PATHETIC MAKING GALLAS A SCAPEGOAT!

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

I agree with a lot of what Gus is saying, but for me it comes down to whether people are placing all of the blame squarely at one person. I mean if a murderer is released from prison and goes on to kill again then absolutely you blame the system (be that the judge, govt, etc) but you don’t absolve the murderer of all guilt either by saying “well, he‘s just doing what’s in his natureâ€

[aw]

Gus in a lot of ways I feel you on me are on the same wavelength and line of thought on all things Arsenal but while I agree with parts of this article there are also many parts that I cannot agree with.

Firstly to get it on the record that I am 100% in agreement with you re your wenger criticism of wenger as regards the management of the players and choices of captains. It is well known that I am hugely critical of wenger's performance in the transfer market for the last 2 seasons so again we agree on that. However it is your defence of gallas that I cannot agree with here for a few reasons -
I simply cannot buy into this whole I'd rather he said out what was happening rather than listen to the happy camp bullshit. That would be fine if he was just telling me or a few Arsenal fans but he was telling the whole world and we as Gooners know all too well how the media love to jump all over us every single fcuking chance they get Can he honestly said he didnt expect the media reaction his comments have received ? As a few have said on here already gallas statement is all about self preservation and nothing about squad unity or sorting things out in an effort to heal wounds. Wenger has to manage right now like he has never done before and his 1st priority must be to remove the captaincy from gallas, not because he is a wanker (though I believe that to be true) but because he is a piss poor leader and while there is a shocking lack of alternatives in the squad I believe that he has had a chance, failed at it, and should now be replaced accordingly.
The 2nd point is your defence of gallas the player. There is more than a grain of truth in your arguement that our current midfield is woefully short in the defensive part of their responsibilities and it is affecting the back four. However you use that as a shield to deflect criticism from gallas's performances but dont apply the same ethos to kolo. Hasnt he being playing behind the same midfield as gallas ? Wasnt toure's form good last season, when he had a more defensive midfielder in front of him, prior to the anc from which he came back injured ? Isnt it then possible that his form is also down to a lack of midfield protection ? If we afford the 2 of them the same judgement then to me it would come down to who is getting caught out more often and without a shadow of doubt that is gallas as our first 3 goals conceded this season in the league were all down to him. There is no doubt that gallas was once a great defender but I would argue that the jury is very much out on whether he still is that good defender.

To my mind, as I said above, wenger now has to be a strong manager after failing to be that man for the last 2 seasons. In my opinion he needs to start picking that team based on performances, partnerships and working relationships instead of ego's and over indulgence to certain players. With that in mind I would without a doubt have kolo and djouru as my 1st choice partnership right now cos I feel that gallas has been played with several different partners with no improvement with any of them so sooner or later you have to ask is his partner the problem or is gallas himself the problem ?

I agree with Augie

[gooner_4_Life 1991]

Personally I do not care what kind of a person our captain is as long as he is the right man for the job at the right time and gives everything for the cause.

Adams and Henry had/still have certain personal traits that I thank god I do not have and the vast majority loved and are still in love with those players.

Gallas is certainly a loose cannon but if you decide to give him a mouthpiece such as the Arsenal captaincy then do not be suprised if someone who is undoubtedly self-centred and egotistic uses this tool to his advantage along the way.

None of us know the players as well as Wenger and he should have had the foresight to see this sham coming. It is like giving Paul Merson the keys to a bar in Columbia with a bookies next door!

[BrusselsNorthbank]

My views (for what they're worth!)

1. Critiscing in public is wrong - I'm not blamimg Gallas for our poor performances this season, but this makes us look fuckin idiots! he has to have the captaincy removed.

2. Clearly AW has the responsibility for sorting this out - and some of this should be done privately and some publicly - demonstrating that he has taken action

3. It is another example of mis-management at the club - while AW is not blameless, where is the internal support for him? Since Deadly Dein left, then Edelman, neither have been replaced, and AW can't do everything. All the shit in the papers about which potential Chief Exec has most recently turned us down is embarassing.

4. While I don't want to go Russian, we do need some leadership from the top and it is still missing!