Piers Morgan has defended Arsenal supporters in a passionate rant aimed at fans of rivals clubs.
The broadcaster also hit back at Simon Jordan as the pair clashed over follower counts and Arsenal Fan TV live on talkSPORT.
Morgan joined the former Crystal Palace chairman as well as Jim White in studio for Wednesday’s White & Jordan.
He revealed he was appearing on behalf of the Gunners’ supporters to respond to Jordan’s recent criticism.
As he was introduced, Morgan explained: “I’m here primarily because of what he said about Arsenal fans and calling us a bunch of obnoxious, silly little twits.
“So I’ve come here to say, as Michael Corleone said famously in The Godfather Part II, ‘I’m going to settle all family business’, in this case all Arsenal family business.”
Morgan on ‘absurd’ rivals
Later in the show, Morgan was asked why there has been so much negativity towards Arsenal.
The Gunners and their fans have come under fire, with rival clubs even mocking their Champions League final defeat on their official social media platform.
Mikel Arteta’s side were beaten on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday.
Singling out Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, Morgan argued: “Arsene Wenger had a great phrase for this once when he said, ‘Everyone thinks they have the prettiest wife at home’.
“And the truth about Chelsea and Tottenham is that, in football terms, they have the ugliest wives at home because they’ve both had absolutely appalling seasons.
“The idea anyone from Tottenham, who have come 17th for the second consecutive season, narrowly avoiding, by the skin of their ugly teeth, relegation.
“The idea that they’re taking an attempt to mock Arsenal fans after we’ve won the league and been the second best team in Europe. No, thank you.
“The idea that Chelsea have spent £1billion on players and yet none of them would even make Arsenal’s bench.
“They came 10th and the only European football anyone connected with Chelsea will play next season will be on a beach in Marbella. The idea that they are taking the moral high ground with us is equally absurd.”
He continued: “I would like to see a period of dignified silence from some of those clubs. Just silence, just quietly, just go away. Think about what’s happened with your clubs and worry about yourselves.
“Why are we hated? Because we’re winning and the truth in this country, which I like about this country, as opposed to many other countries, we have a tall poppy syndrome.
“When someone gets a little bit too big for their boots, and my grandmother used to always remind me, one day you’re the cock of the walk, the next you’re a feather duster.
“Simon, you should be aware of that phrase and the feeling being, if you get too big for your boots, then life has a way of kicking you in the nuts when you least want it to.”
Jordan responds
Asked if such a reaction to Arsenal’s success is healthy, Jordan replied: “I don’t know, I’m not sure that’s right. I think there’s an element about it. I think there’s a cultural situation in this country.
“I love my country too, but I also think there’s a propensity for a lot of green envy about the way people operate and there’s a desire to build people up so you can whittle them down.
“People are much more comfortable with that. So it’s not quite the same thing and I don’t see it the way Piers sees it.
“I think what we’ve got now is a digital scenario. Well, for example, yesterday he posted a tweet about something to do with me because he’s piggybacked off the fact we’ve mentioned about…”
Morgan was quick to interrupt, though, as the conversation quickly descended into a back-and-forth.
He pointed out: “You called me a splinter group of an obnoxious bunch of little twits.”
Jordan responded: “Which has resonance and he’ll be looking at that because he likes his little digital numbers. He’ll look at his 800 followers and I post a bit about his.”
This prompted Morgan to reveal his follower count on X as he exclaimed: “I have nearly nine million followers, which is, I think, last time I checked about eight million more than you.
“I wouldn’t get into following because you really will get what they call penis envy in hospitals.”
However, Jordan continued: “Because it’s desperately important for you to have it, Piers.
“I know that, but I was making a point because I know how important it is to you and how digital worlds resonate with you.
“You post a little tweet making an observation about something I’ve said and get 800 likes. I post a tweet about you coming and sniffing the chair with Martin Keown and I get 8,000 likes.
“So we talk about how we interact, but the digital world and the engagement and the banter. This is not hate, this is parody and banter and engagement and footprints and creating reactions.
“We saw a couple of years ago, I mentioned it the other day, where Man United talked about digital engagements and talking about following the trend of what their fans want to hear and then bringing players out to say these things to be able to create the trend.”
Jordan on AFTV and rivals’ ‘silliness’
The focus of the debate quickly turned to Arsenal’s infamous fan channel, Arsenal Fan TV (AFTV).
Jordan has previously blamed the hatred from rival supporters towards the Gunners on the group.
Morgan put his previous comments to him, including Jordan calling AFTV ‘little twerps’.
In response, he explained: “I don’t like some of their material in the same way that they might not like some of mine.
“Because I don’t think it’s particularly constructive or informed. My particular brand of like it to listen to somebody that I am engaged with and think has some substance.
“So when I see these guys running off on their rants, I don’t appreciate it, I don’t like it. Now they might not like my content, that’s fine. We can all live in different spaces.”
Morgan came to the defence of his fellow Arsenal fans, though, arguing: “You can’t argue surely that the Arsenal Fan TV guys (are not proper fans), they love their club. They’re passionate about their club.
“They’ve followed it in some cases for 40 years, home and away, every game. The idea that they’re not knowledgeable or informed about Arsenal is ridiculous. They are probably the most informed people.
“Because they express themselves passionately, they argue and they blow up and they hate losing and they love winning. What’s wrong with that?”
Jordan admitted that the ridiculousness goes both ways, though, after Alan Pardew previously claimed the volume of set piece goals scored by Arsenal affected the legitimacy of their title victory.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT’s Gabby Agbonlahor and Jason Cundy both celebrated their Champions League final loss in PSG shirts.
He explained: “My point was in conjunction with the question why is it Arsenal as a football club?
“Because I’ve always defended the notion that it isn’t that way and then I’ve seen stupid comments.
“I’ve seen Pardew come out with that ridiculous comment about Arsenal’s season will be asterisked if they win the league because all they do is win by set pieces.
“I’ve seen some of the responses. I’ve seen the silliness. I thought that what Gabby and Jason were doing by wearing PSG shirts in the studio to get a rise, I don’t like that kind of bullc***.”
The pair agreed over the absurdity of those antics, with Morgan adding: “I actually thought that showed mental health issues. I honestly think Spurs and Chelsea fans have gone slightly nuts.
“The pressure of their own lack of performance and us winning the league has sent them mad. I feel genuinely sorry for them.”
Turning his attention back towards AFTV, though, Jordan concluded: “What I was trying to do is explain the reasons why to the context of the question that you were asking, why there’s an adverse reaction.
“That’s why I was saying when you get these Arsenal fans ranting and raving and saying some of the things they do and then you get this nitwit over here popping up with his little brand of observation in social media.”
Morgan hits back
As for Morgan, he remained keen to remind Jordan of his followings on social media, specifically across YouTube and X.
Hitting back at the ‘little brand’ remark, he once again pointed out he boasts nine million followers.
This prompted Jordan to quip: “Whatever how many followers you’ve got.”
Morgan replied: “Well, a lot more than you, Simon. It’s not a little brand. Comparatively, this is a little brand.
“My YouTube channel has 4.5million subscribers. I have nine million followers on X.
“So when I say something to nine million people, I’m saying it to a lot more millions than you.
“It’s not a little brand, I’m not a little nitwit. You may not like what I say, but the platform I have is infinitesimally bigger than yours.”
Meanwhile, as Morgan made his argument, Jordan continually replied ‘I’m delighted’ throughout the rant.