Adieu Thierry

Well the day that has been talked about for summers on end has finally arrived. As brought to you yesterday by The ArseNole, our beloved captain Thierry Henry has been sold to Barcelona for 16 million pounds. And a terrible thing it is. Darren Bent is valued at 18 million, Ribery sold for 17 million, and even Florent Malouda is valued at 17 million. Our best player to our European rivals for 16 million? Are you joking?

Alright enough of that ranting, although I'm sure many of you like myself are scratching your heads in disbelief right now.

I'll come right out and say that I wish Thierry luck. I think it was a bad way to leave, but I think we all knew it was coming. He was magnificent for us. His goals were top class, he made passes, he controlled games, and he gave us a whole new aspect to our team with him on the pitch. I remember his first goal for Arsenal just as vividly as I remember his last. There were times, especially in the last year, where it looked like he was getting slower and just cared less about the game, so maybe it was time for him to move on. He stated his reasons for leaving are because of Wenger not signing a longer deal and because of the departure of David Dein. Honestly it doesn't surprise me that Henry was so close with a board member, a player as valuable as he is. The board would want his input on things and I bet Dein was the man Thierry went to with any concerns.

So what now? Well there are two outcomes here. One is that we could totally lose control, Thierry leaves, then Arsene leaves, then Cesc, then Gallas, Bendtner, Van Persie...etc. I don't think our beloved Kolo would ever leave. The other option is that we can replace Henry and move on and move forward. We need to do a couple of things right away. We NEED a replacement for Thierry and fast. If we quickly sign a top class striker, it will show that we have not lost our ambition and will make it easier to get other players to come in as well as showing current players that we are willing to spend some cash to make this team into what it has been in the past. Our current players won't stick around long if we are a mid-table side. We have to buy someone NOW. I'm not one of the believers that says if Arsene leaves half our squad will. They signed for Arsenal Football Club not Arsene Wenger Club. Let's just hope the club is serious and shows that we can go out and get a big name to replace Henry.

Thierry, you will never be forgotten. He was such a great player for us and his record will stand for a long long time. I have already hung my 05/06 Henry jersey to retire it along with Highbury. It will stand on my wall forever. I wish him the best, and hope that Barcelona will kindly send us Ronaldinho for our generosity with the transfer fee.

TH14, you'll be missed

ArseNole