The problem was aired because one prat journalist claimed that home fans were booing Henry, which incidentally no one I know actually heard at the game in question. But of course the sheep, sorry did I say sheep I meant the entire press corps, picked up on it. Now I’m one of those who never leaves early from a game no matter what and I rarely if ever have a direct go at our own players, although I was certainly prepared to make an exception for Lee Chapman. But as a paying punter who spends a large slice of my income genuinely supporting the team I feel that I’m more than entitled to express my opinions if I so choose. Especially if my team can’t even be arsed to walk across the pitch and show their appreciation for our support following a spineless performance at the other end of the country where I’ve wasted another small fortune and yet another day of my life.

The problem is that many genuine hardcore fans have been priced out of football, the sort who would cheer no matter what and remain in place for a full ninety plus minutes. Many other true supporters can only afford to go to a very minimal number of matches and therefore chance seeing some rather moderate performances. Because for every Bernabeu we get to enjoy there are usually three or four Reeboks. A lot of the fans who have been sidelined financially are the ones that understood what being a supporter was all about and appreciated true football genius. Others have simply got p*ssed off with a load of Nazis telling them to sit down and stop enjoying themselves, where do they think they are at a rock concert? Well no actually we’re at a football match - it’s just that we’re expected to behave as though we’re at the opera until we get outside the ground where the police seem to think we’re not opera goers but cattle to be herded.

Whether Thierry Henry likes it or not many real fans have been replaced by theatregoers who pay through the nose, demand to be entertained and moan when they are not. These are same suits who are seemingly happy to watch the game from a screen in club level with a drink in their hand despite having deprived real fans of the very best seats in the house. Without these new wannabe fans of course there would be very few who could afford the ridiculous sums of money being asked for overpriced seats and therefore fewer still to subsidise the inflated wages of our current crop of stars. I’m not complaining because I realise that’s just the way it is. But then neither should those overpaid darlings fortunate enough to wear our famous red and white shirt be complaining, because it is their inflated salaries that have exacerbated the problem. They especially shouldn’t whine when they provide programme notes that say ‘what is important is that we should all stick together’ and follow up by slating youngsters in their own team for a perceived delayed pass. Thank you very much but I don’t need lessons in sticking together because I’ve been sticking with the team long before the current squad were born and long before the dippy brand managers chucked out ‘Victoria Concordia Crescit’ which proclaimed that victory does indeed come about through harmony.

If you’ve paid more than you can really afford to watch someone who earns over 200 times as much as yourself do something for a living that is a joy rather than real work then I think you’re probably entitled to boo if they play below par. I choose not to boo or abuse Arsenal players because I don’t think it’s how I can help the team and because I’m also far too consumed slating referees and opponents which I find altogether more therapeutic. You also certainly don’t help the team by slating team-mates because a pass wasn’t perfect and you might even consider allowing in-form players to take free kicks around the box instead of squandering them yourself.

So you get on with playing, preferably well, and I’ll get on with the supporting bit even when you play like you couldn’t hit a cows arse with a banjo – unless of course your name is Lee Chapman.