There is a Light that Never Goes Out

By Mike Stevenson (mikeinparma)

I think I am finally able to express into words what has been whirring around in my head for a while now regarding our Tottenham Hotspur. You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you meet a fit girl and you can’t help but smile all day? That’s the generally how I’ve felt for Spurs this season. It’s been on a completely different level to my loving admiration of the last few seasons. A real source of pride over what I’ve watched us build through thick and thin has consumed me. And most of it is at our 180-degree turn from pansies to genuine hard arses. It all started after the August transfer window slammed shut and is currently on a bullet train destined for legitimate greatness.

First off, lets go ahead and strike the results of our first two games v Manchester completely from the record. Never happened. That Spurs team is completely foreign to the one that currently resides at White Hart Lane. The team that currently inhabits that fabled changing room is full of guts, guile, and balls. Balls enough to turn around a looming shi*ty result at the Hawthornes into a relatively comfortable win. Guts enough to withstand a siege from Fulham that lesser clubs would have sh*t their pants and ran off the pitch crying for their mothers; guile enough to have the joint most away wins in the league thus far. This may not be your dad’s Tottenham but it is most certainly your Grandad’s Tottenham. Giving everything that stood in front of them “F*ck you!” and getting the job done anyway. Whether it be completely demolishing Liverpool or pulling out a bit of magic v a***nal, this team has the winning mentality that very few Spurs past Tottenham sides have had.

Overcoming the bad spells that are bound to happen in any given 90 minutes of football has been a hallmark to this team. However, it isn’t an entirely a new concept. Being faced with adversity is most certainly not foreign to this Spurs team. Last year, we were lauded for our ability to rescue points from losing positions. I think it was a necessary step of building the type of attitude that can withstand a barrage of sh*t being slung in their direction only to come back more determined than ever before. The key to this year’s success is the fact that we have rarely had to repair the damage from a losing position. Those few weeks where we did nothing but concede straight after half time were frustrating, but the ability to limit the damage and get back to our brand of destructively fast football has been nothing short of orgasm inducing. That never say die attitude has not, does not, and will not ever flicker from this team. And I bloody love it.

You may be asking yourself, “Why are you writing this after our first loss since August, we just lost to Stoke?” Well, I’ll tell you. Stoke did what Stoke do very well. Score from of throw ins and sh*t balls into the box. Our defence was nowhere to pick up the second balls and we paid dearly for it. 2-0 down at halftime. But, as is the rule rather than the exception, Spurs came out to dominate the second half and did a good job at it. Stoke were nowhere near us until the weakest sending off in the history of football occurred on 80 minutes. We came out to put things right, and we did barring some of the terrible referring. Kaboul getting rugby tackled (ironic), balls being handled on the line, and an offside call that Stevie Wonder would have seen cost us what we GENUINELY deserved. I won’t go ahead and say it cost us the win, but we scored two legit goals in that game only to be credited for just the one. But that team didn’t come out after the interval and collapse. They came out, gave Stoke a double V and attacked them with the fury of 1000 honey badgers. Unfortunately, our undefeated streak came to an end, but if ever there was a loss to take positives out of, this was it. That burning light of sheer determination and willpower will not go out any time soon. Trust.