Now it's not the intention of this article to debate what was said and wasn't said, only to note that the accusation was the Gallas had said he " may score an own goal", in other words there was a possibility. Now we don't know whether he said this, or in what context, but for some people this is enough to condemn Gallas as an example of player power gone mad. It is possible he said something like it, but even if he did, and he says he didn't, I would argue is of little importance to Arsenal fans. Why?

The reason why is when comrades fall out, the name calling sometimes gets out of hand. True Arsene Wenger has shown class by wishing Ashley Cole well, but no doubt many Arsenal fans wish him the exact opposite, nonetheless name calling after a break-up is not the most exact method of character assessment. For 22 years Chairman Mao and Lin Biao were the closest of comrades in arms, suddenly in 1971 Lin Biao disappeared in mysterious circumstances that are of no concern here. Suddenly the Chinese people were told that Lin had been a hidden traitor in their midst, and had tried to flee China, it was during this alleged attempt to flee that Lin died.

For 22 years he had been a loyal servant to Chairman Mao, suddenly he was discovered to be a traitor, Chinese communists joined in the denunciation. None of them asked any of the searching questions that could have been asked; such as why had it taken Mao so long to discover a traitor at his right hand? A man who had been at his side during the long march. When did Lin Biao become an enemy of the people? Why hadn't Mao mentioned his suspicions before? Of course the answer probably was that he hadn't become a traitor, rather that Mao felt he was challenging his authority.

Now William Gallas has only been five years with Chelsea, but most of the time he has been at the side of Terry and other Chelsea defenders, at no time were suspicions of Gallas raised. At the beginning of this season Gallas asked to leave, he was told he would not be allowed to, Wenger made it known he wanted Gallas. It was made clear by Chelsea that Gallas would never be sold to Arsenal, but for some reason, and maybe that reason was Ashley Cole, they finally let him go after the midnight transfer deadline had struck.

We were then told that Kenyon and Mourinho were at loggerheads over the sale, then we were told that this was all lies they were in complete agreement, this was then followed by the Gallas own goal allegations. The point is that the accusations, true or not, and their timing, are not just for Arsenal and Gallas, but for the Chelsea faithful. They have lost an important comrade and rather than blame their own incompetence it is far better to unite against the capitalist roader, and running dog of Western imperialism than to behave with dignity.