Cesc Named New Arsenal Captain

At this point in time...i dont envy the young man. Too bad Gallas never made the cut...making Gallas captain instead of Gilberto has turned out to be one of Wengers worst choices...lets hope we get someone to replace Gallas in January and salvage the season

Well said LD, and we need to get behind the team on the whole if we want to pull ourselves out of this ***** heap!

If Fabregas doesn't improve his form soon the media will be onto it as though it is down to the captaincy. Hopefully this will give him more to play for. Good luck Cesc.

Good news but lets not get on his back everytime arsenal play bad. What i means is that we will have more bad games but we shouldnt put pressure on him and use him as a scapegoat. I hope that doesn't happen. But really good news

I hate the fact that Cesc's captaincy had to arrive in such a fashion, instead of awarding him rightfully from the beginning in a proper way. the whole thing was dealt in a poor way from the start, with keeping faith in the immature Gallas, and I'd hate the fact if it had anything to do with him being French. 1 good thin though is Cesc had the backing of a number of players b4 he got it, which shows the team is behind him.

Cesc is captain, and Gallas is back in the team. Personally I think that's the best we could make of this situation; Gallas needing to be punished for his dressing-room related comments, but Arsenal desperately needing his attributes as a player. I firmly believe that Cesc will view Gallas as a leading influence on the pitch still, and will encourage Gallas to be as vocal in command as he was with the armband. I hope Gallas stays and this works out. I might be in the minority, but anyone who thinks we can do without him, or find a player in January that is equal or better than Gallas as a footballer is kidding themselves. IMO, of course.

¡Enhorabuena capitán Cesc! :)

I'm in 100% agreement with ChaosTeacup here, this team can't just have one monolithic leader, we need as many as we can get and Gallas is a leader on the pitch. I think Chaos is right, Cesc will look to Gallas for help on the pitch as he should do. In fact, not having the armband might take a bit of the scrutiny away from Gallas and allow him to keep cajoling and arse kicking in the way that he always has. My inkling is that Wenger didn't want to bring Gallas back, but when we went 2 goals down on Saturday the mood was of abject surrender. I don't think Gallas would have stood for that, he would have at least tried to raise his voice and push the team forward. Time will tell if Gallas accepts this though. The reports suggest that Wenger told Gallas he could only come back into the team if he apologised, if those reports are true we can only assume he has done that. Rocky, you're right about the fans in general, but Saturday was a bit of an exception. But the travelling fans did not cover themselves in glory at Stoke so us travellers shouldn't be too quick to part our bumcheeks in self congratulation.

the way i see it, this could have 2 effects...one is that the armband will give pride to cesc, and push him to play better, or he will buckle under the pressure and his game deteriorates even further, however, as some people mentioned before, he has the backing of most if not all of the squad...which should be good...and like LD says,, gallas not having the armband might actually propel him to play better, seeing as how the spotlight is not on him anymore...all in all...lets all get behind the squad, tough times we are heading to these days eh?

The mentalists are on the rampage. GALLAS PLAYING FOR ARSENAL AGAIN!!!??? How is this possibly humanly possible within humanity? Its funny because they even sound stupid over the phone (talkSPORT).

We haven't had a decent captain since Viera. Here's hoping Cesc pulls it out of the bag. Despite what Arsene says, a team *needs* a leader. Here's hoping Gallas gets over it and plays out of his skin, the sulky berk.

I think all football fans are no better or worse than they have ever been, the only difference now is that round the clock digital media and the internet allows every idiot to have a voice, so it seems like there is more of them. All the Arsenal fans I personally know have been very realistic and supportive of the team, just gutted about the hole Wenger seems to have dug for himself, there has been no hysterical outbursts form the fans I know. The internet requires big, loud, hysterical outbursts to gain attention. Anyway, Cesc is captain and it's about damn time, we have a chance now folks, we have a chance.

Let's just hope we haven't got to find yet another captain at the end of the season

good choice... not much more you can add really. I think (from outside the club) I viewed him as practicly the captain anyway - the way how he plays reflects on the team is incredible... although not quite in the same legue as liverpool with gerrard (i.e. if he doesnt play, they loose)

Liverpool did just fine without Gerrard against Man United I seem to remember.....

Little Dutch - true but Liverpool had that extra incentive, they had lived in our shadow for too long. We just lacked that focus and that incentive. But you do have to admit, without Cesc your midfield is lost and void of any ideas

I am so glad that we made that Gallas-A.Cole deal.Personally I believe Gallas has past his best & putting Cesc in Captaincy job will not help u I guess.It can work both ways.Either he will perform or it will be a burden.Already he is trying too hard to perform in ur team with no one to help hin in mid field.U R MISSSING FLAMINI VFERY BADLY.

Tom14 - Those same "idiots" you keep referring to, who heckle players pay their money and although it may not be constructive, there are no rules or regulations about why, who and how you should cheer as a fan. For someone such as yourself to continually coat fans that spend more money following this team than a lot of people could hope to or afford to is way off base and you should keep those snide comments to yourself! If you don't like it, say so, but less of the insults, we are past that on here aren't we? At least Theo goes out of his way to walk round the pitch after games and thank us fans for our support, please show me a time when Gallas/Eboue/Adebayor has done that. It isn't about how you perform it is about the relationship with the fans that gets most of the relevant responses, whether that right or wrong I am not arguing or saying either way, but that is the way it is from my seat!

to be fair Gallas acknowledges the fans every game.

I've always felt Gallas, as well as Walcott, makes the most sustained effort of all our players. Denilson does too in fairness. Gallas wanders over to the red section after every match, win or lose. He certainly does away from home too.

LG, I could not care less how much you spend on Arsenal. You are lucky enough to have that money,available (wheather or not you can truly afford it) but booing is a disgrace. before, during or even after a game. And booing individual players is the biggest crime in football. Forget diving, to literally boo one of your own players is vile. I hate it. You can sit on your high horse and state to the world how much money you spend per season on Arsenal, but think yourself lucky for that privelage.

The only players I boo during a game are the opposition players! As for booing your own, if they have played crap, shown no effort, but still managed the full game and then just walk straight off, then they can only blame themselves if they get heckled. Again (for that sake of not being accused of something else I am not guilty of) I’m not saying either way I agree with it, but that IS the way it is!

When did i say you boo players? I said i hate booing and the fact that you say "Its up to them, they pay the money" because paying for a ticket does not give you the right to boo players.

keep digging...........................!

Mate you pay your money you take your chances! Its an old over used phrase. But as i mentioned earlier, if you have a player who has played sh**, shown no effort and just sulks off the pitch at the end wihtout even a thank you, then personally yes i think that player deserves to be heckled by the people that help contribute towards the fabulus lifestyle he enjoys!

Tom14 the fact is you accused me of several things I hadn't/didn't/don't do. Nuff said you don't have to justify it!

fabregas - excellent choice! he's the one guy i would want in my team, except that we have the best midfield squad in the world (mikel-essien-ballack-lampard-deco-joey... eat this!!). cesc is my favourite in the premiership outside chelsea, so am really happy with the selection. when the gallas-cashley swap happened, i groaned that we came out the worse for it. but a lot of water has since flowed under the bridge. i think we've won in the end. as we're gonna do sunday at the bridge ;) 2-0 anelka, joey.