WILLIAM GALLAS has been told by Arsène Wenger that he must apologise to the manager and the rest of the squad for his scathing comments about his younger teammates. Sources say Gallas has been put on gardening leave and that Arsenal may even consider beginning the process of finding the controversial Frenchman another club in the January transfer window.

The row between Wenger, the Arsenal manager, and Gallas developed when the 31-year-old France defender was summoned to a meeting upon his return from international duty and informed that he was being stripped of the captaincy and fined two weeks’ wages [the maximum permitted] in response to his outburst against an unnamed teammate, believed to be Robin van Persie, on Wednesday evening.

It is understood that Wenger still wanted Gallas to take his place in the Arsenal team for yesterday’s trip to Manchester City. However, Gallas reacted furiously to losing the role of which he was so proud, telling Wenger that he believed his controversial comments to a French journalist were off the record. The outcome was that the defender stayed behind in London as his team headed north.

The rift between Wenger and Gallas is now believed to be so deep that many insiders feel he has played his last game for the club, although last night Wenger maintained the player still had a future at the Emirates. Gallas has long been known as a prickly character and a dressing-room loner who would not find it easy to apologise. It is understood that he has not one ally among his mostly younger colleagues, a situation that has worsened since his good friend Thierry Henry moved to Barcelona.

Gallas has a particularly difficult relationship with Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder, Cesc Fabregas. The pair had a dressing-room row last March after Arsenal had let slip a one-goal lead to lose at Chelsea, a defeat that dealt a severe blow to their title chances. The Frenchman is also believed to have had a row along similar lines recently with Theo Walcott, demonstrating the growing gap between him and Arsenal’s tyros.

Wenger, who made his decision to demote Gallas before details emerged yesterday of a second rant against club and country colleague Samir Nasri in his newly released autobiography, privately feels let down. The saga could well end with Gallas leaving, probably back to his native France, when the transfer window reopens in six weeks.

Even before the latest furore, only a few optimists ever thought Arsenal could win the Premier League this season. Those hopes were killed off when Gallas publicly criticised his teammates for lacking courage. He accused some of Arsenal’s young Guns of “not being brave enough”, revealed that Walcott and Van Persie “fought” at half-time during the 4-4 draw with Tottenham and said an unnamed player “continually insulted” the others.

Those internal divisions help to explain Arsenal’s inconsistency in a season in which they have beaten Manchester United but have already lost five league games, to Fulham, Hull, Stoke, Aston Villa and Manchester City. The form of the first team has been in marked contrast to that shown by the reserves, who have seen off Sheffield United [6-0] and Wigan [3-0] in the Carling Cup, and those with some sympathy with Gallas’s views will point to the fact that the reserves are largely free of the “Billy Bigtime” attitudes to which he alludes.

Others, in a comfortable majority, are likely to feel that Gallas has been one of the worst culprits in terms of behaviour.

His petulant one-man protest when Birmingham were awarded a late penalty at St Andrew’s in February is too recent to have been forgotten. Teammates have privately admitted that the sight of their captain sitting in the centre circle, crying, did nothing for their morale.

Cynics will say he may be engineering a lucrative transfer, in much the same way as when he allegedly threatened to score in his own net to leave Chelsea. In any case, the Emirates dressing room he portrays is not a happy place. Most damaging of all, Gallas suggested some of the younger players were more interested in their celebrity lifestyles than football. He said: “You can rest on your laurels. At Manchester United, the difference is that the youngsters have won something.”

The contenders to replace Gallas as captain long-term are Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy and Fabregas.

GALLAS ROW
Wednesday 10pm After France’s 0-0 draw with Uruguay, William Gallas tells reporters of problems in the Arsenal dressing room, saying his teammates were unwilling to fight for the title. He details bust-ups he has had with Robin van Persie and, in his autobiography, with Samir Nasri [without naming them]
Thursday 10am Arsène Wenger talks to English reporters unaware of Gallas’ comments
Thursday noon Gallas’ words are translated in the English media and the furore builds
Friday morning Gallas is stripped of the captaincy and told he can leave the club if he does not apologise. He does not travel for yesterday's match at Manchester City
Yesterday Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia captains Arsenal at the City of Manchester stadium