Monday Cannon Fodder: they’re back!

The celebration police are back out in force, coming for Arsenal again. This time, it’s because Gabriel Magalhaes (and others on the team) poked some fun at Ivan Toney. You’ll recall that the Brentford striker needled the Gunners after the Bees 2-0 opening day victory last season.

Well, turnabout is fair play. Gabriel Magalhaes bantered back after Arsenal’s dominating 3-0 win on Sunday.

Just some lighthearted, fun banter between footballers, right? Well, it depends on who you ask. Some of the nitwits in the media are having a go at Arsenal for punching down at lowly Brentford or some other nonsense like that. Everything has to be a hot take in the outrage culture that is so much of our sports media these days. Arsenal are a popular target that generate a lot of clicks, so the idiots go after the low-hanging fruit.

It’s tiring. And I think (or at least hope) that at some point, people will recognize these doofuses for what they are — hacks that haven’t had an original, creative thought about football in ages.

Sometimes banter is just banter. If you dish it out, you better be able to take it. I don’t think Ivan Toney or Brentford care one bit that Gabriel fired back. They probably enjoy it, honestly. It keeps things fun and interesting. Not everything has to have some deeper meaning or reveal a great truth about the footballing universe.