Barca won battle, but decency won the war.

King
By Boris Mellor
May 20 2006

A strange term to use in the modern day and age, and one that can rarely be applied to top class football. Indeed some of the press is now concerned about Arsenal’s lack of decency in the post CL final response.

Apparently it wasn’t decent for Henry to point out that he was kicked from pillar to post and got no protection from the referee.

Naughty Henry, you weren’t kicked around, you didn’t get a yellow for a perfect tackle, and no you imagined it. And of course nobody should mention that Franky's boys are the dirtiest in the CL, with the  most fouls awarded against them. Why couldn’t you be decent like Barca and spend the build up to the CL, and indeed the whole of the season, claiming their best player was coming to Highbury? How dare you say you didn’t see Ronny – what an outrage.

But let the hacks away and shyte because this article isn’t about that kind of decency. I am glad Thierry is not a good loser, although he is a very gracious winner. The decency I want to discuss is the decency of Thierry and the Arsenal fans. The press would like to claim that he had no right to consider the final contract of his career. That he should sign on the line without discussing the future of the clubs. Some fans insist it’s just about the money, how can that be? Whatever Arsenal pay Henry, Barca or Chelsea can pay more. For a year the baying pack of press hacks have tried to turn every press conference into an inquest on his contract. Even Wednesday night on 606, after the match, Alan Green insisted Henry was going to Barca.

Green puffed himself up and denounced Henry for being out of order. Don’t you ever listen Alan? What Henry was saying is I don’t want to play for Barca, I am proud of my team and its achievements, and I can see the future. Ten days before after the Wigan game Henry declared "we" won’t realise the importance of leaving Highbury until we play at the Emirates. Again and again has been using the term we, all season he insisted he was focussed on getting qualified for the CL. Having done that he turned his mind to agreeing a contract. Apparently he told the team before kick off that he wanted to stay and was close to agreement.

Decency of the fans

Not just Arsenal fans have made Henry aware of how much loved he is the game. He gets standing ovations from away fans; meanwhile Eto gets racist abuse in La Liga away games. But Arsenal fans have played an important role of their own. Not once at Highbury have fans criticised him, they kept calm, singing his song as ever. Many sent cards to him urging him to stay. On the last day at Highbury the crowd made its first and only reference to his contract situation. En masse they sang "sign him up sign him up". At the Stade de France they applauded him and the team as they left the pitch. The decency of Arsenal fans, and most Premiership fans, came together to convince Henry that the decent thing to do was to stay, indeed that such a response could not be found anywhere else in the world, and least of all Spain. It seems rather pointed that Henry has said, "I will never play in Spain".

So if the press want to give some lectures on decency why not lecture Barcelona, whose president, and some of his players have acted like whore mongers all season, trying to pimp Henry from Highbury. Treating a grand old club with disrespect, not over the result of one match, but over the whole season. Going on and on that they are a big club, that theirs is the only exciting future. That to stay with Arsenal is to lack ambition. That a club with Arsenal’s tradition can be plundered for any of its riches that they fancy. That’s a serious lack of decency, of respect, but I don’t remember any outrage from Alan Green, David Lacey or Richard Williams, I apologise if I have left any hack out, but do write in and I will include you. Well Barca you treated us with contempt all season, and yes you won the CL final. But we keep Henry. You won a battle but lost the war. You really haven’t any class at all.