We all need to make sacrifices (part III)
I love my club and I want them to succeed.
That sentence above could be tagged to either ‘group’. One has had enough and wants change, the other wants the uncertainty of battle even if there’s the chance they will be outnumbered. Side by side, they are quite normal reactions even if each side will argue the opposite isn't.
There is no right or wrong. There's opinions on how things should be handled. But there will also be opinions on how you should go about supporting Spurs. Nobody has the right to tell the person standing next to them the best way to support their team is the way they support them. However, if there is friction and disagreement then this will spread and destroy atmosphere. Arguably atmosphere that has been degrading for a while because of other issues at play (concerning fear of failure, the pressures of success and the usual complaints of modern football match-day experience). You're one, but inside the ground we're meant to be as one.
What happens next is usually left to occurrences on the pitch. A moment of sheer genius, magic or luck and a winning goal to give us three points. A change of luck. A catalyst. Not that we are in the same position but say coming back from 4-2 down to draw 4-4. Confidence, it breeds belief and helps push things along when they’re being held back due to adversity that may or may not even exist in some people’s eyes but can’t be ignored because it does in others. Some fans think we're on the road to nowhere. Those outside of Tottenham will magnify that thought. If you asked Villas-Boas he'd probably shrug and mumble something about time. There's another type of catalyst that can take us the opposite way. Although I can hear some of you suggesting that particular catalyst is under way already.
So there is no right or wrong. Just that perception and opinion on how to handle a particular scenario and what you believe is the correct way to behave in amongst it.
Perhaps the ones that are disgruntled, deep down, believe it’s going to fail and simply don’t have the heart or desire to fight for something that is not going to work. But then the very fact they are disgruntled and want to be heard is them showing desire and fight they don’t believe they’re seeing on the pitch. They are standing up for something they believe in and want the world to know. They want their team to know and react to it.
Those that wish to sing want to believe and do believe it will work out and want to take that risk, that leap of faith, because if you don’t roll with the punches then how are you going to cope next time you’re low on confidence and lacking spark? A winning mentality, a winning team needs to know and understand it's weakness to be able to strengthen and evolve. If you can’t dig deep do you give up and look to start over again? Every time?
The great thing about a problem? It's there to be resolved. To some it's not even a problem. It's a learning curve, a necessity that has to be experienced so that progress is made. At the moment we can't consolidate a lead. The last problem we had before the summer was an inability to break the opposition down. Which is more troublesome? A team supposedly at it's peak with the first problem or a team starting afresh that harbours ambitions to exceed the previous heights reached?
The dynamics around what is acceptable and what is not acceptable is the foundation of the entire argument between the two groups. That perception of expectancy around how the players should be reacting and performing based on not just the immediate past but also the quality of players available to the coach at present. The results so far could so easily have been a score-draw away followed by two home wins - without the errors - but achieved with the same erratic tempo and structure. There would not be too many complaints because of points accumulated. But concern would still be evident until the swagger is back. It's all ifs and buts. It usually is until things either improve or they don't.
There are so many layers, it's impossible to define it all as so much of it is theoretical when it comes to the pragmatism and lack of with the football but it's still all fuelled by emotion. It's practically akin to religion. One God but different cults and sects, different ways of worship and preaching. Fundamentalism anyone? It's disputable who exactly has the Kool-Aid within arms reach.
There’s probably a third group out there left scratching their heads wondering why there has to be two extremes at play. They are probably far less vocal and might even be a majority that are just sitting back to wait and see what happens next.
My view, to push it back towards that ‘be patient’ speech I've tried hard to avoid (sorry), is something I’ve already alluded to here. The fact that these two groups (even the pro-AVB camp that still boo) are so evident the fragmentation cannot be good because outside of White Hart Lane and beyond, patience does not exist and can distort and damage and exaggerate. So back inside the stadium, it’s the only place where we can truly take ownership of it all. I was actually going to say 'destiny' instead of 'it all'. As romantic a notion that is, isn’t football meant to about romance?
Say, if you were in a relationship – a new one – you need a candle lit dinner or two along with perhaps the theatre or a nightclub and a romantic walk before you’re swinging from the chandeliers doing upside down doggy. No roof-top on the Lane, so no chandeliers but under the floodlights or in the soon to be winters sun, is it not best that we all sing from the same hymn sheet?
You think it’s doomed? Then what have you got to lose? You’ll get what you want in the end so why not join the other half and those that are left in-between paralysed with uncertainty will join in because let’s be honest - you’d all rather be singing and bursting with pride about what it means to be Tottenham, what it means to follow Tottenham than feeling like you're at odds with the club. There’s no chance of any of us having an affair with another club, so all that’s left is angry sex with the one we’re stuck with.
And if things do change for the best, you’ll be singing anyway so what do you have to lose? Aside from losing face? The ones that sing regardless, we have more to lose because our loyalty will be tainted and misplaced because it didn't work out.
We all need to make sacrifices, we all need to accept them.
Politics and tactics aside the games lifeblood is an emotive one. The way we're playing at the moment is not the way our coach envisages our style to be. He knows about our traditions. He's cited them many times, and not in cheap and fanciful way. If what we're watching isn't anywhere near the end result he's working towards then is it not worth some faith to see what that end result will be? If that means a siege mentality, so be it. But that's me. Like I said a few times already, I can't tell you what to do and I can't force you to do it.
It's just that, I've heard of the 12th man but I've never known him to be accompanied by a 13th one?