In return, and to prove to you that we begin this venture on equal footing, I promise to give the same time and consideration to the words I write so that I do not unintentionally anger or insult any one of you who have so kindly taken the effort to listen to my thoughts. And if you feel that this is not a fair deal then there is a fully functioning and well-worn comments section below where I would be happy

Greetings all.

I would, as is tradition, like to offer my customary warm and hearty welcome to all fans of Arsenal football club. 

I hope you are well.

Now, this is going to be quite a difficult article to write for me because normally my brain works faster than my hands and ideas appear on the page before I consciously realise that I think them. Not today. Today I am planning to tread as carefully as possible.

Before I tell you why, however, I am going to ask you all for a favour. 

It’s not a big favour. Not at all. In fact it’s something that you may very well have done without being asked.

If you can say to yourself, genuinely and honestly, that you love Arsenal Football Club then I ask you to lend me your ears – or, more accurately, eyes – for the duration of this article. I would like you to promise that you will give time and consideration to the words of another Arsenal fan who also loves this glorious club. That is all I ask.

In return, and to prove to you that we begin this venture on equal footing, I promise to give the same time and consideration to the words I write so that I do not unintentionally anger or insult any one of you who have so kindly taken the effort to listen to my thoughts. And if you feel that this is not a fair deal then there is a fully functioning and well-worn comments section below where I would be happy to talk with you when we are done.

The reason I am treading so carefully is because there is, in my opinion, a worrying trend amongst supporters of Arsenal Football Club. I am sure that this trend is far from unique to our club but as I have not and will never give even one, tiny piece of my heart to any other, it is Arsenal I am concerned with and Arsenal alone. I’m sure you understand.

The trend is not new, and has been touched on countless times before in an almost certainly more articulate manner than here. So I apologise if I am covering old ground, this is not likely to be revolutionary.

The trend I refer to is a very definite move away from civil and respectful debate and towards anger, abuse and disrespect. From pubs to Twitter, from stadia to comments sections you will find countless examples of fans of Arsenal Football Club at each others’ throats over almost every, single contentious, or even non-contentious, issue.

Now, just to clarify, I am not condemning those who either praise or criticise our team. I am a firm believer in the right to speak your mind, I cherish a debate and if you knew me personally you would know that I love to put forward strong opinions. It is very constructive when done properly.

So if the team, manager or board is or is not performing to your liking then please, please, please feel free to say so. I would absolutely love to find out why you think what you do and if we agree then great and if not then let’s talk about it. Debate, even. I’m incredibly passionate and I’m hoping you are too. 

If nobody disagreed and debated then we wouldn’t move forward. Discussion and debate are the pillar stones of progress.

But all too often these days we find that when someone disagrees with you then they just criticise you personally, insult you and your views and call you a prick. I cannot claim to understand it.

I know from firsthand experience that nearly everything that appears on this site – balanced as it tries to be – attracts the most vicious comments from those who claim to want to the very same thing as us – to see Arsenal win. Just this week a number of balanced and thoughtful articles have been met with just this level of abuse. But why?

Do we not both want Arsenal to succeed? Does giving an opinion on the best way for Arsenal to achieve that success really give you cause to insult someone on a personal level?

The answer – in my humble opinion, mind – is that it does and should not. Again, feel free to disagree with me on this or indeed any point I have made but if you plan to do so then please take a second or more to consider a) my point of view and b) why you believe it to be wrong and then tell me in the clearest and most reasonable way what your opinion is. I would appreciate that.

Let me approach this another way.

At this present point in time Arsenal FC are at something of a crossroads. Given the past few trophy-less years you may still believe in Wenger and his ideas or you may not – I have mixed opinions on our current situation but on the whole I would say that Wenger is a highly intelligent man who loves this club and I believe he has what it takes to get us back to winning ways.

But even if we disagree about whether Wenger is the right man for the job or not I do not think you can possibly – as someone who loves Arsenal Football Club – want Arsenal to fail. Sure if Arsenal fail then Wenger may lose his job and another, better manager may come in. But anyone who hopes that Arsenal lose cannot, in my eyes, be called a true supporter of this team.

If Wenger succeeds – truly succeeds – then AFC succeeds and we all get the result that we want. It may not be the way we all expected it to happen but the end point is the same.

And that is the key.

The starting point for any debate on Arsenal should be that you and whoever you are talking to both share the same end point. We may disagree about the journey but our target is the same and we should therefore appreciate that there is a common ground beneath us that unites us all. 

We all – every single, last one of us – want Arsenal to succeed. Don’t forget that.

Imagine if the person you called a prick was standing next to you the day that Robin van Persie swung a beautiful left-foot volley into the back of the net at White Hart Lane to secure the Premiership for Arsenal. What would you do? You would probably throw you arms around them, have a drink with them and sing together long into the night. 

So why insult them today, knowing that you can and will share so much joy with them in the future?

We are not so different after all. We are supporters of the most amazing team to ever grace the English league and we should all be proud of that fact. 

So if I promise here and now to give your opinions the time and consideration that, as genuine Arsenal supporters, they are due then I hope in my heart – Arsenal red as it is –  that you can find it within you to do the same for me.

Thank you for your time, the floor is yours.

WB

Follow Wenger Boy on Twitter: @WengerBoy1