Chapter 687 - 128: Gunners’ Tyrant; The Carrot and the Stick; Charging for the Championship; The Bar Brawl Incident; Wang Shuo’s Rules

Incidents like this had happened at Arsenal before.

The usual approach was to downplay it, engage in some PR with the media to suppress the news cycle, and let the whole thing gradually blow over.

After all, for players, it’s their performance in matches that does the talking.

As long as they played well, any off-the-pitch news would quickly be forgotten.

As for any blemishes on a player’s record, it wasn’t worth worrying about.

But who would have thought that this time, Arsenal would choose to stand their ground.

And that they would find evidence and turn the tables so quickly!

The Sun Newspaper had miscalculated!

As the team’s head coach, Wenger stated that he had believed Alexandre Song was innocent from the very beginning and supported him in using legal means to protect his rights.

That meant suing the Sun Newspaper!

Wang Shuo himself never expected that his first public appearance as team captain would be under such circumstances.

"We live in an age of information overload. It’s terrifying that a single unverified news report can nearly destroy a person’s reputation overnight!"

"As team captain, I have a responsibility to protect my teammates and to speak the truth when the evidence is clear!"

Wang Shuo’s tone was resolute, his sharp gaze sweeping over every reporter in the room.

Among them were reporters from the Sun Newspaper.

"I want to be clear: our team is a single unit, and the locker room is like a family. When one member of our family comes under unjust attack, the rest of us are unanimous in our response!"

"We don’t turn our backs. We stand with our family!"

Wang Shuo then made a solemn announcement.

"Until the Sun Newspaper issues a formal apology and clarifies the facts for our teammate, my teammates and I will not accept any interviews from them in any form!"

Alexandre Song was the last to speak.

He stated that in just a few short days, his life had been a roller coaster, turned completely upside down.

"I want to thank our captain. Thank you for his persistence and his trust!"

"I will give it my all on the pitch to repay the support of my captain and teammates!"

...

When it came to seeing which way the wind was blowing, the British media were absolute masters.

Once Arsenal stood their ground and presented solid, reliable evidence, the Sun Newspaper immediately caved.

They were also remarkably compliant.

Early the next morning, they immediately published a front-page headline apology, along with a clarification for Alexandre Song.

The public outcry quickly died down.

The atmosphere inside the Arsenal locker room was electric.

Everyone felt as if they had just won a major battle.

Some were even calling for a celebration.

But it was precisely at this moment that Wang Shuo, with a deadly serious expression, convened his first internal locker room meeting since joining Arsenal.

The meeting began with Wang Shuo announcing his decision to punish Alexandre Song.

A fine of two weeks’ salary!

The reason: conduct detrimental to the club’s image!

Not for the alleged assault, but for going out to a nightclub.

And it was a heavy fine!

Alexandre Song now had the utmost respect for Wang Shuo, and since Wang Shuo had given him a heads-up beforehand, he accepted the club’s fine without protest.

It was more like a move to establish his authority.

Alexandre Song also offered a sincere apology, stating that he had learned his lesson and would be more careful in the future.

If Wang Shuo convincing Wenger to support Alexandre Song and help him clear his name had earned him the deep admiration of everyone in the locker room, then this fine inspired something more akin to awe.

But that alone wasn’t enough.

Taking advantage of the situation, Wang Shuo struck while the iron was hot and introduced a new set of locker room regulations during the meeting.

There’s a saying that’s true: you can’t have order without rules.

For the past few years at Arsenal, the locker room rules had been practically nonexistent.

To say nothing of other incidents, Vieira had once done something as absurd as slapping Anelka in the face with a large sausage.

Fans might hear that and think it’s just a funny anecdote.

But what they don’t realize is, how is that not a form of hazing a young player?

For many years, the Premier League had been plagued by similar ugly customs.

For example, at Liverpool, young players were expected to wash the senior players’ boots.

This was once even praised as a positive story, hailed as a team tradition.

But was it really as simple as just washing boots?

To put it bluntly, having rookies perform small services for the veterans after training and matches—pouring drinks, fetching things—was considered a minor affair.

Was it uncommon for them to use their seniority to bully the rookies, deliberately find fault, and be overly critical?

Young players naturally lack experience and are prone to making mistakes. Is it a good thing for the senior players to leverage their locker-room influence to boss them around at every turn?

Then there were the players with disastrously messy personal habits.

Walking around naked in the locker room was considered one of the tamer habits.

Tossing personal belongings everywhere, leaving the locker room filthy and chaotic—wasn’t that an insult to the support staff?

Even worse, some would urinate wherever they pleased.

To be frank, urinating in the shower area was considered somewhat normal; after all, no one was watching.

But some were so out of line that they would do it anytime, anywhere.

’How could anyone tolerate something so outrageous?’

This touched upon another unwritten rule.

Locker room secrets must never, ever get out!

This was a universal unwritten rule in world football. If anyone leaked a locker room secret, no matter who they were, they would find it impossible to survive in the locker room.

Originally, this rule was meant to protect the players’ privacy.