Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has seen results improve over the last few months. AFP Photo

Paul Kennedy

There’s no doubt in my mind that football supporters are the most deluded group of fans in the whole of sport, myself included.

Sure, you get plenty of passionate cricket supporters, die-hard fans of Formula One, and lovers of boxing, but when it comes to complete and utter craziness, I’m talking total insanity, then it is football supporters, those in England in particular, that take the biscuit.

And of all the clubs in the Premier League, I do think its Arsenal fans that top the list of ‘mad as a box of frogs’ nuttiness. I’m not talking tattoo of Ian Wright on your calf crazy, or naming your daughter Dennis after Mr Bergkamp, I’m on about their sheer deludedness, which I don’t even think is an actual word.

It wasn’t all that long ago Gooner fans wanted manager Mikel Arteta’s head served up on a plate after an extremely poor start to the season. Now, after a half-decent run of form and a few wins under their belt, I actually heard one supporter this week saying Arsenal could win the league.

Putting his comments into context, what he said was if Arsenal beat Liverpool at the weekend, then they should be considered title contenders.

To be fair, he was talking on Arsenal TV, the popular fan channel that seems to attract more nutters than the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane in Gotham City, but this particular part-time pundit actual thinks that a win against Liverpool means they could be crowned champions.

I don’t think they will beat Liverpool on Saturday night, but even if they do, there isn’t a snowball's chance in hell that Arsenal will come anywhere close to the top of the Premier League next May.

I know if you look at current form Liverpool have not exactly been firing on all cylinders. A loss before the international break at West Ham, and a draw at home to Brighton the previous week, were poor results by the standards they have set.

But Arsenal’s recent record at Anfield is pretty dire. In the last three visits, Liverpool have won the lot, scoring 12 goals compared to Arsenal’s two.

Even the bookmakers are offering a measly 35-1 for Liverpool to win 5-0.

However, deep down, this outrageous claim by the Arsenal fan is really why I love football so much. Week in, week out, fans religiously follow their teams dreaming of what might be.

No fan will ever admit going to the match thinking their team will lose. Even if the odds are completely stacked against them, they will always be praying for a miracle to happen.

So despite me thinking completely to the contrary, well said that fan on Arsenal TV. You are completely wrong, completely deluded, but I love you for saying it. Never change. VNS