Entente Discordiale

Reflections on the Henry handball saga, featured on the Online Gooner in December 2009.

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=1425

It’s funny how things turn out. From the Glorious Revolution of 1688 until the signing of the Entente Cordiale in 1904, Irish rebels seeking independence from their colonial overlords, the Brits, had often looked to France for help. The French had often entertained such rebellion, if only to simply get one over on their old enemy. Today however the situation – if only on the football field rather than the battlefield - has reversed. In the wake of the World Cup play off controversy the Irish have found an ally in the usually right leaning and jingoistic English press, if only simply to get one over on their supposed old enemy – the French. Arsenal FC has not surprisingly found itself found caught in the crossfire. A goal scored by a current player and former captain assisted by a helping hand (ha ha, I bet none of the press have made that pun yet?) from a former player and arguably our greatest ever, Thierry Henry. Cue moral outrage from Ireland’s assistant, the current head of youth development at Arsenal and er… well also arguably our greatest ever player, Liam Brady (below).


The Sun saw fit to lead with the headline ‘Hand of Frog’ in reference to Henry’s misdemeanor (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2740210/Thierry-Henry-backs-calls-for-re-match.html). One might ask if this is permissible why it chose the headline ‘racist scum’ when Jade Goody used the words ‘Shilpa Poppadom’ in reference to an Indian contestant on Celebrity Big Brother? (http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/2827/) The Sun also went on to hire the expertise of certain economists to highlight the benefit to the French economy that Henry’s helping hand would give them when the euros start rolling in for next June’s finals (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2738459/Thierry-Henrys-handball-will-give-France-a-1billion-boost.html).

As the Wapping based publication is known by its own admission to have an incredibly low reading age, its readership may be inclined to confuse France’s recovery from recession (of which the UK continues to be in) on Henry’s handball. Most credible economic opinion however would attribute that to the absence in France of an unquenchable appetite for the destruction of its industrial base and the subsequent over-reliance on the financial sector(http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/margareta-pagano/margareta-pagano-thatcher-got-it-wrong-blair-and-brown-did-too-can-cameron-get-it-right-1845589.html). Lest we forget also that agent of this programme rapid deindustrialisation in the UK was heartily cheered on by certain foreign media barons (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2930665/Murdoch-defends-Thatchers-legacy.html).

Ardal O'Hanlon, a comedian who has barely raised a laugh this side of the millenium, had the following morning waded in with the statement that 'there was nothing like an injustice to galvanise a nation', with this particular nation facing a deeper recession than even that faced by the UK some form of galvanisation is definitely needed to distract the public's attention from the economy. The powers that be in Ireland were of course hardly likely to allow this situation to pass by quietly. Irish Justice minister Dermot Aherne had bleated on about, well, naturally the injustice of the whole thing. Irish PM Brian Cowen had raised the issue with Nicholas Sarkozy, presumably because there must have been nothing else of importance to raise in this political climate. As comedian Frankie Boyle had once retorted on 'Mock the Week' in reference to football's distracting qualities from real life (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYTsP8SsfA8), football is 'look at the shiney shiney'. In these times of upheaval and uncertainty, the 'shiney shiney' is needed more than ever.

Many Anglophobes on the other side of the Irish sea would often in the past sneeringly point to the delusions of grandeur and reactionary jingoism of the English media, however would no doubt have to concede the moral high ground in light of the many disgruntled listeners flooding Today FM in need of on-air cancelling. One listener stating that 'Ireland were still kings - France are wearing a stolen crown'. Many observers to Ireland's less than attractive brand of Football would assert they would have more in common with paupers than kings, meanwhile calls to boycott French wine, French bread, even French kissing were straight from the Murdoch manual on hyperbole. As to were calls for violent disorder in playing the Kaiser Chief's 'I Predict a Riot'.

Forty eight hours after the infamy of the Stade De France cue the handover of London born Danny Kelly to Dundee born George Galloway on TalkSport. Both had decided to play the ‘Irish heritage’ card in a way that may have led to a call up from Jack Charlton two decades earlier like their co-presenter Glasgow born Ray Houghton. Tottenham supporter Kelly, never one to let professionalism get in the way of an anti-Arsenal sentiment, called Henry ‘weasley’. Galloway who admitted to once viewing Henry as a ‘prince among men’ said he would be forever damned in his eyes for not holding his hand up to the ref like Robbie Fowler to his wrongdoing. So one example in 150 years of organized football makes a norm does it? Lest we forget that Fowler’s admittance to diving against Arsenal (below) didn’t actually prevent a penalty decision being given in his favour, or the fact that the result was not in the balance as his side were already 1-0 up at the time of the incident.

Though it goes without saying it was clearly handled by Henry and the goal should never had stood, the reaction would seem to suggest that the Irish are somewhat unique in having a decision go against them that somehow a wrong had been perpetrated in which the very future of the game would be undermined had there not been redress. Liam Brady had stated 'If we’re going to have integrity and dignity in the world game the game should be replayed'. However it had fallen to the usually hotheaded Roy Keane had become the dispassionate voice of reason highlighting how Ireland had a dubious decision given in their favour against Georgia in the group phase and the FAI had not called for any such replay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHwCbbG6WY). Ironically self proclaimed Man United and Celtic fanatic George Galloway referred to him as a troubled man for his outburst.


I also recall that a documentary on Channel 4 a few years ago had alleged that in Italia 90, after England had took the lead against Egypt in a match played simultaneously with Ireland v Holland - which stood a 1-1 - both sides had deliberately played for the draw which would see them both progress from the group phase. I don’t recall any outrage from the FAI in 1990 about the integrity of the game when Ireland subsequently progressed at the expense of four other potential third placed qualifiers, including Galloway's native Scotland.

On Galloway’s talk show one of his favourite retorts in the face of an accusation tinged with hypocrisy is to compare the said statement with the hunchback of Notre Dame telling you to stand up straight. It’s with this in mind that we turn to Liam Brady’s claim of Sepp Blatter’s behavior being an embarrassment. Anyone unfamiliar with one of Chippy’s stroppy outbursts should check his hilarious reaction to awkward questions after his last match in club management with Brighton after failing to beat Ryman league Canvey Island in the FA Cup in 1995 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyiAjUR6Obg).

Blatter having the nerve to point out quite rightly that if Ireland were to enter the World Cup as 33rd side, consideration would also have to be given to Costa Rica who exited due to a dubious goal from Uruguay, making such an occurrence an impracticality. FIFA though sadly lacked any degree of backbone when it opened a case for Henry facing a one match suspension. Would it be rude of one to point out that had it been spotted, a deliberate handball is only a bookable offence and wouldn’t even merit a suspension?


As ever when a player's conduct falls outside the boundaries laid by the rules of the game we have the inevitable trip down selective memory lane. Having took a cab ride not long after that, the sexagenarian driver had informed me of how players in the 50s and 60s never succombed to the kind of dishonesty as seen by Henry and Eduardo's private bungee jump at Celtic's expense back in August. In response I asked him how he could come to that conclusion in consideration how today you have almost every second of every top level match covered with cameras from every angle and watched by a global audience of billions. Incidents such as this are highlighted and milked by the press whenever they occur.


Contrast this with an era that didn't even have the highlights of one match a week covered until 1964 with few camera angles. Most matches were only ever watched by a few tens of thousands at the stadium from a crowded terrace with most incidents passing by unnoticed. Considering also that this had been an era in which three top level players had been handed prison sentances and life bans for match fixing (http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/mortal-sin-that-strikes-at-the-heart-1611817.html) any idea of moral purity from this era would need to stand up to better scrutiny than he had considered. As he seemed to have no red top tabloid endrosed response he seemed to remain silent. Is it possible that one thing that could be said about the old days is that less people pratted on about the old days back in the old days? Seeing how the narrator of 'Goal', the official film of the 1966 seemed to refer to every 0-0 result as 'typical of the modern game' even that's not true.

Also on the subject of the media's impact on people's perception of how the game is played and the moral integrity of the game, as ever with refereeing errors we face the disingenuously utopian solution from the media of the introduction of video replays for those poor clubs who could potentially lose revenue and those poor fans whose lives are 'ruined' as a result of an official calling it wrong. When discussed at length by Richard Keys et al on Sky Sports, they somehow neglect to converse on how the scenario would lead to football’s over-reliance on their presence and technology.

Also, that 45 minutes is a long time without a commercial break. One minute of video analysis from the third eye is just enough time for 'a word from our sponsors'. Also the game that is played in the Stade De France is in essence the same as that played at the scene of Brady’s last embarrassing outburst at Park Lane, Canvey Island. Will Sky pay for this technology to be installed at the latter, where a wrong decision in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup could potentially deprive a club of the revenue of a cup run that could make the difference between the death and survival of a club? All I can put forward is a twist to the age old rhetorical question often used to emphasise the obvious....'Is the Pope Irish'?