ArsenalFan TV are in the news.
In case you didn’t know, Gary Neville was giving his take on the situation at Arsenal on Sky Sports on Sunday evening, alongside fellow pundits Jamie Carragher and Niall Quinn. Of the three, Neville was most actively defending Arsene Wenger amidst growing criticism.
Discussing what he saw as undue and disrespectful treatment of the veteran manager, the former Manchester United defender cited ArsenalFan TV as the ringleaders of the tormentors. Here’s a clip of his comments:
Gary Neville on Wenger and Arsenal fan TV. pic.twitter.com/m8x8kkDTmX
— Mike Sanz (@mikesanz19) February 5, 2017
So to be clear, he said that he found the spectacle of watching fan comments on Wenger to be ’embarrassing’. His argument is that Wenger doesn’t deserve the supporters “slating and slanging” him.
The response from those associated with the fan channel was bullish and unrepentant. In fact there was an almost gleeful relish with which they took on the more established and esteemed football opiner.
Amidst a number of tweets defending themselves to Neville and others, they posted a video retaliation, courtesy of their main presenter and most established ‘face’, Robbie Lyle. He is the very personification of righteous indignation.
https://twitter.com/ArsenalFanTV/status/828338001746993152
As well as a dig at Neville’s short managerial stint at Valencia, Robbie contends that his channel deserves a “bit more respect”, claims that the television pundit needs to”get in touch with real fans”, and emphatically declares that “we’re here to stay…the revolution is here.”
Bold words, strongly spoken. Although, Neville didn’t actually argue that ArsenalFan TV should go anywhere, or that supporters should not have access to such a mouthpiece. He simply gave his opinion on their performance on the day, which was, according to him, “embarrassing”.
It is an important distinction, and one that Robbie and his colleagues would perhaps do well to appreciate.
The news/non-news cycle moves so quickly these days that much has already been said of ‘Neville vs Arsenal fans’ in the short space of time since Sunday afternoon. Much of it has been pretentious and bordering on hypocritical.
The truth is that whatever you think of ArsenalFan TV, what they have achieved is remarkable. They are now becoming the news around Arsenal – as well as discussing it – and their numbers are the envy of many a mainstream media venture.
Regardless, many football fans have suddenly become dismissive of their success, despite the fact that a fair percentage of them look forward to and view their output on a regular basis. How many times have we seen an Arsenal result following by tweets such as ‘Waiting for ArsenalFan TV like…’ accompanied by an excitable gif…
Waiting for Arsenal fan tv like… pic.twitter.com/wE3EDCrOOD
— Ryan Sewell (@ryansewell_) January 31, 2017
Then there’s journalists and websites who view them with a patronising disdain, whilst at the same time creaming grateful hits from hosting the channel’s more colourful output. Click here to watch the latest meltdown – so many of us do it.
It’s hypocritical, haughty bullshit. The Gooners’ channel is great craic and excellent entertainment. Of course the videos are outlandish, and purposely features polarising individuals with extreme opinions, but so what? It works, doesn’t it?
And for those who suggest that they are taking advantage of the personalities on show, like some form of freak show, first of all get over yourself, and secondly perhaps watch this very sensitively-handled and informative chat with regular guest Claude Callegari, who opens up about living with depression and how he finds ranting about Arsenal cathartic.
The thing is, you can’t have it both ways – both using the phenomenon and lambasting it too; consuming and condemning. It is what it is, and good luck to them. But by the same token, ArsenalFan TV can’t have it both ways either.
Neville didn’t question their right to exist, nor did he seek to censor them. Instead he merely commented upon their performance on the day – precisely what the likes of Ty, Moh, Troopz, Claude et al do week in, week out.
The good news is that the channel and its cast are gaining unprecedented coverage and exposure; the bad news is that with that comes more negative feedback and criticism. If you’re willing to give it so passionately, then you’ve got to accept it with good grace too.
All this “supporters now have a say” and “real, ordinary fans are here to stay” talk mirrors the pomposity of their biggest critics. To claim that ArsenalFan TV is a fair reflection of the average Gooner is a fallacy. A very particular type of person appears on fan channels and that’s cool. But it results in a type of hyper-reality. Equating ‘ordinary fans’ to the channel is like comparing Olympic wrestling to WWE.
With no caveats whatsoever, Robbie is a brilliant, accomplished presenter, and ArsenalFan TV is an excellent watch. But Neville critiquing them isn’t out of order in the slightest. In fact, it’s exactly what they do to Arsene Wenger.
