\n<\/p>\n
A tricky day for Mediawatch in many ways, because it\u2019s one of those mornings where the most overtly outlandish of the media\u2019s takes \u2013 ARSENAL ARE BOTTLING IT! SPURS ARE FOR SURE GOING DOWN! \u2013 actually feel entirely reasonable.<\/p>\n
Not to say there isn\u2019t some nonsense if you look hard enough, though.<\/p>\n
And Mediawatch always will.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve all seen it. The City fan with his Arsenal water bottle. He\u2019s destined for fame or infamy now, one way or the other, depending on how the rest of the season pans out. And Arsenal fans should look away now because even the Supercomputers have lost faith with City now winning by a single point on their latest all-important (not important) projections.<\/p>\n
You could viscerally feel the weariness in Gary Neville\u2019s observation that the fan \u2018has just realised he\u2019s become an influencer\u2019 after the memeception of the creation of a second meme in the moment other fans showed him he had become a meme.<\/p>\n
And, in full old-man-yelling-at-clouds fashion, let Mediawatch join that weariness as we share just some of the sentences in print media today that caused an audible sigh.<\/p>\n
\n\u2018And one City fan trolled the Gunners in viral fashion\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Footage of the fan\u2019s antics went viral on social media\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018He partook in the ongoing jibe against the Gunners, who many fans believe are set to \u2018bottle\u2019 the title race despite their lead at the top.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018One City fan joked about their title rivals with a bottle jibe\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Trolls. Brutal. Jibes. Viral. Antics. Sigh.<\/p>\n
We did quite enjoy the vaguely surreal tone of this line from The Sun<\/strong>however, as they desperately searched for and didn\u2019t quite find a suitable second mention variation for the word \u2018drink\u2019 and ended up here.<\/p>\n
\nThe City fan looked directly at the camera as he pretended to pour the bottle into his throat, to the delight of the supporters around him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
We also enjoyed The Sun clearing up the deep complexities of the gag.<\/p>\n
\nThe act was a clear reference to many footie fans\u2019 belief that\u00a0Mikel Arteta\u2018s troops are bottling the title\u00a0race.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Oh! Now we get it!<\/p>\n
You have to hand it to the guy. He set out to achieve meme status, and he has done so in the grand manner. It will be the go-to banter image for every Arsenal defeat between now and the end of the world, which is admittedly even at the Gunners\u2019 current wait probably only two or three more defeats. But still. Listen, fair play.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n But our question is this. Why is nobody talking about the fact that Arsenal Bottle Meme Guy has himself completely bottled it? Because what kind of clown tries to drink from a bottle with the lid still attached?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Stack overflow<\/h2>\n
Mediawatch isn\u2019t quite sure how it\u2019s happened, but former Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Graham Stack appears to have carved himself out a tidy little media niche as a teller of wild tales.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s fine, but does mean that we must, as a public service, warn you to ignore any and all headlines that contain the phrase \u2018Arsenal Invincibles star\u2019 for the foreseeable. From this point, there is approximately a 99 per cent chance that it\u2019s Stack. A man who played no Premier League games for Arsenal during the Invincibles season. Or, indeed, any other season.<\/p>\n
Does have some entertaining tales to tell, though, as this trademark Daily Mail<\/strong> headline attests.<\/p>\n
\nFormer Arsenal Invincibles star reveals he used to sell FAKE Gucci gear to team-mates \u2013 and opens up on rogue David Seaman tale<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Other Stack tales ripe for this kind of headline treatment include: punching a pitch invader and deciding to drive the Arsenal team bus for a laugh. He\u2019s just a crazy guy! A crazy guy with some outlandish and, dare we suggest, possibly slightly embellished tales of his time at Arsenal.<\/p>\n
All of which can be placed under headlines that suggest it might actually be Patrick Vieira with all hooky designer gear in the boot of his Vauxhall Nova.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Missing Words Round<\/h2>\n
Another day, another headline left sadly short of the space required to stop it being misleading. This desperately unfortunate curse continues to strike many of our proud media institutions, with the Mirror<\/strong> the latest victims.<\/p>\n
\nMan Utd target reaches agreement days after being linked with Old Trafford transfer<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The words sadly forced to spend their days on the cutting-room floor this time being \u2018with current club\u2019 because Nico Schlotterbeck, for it is he, has signed a new Borussia Dortmund contract.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Model behaviour<\/h2>\n
Plenty of football news around this morning<\/strong>isn\u2019t there? You\u2019ve got the title race<\/strong>obviously. City on the charge<\/strong>. Arsenal being bottlers<\/strong>. Then there\u2019s Tottenham going down<\/strong>which is in danger of becoming just too normalised when it is absolutely mental really when you think about it.<\/p>\n
There are crises of various levels of alarm at Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle. The early cogs are in motion for a summer that promises to be a bumper one for player moves and manager changes.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the third biggest football story in all the world this morning according to The Sun<\/strong> website?<\/p>\n
\n\u2018GODMOTHER\u2019\u00a0Meet viral model who cheers on team and once suffered wardrobe malfunction as fans joke \u2018players must be distracted\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Great to see a popular outlet look beyond the narrow Premier League lens and bring fascinating stories from around the global game. You can mock all you want, but who else is putting Paraguayan football front and centre in their coverage right now?<\/p>\n
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