Supporting your football team is like a marriage – for better of for worse, for richer or for poorer. Till death do us part and all that. No team in the world has a divine right to success (not even Moan Utd or Real Madrid, although they may think otherwise) so we just have to put up with bad performances – don’t we??

Judging by the thousands of web articles, radio phone-ins, blogs, forum replies etc. Gooners are not a happy bunch at the moment, despite our team lying fourth in the table. This is because we are going through an inconsistent spell, culminating in two very poor performances where we weren’t just second best, it seemed as if several players weren’t fully committed to the cause. Losing is one thing (human nature dictates that it is inevitable) but not giving 100% is guaranteed to wind supporters up.

We’ve now got two very important home matches in quick succession; defeat in either (or both) won’t be the end of the world but I have a nasty feeling that if Arsenal perform as they did on Saturday, the new stadium will echo to the sound of booing as “fans” let their feelings be known to the manager and players.

Before I go any further I’ll be at both matches and I’ll state categorically that I will NOT boo my team – in 30 years of home and away support I never have and I hope I never will. BUT – given the make up of the crowd at The Grove, I feel sure that booing will be heard if things don’t go our way in either game.

So what do fellow Gooners think? Can booing the team ever be right?

I like to think that I’m quite a balanced person so I can just about see both sides of the argument. If our multi-millionaire players are obviously lacking commitment or they are making the same mistakes over and over again (or getting a ridiculous red-card for elbowing Stoke’s keeper) shouldn’t the people that ultimately fund their fabulous lifestyles have the right to let them know that that’s not good enough? Representing Arsenal is a massive honour so what other way do supporters have of getting through to complacent young footballers, to let them know that the result may not ruin their week, but it bloody well ruins ours. I’m old enough for it not to but believe me, it still does.

On the other hand, how can booing possibly improve things? I know it’s borne out of frustration but it will only help the opposition and ensure that players lacking in confidence are knocked back even further. That’s why I’ll never do it but it will happen if things don’t improve.

I hope that Arsène can once again turn things around, as he did in 2001 but I’m not looking forward to either match as much as I should be. It’s sad to come to this conclusion but, given the attitude of so many people today, I think that booing is the inevitable reaction on Wednesday and Saturday if we go behind in either game and / or play badly.