Fans go to Hull and back for spoilt superstars

THE dreadful weather made for a hair-raising drive home from Hull late on Saturday night. My hands gripped the wheel in terror, as we crossed the open expanses of the Humber Bridge.

In a howling gale and with the torrential rain leaving large amounts of surface water, along some dangerously dark sections of the A1, it was a case of “point and pray” as the car aqua-planed through the puddles at 70mph.

Earlier a traffic and trouble-free drive north resulted in me arriving in Hull half an hour before kick-off.

But as I sat in the parked car, listening to the dying throes of the afternoon’s earlier encounters on the radio, trust Man Utd and Chelsea to put the dampener on my mood, with their crucial last-minute goals.

As we exited our respective motors, both myself and the Tiger’s fan, parked beside me, bemoaned Man Utd having the luck of the devil.

In an age of decidedly bland, homogenous football stadia, where it’s hard to distinguish one ground (with its almost obligatory adjacent retail park) from another, by comparison, the KC Stadium has quite a distinctive and attractive feel to it.

In spite of the last-gasp goals at the Reebok and the Bridge, there was much merriment amongst us Gooners behind the goal at the KC, with the news that for his next trick, Harry Houdini had our North London neighbours propping up the entire Premiership table, as we teased the Tigers that they were “going down with the Tottenham”.

However, with this Arsenal side’s propensity to shoot itself in the foot with our defensive failings, our recent spate of 1-0 wins has done little to assuage the sense of foreboding that one goal isn’t going to be enough.

Mind you, I never imagined a previously dependable Gael Clichy would develop into the principal culprit.

Watching Armand Traore rampaging down the flank for Pompey against Spurs on Sunday, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering whether we made a mistake letting him go on loan.

Hull were perhaps guilty of showing us a little too much respect and we looked to be in control of the game, until Clichy failed to close down Mendy, to thwart the cross which resulted in their equaliser.

The goal lifted the home side and their fans and once again we looked in serious danger of letting what should’ve been a fairly routine away win, slip through our grasp.

As the rain started to pour down in sheets, the KC pitch became no place for the faint-hearted.

But as has proved to be the case in several games of late, Hull had expended so much energy, trying to deny us the time and space to hurt them that it was inevitable that fatigue would eventually begin to take its toll.

With the added firepower of Bendtner up front and aided by the build-up of lactic acid in defensive legs and the delicate promptings of Van Persie, we suddenly looked far more potent going forward.

Having been handed more responsibility, Van Persie seems to have matured considerably in recent times, compared to the more selfish hothead, who in the past has managed to thrill and infuriate in equal measure.

Robin was amongst the first to come over and throw his shirt to the fans at the final whistle.

Whereas, by contrast the immature spoilt brat that is Bendtner appeared to make a show of marching straight off the pitch, with the sort of body language that suggested he’d no intention of showing his appreciation to those fans who’d given him the bird in previous games. (would you blame him? — ed)

Whatever might transpire in the transfer market (and I’m definitely not holding my breath), our manager gives me the sense that the good ship Arsenal is in a holding pattern, whereby we’re merely doing our best, under trying circumstances, to hang on in there, until our squad is bolstered by the return of those players capable of creating some real momentum.

In the meantime, considering the effort involved in getting to games such as these, in the absence of Gary Lewin (who in the past would’ve pointed players in the direction of the travelling faithful), someone needs to sit Bertie Big Bollix down and remind him of his obligations.

I was going to say “who pays his wages” but then nowadays that would mean him wandering over to applaud the TV cameras!