Well at last the captain has finally come out and criticised the fans. And about time I say!!

I am lucky enough to sit in the REDsection and am sick and tired of the all the Arsenal forums I have been on where I read such rubbish as "They always sing the same songs", "Why do they sing about S*urs so much", "Why cant they sing something new". Well I’m fed up with it, it seems from what I've read that these people that continually moan are the people who sit in the west, east and south sides of the stadium and are the very people who make zero noise. The only other area I notice trying to create something is the south east area around block 11 I think, they always seem to look like they are trying to get involved. I've heard people say "You can’t hear us singing from where you sit", well that's rubbish because I can hear the away fans making some sort of noise and even if I can’t make out what they are singing, they certainly look like they are creating an atmosphere!!! That cannot be said for 75% of our stadium. Plus my mates have sat in that area of the ground and they have said it’s a joke, no one sings or makes any sort of noise they just sit watching the north lower trying to create some atmosphere.

Don't get me wrong the atmosphere where I sit is perfect. We sing all game, have a laugh and stand for most of the game but last night (v CSKA Moscow) I noticed the one time the whole ground seemed to be singing it was fantastic and I thought if only this could happen a lot more. I don't know if it’s because some people don't know the songs but surely they ain’t that hard to work out??!!! It’s no coincidence that our captain supreme is always trying to lift the atmosphere, he and the rest of the players know us singing helps them when they are sometimes struggling to break down some teams. It’s also no coincidence that when the players applaud their pre kick-off song they only acknowledge one area of the ground, and when they score in the north end of the ground they run to one area, they obviously appreciate what the REDaction area are trying and thank us for that.

As for people leaving early I have never understood this. Last night was the worst for me, with ten minutes left I saw people streaming out. It’s 0-0 for Christ’s sake, have you seen what happened it ‘89?? I'm probably guessing not if you are one of these early leavers!!! I have heard people say it’s because they have a long journey home and have to get up early for work in the morning. Well I live in Luton and also have work in the morning and I have to put up with sitting in all sorts of traffic on the north circular and the M1 on the way home and last night didn't get in until gone 12 but I don't care because I know I have been to see the team I love and will sacrifice anything to do this. If this is also the case as to why most people leave early why the hell are the same people leaving on a Saturday 3pm game?? What's the rush to get home? X Factor?? If you are going to leave ten minutes early to miss the traffic why not stay at home completely?? What do you think the players think when they have ten minutes to go, it’s 1-1 and the fans are giving up all hope by leaving?? I've always been brought up to show some appreciation to the players when they leave the field but last night when the players applauded us back 70% of the ground was empty. Now what sort of signal does that show to them???

We are trying our best in REDaction to be the twelfth man as Henry said in his programme notes, so people need to stop knocking what we are trying to do and get involved, because we could have a great atmosphere in a great new ground if we wanted it!! So get behind the team and let’s see what happens!!!

Ed’s note – As the following email arrived as I was preparing to post this exclusive, I’ll tag it on the bottom here…

From Mark Hayward of the Borehamwood Gooners:

I am one of the always read, never contact, Gooners but after last night against Moscow I had to write something. Not about the performance. Not about the ground

But for the first time in my life, I was embarrassed to be a Gooner. The crowd we attract nowadays are a joke. Turn up 15 minutes late, spend 45 minutes getting food and then leave 15 minutes early. They sit and don't say a word or add anything to the atmosphere. God help us if they start a yogurt knitting club in the area, the ground will be empty.

When we stand and sing they look at you like you are some sort of throwback from the 1970s, and last night I actually watched a tweed clad middle age woman read the Telegraph while the game was on!! Please implore all the real Gooners, young and old to get off there backsides and support the team.