The Premier League season is under way and the usual stream of jockeying by fans fills bars and offices around the UK. Everybody amongst the footballing community thinks that ‘”this is their season” and that “their team is going to do it this year!”

This is why we all greatly enjoy the Premier League. It is a league where we can enjoy the top teams being beaten by the supposed also-rans as seemingly, anyone can win on their day and nobody has reached the status of unbeatable. This has allowed fans across the country to immerse ourselves with delusions of grandeur and thoughts of seeing our team lifting the Premier League trophy at the end of the season. The sad fact is that unless you happen to be a fan of a team in the long-established group of top four sides, or perhaps a fan of Man City who appear to be leading the insurgency against the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool, there is little chance of any of our teams doing anything substantive other than perhaps a cup run in the Littlewoods/Rumbelows/Coca-cola/Worthington/Carling Cup (otherwise known as the League Cup or, by some Londoners, as Arsenal’s reserve League).

I doubt I am the only one who tires of watching the same 4 teams dominate year after year and long for the days when competition for the title is more open. Yes I enjoy seeing the likes of Drogba, Torres & Arshavin singlehandedly destroying the ‘lesser’ teams in the top flight. My issue with the top four teams is more simple than being irked by their prowess on the field... their fans are just by and large really, really annoying!

If their teams insist on hammering our ‘small time’ clubs 6-0 then that’s one thing. An entirely less acceptable and much more annoying by-product of this sort of result is the constant reminder from their supporters that they are so much better than everybody else.

Liverpool fans in particular get on my nerves. The team, when playing at its direct, penetrative best is utterly sensational, but the arrogance and pomposity that gushes from the Kop taints the perception of Anfield’s stalwart following. Despite the fact that their team is firmly established as a major player in European football, the constant whinging about how everybody is against them and the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson leads a charmed life is as pointless as it is without merit.

Señor Benitez needs to shoulder the blame for much of this – his flurry of verbal diarrhoea mid-way through last season destabilised the side and fixed the entire country’s gaze squarely on him and his “hard done by” team. In actuality, the team bottled it when presented with the best chance to win the league in years and it had nothing to do with fixture congestion, refereeing decisions or a conspiracy to stop Liverpool from achieving their goal.

The same cannot be said about Arsenal’s faithful following. They seem to have accepted the fact that although the team is capable of scintillating displays, they lack the depth in their squad or a true replacement in midfield for the long-departed Patrick Vieira. These shortcomings put them at a distinct disadvantage when competing with fans of the massively expensive squads of Man Utd & Chelsea in the arrogance stakes.

Those who frequent Old Trafford’s terraces have a somewhat justified air of superiority about them. No matter what team Fergie puts out, they seem somehow able to grind out results when it counts and claim yet more silverware year after year. It is easy to see why the manager is held in such high esteem by the fans. Yet another reincarnation of their team, most notably without Cristiano Ronaldo has graced Old Trafford’s pitch this season with expectations as high as ever – and the fans are quick to talk up their chances of a record 19th league title.

Chelsea fans are perceived by many as being flippant and elitist. The influx of blues fans since they enjoyed recent Abramovich-oriented successes is noteworthy but belies the fact that there is also a hugely loyal following at Stamford Bridge each and every week. The team has hardly been improved this summer for the simple reason that the squad is just that good. Man for man I see them as having a squad fit to take on any team in the world providing the enigmatic Didier Drogba has his head in the game and not simply attached to his torso as he flings himself down after yet another innocuous looking tackle.

The defence of the behaviour of their players is the bit that lets Chelsea fans down. The whole football world concedes that they were robbed in last season’s Champion’s League semi-final against Barcelona but behaviour after the match, ranging from the advocacy of player tantrums to death threats levied at the referee on that fateful night at the Bridge, leaves a sour taste in ones mouth.

So, with the season fully under way and the top of the league starting to take shape, let’s all unite and agree to ignore these “top four” fans and just enjoy our beautiful game. Hopefully a tiny team like Hull City will surprise us all and win the league... well, maybe not...

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