Yesterday evening reports began to emerge that France Football, a normally reputable magazine, was about to run a story saying Thierry Henry had agreed a three year deal with Barcelona. All that was left now was for Barcelona to sort things out with Arsenal. Now, I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you how illegal that is. Within hours Thierry’s management company had released a statement slamming the story and threatening legal action. They said:
No such meeting took place. That is absolute rubbish. There’s never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season.
Jerome Anderson, Henry’s agent, said:
I did not meet with anyone — whether in the south of France or anywhere on this planet. I have read the article in the French magazine and there is not one element of truth in the story and they will be hearing from my lawyers.
Speaking to L’Equipe Henry said:
Lots of people are speaking on my behalf. It’s impossible to stop the rumours – it’s not the first or the last time that people are speaking for me. In my head I’m still an Arsenal player and my departure is not a current issue.
Who does he mean is speaking on his behalf? Newspapers? Agents? He went on to again talk about David Dein’s departure, saying:
David Dein’s exit should not have happened; if there was one person who shouldn’t have left Arsenal it’s David Dein. I’m saying it now and I’ll say the same thing in 20 years.
And again I have to make the point that what happens at board level should not be a topic for discussion for Thierry Henry or any player. Given Henry’s close connections to the Dein family though it’s hard to think he’s not coming at this with an agenda to promote and that, to me, is very disappointing. Is he being used to destabilise Arsenal ahead of a triumphant Dein return which would see him stay at the club? Whatever his motivation for talking constantly about David Dein it is out of order for the captain of Arsenal Football Club to get involved when things are so delicate in the boardroom – and if he hadn’t noticed it was entirely down to David Dein that things are like that.
The L’Equipe article also says that the likes of Pires, Ludovic Giuly and Emmanuel Adebayor were ‘talking openly’ about him moving to Spain. As well as that William Gallas has decided to open his big mouth again, saying:
If certain players want to go, like Thierry, we should not prevent them from leaving.
Which, of course, is absolute bollocks and frankly I have really had enough of Gallas and his opinions. He does need to keep his mouth shut now because he’s not helping. Why should we allow him to leave? His has three years left of the contract which made him the highest paid Arsenal player of all time last summer. And he can fuck off with his ‘we’, as well.
When approached by El Mundo Deportivo yesterday Henry is quoted as saying:
Now is not the time to talk about Barcelona. Right now I don’t have anything to say.
What can you say overall though? Once again we’re sucked into a transfer speculation whirlpool involving our captain who is acting and speaking in a way which is ambiguous enough to keep it going. All it takes is a simple “I am not going to move to Barcelona this summer. End of story” statement and the whole thing is done and dusted. Instead it’s all left up in the air so the stories that spew from the Spanish press have now spread to respected publications like France Football. Who knows what’s next?
The whole thing is, from whatever angle you look at it, a fucking distasteful circus and I have got a huge pain in my arse with the whole thing now. Every fucking summer it’s the same. The fans get shat on from a height by guys whose enormous wages we pay because their egos and delicate sensibilities are upset by one thing or another or they can’t make their minds up where they want to earn their fortunes. Thierry Henry could stop this once and for all if he so wished. So far he doesn’t wish to do so which means we’re going to have to put up with it until such time as something happens one way or the other. Pff. Colour me pissed off.
And speaking of distasteful circuses Arsenal.com confirmed the white away that Arseblog told you about, and showed you pictures of, months ago. It’s all wrapped up in the most horrible marketing babble using Herbert Chapman to promote a white kit that the vast majority of fans do not want and a large number object to strenuously. When one Arseblog reader complained to the club about the way they’ve used Chapman to lend credibility to the project and about the white kit in general he got this reply:
As a club we do have an acute sense of our past and what we stand for – however this includes a sense of being progressive. Our values are summarised as ‘tradition with vision’. We have been associated with bold first moves throughout our history as well as financial prudence and dependability – the marriage of these two elements is the essence of Arsenal.
Herbert Chapman embodied this values, hence why we have championed him this year – and in the case of the white shirt we feel that it is a good association as he was very associated with ‘white’, which is included as part of our marketing of the shirt.
Over an above this, white shirts are very much a part of the clubs’s heritage. For example, in 1935, Ted Drake scored 7 goals for Arsenal against Aston villa wearing a white shirt (picture attached). There are many other examples of white shirts being used throughout Arsenal’s shirt [sic](please refer to the website over the coming weeks for more examples of this).
So, in summary, we are very sensitive to our heritage – but that does not mean being afraid to be bold, in fact that is very much a part of what Arsenal is about.
Have you ever read such a load of bollocks in all your life? I realise that in order to make money Nike and the club can’t have the same away kit all the time but you might think what the fans want might actually matter. It obviously doesn’t. Bunch of cunts.
And for those conspiracy theorists amongst you here’s the image on Arsenal.com. However, yesterday’s was slightly different and the club have removed the ‘Way out’ sign above Henry’s head. IT’S A SIGN!
In other news Lukasz Fabianski says he’s coming to Arsenal to be Number 1 so watch out Jens Lehmann. It’s a good attitude to have and I suspect we’ll have quite a battle on our hands between him and Jens Lehmann who has to retain his number 1 position if he wants to play for Germany in Euro 2008 next summer.
Alan Pardew is planning to make a £2m bid for Alex Song. Bite his fucking hand off.
That young Norwegian lad hasn’t signed apparently and he’s upset at how much his club are looking for to allow him to move.
And that’s your lot. Honestly, I really can’t fucking wait for the new season to start.
