Its a known fact that supporting Spurs is never easy. However when you look at the bigger picture, and you need to do that sometimes, are Spurs fans really having a rough time?

In short, the answer is no. We all think it’s time for the cockerel to start crowing, and I am sure, just like I was in the summer, that he soon will.

Our club is without doubt one of the six biggest in the country currently. Of those six clubs we have had the longest journey building ourselves up. We have had to work slowly, bit by bit, without an oligarch or sheikh to speed us along. For the last few years we have found ourselves in the top five of the Premier League and as a result, expectations have risen.

It’s not too long ago we used to worry about whether Gary Doherty would be our lone striker, or praying that we wouldn’t collect too many bookings in order to have a shot in the UEFA-cup through the Fair-Play Draw. Times have changed.

We have had to work slowly, bit by bit, without an oligarch or sheikh to speed us along

We as fans should stop feeling sorry for ourselves. If we are really honest about winning trophies this patient approach is what Spurs need. After Gareth Bale went in the summer we invested in new talent which was a wise move from Spurs. For the same money that we sold Bale, Steven Caulker and Clint Dempsey, we have upgraded the squad.

The upside of the summer is the fact that the squad is actually much better which will help us in the long run. The downside is of course is that it takes time and of course there will be the inevitable disappointments. It’s like a kid waiting for his Christmas presents. He doesn’t know when he’ll be able to enjoy all the shiny new toys, but he’s fairly certain that he’s getting some great presents and that he’ll have loads of fun with them in the not too distant future.

Look at the talent that have arrived at the Lane since AVB came to the club: Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, Vlad Chiriches, Mousa Dembele, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue, Erik Lamela, Nacer Chadli, Christian Eriksen, Lewis Holtby, Roberto Soldado and Gylfi Sigurdsson.

After Gareth Bale went in the summer we invested in new talent which was a wise move from Spurs

On top of that Danny Rose and Andros Townsend have been recalled from their loans and are being eased into the first team. Younes Kaboul and Sandro have had long term injuries, and are now also returning to the fold.

That’s 16 players of which most will and do need more time to adjust. It’s a huge amount of players to get to moving in the right direction, but the quality of the squad on top of what already was at the club gives us more than a hope that this will change.

This is not about making excuses. These are obvious challenges on the way to being a top team.

How well are we doing with all this new talent then?

If you ask the fans some are moaning, some are impatient, some have written us off already and some are worried it will never click. Truthfully you can never tell when things are going to work out well for you in football.

With the false dawns we have had, this could explain the insecurity. We need to work out how to break down 10-men behind the ball, especially at home, and we must look at different ways of creating chances, from different situations; open play and set pieces and we need to learn how to switch the pace in attack and do the unexpected.

There is difficult work ahead, but these are all things I expect AVB to work on. To expect it all to explode in the most fantastic fashion at a frequent rate this early, is too soon. Look at our neighbours down the road what can happen if you keep the team together. With the talent we have, the potential is frightening.

We need to work out how to break down 10-men behind the ball, especially at home, and we must look at different ways of creating chances, from different situations

We are seeing improvement in an aspect of the game that has little to do with the beautiful football we strive after at Spurs. We are building from the back. We have already had an amazing amount of clean sheets and there are more to come. If you don’t let in goals you can’t lose.

Lastly, the entertainment value. It has been a bit lacking, but we support Spurs, and the fan that is claiming that they saw Spurs play boring football hasn’t been following Spurs for more than the last five minutes.

At times this season, we have had the small glimpses of the future epsecially in the fixture vs Norwich, that first half vs Chelsea, the first half vs Everton, the second half vs Newcastle and both games vs Villa. Brilliant football was there to be seen, but we didn’t always win those games, so the actual effect has been less than it would have been.

I see big things ahead and with so many players in our squad that can make us kick on I can’t wait for this team to finally get going, and I feel absolutely confident they will.

[author name=”Erlend André Nordmo” avatar=”https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/378800000082146035/7785c1aba02bbc8b8d5d10a29e71c4f2_bigger.jpeg” twitter=”eanN17″ tag=”eanN17[/linequote]