NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 560
Submitted by Norman Giller

Every educated Lilywhite fan will know that Bill Nicholson protected Jimmy Greaves from being football's first £100,000 player by paying AC Milan a pound under the six-figure fee back in 1961. Now we have the sight of Sandro Tonali being weighed down by becoming Tottenham's first £100 million player. Yes, the world's gone potty.

I watched Tonali carefully in Saturday's goalless game at Nottingham Forest and saw a player with a bag of cement on his back representing that club record fee. For Tonali, it weighs a ton.

Manager Roberto De Zerbi must find a way of easing the pressure on his fellow Italian, who is the most expensive footballer in the history of their football boot shaped country.

I think once De Zerbi can get Tonali playing with freedom we will see Sandro's natural flair coming to the surface, but against Forest I got the impression he was feeling the pressure of every penny - every cent - of that fee. The much more sensibly priced Rodrigo Bentancur looked the smoother player, and his passes often tested and stretched Forest.

Tonali is the man De Zerbi is banking on (ha, ha) to unlock defences and create what we hungry fans are desperate to see: a GOAL!

My Spurs Odyssey team-mate Declan Mulcahy covered the Forest match as a discerning witness and reminds us that Spurs had lost their four previous League meetings with Forest going into this game, so we have to look at the draw as an improvement.

But that did not stop idiots turning their guns on De Zerbi online, calling for his head just three matches into the season.

I hope they set the same sky-high standards when judging themselves in their place of work (or school, judging by some juvenile remarks).

The best way to shut up the moaners and groaners is to break that scoring duck against Everton in Saturday's match at Tottenham Stadium. And hopefully Sandro Tonali will play like a free man, not somebody with a £100 million fee weighing him down.

I repeat, Jimmy Greaves cost £99,999. Yes, the game's gone potty.

Just in case you've not heard, I am collecting and collating material for the definitive story in digitised format of the Double Year when Spurs set the football world on fire by winning not only the League championship but also the FA Cup. Those were the days, my friends.

My objective is to convince future generations that there was football before the Premier League by putting that first Double of the 20th century into cement so that it is available online for all time. I was there. Were you - or was somebody you know? Would you like to share recollections of that unique time in the club's proud history when Bill Nicholson (above) led Spurs to glory-glory?

Please send any memories you or a family member may have of the Double season by email to normangiller@gmail.com. Be part of the lasting tribute to those Glory-Glory days gone by.

Share this with any veteran Spurs supporter who remembers the days when the thought of a footballer costing £100-million would have led to the men in white coats being summoned. I reiterate, the game has gone potty.

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

Which White Hart Lane legend wore the No 3 Spurs shirt, was a Double winner in 1961 and against which nation did he win his one and only England cap?

Email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 4. Deadline: midnight this Saturday. I will do my best to respond to all who take part. Answer in next Monday's Blog here at Spurs Odyssey.

The rules are the same as in the previous 12 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 2027, plus three signed books to be revealed at a later date.

Last week: Which Spurs player has won 97 caps for his country, has previously played for Hull City and what Tottenham shirt number does he wear?

Answer: Andy Robertson/No 3

P.S. You can still get the perfect post-free gift of my World Cup 1966 book at www.normangiller.co.uk. It's got lots of Greavsie in it and is a lasting tribute to the greatest season in English international football history. And don't forget it was a Spurs-raised man - Alf Ramsey - who made it all possible.

See you back here next Monday, same time, same place. COYS