Jordan Henderson and ‘bang out of order’ untruths about his Ajax future
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.
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