Gallas’ Rant Proves Costly; Autobiography Lessens The Blow.

By: chris | November 21st, 2008

Coming as a surprise to absolutely no one, William Gallas has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy for his very uncaptain-like rant yesterday aimed at “Mr. X” (the good money’s on RvP). It’s also being speculated he will be dropped from the squad to face Man City this weekend, while the band will go to either Gael Clichy or Manuel Almunia (Cescums is suspended). All of which will surely be softened by the blow that his autobiography comes out today.

Wait. What? So you mean to tell me William Gallas found himself on the front page of every major sports section in Britain and France the day before his autobiography was released? You don’t say…

His autobiography also produced another juicy little nugget about a certain disrespectful little 20 year old twat from the Euros. That 20 year old twat is almost assuredly Samir Nasri (’twas reported at the time – the other option is Karim “My Head Doubles By The Day” Benzema). Oh, and would you look at that, Samir now plays for Arsenal. Apparently Bill is burning bridges one by one in the Emirates locker room.

“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,” writes Gallas. “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’.”

Now that the captaincy’s gone, it might be time to wonder if Gallas himself is soon to be gone. This isn’t small stuff, especially when he’s one of few veterans on a team riddled with kindergarteners, and airing one’s laundry in public is never ever, ever ever a smart idea. Ever. Especially with media as devious as that of the footballing variety. Hardly the decision making of a great leader.

But even without his captaincy, he can sit on his sofa this weekend and watch his book rocket up the best-sellers as his face hits the front page of every website and newspaper from London to Paris. His reputation may have taken another hit, but at least it’ll be profitable.

Perhaps FIFA should put aside SA2010 for a few weeks – it’ll still be there when they get back – and work on something more important: banning players from releasing autobiographies until after they’ve retired. Aside from needlessly fattening their already needlessly fat wallets, what good have they ever done?

As an added bonus, I decided to go to amazon.co.uk for a quick look at Willy’s autobiography (before realizing it’s probably en Français – which it is, should you feel the need), and the following came up as the most relevant search for one “William Gallas”:

Dripping with irony, yeah?

Some Related Stories:

Category: World Football

« What Motivates Footballers More: Pornography or Violence? | Home | Photo: The Face Mask, As Inspired By Hannibal Lecter. »

The Offside RSS Feeds

MoMONEY

Umm dealing with a cocky youngster is part of the captains role... He obviously is handling it wrong...
Foreverzidane

I thank him for all the great service that he's given Arsenal and France.
Now I think it's time for him to retire at PSG or MLS and allow
the young Gunners to grow up together.
The money given to the newbies has ruined and spoiled
the game to the point that the older more experienced players don't receive the same respect they used to.
The book will be a best seller no doubt, and I wish him the best.
Uwvie

I think Gallas has gotten what he deserves. The bit about Nasri (or Benzema, i guess) has nothing to do with him being stripped of the captaincy. I think it's just proof that Willy likes to talk. When he shouldn't. Probably to promote his upcoming book.He probably thinks he's a genius for using age to describe the players. Like the combined power of the internet couldn't identify the 25year old in the arsenal squad, or the 20 year old in the france squad. Wow, who could see this backfiring like this.Oh well, i guess here come those own goals he was threatening a few years back.
Laurie

I think I'm with Musab and Ebrahim, at least about the Nasri thing. It would be one thing if Gallas was coming down on Samir for disrespect to himself. Instead he's coming down on him for disrespect to Henry -- France's all-time leading goal-scorer.

I haven't seen you puttin' the ball in the net for France very much, Samir, and Gourcuff has recently outplayed you for your preferred spot on the field.

Respect is earned. I believe that was Gallas's point.
Ebrahim

Although i have (like many of us) made a negative judgement on Gallas in the past, I feel i have to agree with you Musab in that respect does need to be shown to the older players. You're also correct in identifying Wenger as the man that should have sorted out such dressing room friction.

Admittedly, Gallas does not deserve the captaincy, but it doesn't mean his claims are false - those named individuals need to be given a dressing down too.
Musab

I'm not an Arsenal fan, but I'm gonna stand up for Gallas. Read what he said here:

"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'."

If this conversation really happened, then Gallas has every right to be angry. He is a professional fooballer who has worked with Arsenal's teenagers for years without once raising his voice. And for these brats to treat him like this is totally wrong. And if Le Voyeur knew about this disrespect and didn't do anything about it, then shame on him as well.

No player needs this kind of crap in his career.
Laurie

Oh, btw, when I saw Chris's post, I created a little mental award in my head to be given to the first person who quoted Wordsworth in the comments.

Nick, you're a winner!
Laurie

If I'm not mistaken, when Gallas left Chelsea, he said that the final straw was the fact that they gave his number to Michael Ballack. Said it showed a "flagrant lack of respect."

If giving away his number shows a lack of respect necessitating a transfer, wonder what he'll say about stripping him of the captaincy?
Nick

"My heart leaps up" at this news. Ha.
Drabik

Gallas didnt even travel with the Arsenal squad to the weekend game. Methinkins he is sulking over the alleged loss of captaincy.
Wayne

Fantastic article Chris, brilliant. The snapshot of amazon.co.uk is just perfect. I hope the autobiography doesn't sell, but we all know it will...