NORMAN GILLER'S SPURS ODYSSEY BLOG No 525
Submitted by Norman Giller
Wednesday's Carabao Cup assignment with Doncaster Rovers reminds me of something dear Bill Nicholson said to me years ago: "Winning one trophy is the spark that can ignite another. Get one cup in the cabinet, and suddenly the squad believes."
Thomas Frank should take these words on board as he prepares for the visit from a Doncaster side that, on paper, has no chance. But on the pitch we all know it could be another story that does not bear contemplating.
This is why Thomas Frank should take this competition and Wednesday's match seriously. We want our Spurs squad to be hungry for trophies. Last season's Europa Cup triumph has whetted Tottenham appetites, and EVERY COMPETITION MATTERS.
No more Ange-style eggs-all-in-one-basket approach, even though it finally proved successful for him at the cost of failure in other trophy hunts. And, let's be honest, this one-eyed approach cost him his job.
Of course, balance is key. Frank will want to rotate, to give minutes to the eager understudies and perhaps a glimpse of the academy's next hopefuls. Doncaster will treat the game as a cup final; they will fly into tackles and chase lost causes. Tottenham cannot afford to be half-hearted. Victory must be the unashamed aim.
Let's not prevaricate: This is the classic banana skin. A League Two side with nothing to lose, a big travelling contingent determined to make a racket, and Spurs expected to swat them aside. These are the evenings when complacency lurks like a thief in the shadows.
The Carabao Cup - or League Cup, for those of us of a certain vintage - is not always taken seriously by Premier League managers. Fixture congestion, fitness concerns, rotation policies: all get cited as reasons to field half-strength sides. But we have a good history with the League Cup and must decide to go all out to win it again.
Saturday's 2-2 draw at the Amex - recorded HERE by my Spurs Odyssey team-mate Declan Mulcahy - showed us that this Thomas Frank squad has character, but it also underlined areas where reinforcements are needed. Spurs must defend more securely, must eradicate the sloppy concessions. A clean sheet along with a victory against Doncaster would be worth more than the scoreline alone; it would restore belief in the basics.
Beyond tactics and line-ups, there is also the message Frank sends to his players. If he dismisses the League Cup as a distraction, the hunger diminishes. If he embraces it, insists that every game is an opportunity to build momentum, then Spurs can ride that wave into sterner challenges. We supporters, with the taste of the Europa trophy still on our lips, will settle for nothing less.
With the Champions League to lift us to the heavens this season, we MUST be on our toes in all our matches. Complacency must have no place in the Thomas Frank vocabulary.
So Wednesday evening at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is not just a routine fixture against lower-league opposition. It is a chance to reaffirm ambition, to remind everybody that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is about competing, about winning, about chasing glory rather than making excuses.
Since Daniel Levy's surprise retreat from the trenches, the moaners and the groaners have no obvious target for their hatred. That means they are looking around for their next victim. I would hate that to become Thomas or any of his players. Tottenham need the killer instinct.
I think back to Tottenham's great sides under Bill Nick, and while they were all easy on the eye they also had a will to win that was drummed into them by their quietly ambitious manager.
We all know that Doncaster will arrive with dreams of a giant-killing, to give a black eye to we Southern softies. Spurs must go into the game with a statement: no more slip-ups, no more softness, no more shrugging shoulders. Saturday's fightback at Brighton showed resilience. Now, against Doncaster, Spurs must show ruthlessness.
The League Cup might not shimmer like the Premier League or Champions League, but for Tottenham it could be another step back to the glory-glory days. Remember those wise words of Bill Nick: Winning one trophy is the spark that can ignite another.
Tottenham Hotspur supporters will still be feeling the mixed emotions from Saturday's breathless 2-2 draw down at Brighton. It was the sort of contest that tests the blood pressure, threatens the fingernails, and leaves you muttering "same old Spurs" one minute and "this might just be different" the next.
Two goals down inside half an hour at the Amex, Spurs were staring down the barrel. Errors, hesitations, and a certain lack of defensive authority had handed the Seagulls a platform. We've seen that movie before, too many times: Tottenham concede early, heads drop, the game drifts away. But this time, something remarkable happened.
Rather than collapse, Spurs regrouped. Richarlison bundled in a goal before the break, his finish less about grace and more about guts. And in the second half, wave after wave of pressure eventually forced Jan Paul van Hecke into steering a cross past his own goalkeeper. Suddenly it was 2-2, and - trying hard not to be biased - by the final whistle it was Tottenham that looked the team more likely to win it.
Spurs, long accused of fragility during last season's miserable League form under Ange, showed some steel. Now (as Trump haters might say) Time to dump Donny!
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. I look forward to seeing YOUR line-up.
Here we go with the sixth week of our quiz that tests your knowledge of Tottenham players and the club's history...
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?
Please email your answer to me at soqleague@gmail.com and make the subject heading Quiz Week 6. Deadline: midnight this Friday. 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 has won 12 caps for his country, played v. England at Wembley in 2023 and against which club did he score his first Premier League goal for Tottenham in a 4-1 victory?
Answer: Destiny Udogie/Newcastle United
See you back here on Monday.
COYS!
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