Virtue and Vice: The Dichotomy of a Tottenham Hotspur Fan

A wise person once said “patience is a virtue”, which is defined as a moral excellence or goodness.  The antonym for virtue is, of course, vice which can be defined as a fault, defect, or shortcoming.  I bring this up because of how these two characteristics are a part of every diehard Tottenham fan.  Any true Spurs fan will tell you, loving our Spurs is a fault or defect, one often inherited and rarely chosen, it is a vice.  Unlike most vices that people attempt to hide from public such as a drug addiction or sexual fetish, being a Spurs fan is the kind of vice we wholeheartedly embrace.

Then why is loving Tottenham a vice?  Well, let’s face it, being a Spurs fan can be a defect.  We begin the season with high hopes thinking this year will be different.  Maybe our coach will figure it out, maybe our new players will put us over the top, maybe, just maybe, we won’t have any serious injuries.  The list goes on and on, yet we go into every season with this new hope.  Is that bad?  Of course not, hope is the one part in our lives that keeps us going on a daily basis.

Here’s the kicker, and the confusing part, from an outsider’s perspective.  Why do we, as Spurs fans, embrace the vice, but fail to strive for the key virtue that is patience?  I could go on and on about how we needed to give AVB more time last year but I’m a day late on this one.  Suffice it to say, I don’t believe he had the players he needed, or wanted, to fully implement his style of play.  So should we have given Sherwood more time?  Let’s face it, we all knew Sherwood was just a caretaker.  Why else would have Levy talked to so many other managers?  Sherwood did OK, but he did show his naivete at times with his tactics and player selection.  I will give him this, I am a fan of Bentaleb’s and I think he has a future on the team.

Now, we move on to our new coach, Mauricio Pochettino.  I don’t claim to be some expert on his style of play, I watched Southampton play exactly twice last year, once at White Hart Lane and once when our boys played at St. Mary’s.  I do know that he took a team many did not expect to do well and had them finish in 8^th place.  When a manager takes a team with limited talent and limited funds to a respectable finish like this, there’s something to be said about it.

This puts us Spurs fans in a position where we must accept the vice of cheering on Spurs (we have to stay true to who we are), but must embrace the admirable quality of being patient.  Bottom line is this: give him time.  Will there be a bedding in process?  Most definitely.  Let’s give him time.  The first year may be rough and unless it is an unmitigated disaster (flirting with relegation by the January transfer window), we have to stick it out for at least two years.

Will this be easy?  No.  Do we need to be prepared to face the very real possibility of losing to West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool, and, heaven forbid, Les Gunnérs?  Sadly enough, yes.  If we can really contend for the title in the coming years just by showing some patience and facing these horrible possibilities this year, I think I can do it.

So, let me step down off the pulpit and go back sitting on the back pew.  We may have to suffer our vices for a number of weekends to come, but maybe, just maybe, with a little patience (who am I kidding? A LOT of patience), we can all stand one day and sing “Amazing Grace” as we see our Lilywhites lifting the Premier League trophy as Les Gunnérs look on in disgust.  Maybe even with a certain Frenchman throwing a water bottle.  I’m getting teary eyed just thinking of it.

I am TexasHotspur and I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan.  Come on you Spurs!