According to L’Equipe, GACP, the investment fund that is set to buyout Bordeaux’s current owners, have ended talks with Thierry Henry over the club’s soon-to-be-vacant managerial role.
Henry was pinpointed as the number one candidate to take over from Gus Poyet but it looks as though negotiations have broken down due his financial demands.
It’s claimed that his request for a $200,000 a month salary combined with relocation costs and the potential fee commanded by his agent Darren Dein, son of ex-Arsenal CEO David, have put off GACP ahead of their takeover.
“The conditions demanded by his agent are off the scale given he doesn’t have any experience,” an unnamed Bordeaux official told L’Equipe [translated by ESPN].
“We didn’t have to face up to those sorts of demands for [former coach] Laurent Blanc when he started his career.”
Arsenal’s head scout in France, Gilles Grimandi, had been tipped to be Henry’s assistant and there had even been fanciful whispers that Arsene Wenger could be installed as a Director of Football.
Henry, who until recently was an assistant coach for the Belgium national team, had also been contacted by Aston Villa about becoming their manager this summer only for the Villans to retain Steve Bruce. His search for a managerial role goes on.
Had Henry taken over he’d have been staring down the barrel of a showdown with fellow ex-Gunner Patrick Vieira who now manages Nice. It’s not been a great start for Paddy whose side are yet to win after three games in Ligue 1.
Nice lost their opening game of the season at home to Reims, drew away to Caen and were spanked 4-0 at home by Dijon.
“This is a catastrophic scenario for us,” the 42-year-old said at the weekend. “Losing 4-0 at home is hard to accept.
“We have created many opportunities without scoring. We were shy. The message to the players at the end of the match was this; playing well is not enough. We need more. We did not get it tonight.
“Defeat is due to lack of success and aggression. We lack character, personality and aggressiveness.
“That’s why this scenario has become catastrophic. We do not have enough players to carry the team up.
A defeat to Lyon on Friday will turn up the heat on Vieira, who has only been in the position since June. Ouch.
Being a critic is much easier than coaching.
Yeah. Just ask Gary Neville.
Even Wenger
Yeah, that’s a good comparison. You know, Wenger revolutionised English football, won the double in his first season, went through one season without an away loss and another with no losses at all, won more FA Cups than anyone and Gary Neville was a very good fullback and is one of the most interesting analysts on television. So, almost the same.
Rather unfortunate to bring Wenger in…being that he was a manager for Arsenal for a number of years not to mention Monaco and in Japan plus an Invincible season and a record number of FA cups.
…some people just can’t think.
This surely has to be a sly and somewhat subtle – harmless too – dig, right? 😀
And they both wanted to Manage Arsenal.
I would respect Gerrard and Lampard. Atleast they are giving it a sincere attempt.
Gerrard and Lampard haven’t even had the preparation that Henry especially Vieira have had for being a coach. Gerrard and Lampard are only there for their names. Only Arsenal fans turn against their legends. We love Rosicky, Campbell and Perez. It shows our commitment for excellence.
What does unsuccessful contract negociations have to do with being a coach vs pundit ? I read in other french newspapers that Henry turned down the position because they have no clear owner and plan at the present time.
This report here is from L’equipe. I don’t know how reliable your ‘source is’.
The truth is the club is about to be sold to GACP, a group of American investors. Henry agreed terms with the current head of the club but not with the future owner. Why? Not because of his financial demands but because of what they want to do: be a Monaco 2.0. A team with the only ambition to make huge profit. Henry demanded guarantees about the recruitment and also, considering that he would have taken the team on road, that he would have time to build the team. In the group of investissor there is a guy named Varela… Read more »
Merci from kuwait bro
And I should add that comparing the club at the moment Blanc signed and the situation after his team ranked 10th is ludicrous. They had problem with all coaches, even with Gourvennec who was doing some good work. The stadium is half empty (let’s precise its a new stadium built for the Euro 16). Bref…
Greedy garçon
Officialy it is Henry who turned down the position. The financial reason wasn’t about his own pocket. He demanded to recruit three players by transfer deadline.
Playing well isn’t the same as coaching well.
See Wenger for example.
Tony too.
It’s not nice for pat though.
Sorry.
Neither are as good as they think they are. The one that got away and it still hurts is Arteta.
For me its still a win-win between Arsenal and Arteta. Pep seems to discussed more frequently with him this season so far compared to last season. He could gain more being understudy to Pep.
For his credential, Emery could steady the ship given time and once he and Arsenal part ways, I’ll be glad to see Arteta name among the favourite for the hot seat again.
Give the squad Vieira has at Nice to Pep and he will the league, right ? Better, give him our squad and see if he can win the PL ?
Arteta would have been silly.
He showed little tact or maturity during process.
@santori, don’t you feel stupid for acting like you have inside information?
If these reports are true, then that’s utterly stupid from Henry and his agent. Asking for such amount of money without having any managerial experience when you actually have an opportunity to manage Bordeaux – a respected, well-known club with history in France – is just ridiculous.
Lower your demands, get a job, get experience, prove yourself and big money move or a new contract will certainly follow.
Yeah seeems sensible..but considering it only comes to about 1M per year it is not exactly an outrageous salary. Consider Bordeaux made 35M this summer selling Malcolm. Henry.s name carries a lot of weight in the game
Sorry..awful maths..2M
Blanc got 18 millions of severance fees in same league.
Greedy fecker. Going off the post-retirement Henry more every year.
Fans like you don’t care about having the right information before starting attacks against someone who was the best player in the history of our club and for me and millions others the best CF the league has had so far.
He may be the best player, but asking for that much money (apparently of course) is preposterous for someone with no real experience of being a manager.
It’s like me applying for a job as a nuclear physicist and demanding my wage – it’s not realistic, at all.
If you believe the rumours, Henry’s waiting for the Mourinho’s situation to become clearer.
If Jose gets the sack, Pochettino would be Utd’s first choice, and Henry would look to take the Sp*rs job…… so as to run the club into the ground.
Very funny yes, but no way Pochettino will leave Spurs for that mess. Henry should stick to criticising Arsenal players, he seems to do that well. I agree with beNZed too, he was such an amazing player, but ever since…?
Would be great it Pochettino were to move, I have a fear that he could stick around for a while and really make himself a legend for the spuds.
And what has he won in 4 years? Once that fishmouth Hary Kane leaves for united who can they buy to replace him? With Guardiola, Klopp and Mourinho around, Pochettino has a very slim chance…
Brilliant! 😀
What a way to price one out of the managerial position. Being a good player is by no measure a measuring stick for being a good manager/coach. Henry should come back down to earth. Legend of a player, but little if any managerial experience.
If the story about Henry is true then it was a dumb thing for the Frenchman to do. With the money he has earned from Arsenal and Sky he must be worth many millions, so cash shouldn’t be a problem for him. What he needs right now is somewhere to gain experience and to also show what he can do. If he becomes a successful manager then the big money will eventually come. I have my doubts as to whether he has the right personality to become a top boss, but I’d love to be proven wrong: he’s my favourite… Read more »
I think he needs to bimuild the team around ozil, otherwise he may as well move him on. He’s a great player but his defensive qualities are minimal, you either need to set the team up in such a way that he can thrive and not leave the team exposed or you dont play him at all if he doesn’t suit your set-up.
He needs to *build
Well in the mean time he can practise making statements that leave journalists utterly speechless such as :
“From a strategic point of view we didn’t lose, the tactical point of view we didn’t lose, but we lost.“
I…..wait what
I’ve won the PL three times…’respect, respect, respect’.
Wenger won the PL three times…’specialist in failure’.
It was a metaphysical loss…and err…a physical one.
Ha, that comment really is coming back around on him. Not many special folk have managed to fail so spectacularly with quite the same clockwork regularity as Maureen.
Needs to humble himself (and his agent) and get experience. Not many players are given a chance to manage a leading club in a top league in Europe with zero experience.
Mourinho is a cunt?
Yes he is. There, i answered your question.
Would love to see Thierry back at Arse. We could use someone working with Welbeck and then helping Auba get his confidence back.
There are others that will be better with less ego.
Llungberg is already involved and Pires I’d like to see groomed.
Henry nah.
Good striker or legendary player don’t necessarily mean a good coach. There is so much more to man management.
Look at Tony Adams. Failure.
Look at Ian Wright? I love his passion but he says the most silly and least helpful things.
Gary Neville at United use to shoot his mouth off at Wenger before he went into limited management. He was very much more tempered after that experience.
Not as easy as they think.
Should take the job. Lower expectations with smaller budget.
Learn the ropes, even a modest finish would be deemed a success.
Either Henry is foolish or maybe he is gunning for the United job.
Good to see Viera with Nice.
All the best to him. Putting his money where his mouth is as they say…unlike someone-else.
Remember guys, this isn’t necessarily Henry’s doing, but Darren Dein.
And as much as a legend as his Dad was to get and support Wenger, his Dad arguably fought against the Emirates and left us in the predicament that we find ourselves now with Stan.
And let’s not forget Darren also engineered the stand off and difficulty with Cesc leaving, and I’m sure he was the agent for Flamini too (Cole maybe?) A history of difficulty, and usually is more aligned with his pocket first, than his client (like most football agents).
Greedy twat agent Darren Dein who has caused us trouble before. Titi should be humble and start at a small club & learn his way up imho.
He married into Spurs… Love match unites Spurs and Gunners | London Evening Standard
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/love-match-unites-spurs-and-gunners-6331256.html
Bordeaux is in full damage controller off the record briefing mode. The problem is that are skint, but also that they are sneaky. They removed a player from a Europa League qualifier without telling the coach Gus Poyet. Moreover they are in the middle of a take over. TH14 wanted three guarantees 1) the current owner and the future owner wanted him. The new one was not very forth coming. No point in joining a club if in 6 months, the new owner install his own man. 2) the owner would not interfere within Football matters. The current owner is… Read more »
Regarding Patrick Viera, we now see what he can do when he manages a team that is not one of the richest of its league like NewYork FC was. It is easier to look good if you have one of the best squad of the league. I must admit the initial signs do not look good. It is not so much the defeat, but the manner of the defeats. Big defeat against teams that Nice easily beat the previous seasons. Moreover he is switching to full Mourinho mode he has already started blaming his players for their lack of hunger… Read more »
Maybe Thierry didn’t really want the role? Hence, the supposed demand for an outrageous starting salary for a superstar footballer but one with no managerial experience?