It’s been very easy to sit down and criticise William Gallas in recent weeks. Every corner of the press has been doing it, as if Billy suddenly decided he wasn’t going to try hard and that’s why we’ve been dropping points; as if he can’t defend and his captaincy is poor.

The most tenuous of these accusations came from Tony Cascarino in The Times who suggested that as he had managed to score when William Gallas was a young, raw talent that meant he was a poor player. By the same argument, Craig Gordon is a sh*t goalkeeper because Philippe Senderos scored against him and Barnsley are a better team than Chelsea and Liverpool.

I, for one, acknowledge that Gallas’ form has been patchy. But in recent weeks, refereeing decisions haven’t gone for us. Personally, whilst I wouldn’t say his antics against Birmingham helped, they certainly didn’t damage the team. They demonstrated he was a man who cared about his team-mates, and was p*ssed off that a ridiculous penalty had gone against us. The bottom line about this man is he is a driven sportsman who wants to win, and recognises he doesn’t have that many more opportunities to win competitions.

Gallas is a good captain. This is shown by the way this team has tremendous spirit. We have lost twice in the league this season: at Boro we didn’t turn up, and against Chelsea a poor offside decision changed the game. Generally though, we have fought hard and have often attained a point where other teams in similar situations would have lost. I believe this is a direct result of the never-say-die attitude which Gallas has imbued in the team. This is exemplified by the way that although the fans might find it easy to concede the title, our players still have the belief we can win it.

Many people wrote us off as no-hopers at the beginning of the season – there was a suggestion from some quarters that the Spuds would finish above us in the league. Instead, inspired by William Gallas, we still have a chance to win the league. So rather than criticising him, let’s support him and the team, in the hope that we’ll be celebrating a double in Red Square come May.