There was a cracking atmosphere in the visitors’ end on Saturday. A new chant was born about Emmanuel Adebayor. The tune I can’t say although someone reckoned it’s adopted from a Liverpool chant. The wording goes –

Adebayor
Adebayooooooor
Give him the ball
And Ade will score

It was sung long and loud – maybe a bit too long for some (!) during the second half as Arsenal fans willed our number 25 his hat-trick. And it was sung along with a good number of other more familiar chants.

Now away matches invariably see a better effort from the fans to make a noise and back the lads, partly a result of the adversity of being outnumbered, partly as those that can be bothered to travel to support the team are the type who are going to make themselves heard having taken the trouble to get there.

But it struck me at Craven Cottage that we were paying £45 for the privilege of watching a football match from a delapitated stand behind one of the ends. Much more than the average game at Ashburton Grove from behind the goal. And yet, despite the expense and the certainty that some had been priced out of attending, here we were making a hell of a din.

We stood for the entire match, something which does my lower back few favours - not due to the standing but the lack of ability to alter position much whilst doing it for two spells of 45 minutes. However, I expected nothing different and wouldn’t have gone if I hadn’t been prepared to do it. It’s apparently easier to sing at volume standing than sitting and this may have been a factor in the creation of an atmosphere which made a difference, explaining why such a barrage of volume is a rarity at home games. But these old bones would have been happy to sit and sing!

The money we paid made no difference to the atmosphere, so next time I hear about the gentrification of the game altering the atmosphere for the worse, I will think long and hard. All seater stadiums may well be a factor, but Craven Cottage proved that fans that can afford to pay silly money can still make a noise.

It was interesting to observe the home support. There did not seem to be one area where anyone stood with the exception of a few individuals in the back row of their end. The atmosphere was not good at all in the home sections and you can feel the inevitability of decline at the Cottage. And once Fulham do drop out of the Premier League, it’s difficult to see them bouncing back. Remember Queens Park Rangers? Used to be in the top flight as a matter of course. Haven’t seen them for a while, although doubtless the new owners will try and buy their way into the big league.

On the football side, Arsenal’s performance did the job. There were signs that Fabregas might be returning to form, which needs to happen soon if the team are going to stay the pace and challenge for the title at the business end of the season. Adebayor was widely touted as the man of the match and did indeed play well, but I thought Gael Clichy had a fantastic game too. The team did enough to see off the opposition, but need to hit a groove now. Wenger may not be worried about the Carling and FA Cups and will undoubtedly put out a couple of mix and match sides tomorrow and on Saturday. Risky business as two defeats would probably impact on confidence, but it’s the way the manager operates and we’ve just had to get used to it.

In their heart of hearts, most Gooners expect a cup exit at the Lane, and the hope with Newcastle is that Keegan simply hasn’t yet got a good enough batch of players to get them winning on motivation alone. One thing about the supporters of Tottenham and Newcastle in the next two matches though. Regardless of the price, they’ll get behind their teams. Let’s just hope they’ve nothing to shout about by the time the football’s been played…