They Made Theo Cry

“We got a bit of stick as we left the stadium and went to the coach. There were loads of fans there shouting ‘We’re not scared of you’ and a few swear words, shall we say.”

- Theo Walcott, with added motivation to stuff the Mancs on Tuesday

This is confirmation that Englishmen become progressively less human the further north you go. In London, rival fans would applaud Theo and offer him milk and cookies after the match. In Birmingham, rival fans would cuss Theo politely and apologetically - not because they want to insult our Theo, but because it's expected of them. In Manchester though, they wait outside the stadium to hurl abuse and sledge Theo until he cries.

I remember watching the England-Croatia match in a Manchester pub last September, and some of the things thrown at our Theo were appalling. He deserves better from his countrymen, does our Theo. Swearing at Theo is akin to throwing puppies into vats of boiling hot oil. It's just not on. He's such a nice boy.

I can understand if the Mancs were swearing at Silvestre. I was swearing at Silvestre during the match. Silvestre is old enough, and ugly enough, to take abuse. Theo's just a kid. It's not right. It's very disappointing behaviour from the Mancs. But then again, they're only about twenty miles away from Bolton, so I suppose that kind of behaviour is expected up there.

Anyway, Theo's spoken to the Daily Star to big up our team. And much as I like to read that our players are eager to face Man Utd again, it's a bit pointless. Our players talk good before every game, but can't be relied upon to deliver once they're on the pitch. I'm a bit sick of it, really. It's simple: if we play to our potential, we've a good chance of going through; if we blink in the headlights like we did at Old Trafford, we'll lose.

All this talk is just talk, and don't count for nothing. I just hope the Arsenal show up Tuesday night and play without that handbrake that Wenger keeps talking about. We could do with a 3-1 win. Or a 4-1 win.