Paul Parker Article

Time to end Gallas captaincy

Thu Nov 20 04:50PM

Following William Gallas's revelation of divisions within the Arsenal dressing room, the time has come for Arsenal to find a new skipper.

Gallas proved he was not the man for the job at Birmingham last season and his latest outburst has only added more weight to the argument that he should be stripped of the armband.

He was a poor choice of captain even before his infamous sit-in at St Andrews; nine months later and he is million miles from being an ideal leader. He is too much of a disruptive influence.

Arsene Wenger should have acted after the Birmingham game but now he has no choice: Gallas must be ditched as captain - and maybe even offloaded elsewhere in January - if Arsenal's season is not to fall apart.

The last thing Arsenal need - or any team for that matter - is a whistle-blower in the ranks, least of all the man who is supposed to gel the squad together and motivate the players to get the best out of them.

What is said in the dressing room should stay there. If there is a problem, no one else needs to know about it. It is not for public consumption.

Whatever happens needs to be contained there and dealt with in an appropriate way, either at the time or at a later date.

But once it becomes public, you have a big problem on your hands. Now everyone knows that Arsenal's current on-pitch problems - and by that I mean their inconsistency - is not just down to injuries or bad luck or the 'rough-house' tactics employed by opponents.

Their troubles are more deep-seated than that; as a team Arsenal are not united. And considering football is a team game, that will be perceived by opponents as a major weakness.

Gallas has betrayed his team-mates - whatever their faults - by using the international break as an excuse to go to the media and spill the beans.

He may be a vastly experienced player, but some of his decisions beggar belief. Put simply, the latest outburst lacks professionalism.

With the captain's armband comes a certain amount of responsibility for your team-mates. But Gallas has shown no sign of that - he has even admitted he is passing the buck because he does not want to accept the blame any more.

The disruption stemming from this could now have a knock-on effect on the team's performances on the pitch - and with Arsenal struggling to maintain a head of steam this season, that is the last thing they need at the moment.

Arsenal do not need someone like Gallas at the Emirates. In a way he is a selfish player, always looking after number one. His ego is suffocating Arsenal at the moment and not allowing the club to move forward.

Wenger needs to take a long, hard look at the situation and make a decision with the best interests of Arsenal at heart, and not those of individual players.

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Right see ya all tomorrow have a lovely evening or @#$% I really dont mind
From anne_helm on Mon Nov 24 04:54PM
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bye annie
From jay8my on Mon Nov 24 04:55PM
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jlo you know I dont like it when you do that leave it
From anne_helm on Mon Nov 24 04:56PM
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its time for me to go now too. take it easy guys catch ya tomorrow.
From jay8my on Mon Nov 24 04:56PM
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keep Adebayor as the captain and fabregas as vice that will help arsenal to win something this season forget about gallas .
From chingakule on Mon Nov 24 06:47PM
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Glad to see Chelsea's secret weapon to disrupt Arsenal has worked,hahahahah
From zolamark3000 on Tue Nov 25 09:21AM
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Right i tell you the problem. Chelsea got rid of Gallas cos he was a f**king liabilty, and Man U did the same with Silvestre.
Wenger buys these players because he thinks he can mould them into model players. The common problem is the size of the egos of these players. Arsenal just hasn't got the room for these over sized heads. They never have and never will. The members of the team that haven't performed this season are usually the ones with this problem. Bendtner, Gallas, Silvestre, Senderos (who is on loan, surprise surprise) I say get rid of them in January and work more with the youth, who seem to run rings round most teams they played. Play Vela, Ramsey, Wilshere, Simpson and Freeman (watch this space) from the start for 75 minutes, give them the experience to play big games and show all the weary Arsenal fans they when you eliminate the ego we can get back to being great again.
Fabragas for captain, damn straight. He'll give them a big kick up the arse(nal) This is a man who won the Euro with Spain. He knows how to create a winning mentality. I just hope he doesn't do a Henry and think the grass is greener.
We dont play good football by buying out players from mid table clubs (Man U) or letting our Russian or Arab owners go on an unlimited spending spree (Man City & Chelsea) We build a youth team we can be proud of. Lets starts using them a bit more wenger.
From ajbiscuitthief on Tue Nov 25 11:55AM
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Parker or whatever you call yourself, go hide yourself. I know you are only trying to win readers in the UK though. Those arsenals kids that have made watching Arsenal boring with late equalisers of every goal they had in earlys or they conceding early enough and keep struggling to equalise. Anyway, in the UK you hold footballers to a high esteem. the case is a bit different from where Gallas is from(France).There it has to be a different approach because a footballer can go pass you without anyone bother about him, why in England, Rooney could even drive on the street with sirens and police officers anyway.you pampers too much. If you have any brain, do you know that Gallas is a character of person that is difficult to like because of his star of person. Also, you have to know that since we live in the develop world(western world).Black people are look as arrogant when they are confidence and good in their work. why the white is consider as confidence when he is arrogant.
From christianigbinaduwa on Tue Nov 25 10:23PM
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ok take the captain's armband from him,but i'm sure teams need somone who's not afraid to tell players what they think if it's for the good of the team and as captain should'nt he be the one who's job it is to tell arsene if there's unrest in the camp, as this needs to be dealt with for the good of the team and the fans that pay to see their team performas a solid unit. Fair enough the press should not have been involved but THEY always seem to find out what goe's on in the changing rooms anyway so if gallas had'nt have told them some one else would have. P.S canyou imagine not pulling you weight on the pitch an keano is your captain what do you think he would have said in the changing rooms.
From snoop338 on Sat Nov 29 09:39AM
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fab is great but as a captain i'm not so sure as this needs to be somone who can is able to encourage players throught the game, give orders, and bollock players if needed yes there's an emensly cool and aged head on young shoulders with total skills at his feet but i am sorry 'for me he's not captain material.(this is just my opinion)
From snoop338 on Sat Nov 29 09:53AM
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None of this matters: The simple answer is that Wenger has to be made responsible for all of this mess. How long can Arsenal use the excuse that this is a "young team"? Almost all of the African & French/African players are the problem. When was the last time Arsenal got a top flight English player on transfer? How is it Wenger has never signed players such as Rooney, Lampard, Cole, Ferdinand, and a whole host of others that he could have taken during his tenure? Instead, look at who he has signed - they are not bad players, but not of the same quality that were available at the time. Enough Mr. Wenger, take a look how managers like Ferguson operate and you might learn something. I am one very fed up Arsenal fan. Bring on Martin O'Neil!
From worldcupagony on Mon Feb 09 11:47AM
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