WE FORGOT THAT YOU WERE THERE
It would have been easy to dismiss the outspoken LGBTQ+ ally Jordan Henderson as a shameless hypocrite for putting obscene amounts of money before morals to go and ply his trade in a country where the very folk he insisted have a place in football are criminalised, so that is exactly what lots of people did. There were the people who felt genuinely betrayed by Henderson’s controversial decision to move to the Saudi Pro League, the people who pretended to feel genuinely betrayed on behalf of the people who felt genuinely betrayed by Henderson’s controversial decision to move to the Saudi Pro League and then, well … the people who just don’t like, or were jealous of, Jordan Henderson.
Having endured so much public opprobrium, Henderson must have felt a bit of a plum when he decided to leave Al-Ettifaq for Ajax within six months. He could have pointed out that he was swapping one of the most conservative countries in the world for one of the most liberal, but mercifully elected not to kick that particular hornet’s nest. Since then he has been plugging away in the Dutch top flight, largely forgotten by English fans who never have to wait too long before being confronted by some new example of rank player hypocrisy or doublespeak to be outraged by. Until, that is, footage went viral of a post-match presser in which Henderson became embroiled in a heated debate with Mike Verweij, a Dutch football writer, over whether or not he had spent the final few days of the January transfer window agitating for a move to Monaco.
A quick – although not as quick as we’d like – primer: Ajax find themselves in financial peril, Henderson is their biggest earner and the club’s manager Francesco Farioli is reported to have told the press his skipper was trying to force a move to Monaco. Last Thursday, Henderson played for Ajax in their Bigger Vase win over Galatasaray, but refused to captain the side or join his teammates in their goal celebrations. Following that win, Farioli repeatedly refused to comment on speculation linking Henderson with a move to Monaco and, when Ajax beat Feyenoord on Sunday, Hendo rocked up for the post-match press conference, puffed out his chest, and took his seat. He then weirdly repeated the first three questions that were asked back to his interrogator, denied he had been trying to secure a move to the principality, claimed he was happy to remain at Ajax and then got stuck into Verweij for raising doubts about his professional probity.
“Of course I am happy to stay,” he roared. “My plan was to stay here at least until the end of the season and then re-evaluate. A lot of things were taken out of context in the press. That was disrespectful, they were lies. Untruths were told about me as a person. I tried to focus, but it feels painful. I think 99% of people, if they knew the inside information, wouldn’t have played the game [on Thursday] but yet, people in this room have questioned my professionalism and me as a person – I think it’s bang out of order. People may criticise me because of my game, but when it gets personal … I am a human being with family: parents, a wife and children. If they read things in the press that are not true, that is going too far.” Invited by his detractors to specify which bits of their reportage were disrespectful or untrue, Henderson refused to elaborate.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It got to half-time and I thought: ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can carry this on.’ But I decided I was sticking to my word. This is what I’ve said I’m going to do. Whether it’s four, five, six, seven, 10 goals, I’m seeing it through now. We ended up giving away 300 pints” – Beccy Webster, landlady of the the Gedling Inn, on the electric bolt of fear she felt after promising a free pint to customers for every goal Nottingham Forest scored against Brighton. Surely the publicity has been worth it. And props to any drinkers who got through their seven pints in the 90 minutes.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
It’s an astounding season. Marcus Rashford got a loan deal that moved him five places up the table to Aston Villa. If he was allowed another similar move, he’d wind up at Nottingham Forest. Let that sink in for a minute” – Mike Wilner.
When Ruben gives his bench a stare/He’ll see young Rashford isn’t there/He won’t be there again today/But Rashford’s face won’t go away” – Mark McFadden.
Peter Harris (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) has unnecessarily heaped extra misery upon himself by breaking the unwritten rule of football-supporting. Choose a team and support only that team at least then it’s only one 7-0 loss to endure” – Jane Beer.
Re: yesterday’s Memory Lane (full email edition). ‘A couple of months later I realised that [Dennis Wise] had just ripped out the last chapter of the book … I was so upset,’ said Gianfranco Zola. Reminds me of Wise’s time at Newcastle United as executive [chief suit] of football when owned by … can’t remember his name” – Geoff Sloan.
I think I might be familiar with the type of ‘supposed’ friendship enjoyed by Zola and Wise. The type marked by occasional terrifying headlocks, frequent sh!thousery and the destruction of personal property. I wonder if Zola got the same advice from elsewhere as I did whenever I had to account for the fact my coat was covered in mud, my bag was on fire or I had a Wham! bar stuffed somewhere uncomfortable, to whit: ‘It’s how young British men express themselves, try and stick up for yourself, please stop wasting my time.’ Made me the man I am. Yes, a pedantic nerd who only communicates with the world by writing to the Daily, but there you go” – Jon Millard.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Jane Beer. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
RECOMMENDED LOOKING
Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. Repeat. Feeling relaxed? Oh. Well, let David Squires take you on a journey of karmic realignment in his latest cartoon in which Arsenal achieve a higher state of zen against Manchester City.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
The Metropolitan police officer at the centre of Sam Kerr’s criminal trial did not mention being called “stupid and white” by the Chelsea striker in his first statement about the incident, a court has heard, and only included it in a further statement 11 months later. Kerr denies a charge of racially aggravated harassment of PC Stephen Lovell on 30 January 2023. The trial continues.
Stop. Hammer time! Technical director Tim Steidten has finally disappeared through the West Ham door marked Do One after two-and-a-half years at the London Stadium.
There’s good and bad news for Tottenham: the club bolstered their attacking options by getting Bayern’s Mathys Tel on loan with a £50m option to buy, but also had word from the medics that Radu Dragusin is out for the season with cruciate knee-knack.
Manchester City beancounters have been busy this January, with the deadline-day signing of Porto’s Nico González taking their window shopping total to a cool £172m.
Eddie Howe wants his Newcastle players to create a “legacy” by keeping Arsenal at bay in their Milk Cup semi-final. “What an opportunity we have,” he yelped.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to miss Liverpool’s Carling Cup semi-final second leg against Spurs with thigh-gah, although the good news for Madrid is that the right-back is not facing an extended spell on the sidelines.
Austerity Big Sir Jim strikes again, as Manchester United face the prospect of another thin window in the summer.
Late-night Chelsea loan confirmations akimbo: João Félix to Milan, Ben Chilwell to Palace and Axel Disasi to Aston Villa. Meanwhile, Enzo Maresca’s stay-at-home heroes fought back for a 2-1 victory over West Ham on Monday night.
And four-time grand-slam winner former Southampton midfielder Carlos Alcaraz has signed for Everton. “I want to tell the fans that whenever I wear this shirt, I will give my best,” he cheered. “I will give everything I have to take Everton to the top, which is where they deserve to be.”
WELCOME TO ‘TERRACOTTAPOLIS’
Wrexham’s plans to take over the world get into Tin Pot continue apace despite a recent blow when Welsh EFL clubs learned they would be prevented from playing in a new Welsh Milk Cup next season (a potential gateway to Europe). Undeterred, the club’s Hollywood owners, Deadpool and Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, have ploughed on with plans to make the Racecourse Ground a Uefa-approved category four stadium. What this means in practical terms is that they will build an eye-catching 5,500 Kop stand inspired by the the region’s historic Ruabon red bricks. Yep. Populous architect Declan Sharkey grabbed his megaphone and barked: “We have designed the new Kop Stand to be both authentic and unique in its approach to hosting Wrexham’s passionate fans. To do that we involved our team of audio consultants to maximise atmosphere, while the physical design of the facade at the back of the stand takes inspiration from the local brickwork and the city’s ‘Terracottapolis’ nickname.” Rival fans will be bricking it.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING
Listen up! It’s the latest episode of Women’s Football Weekly. Join Faye Carruthers, Suzy Wrack, Emma Sanders and Chris Paouros as they discuss WSL deadline day, Arsenal’s seven-goal thriller with Manchester City, and Chelsea’s growing dominance.
RECOMMENDED SHOPPING
Big Website’s bookshop has a host of great new tomes waiting to be added to your basket. There’s My Beautiful Sisters by Khalida Popal and David Squires’ latest brilliant collection of cartoons: Chaos in the Box. Get shopping!
STILL WANT MORE?
Make sense of the ins, outs and not-quites of the transfer window: every Premier League club’s January business is assessed here.
Barney Ronay on the mismatch between Marcus Rashford’s celebrity status and his actual performance, and why the Villa move might just be what he needs.
Here’s Sid Lowe on Rayo Vallecano’s unlikely tilt at Europe after victory in the other Madrid derby.
Manchester City’s humiliation at Arsenal had an end-of-empire feel, reckons Jonathan Wilson.
And here’s your final Rumour Mill until the summer window opens.
MEMORY LANE
28 January 2006: A Manchester City fan reads the matchday programme before the fourth-round FA Cup tie against Wigan. The cover star is Robbie Fowler but the striker had rejoined his boyhood club Liverpool on a free transfer the previous day.
30 January 2006: Rafa Benítez joins Fowler for his official unveiling as he begins his second spell at Anfield.
