afc Gallas comments + Stripped of armband *Merged*

[Michel Kane]

I half expect Gallas to get stripped of the captaincy for this game only(or for however many games he is left out for), then get it back when he returns.

[Buc Nasty]

I don't expect Gallas to be here next season. He's a good player but was never captain material, he was never the main dude in a Centreback pairing as can be seen in his Chelsea days.The problem we now have with all these young players is that Wenger is electing the new captain based on age and not on what they bring to the team and their leadership qualities. You could arguably say Gilberto or Toure deserved it more than when Gallas got it. Now with the oldest head in the team being Almunia he looks likely to get it even though he is one of the main culprits of our shitty defence. He is a humungous c*nt who lacks the basics in goalkeeping ability and if Wenger selects him I will lose so much respect that I had for him.

[Flojo]

BBC reporting it now

[Guest LucaPiano]

just been told from a reliable source gallas has walked out the club and is to train with Marsielle till January where a deal will be completed for his signature.

[thinkingthuglife]

give it to clichy.

[n/a]

Why you saying well done Wenger for?!Seriously I'm baffled. Like really baffled...Wenger I swear is determined to ruin this season single handly.

he has to make a stand no player is bigger than the clubi remember roy keane slewed fletcher miller nd some other man u players in publiche got fukd off out the club quickly, even tho he could of played there for longerwenger had to react like this tbh

Smh.Keane named names, and lets ot forget Keane had done it many a time, its just when he finally did it, he was in the worst form of his Man Utd career.Wenger doesnt have enough players to react like this, Fergie wasnt sitting joint 4th with Aston Villa and Hull who had both beaten them at home. Fergie's next captain select was Manuel f*ck*ng Almunia.

tbh personally id rather stick to principles even if it means our season goes further downhillwe werent gonna win league anywayplus theres only maybe a few players in the world who aint replaceable gallas is nowhere near themwhether wenger will replace him is another thing

[Captain Planet]

William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy and will not play against Manchester City, according to Sky Sports News sources. Gallas spoke of unrest in the Arsenal camp on Thursday and also revealed details of a bust-up during half-time in the recent 4-4 draw with Tottenham.A number of former players have been quick to criticise Gallas for the outburst and it now appears as though Arsene Wenger has acted quickly to discipline the Frenchman.It is understood that Gallas, who was handed the armband at the start of last season, will not travel with the rest of the squad ahead of Saturday's game at Man City.Reports suggest that goalkeeper Manuel Almunia will lead out the side.story

f*ck the f*ck off.

[Lieutenant]

Beg someone put the armband on Eboue, i will sig that happily

[anelka]

Ive always defended Gallas, even though what hes saying is tru he went 2far this timeTbh he is 2big a player for Arsenal at the moment, hes a man whos won things not a kid from Africa or BrazilHes gone from training with Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Essien etc fighting on the pitch as a team 2 Arsenal, a team full of pretty fags..Taking stick from RVP has 2be a low point for Gallas, shoudda smacked him in the mouth tbh, whats RVP done in his career?

[gattsu]

i dunno even know what to 2 say@ anelkajust smh

[Aquaman]

can see his contract being mutually terminatedhe's gone in jan for sure. will wipe 90k off the wage billcrazy how the team spirit has gone from this time last year.

[TF S4DK]

It was initially understood that Gallas had been stripped of the captaincy, but reports later suggested that he may have offered to step down at a team meeting.

[TF S4DK]

Under-fire Arsenal skipper William Gallas has admitted that he hopes to end his career back in France.The 31-year-old left his homeland in 2001 when he joined Chelsea, but is eyeing a return.He accepts that his playing days are drawing to a close and would like to work in familiar surroundings before hanging up his boots.There is no suggestion that he is imminently seeking a move to a top Ligue 1 outfit, but in the aftermath of his recent allegations regarding unrest in the Arsenal dressing room he did admit to being unsure as to where his future may lie."It's true that I'd like to return to France for one or perhaps two seasons to finish my career," Gallas told the Evening Standard."But if I go it won't be to just anywhere. I'd go to a big club or nowhere at all. The choices look simple to me - it would be Marseille, Lyon, Paris St Germain or, let's not forget, Bordeaux."PSG are a massive club and known everywhere. I've stayed in contact with Claude Makelele and he's told me that he's pretty happy to be in Paris. He feels he's getting the respect he deserves from everyone."While on the subject of respect, Gallas has caused another storm by revealing details of a training ground bust-up he had with a junior member of the France squad at Euro 2008.The volatile defender has told of how he felt an unnamed youngster was disrespecting the older members of the side, and later made the culprit well aware of his opinion.Contempt"I was also 20-years-old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in this tone to a footballer who was older than me," Gallas said in his autobiography.He added: "The youngsters from the Euros seem cheeky, very sure of themselves. They think they know it all, but they don't know anything."Faced with his contempt, I raised my voice. The young player said: 'Lower your voice, speak less loudly'."I replied: 'How are you speaking to me? Who do you think you are? You are only 20-years-old. I am not your friend."He said: 'Me neither, I am not your friend'."

Told you its bait he dont like young players and how easy they get it, lmao at I am not your friend, come like he think he's their dad.

[TF S4DK]

Talking of Roy Keane....

Sunderland manager Roy Keane believes Arsenal captain William Gallas has a right to criticise his team-mates.Gallas has caused controversy by venting his frustrations at his Emirates Stadium colleagues following a disappointing start to the season.The French defender has claimed that there is unrest in the Arsenal dressing room and that Arsene Wenger's squad lack a fighting spirit.But former Manchester United captain Keane believes Gallas should be allowed his opinion, although the Black Cats boss feels the Arsenal player should have dealt with the matter differently."I used to quite a bit," Keane told Sky Sports News when asked if Gallas was wrong to criticise."But there are ways of doing it. You just hope you have a strong dressing room."Obviously I'm not going to comment on what the captain of Arsenal has allegedly said."But you hope you have a few captains in your dressing room to take care of things."I was lucky in my playing days that we had some strong characters and we used to deal with what ever was going on in the dressing room."If I was missing something, which I very rarely did, then there was another couple of players to spot things."A good dressing room and a good captain can make the manager's job easier."Everyone has the right to say what they feel every now and again and if it upsets people, so what? People are too easily upset these days."

[Agony]

LOL @ the difference between the amount of leaders/potential captains Wenger's first squad had and his current squad

[Agony]

Keane's right, Gallas has a right to criticise his team-mates. But it should be done behind closed doors. Keane probably won't admit it but he knows he was wrong to do his rant back in the day on MUTV instead of in the dressing room.

[MrJibbles]

William Gallas' hold on the Arsenal captaincy appeared to be over this evening and his very future at the club in jeopardy after he did not travel with the rest of the squad to the north-west for tomorrow's Premier League fixture against Manchester City.The controversial Frenchman had followed his attack on an unnamed team-mate on Wednesday — that player is known to be Robin van Persie — with further outspoken comments about another of them. Once again he did not name the player, identifying him only as "S" and saying that he played in midfield, but it is understood he was referring to Samir Nasri, his France team-mate who joined Arsenal from Marseille in the summer. In his newly released autobiography, he criticised him for his "insolence".Arsène Wenger, the manager, was deeply concerned by Gallas' comments and had given serious thought to stripping him of the captaincy. He informed Gallas of his intention and the explosive result was that Gallas stayed behind in London as his team headed to Manchester.On Wednesday, Gallas had spoken of the dressing room being disrupted by one player who "insults us", an attack on Van Persie, while he also said that his young Arsenal team-mates were "not brave enough in battle", that there had been a row at half-time during the recent 4-4 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur and that the reason he was speaking out was because "there are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated".Wenger has defended his outspoken and emotional captain, whose methods have been under scrutiny since his bizarre sit-in protest at Birmingham City last February. Gallas found himself in the headlines again when he was pictured with a cigarette on a night out.Yet he has been pushed too far by Gallas and acted for the sake of dressing-room unity. He will be without one alternative captain at Eastlands as Cesc Fábregas is suspended and most likely another — Kolo Touré is described as a "major doubt" after he injured his calf in midweek. The goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is expected to wear the armband.Wenger will publicly address the subject of Gallas after the game and, in the meantime, he simply wants his players to pull together and do their talking on the pitch. Despite four Premier League defeats already this season, he believes that they have the mental strength and ability to rouse themselves.Gallas was the victim of unfortunate timing as much as anything else with his latest comments from his book. His row with Nasri took place in the heat of the moment during France's failed Euro 2008 campaign and the pair promptly made their peace. What Gallas said to his biographer some months ago about the flashpoint, however, is insightful about his problems with the new generation of young players.He said they "seem cheeky — they think they know everything but they know nothing". He added: "I too was 20 years old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in such a way to a player older than me. We respected the veterans. We shut our mouths."Gallas said that he was stunned when the young player he argued with took Thierry Henry's seat on the France team bus. He described the young player as "insolent" but said that he finally moved. Gallas had scolded the player in training for not calling out when he passed the ball, and he gave a blow-by-blow description of the heated conversation that followed. "Are you speaking to me? Who do you take yourself for? You're only 20 ... I am not your friend," Gallas said."I'm not your friend either," the player responded. "Straight away, I see red," added the 31-year-old.Gallas' passionate nature has been held up as a strength but the generation gap between him and Arsenal's young tyros has contributed to his fall from grace.The Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/no.../arsenal-france

[Guest Ryan]

You don't air it in public hence why he's lost the captaincy and his place in the squad.Don't see what Wenger's done wrong here.

[Michel Kane]

f*ck off William...Samir Nasri bested everything Gallas did at Arsenal, in one game versus United...

[FANTA]

everyone is a gamble for that captains armband due to how Wenger built that squad. but you gotta pick someone...its funny how peoples opinions change when a player/manager says something outloud. swear people that go to games know van p has always been a knob? same how everyone knows quincy got sold for non-footballing reasons...

[Doug]

Van Perise would make a perfect captin imo

[TF S4DK]

You don't air it in public hence why he's lost the captaincy and his place in the squad.Don't see what Wenger's done wrong here.

Smh. A lot of blame lands at Wenger's door but thats another discussion...Anyway did you watch Arsenal against Villa??? I haven't even spoke on that game on here ever, as such is my disgust.My outlook is if Gallas, as Arsenal captain, cant pull rank on his team-mates after that performance he never can! Gallas cares, he shows it in the wrong way but he cares & shares a lot of our frustrations, and while I was 100% against the decision to give him the captaincy, as time has gone on instead of just looking at Gallas, I've looked at the rest of them and really do wonder if the others can live with the responsibility. Gallas isn't a natural leader, he's no Tony Adams, he's not even a Arsenal man, but he has tried to grow into the task, to some degree he'll probably be the longest victim of the Birmingham game (granted its his own doing, unlike Eduardo) cos since that f*ck up & with it the failure to win the league he has given every media detractor the green light to go in on him.Cesc is struggling enough havng to play next to Denilson, to give him the captaincy is another weight on his shoulders & eventually a power leverage I'm not sure if he should have just yet. Infact if Cesc cant boss that c*nt Denilson to track back, then is he the right one to boss the squad?!Clichy is a 100% on his ting, but again how much will the responsibility of being captain effect his game? Plus he's rash, hardly the ca,img influence we need...Almunia can surely only be a contender due to age, cos frankly this guy is blessed to even get on that coach every week, let alone actually play, so to captain as well.....and news flash - Kolo Toure isn't even a starter anymore! Wenger abused his body (no homo) so much he's been replaced by the knackered legs of Mikael Silvestre (who God forbid could be another contender).My point is now Wenger has to force the issue of the Arsenal captaincy, and that didnt work with Gallas nor Thierry, and their performances very visably suffered, frustration grew, and as much as Wenger can say he has many "captains" in his squad, he doesn't, he doesnt have any MEN, as thats why Gallas was made captain initially and why he wasn't replaced this summer.and most importantly we can't afford to lose Gallas as a player, allow weeks of Gavin Hoyte playing due to this, the fact Hoyte's surname is Hoyte, plus coming into the team now, could ruin whatever chance he had of a Arsenal career. Smh.

[TF S4DK]

WILLIAM GALLAS has been told he can leave Arsenal after a furious bust-up with boss Arsene Wenger.Wenger stripped defender Gallas of the captaincy in a sensational showdown yesterday.And he ordered the Frenchman to stay at home for today’s game at Manchester City.SunSport understands Gallas was “shocked and devastated” and is now considering his future.A close family member revealed: “Arsene told him ‘If you don’t want to be in my team then just go. You are free to leave’. William was shocked at the outburst and went straight home.“He’s had the captaincy taken away and has also been suspended from the team.“Of course, he’s totally devastated about what’s happened and is now wondering what to do next.“He simply doesn’t know what will happen to him. He’s very down.”Gallas, 31, stunned Wenger by revealing problems in the Arsenal dressing room.He claimed he had to break up a fight between Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott at half-time during the explosive 4-4 draw with Spurs last month.The defender also claimed there was a rat in the Emirates camp who everyone dislikes, thought to be Emmanuel Eboue.Our source, who asked not to be named, added: “William’s had big fall-outs with Nicklas Bendtner in the past and most recently he’s had a problem with Eboue.“He doesn’t mix with anyone in the club any more and is a bit of a loner.“He has no friends in the dressing room and feels his authority has been undermined.“But the other Arsenal players seem to have short memories.“After all, one of the first things he did as captain was negotiate a better deal for the players’ win bonuses.“Under him, they went from earning a win bonus of £800 per game to £2,500.“That made him everyone’s friend at first. Now he has no friends.”One player said: “We were called into a team meeting and told William was not going to be captain for the match at City.“We are all very angry with William. But we were told we have to move on and forget about the captaincy.“But at the moment, there are a lot of problems at Arsenal.”Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood said: “Baring all these things in public is no help for anybody.”

[MrJibbles]

Looks like Fabregas has spoke out on Gallas not being captain material to Wenger.

[Captain Planet]

We need a charismatic outspoken cunty jarring prick to be our captain, to tell guys what it is.But not Gallas.