PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS:WILLIAM GALLAS'S hold on the Arsenal captaincy appeared to be over last night and his very future at the club in jeopardy after he did not travel with the rest of the squad to the north-west for today's Premier League fixture against Manchester City.

The controversial Frenchman had followed his attack on an unnamed team-mate on Wednesday - that player is known to be Robin van Persie - with further outspoken comments about another of them yesterday.

Once again he did not name the player, identifying him only as "S" and saying he played in midfield, but it is understood that he was referring to Samir Nasri, his France team-mate who joined Arsenal from Marseille in the summer. In his newly released autobiography, he criticised him for his "insolence".

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was deeply concerned by Gallas's comments and had given serious thought to stripping him of the captaincy. He informed Gallas of his intention and the explosive result was that Gallas stayed behind in London as his team headed to Manchester.

On Wednesday, Gallas had spoken of the dressingroom being disrupted by one player who "insults us", an attack on Van Persie, while he also said his young Arsenal team-mates were "not brave enough in battle", that there had been a row at half-time during the recent 4-4 home draw with Tottenham Hotspur and that the reason he was speaking out was because "there are things that can't be said and can't be tolerated".

Wenger has defended his outspoken and emotional captain, whose methods have been under scrutiny since his bizarre sit-in protest at Birmingham City last February. Yet he has been pushed too far by Gallas and acted for the sake of dressingroom unity. He will be without one alternative captain at Eastlands as Cesc Fabregas is suspended and most likely another - Kolo Toure - is described as a "major doubt" after he injured his calf in midweek. The goalkeeper Manuel Almunia is expected to wear the armband.

Wenger will publicly address the subject of Gallas after the game and in the meantime, he simply wants his players to pull together and do their talking on the pitch. Despite four Premier League defeats already this season, he believes that they have the mental strength and ability to rouse themselves.

Gallas was the victim of unfortunate timing as much as anything else with his latest comments from his book, which was released yesterday. His row with Nasri took place in the heat of the moment during France's failed Euro 2008 campaign and the pair promptly made their peace. What Gallas said to his biographer some months ago about the flashpoint, however, is insightful about his problems with the new generation of young players.

He said they "seem cheeky - they think they know everything but they know nothing". He added: "I too was 20 years old once. I would never have allowed myself to speak in such a way to a player older than me. We respected the veterans. We shut our mouths."

Gallas said he was stunned when the young player he argued with took Thierry Henry's seat on the France team bus. He described the young player as "insolent" and said that he finally moved. Gallas had scolded the player in training for not calling out when he passed the ball, and he gave a blow-by-blow description of the heated conversation that followed.

"Are you speaking to me? Who do you take yourself for? You're only 20 . . . I am not your friend," Gallas said.

"I'm not your friend either," the player responded. "Straight away, I see red," added the 31-year-old.

Gallas's passionate nature has been held up as a strength but the generation gap between him and Arsenal's young tyros has contributed to his fall from grace.

Arsenal, meanwhile, will pursue the English Football Association for compensation over the shoulder injury Theo Walcott sustained while on England duty this week. The injury will rule the Arsenal winger out for at least three months.

Guardian Service