WHEN Andy Warhol (supposedly) spoke of everyone having their 15 minutes of fame, he could never have predicted the uncontrollable animal that is Arsenal Fan TV.

These days, everyone who wants to be on TV can be. And the likes of Sky Sports are insistent that just about every story they cover should be backed by viewers having their say.

“Tell us what you think”, “It’s not too late to vote in our online poll”, “Join the debate of the day” and suchlike are commonly over-used phrases on today’s rolling sports channels. Every aspect of a story now needs the input of those of us paying our subscriptions to be informed.

And, thanks to Robbie Lyle, who started his Gunners project with begged or borrowed video cameras, microphones and so on, supporters of Arsenal got to vent their spleens on YouTube for other Gooners to tune in.

He seems a decent enough fella, his reasons for starting up AFTV were honourable enough – all opinions are equally valid and supporters wanted to listen to each others’ opinions, not necessarily pundits and experts.

And over the last four or five years it has grown into must-watch TV, whether you are an Arsenal fan or not. In fact, it is probably better not to be an Arsenal fan, given the clips posted week in, week out on various platforms. A Gunners defeat these days is welcomed by more than just Spurs fans, for each one leads inevitably to the disturbed and disgruntled descending on Lyle in the car park to demand Arsene Wenger’s head in a variety of ways.

Lyle knows his stuff all right – he appears to have a group of go-to guys he can rely upon once the final whistle has blown on his side’s latest calamity.

The big shouty bloke from Storage Hunters UK is on quite a lot, and a lad called Claude who seemingly buys every ounce of merchandise from the club shop. There is a man who goes by the name of Troopz (the Z is, I believe, something the kidz on the streetz use). Troopz cannot complete a sentence without either an expletive or the word ‘blood’.

And I did not catch his name but I clearly recall a fan berating Lyle while he was asking for folks’ two-pennorth on Arsenal’s transfer spending. “It’s net spend. Don’t talk about spend, talk about our net spend,” he’d scold.

The channel’s success is down to the knee-jerk reactions on show – win and their team are world beaters once again. Lose, and some of these will never set foot in the club ever ever ever again. Until Wenger goes, or the next game comes around, whichever happens soonest. And, given the recent unrest among those turning out at the Emirates it provides endless entertainment for those of us who don’t give a hoot for their fortunes.

It is good they care, it is better (for the viewer) they are almost incandescent when they dare to lose a game.

It almost resembles a Victorian freak show at times: Roll up, roll up – see the angriest man in north London rage. Come and laugh at two people with opposing views almost come to blows. It is natural for the presenter/interviewer to hunt out the ‘most entertaining’ subjects.

It is his livelihood these days, after all, and no one would tune in to watch if there was no spark on screen.

There is no room for measured reaction here, just the extremes are needed. These minor well-known faces flock to the camera like flies around jam, desperate to rant for 20 seconds, then stammer for a further minute while they try to expand upon a thought.

We should just take Fan TV for what it is – throwaway entertainment, no more or less valid than the likes of TOWIE and Love Island. It isn’t going to change the world, it’s just their 15 minutes.

Warhol also said art is what you can get away with. And boy, does Lyle know his art form well.