picking an english premier league team to follow

thanks to kg, i have been reading bill simmons, aka the sports guy, on espn.com page2 for nearly 5 years (along with his pretty good red sox book about 1999-2004). simmons recently wrote an article about picking himself an english premier league team to follow and in the wake of the end of the world cup, i've decided to do the same.

i've casually rooted for manchester united (and have even been to a game when they visited philly) because they're one of the best known teams in the league. basically, they're the yankees of the epl because they're so well known. now, i don't plan to really turn my back on them (much like how i have come to admire and respect derek jeter without liking the yankees), but i'm more of an against the grain kind of guy in following the crowd like that.

i'm looking for a team to like for the same reasons i love following the nationals: the fanbase is somewhat small (not as many casual fans yet), they don't win all the time or lose all the time, and i can see hope in the future. interestingly, this leads me to the same choice that the sports guy came up with, tottenham hotspur, but i'm still looking around for now. i have the tivo set up with season passes for "english premier league classics" (from 2005-6 season) and "tottenham classics" and it snags 2-3 games per day, but so far i've just been trying to get a feel for the teams.