In recent times, you wouldn’t be mistaken if you thought you’d heard echoes of the chant ”Bring me the head of Arsene Wenger” bellowing in the alleys and corners around Holloway Road.

It’s the sort of chant derived from a lynch mob mentality of red-eyed, blood thirsty doom and gloom merchants who have perfected the art form of spitting fire and brimstone. They seek to rationalize their actions by suggesting that their collective negativity is indeed the true way to voice their passion and support for the club, and they dare anyone who would challenge their loyalty to the Arsenal.

I’m always reminded of the old adage that you should never under-estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers. Dooming and glooming in recent times has given credence to this very notion.

A natural response would be to take the view that the actions of this ’Armageddon’ brigade amounts to nothing but a hill of beans. Doing nothing though and failing to provide a voice of reason gives a modicum of credence to the doom Sayers.

Here’s a Stone Cold breakdown of the anatomy of the modern day Arsenal doom and gloom merchant:

1. They suffer from Defensive pessimism

I would define defensive pessimism as a motivated cognitive strategy that helps people manage their anxiety and pursue their goals. Individuals who use defensive pessimism generally set low expectations, and play through extensive mental simulations of possible negative outcomes as they prepare for possible disappointment.

Take the example of Arsenal’s current league campaign. As I write this, the Gunners are 6 points off the top of the table with a great chance to claw their way to the top by winning the remaining 11 games.

Doomers would rather focus on what ‘could have…would have…or should have…’ – instead of throwing their collective weight behind the team to help them over the finishing line.

They spend their time and energy looking for every little thing they can criticize to rationalize their extremity and refuse to accept to work with what’s in hand.

It wouldn’t be at all surprising to know that this kind of individual applies defensive pessimism to all aspects of their lives whether it be at work or in their relationships. They are likely to be inherently sad people with the propensity to depress anyone around them with their negativity.

2. They use lack of trophies as justification for their vitriol

”We haven’t won a trophy in 5 years” has become as legendary as ”One nil to the Arsenal”. I would start by saying this:

Anyone who can’t appreciate the constraints Arsenal has faced since moving to Ashburton Grove, and anyone who finds it difficult to acknowledge the bigger picture and general direction Arsenal is heading on and off the pitch – has bigger issues than Arsenal can provide solutions for.

If you really strip this perceived crisis down to its core, for most of the doomers, the gripe is actually to do with the loss of bragging rights. What’s more important to them is a selfish motivation to avoid the humiliating taunts from their mainly Chelsea and Manchester United friends and colleagues.

They will more often than not make unjustified comparisons between the current team and Arsenal teams of latter years to illustrate the perceived flaws of the current team.

Their quick solution to resolving this matter is for Arsene to whip out the cheque book and send the club to the dogs like Portsmouth and others staring at the abyss of irreparable financial ruin. They represent a very dangerous breed of ’Johnny come lately’ customers who demand an immediate return for what they spend – citing the excuse that Arsenal has the highest ticketing prices in the land.

The truth is that Arsenal in the latter years of Graham, Rioch, Neill and Mee (if you have the patience to go that far back) have had periods longer than the current 5 years without a trophy.

Arsene’s successful era has clearly surpassed those of his predecessors, yet he continues to build the foundations that will ensure Arsenal dominates the landscape for years to come.

3. They are like lambs to the media slaughter houses

I agree with the notion that the media is the last bastion of imperialism. Sports media in its related arena does nothing to improve the perception that expecting impartiality and objectivity from them is like expecting to find a 21 year old virgin in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The media have a struggle to fill the air waves and news columns to feed an unforgiving 24 hour news cycle. The inevitable result is that journalistic integrity and balanced perspectives are thrown right out of the window.

Sensationalism and publication of male bovine faecal matter is mistaken for sports journalism. Unfortunately for all of us, it is then shoved down the throats of the masses as different agendas are driven by the media protagonists for different reasons, not least self preservation.

Arsenal doomers have perfected the art of believing such falsehoods peddled by the media to be matters of fact. A perfect example is the perception of Arsenal’s performances this season. Apparently, according to the media we’ve done so badly that we’re only 6 points off the pace, and still with a realistic chance to pip United and Chelsea to the title.

This of course is the same media circus that wrote Arsenal off not to even make the top 4 this season – before a single ball was kicked.

4. They typify customers with a decadence that threatens the very essence of being a supporter.

There used to be a time when supporters – you know – supported their team. This they did come rain, shine or thunder. They supported the team whether the team won, drew or lost.

They shared the joy and excitement when the team beat its fiercest rivals. They shared the disappointment and heart-break when the team lost games. They found a balance that promoted healthy debate and discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of their team, while continuing to show solid and unconditional support when the team crossed the white line and stepped onto the pitch.

I guess the notion that the customer is always right got to their heads. They started demanding that Arsenal justify the income they were generating from them and that they show this by achieving instant success with trophies.

They defended their right to a positive customer experience by demanding that the team entertain them otherwise they will leave the stadium en mass – if the team didn’t score 8 goals without reply.

They started pointing at the artificial and perceived success of teams with ’sugar daddies’ and insisting that “if they can make it then so can we”. This of course, they do without the fore thought of the implications of such recklessness, or the fact that Arsenal can’t actually afford to buy a trophy.

Speaking of modern day football customers, I ask whether Arsenal has supporters or whether they are customers.

They of course want us to spend big bucks not realising that the era of brazen ‘cheque book’ management is over. It was less than 3 months ago when I suggested that football is not immune to the economic downturn. Today for sure, Portsmouth becomes a statistic of football financial failure.

Our modern day customers don’t even seem to acknowledge and appreciate that where Arsenal leads, others will follow.

And just in case you’re not aware of my weekly column, today is Stone Cold Friday over at ACLF – check out today’s column on tanacity and holding our nerve.

Related Articles:

• Does Arsenal Do What It Says On The Tin Anymore?
• Does The EPL Destination Signal The Crossroads For Arsenal?