Gallas swap is a bad bit of business for us

“You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, when I met you; I picked you out, I shook you up and turned you around, turned you into someone new”

NO I haven’t lost the plot — this Human League classic has been going round in my head ever since the Cole/Gallas deal finally went through.

Gallas, inset, below, was a nobody when we bought him to Chelsea; we put him on the world stage; we made him (and yes my voice has gone an octave higher).

He said he wanted to go abroad; he said he wanted to go and experience a new culture, a new league; he’s French for goodness sake — for all intents and purposes, Arsenal is france.

I am a little miffed by this move. Not since Gordon Durie announced that he wanted to go back up north and only made it as far as north London, to Tottenham, have I felt so betrayed by a player. In this one deal, we have managed to strengthen the Gooners in a key weak area, destroy the best central pairing in the Premiership, get rid of the only real speed we had in that department, and give Arsenal £5 million!

Gallas was always a moody git. We’d sort of accepted it because of what he did on the pitch. He never made himself available for interviews (unless he wanted to whinge about something), and every year he’d say something controversial to the French press about the club (then claim he had been misquoted), and he rarely acknowledged the crowd — we still sang his name though, which is why all this hurts so much.

Not only has he joined our biggest rival but then, to rub salt in our wounds, he claims he is going to the club with the best supporters — give me a break Billy, not even you can say that and keep a straight face its called the ‘Library’ for a reason.

So who got the better deal — us or the Goons? I personally think that Gallas is a better player than Ashley Cole. I will of course welcome Cole, but we have paid a very high price for him and he is going to have to prove himself in big terms. I feel sorry for Wayne Bridge, second fiddle for both club and country now.

I understand Gallas no longer wanted to play for us, but that is no reason to sell him to Arsenal.

Arsenal had to sell Cole. Chelsea were the only club that had the kind of money Arsenal wanted or the player they wanted. But we didn’t have to sell Gallas — we didn’t need the money. I, like Mourinho, would have stuck him in the stiffs.

The other side to this whole sorry affair is how we got to the point of no return with Gallas in the first place.

If the club had paid him what he was worth and we didn’t keep playing him at let back, we could be facing the season ahead with Cole and Gallas.

But what’s done is done as they say. One thing is for sure, Gallas will be receiving the Durie ‘welcome’ when we see him again.

Last point on Gallas: isn’t it ironic that he has been given the No. 3 shirt at Arsenal — the traditional number for a left-back.

The real big news this week has been all the goings on at West Ham. Conspiracy theories abound but the truth is nobody really knows what is going on for sure.

Who owns the players? Are West Ham acting as middle men (stooges) for some other club? How much did they pay for them? What did the club have to agree to to get these players? An investigation is inevitable and if I were a Hammer (horrible thought) I would be a little uneasy as to what may come out.

So Charlton this weekend; I have softened a little in my views of Charlton — I still dislike their ground and their fans, but they now no longer have Curbishley who is one of the dullest, yet most annoying, managers in the game.

They also have one of my all time favourite players of recent years in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink — just a shame he has joined a side which is looking very much like relegation fodder this season.

We are still looking a bit disjointed and out of sorts as our new boys try to get to know their team mates, but I am sure we will start to play some flowing football very soon.

I am worried about the size of the squad though. We have got rid of 10 players who played in the first team last season — some of them pretty influential. Despite our high profile purchases we haven’t replaced all sold and it does seem to leave us a tad light in areas. A couple of injuries and we could struggle.

Jose Watch Update — my feeling of unease intensified this week as another seven days passed without a controversial interview, nor a side swipe at a fellow manager. The FA too are now really beginning to panic — an FA spokesman elaborated: “This is really not on. Chelsea and Mr Mourinho are well aware of the spiralling Wembley costs, and know that our coffers are empty — we demand that Jose says something slightly disparaging about Arsene Wenger immediately so we can issue a disproportionate fine.”