Is it racism against Gallas here ??

[Gareth Keown]

and when I say here, I mean with the Spurs fanbase in general ??.... here me out..

when ex-Gunner O'Hara played for Spurs he was always 1 of the favourites cos of his simple-minded British-Bulldog attitude, that most Spurs fans class as passion and commitment... and thres nowt wrong with that... some will say that he was released by Ars*nal before signing professional forms...

but then theres the quite recent case of a certain David Bentley.... a Gunner thru-n-thru who played well for them, but was moved on all the same as he was thought (wrongly it seems) as not good enough....

why was there no howling uproar from the lilywhite (in more ways than 1) fanbase at Spurs over the 17m pound arrival of the over-rated Bentley ??.... no call to arms.... no threats of violence to the Spurs hierachy.... in fact.... no backlash whatsoever...

yet.... as we approach the arrival of 1 of the worlds great defenders of the past decade, who at 32yrs+ is still a better athlete than 'some CBs at Spurs' (the names escape me currently), has fantastic CL experience, Prem-winning experience, captaining experience with club and country, etc etc etc... and theres a huge negative vibe, and a seething undercurrent of hostility and pure venom at the thought of him donning a Spurs shirt..

the sheer difference in reception of the 2 players must beg the question which nobody wants mentioned... and no, I'm not being deliberately provocative, I'm really just genuinely curious...

if only William Gallas had blond hair and blue eyes ..... things might just be different..

[CountPuchi]

Ehmm.. there never was any racist remarks against Gallas really. We are even linked with Hleb! and im not accepting that even though he has blue eyes and Blond hair. See that? I dont know where your coming from with racism. If racist was the cause of the hate towards Gallas. By all means i think we should hate Lennon, Defoe, Hudds or anyone who is colored. Digging what im saying Gareth?

[YidJoe24]

and when I say here, I mean with the Spurs fanbase in general ??.... here me out..

when ex-Gunner O'Hara played for Spurs he was always 1 of the favourites cos of his simple-minded British-Bulldog attitude, that most Spurs fans class as passion and commitment... and thres nowt wrong with that... some will say that he was released by Ars*nal before signing professional forms...

but then theres the quite recent case of a certain David Bentley.... a Gunner thru-n-thru who played well for them, but was moved on all the same as he was thought (wrongly it seems) as not good enough....

why was there no howling uproar from the lilywhite (in more ways than 1) fanbase at Spurs over the 17m pound arrival of the over-rated Bentley ??.... no call to arms.... no threats of violence to the Spurs hierachy.... in fact.... no backlash whatsoever...

yet.... as we approach the arrival of 1 of the worlds great defenders of the past decade, who at 32yrs+ is still a better athlete than 'some CBs at Spurs' (the names escape me currently), has fantastic CL experience, Prem-winning experience, captaining experience with club and country, etc etc etc... and theres a huge negative vibe, and a seething undercurrent of hostility and pure venom at the thought of him donning a Spurs shirt..

the sheer difference in reception of the 2 players must beg the question which nobody wants mentioned... and no, I'm not being deliberately provocative, I'm really just genuinely curious...

if only William Gallas had blond hair and blue eyes ..... things might just be different..

Seriously mate what the flying f*ck are you on, seriouslyI have never seen someone talk so much sh*t in my entire life. Of course its ot racism, its the the fact the we think he's a mentally unstable c*nt!!

[Gareth Keown]

so, he's a mentally unstable c*nt.... and thats your professional medical opinion is it ??....hope they pick up on that diagnosis in the medical tomorrow.....


that of course will be the 'fig-leaf' that you 'experts' will rant behind.... its going to be an interesting social experiment for sure: watching a bunch of white-van driving Sun-readers adjust to the idea of a non-white non-English ex-Ars*nal player not only replacing the beloved Dawson in the side, but also captaining it in King's absence..

amazing tho how in contrast.....O'Hara...... Bentley....... =  1 of 'us'


Love Spurs vs Hate Ars*nal...... or just........ Love vs Hate..

I wander which will win this particular battle..

[YidJoe24]

Never said it was my "proffesional" opinion, it just my opinion mate, thats what this forum is about sharing your opinions, you just seem to read way too much into everything, like you're looking for some hidden message that doesn't exist. So i can assure you there is nothing hidden in what I say, I don't like Gallas, and there is no way in hell Harry would put him as ctp, your truely are one deluded f8ck if you believe that.

[SomersetYiddo]

^^Agreed. There is no racism in this mate, what are you on about!?!?

[Biggs]

If hating gooners or ex gooners is considered as racism, then yeah it's racism 

But seriously, i don't think we would be acting any different no matter who the player was.

There one thing that is different about them others players you are mentioning, Gallas is Ex Ars*nal Captain.

But like i said in the other thread, if this is happening now, we have got to trust harry and forget how we feel about him. If Gallas can help us to a trophy this season, we will all forget about it.

[Gareth Keown]

I really hope youre right and that Gallasgate will blow over soon..... when Campbell crossed over he may have got a similar (but much lesser in degree) reaction from their fans, but very soon he was welcomed as 1 of their own, with no reservations and not having to prove himself above and beyond the other players..

if Gallas plays for us, I hope that from Day1 the fans dont give him a negative reaction.... he's a Spurs player now (it seems) and they should treat him just like a player of his professional-status in the game, ability and experience should dictate..

if it doesnt happen..... I think there will be severe repercussions throughout the squad, with perhaps alot of the coloured players thinking Gallas is copping unfair flak that BENTLEY NEVER HAD TO GO THRU.... thats the moot point in all of this..

personally, I have a feeling he will play on the rightside of central-defence, as we have King and the left-footed Bassong covering leftside CB..... this will mean replacing a crowd-favourite Mr Bokey-Bloke Dawson...... which will compound the whole problem even further..

Arry may find that the crowd will put undue pressure on Gallas during games because of this, and chant Dawson's name throughout games....talk about pressurising your own team..... if this happens Arry may eithe be forced to play Dawson.... or sell him.

[RiffHard]

I don't care whether Gallas is white, black, red or yellow. What bothers me is his nature. There have been problems and scandals with him in every f**king team he has played for. Oh, and Gareth, believe me, buying Bentley was also not a very popular decision back then, even though we are his favourite club. Gallas has not only played for Ars*nal (and captained them), he played for Chelsea as well. Actually the bottom line is that it's not that relevant that he has been a gooner, it's his nature and ego that bother us.

[Gareth Keown]

if its a question of nature and ego, then lets get back to Bentley shall we...

since he arrived he has thrown many a strop and even REFUSING TO PLAY in a reserve-game when he wasnt getting a game in the Prem..... the guy also has a very high opinion of himself well beyond his level of ability and realised potential... unlike Gallas who has been at the very top and excelled at that level, winning many trophies along the way...

alot of players like Gallas, due to them being foreign will get very little objectivity from the tabloid Press in Britain who will be ready to slaughter them and exxagerate every little ripple or percieved misdemeanor... Galllas is a prime example....he was wrong to publicallly criticise his Arse players for lack of focus/drive and demanding the club got in more experienced players at high prices.... but that in a way showed his own drive to succeed and push others to match him in this..... having already wonmultiple  titles and cups with Chavski, he could easily havejust  gone to Arse for a bus-ride and a nice payday.... he didnt... he wanted to win and showed his willingness to draw ire by pushing others to match his drive to succeed..

as for 'that day' when he was in tears after a game, well whats so bad about that.... it hurt him to lose.... isnt that the sort of commitment you want from a player in your team and  taking your money (if youre more than an armchair-fan)... I would imagine if Dawson 'did a Gazza' by shedding a few tears, the Spurs fans reaction would be entirely different and they would love him for it even more....

double-standards.

[Dom07Tottenham]

OMG a bit of a reaction to Gareth's post, well you guys are not going to like the news, according to Redknapp, and reported by soccernet, skysports, and several other sites Gallas is signing a one year contract.
Gallas played a few seasons for Ars*nal get over it, he was at Chelsea and Marseille first, personally in the circumstances that we haven't been able to get anyone else, and there is less than two weeks left in the window, we desperately needed decent cover for CB, and Gallas brings with him a wealth of experience particularly in CL, I would rather Shawcross, Cahill, Subotic, young talented players that have even greater potential, but I can see why Harry has gone for experience in this instance, he denied it but I think he hasn't been given the green light to spend, he has limited funds until and if we make it past Young Boys, as he has only
been after freebies and  loans.
Redknapp confirms Gallas to sign for Spurs
By Soccernet staff




Gallas will undergo a medical on Friday afternoon before making Tottenham the third club he has represented in London.
"He's a no-brainer on a free transfer," Redknapp said. "He's never asked for big money here. The chairman's agreed a one-year contract with him and the wages are more than reasonable."
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=815862&sec=transfers&cc=3436&cc=5739

[Gareth Keown]

this is what Wenger said about Gallas today :-

"William has an exaggerated bad reputation. I believe that he is a genuine winner," said the Ars*nal manager.

"He wants things not to be done at 90% and is completely focused and motivated to win.

"He can be sometimes, a little bit brutal or impulsive in his reaction - but when you are a manager, he is not someone who talks behind your back.

"William is somebody who is straight and is completely focused on the game. You respect that."

[Dom07Tottenham]

I am not taking sides here as Gareth's article about racism may have been of the mark, I don't think he meant to directly accuse anyone of it, but rather tried to explain it, even though it may have been a a little presumptious, but Harry has came out and stuck up for Gallas, defending his character maybe a few will take notice who knows?
Gallas has done nothing wrong' insists Redknapp


Harry Redknapp confirmed the capture of William Gallas and then told Tottenham fans to get behind the former Ars*nal captain because 'he's done nothing wrong'. Gallas' switch to White Hart Lane may not prove the most popular among certain Spurs fans, who have grown to loathe one of Ars*nal's more animated players. However, Redknapp says the France international is desperate to do well at his new club, and he described Gallas as a 'world class defender' who represents a 'terrific deal' for the club. "He's not the first player to go from Ars*nal to Tottenham," said the Spurs boss. "It happens all the time; Tevez went from United to City. Gallas was at Chelsea [before Ars*nal] where he won all sorts. "He's a footballer, he's a smashing fella, he wants to play for Tottenham and that's all that counts. He's got the bottle to play here and I'm sure anybody who wants to play for Tottenham will get a good reception. "He's a nice guy, what's he done wrong? He's played football all his life, now he's going to play here." Gallas has had some high profile on-pitch dramas over the years, none more so than when he aimed a flying kick at the advertising hoardings and then cried in the middle of the pitch when Ars*nal let a lead slip at Birmingham. Redknapp believes that merely shows the player's winning mentality."I don't think his attitude's in question. The only problem he has is that he gets annoyed with people who aren't as professional as he is. That's not a bad thing. "If he can bring that to this squad, he's got vast experience and he's a world class player. On a free transfer he's a terrific deal for us."http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/40408.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

[taimedowne]

Accusations of racism at a club that has suffered years of anti-semitism are a bit hard to take. We have welcomed players of all creeds and colours over the years. I dont care who Gallas has played for in the past as long as he plays well for us he will have my full support, and I should imagine that of any genuine Spurs fan. To be honest the hatred of all things Ars*nal is getting a bit old. A bit of banter and some rivalry is ok but outright hatred of a guy down your street just because he chooses to follow a different team is really just as pathetic as hating somebody based on the colour of their skin.

[Dom07Tottenham]

Great post, totally agreed, in the modern day game football is a business aswell, these things happen players move from rivals both ways, all that matters is the quality of the player, and what they can do for us.