It’s official. We’re ripped apart, a.k.a. “Big news of ‘black sheep’”

By: Kevin | April 9th, 2008

The news just keeps coming hot and heavy in Blaugrana land. This just in, to be filed in the “Duh” file:

The team’s economic president (and former acting president), Xavier Sala Martin, says that the locker room is split. Further, that some players are “separate” from the rest, and basically do whatever in the hell they want. The club disguises this ostracism by saying that the player is “injured.”

He didn’t name any names and defended Laporta’s efforts to fix the locker room rift. In a quote, he added that “It is unjust that for one, two or three of them they have so many days off and that out of 60 training sessions they only attend around 20 or so.”

“It is unfair to say that Mr. Laporta is not acting. These players do not work, they are doing nothing, they are not playing for weeks, not working and spend a long time out with injuries and the like. But these players are separate and are isolated from the squad.”

Prima facie, this is just a club insider whining about the players. But let’s look a bit closer. Martin is in the Laporta camp. Some (including me) are thinking that the real deal behind this statement, which couldn’t have been more poorly timed, is that it’s an official word from management that there’s more than one “black sheep,” and that those people are screwing up the world. And expect big names to be off-loaded this summer.

Wow. I just don’t know who or what to believe any longer, and it’s just killing me. Rijkaard is calling for unity, saying that neither he nor Ronaldinho are going anywhere. Italian papers are saying that Ronaldinho is all but an AC Milan player. Henry is gone. Deco is gone. Or they’re not. The locker room is fine. Or it isn’t.

You really, really have to wonder if, with all of this flying through the air, if there will be any silver in our future that isn’t purchased as a trinket in a jewelry shop. It explains a lot, such as the look of the bench whenever we see it on the telly. There’s no unity, with everyone just sitting there with their heads jammed down into their jackets.

And that lack of unity carries over to the pitch, where nobody seems to be on the same page, and the frustrating, erratic performances that drive us all crazy looks set to continue.

But here’s the real question: Is all this stuff rubbish?