Bye Bye Thierry

I woke this morning to read that my hero had decided to move to Barcelona. I don't hold any grudges against him as he wants to win trophies and play on the highest stage he can and Arsenal's lack of ambition in the transfer market along with boardroom scuffles has cost us the best player we have ever had and the world have ever seen.

Arsenal have shown last year they can cope without him at we still finished 4th despite him being out for most of the season and we got some good results against the big teams and when he is not in the side Arsenal do tend to play more of a team game rather than looking for one man all of the time but we will still miss his undoubted class, his first touches and his pace.

The thing that pisses me of most about this deal though is the £16m price tag. Last year Chelsea and Barcelona were prepared to pay £50m for him but I think they would have given us a blank cheque, signed it and say write your own price down but we rejected so why accept £34m less for him a year later its stupid. Charlton are getting £17m for Darren Bent so how can the best player the world as ever seen be worth £16m he has 3 years left on his contract so he can't go anywhere so just hold out for more or say he can't go anywhere. It was the same with Vieria when he left the priced halved within a year when we didn't sell him but I think the tie was right to sell Vieria as he wasn't as good as he had been and we had Cesc Fabregas coming through the ranks but Henry is still the best player in the world right in the middle of his prime so this is a big blow as Arsenal will probably buy an 8 year old kid for a fiver to replace him.

So why did Thierry decide to leave now after all only 12 months ago he committed his future to Arsenal and said I have never played in Spain and I never will do this is my last contract? This is what he had to say

"David Dein is no longer there and there is no denying the fact this has de-stabilised the team and the manager. Arsene Wenger has said that at this moment he will not commit to the club past the expiration of his current deal, which finishes at the end of this coming season. I respect his decision and honesty but I will be 31 at the end of next season and I cannot take the chance to be there without Arsene Wenger and David Dein"

So it looks to me like Arsene Wenger will be leaving next summer otherwise why didn't he say to Henry no I will be here which would have made him stay and if Wenger does leave next summer how many of the players that he bought in will want to leave with him? - that's my main concern

Anyway Arsenal are now going to need a new captain and the obvious choice will be Gilberto has he was Henry's vice captain, he is the most experienced player and he was captain for most of last season whilst Henry was injured but I would like to give it to Kolo Toure who has all the attributes to be a good Arsenal captain and I think one day will be. Cesc Fabregas is also an option I would like.

I'm not bitter towards Henry he gave us 8 years of wonderful service and its not his fault the bored can't get their fingers out of their arses and sort all the crap out that is happening at boardroom level maybe now they will realise they need to work together for the good of Arsenal rather than squabbling like school children its just a shame this had to happen to make them realise it. Had David Dein not had been forceds to quit non of this would have happened Dein loves Arsenal and just wanted to moved the club forward is that so bad? - You can see what the manager and players thought of him and how influential he was so for god sake may him a member of the board again. I hope Thierry enjoys the rest of his career and maybe he will come back in a coaching role when he finishes playing. One thing that is certain to happen now next season is I bet Arsenal will play Barcelona at some stage in the Champions League.