Arsene Wenger says fans should back the club through thick and thin
For Arsene Wenger, however, being a fan means doing exactly what it says on the tin - backing the club through thick and thin.
"What is in the word support?" he asked last night. "Support. It says what it says."
As usual, Wenger is at the forefront of a new trend in football which reflects the increasing levels of impatience and discontent with managers among supporters who these days are often ahead of the much-criticised media in their demands for sackings and change.
Just this week, bottom-placed Leicester's Nigel Pearson has been charged by the FA following a verbal altercation with a group of supporters, only seven months after he guided the club into the Premier League.
Liverpool's exit from the Champions League brought a heated debate on the airwaves about the future of Brendan Rodgers, who only last May secured a second-placed finish.
At the Emirates, it remains unclear just how widespread the dissatisfaction with Wenger's stewardship has become after 18 years of his command. One banner calling him for to quit is unfurled regularly at away matches - they are banned at home.
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I am not a politician who makes a poll every week to see if you support me
Arsene Wenger
Last week, he was verbally abused by two fans while boarding a train following the harrowing defeat at Stoke.
Among a regular home attendance of around 60,000, this may represent only a very small minority view.
One thing is sure though. Defeat against a resurgent Newcastle today will place a huge question mark against sixth-placed Arsenal's ability to stay in touch with the places offering qualification for next season's Champions League, even in the week in which they advanced to next February's last 16.
After defeats in three of the last five Premier League matches, Wenger is under pressure against Alan Pardew's seventh-placed side who are fresh from inflicting the first defeat of the season upon Chelsea last weekend. The Arsenal coach, however, will not play the popularity game for its own sake.
"I am not a politician who makes a poll every week to see if you support me," he added. "I am paid to win football games. My sense is to focus on my job.
"What I expect is to give my best. And if you look at the history of Arsenal and what we have achieved in the last 18 years, we have moved forward. That is what we want to continue to do."
Newspaper Review - Friday 12 December
Asked further about those who have protested about the direction of the club - and the worry that it could encourage visiting teams - he went on: "It is not my problem. My problem is to win football games.
"Honestly, don't you think I could find 20 people anywhere who would say that someone is rubbish at their job?
"Look at the history. You have to look realistically at the number of home games we lost. It is one in 25 games."
The anger of the malcontents has brought together Wenger and Pardew, who have a history of heated conflict. And the surge of restlessness in the stands has happened in a season which has reached mid-December without a managerial sacking in the Premier League.
Pardew has emerged from an autumn of demonstrations against his tenure to guide Newcastle to the higher reaches of the table. Asked this week about the scale of Wenger's achievements, Pardew said they should name their stadium after him.
Wenger added: "We had a problem one time but we sorted it out. He has done very well. He has gone through a very difficult patch at Newcastle and he dealt with it with strength and dignity. Fortunately he has been rewarded for it.
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"I am very thankful for his compliments but I don't want anything. The one thing I want is to do well in my job for this club.
"It's encouraging that there have been no sackings. History has shown that maybe the clubs who sack quickly pay a heavy price.
"The owners have to make decisions that have a vital impact on the future of the club. The fans' reaction is an emotional reaction to one game or one result."
Along with West Ham, Southampton and Swansea, Newcastle are among the clubs from outside the regular big guns who are challenging the established order in the top half of the Premier League.
Wenger thinks the old elite will flex their muscles now the Champions League qualification campaign is over.
"It always happens because everybody now is on the same schedule," Wenger said. "You go away to Turkey on Wednesday night and play Sunderland on Saturday morning, and after you lose the game everybody says, 'What a scandal'.
"We lost at Stoke so you can't say you will send a complete reserve team to Galatasaray. If we had lost again, you face another storm. So at least you have to go there to have a chance to win the game."
