armband. What a team, with the flying Jones boy operating on either wing in support of the glorious G-Men.

Thanks for your season-long company. It's been fun, despite the Tottenham performances that have often taken us to the dungeons of despair. I am convinced happier times are around the corner. See you next season.

COYS

Ps You can still get the perfect post-free Father's Day gift at www.normangiller.co.uk And guess what: it's a Silver Jubilee book!