Former Chelsea player Scott Minto was on TalkSport today speaking about the increasingly toxic situation around Conor Gallagher, who has reportedly been threatened with being excluded from first team training by the club.
As Minto pointed out, this is nothing new in football:
“This used to happen back in my day, if a manager wanted a player out, he wouldn’t be training with the first team. He’d be training with the kids,” he explained.
“It’s actually not personal but it’s difficult, how not you wouldn’t take it personally when you come through the ranks. Do I think Conor Gallagher should be in the Chelsea team? Yes. Do I think he was the second best player for Chelsea last season? Yes. Do I think he loves the club? Yes.
“There’s a real balance here and I’m trying to be balanced with it because on the face of it, I think it’s out of order what’s happening to him.”
The Cold War comes to an end
It’s really interesting to hear a former pro’s take on things. We’ve been violently against the way the club is treating Gallagher, but nobody is pretending this is the first or last time this sort of things has happened.
What’s really interesting is what happens next – Atletico Madrid’s deadline to the midfielder appears to have passed, meaning their bid is off the table and Gallagher is still at the club. Do Chelsea now give up on their plan to push him out and allow him to train with the first team? Or do they risk disrupting more than just his situation by going through with his banishment?
Even if there’s finally a breakthrough now and a new deal is signed, it will be interesting to see how quickly relations can be normalised between Gallagher and the club.
