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Henry The Oath And His Sick Vibes Oh Dear!

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Thu, 01/02/2018 - 10:38

No one can accuse West Ham United of doing things by half when it comes to shooting themselves in the foot, and continuing along with this ethos the club has really managed to surpass itself in the last couple of days. Even the most skeptical of fans cannot believe it was a deliberate act in order to divert attention from what was a truly awful January transfer window, but never the less Hammers' Director of Player Recruitment Tony Henry has managed to go where few others have been by managing to not only alienate a fine group of players that are at the club but also ensured that anyone of African descent will think twice about joining 'racist' West Ham!

Judge for yourself whether Henry just chose the wrong words to express his feelings, or if his comments were misconstrued or if he is totally racist without realising it! below is a full transcript of his words, followed by the club's offcial response to Henry's comments.
FULL TONY HENRY TRANSCRIPT

“Because we had three and we felt we didn’t particularly want any more African players.”
When questioned why, Henry said: “Erm, no reason. It’s nothing racist at all. It’s just sometimes they can have a bad attitude.
“We had problems with Sakho, with Diafra Sakho. We find that when they are not in the team they cause mayhem. It’s nothing against the African race at all.
“I mean, look, there are top African players. There’s not a problem with them. It’s just sometimes they cause a lot of problems when they are not playing, as we had with Diafra. He’s left, so great. It’s nothing personal at all.”
When pressed as to whether he thought his comments were discriminatory, Henry replied: “In what way?”
Asked if he thought he comments were derogatory towards African players, Henry added: “No. I don’t know what you are trying to get at here. All I said was, look, we have a great lad in (Cheikhou) Kouyate, he’s brilliant, a great player for us, he’s a good lad.
“But the likes of Sakho have caused mayhem. When he’s not playing … he always wants a new deal. That’s all it was. It was nothing discriminatory at all.
“I could say we get offered Russian players. I just find with Russian players that they don’t settle in England.
“It’s like Italians. How many Italians come and settle in England? As a club we are not discriminatory at all.
“If you’ve got too many, they all sit together and it becomes a situation where you can have problems. But then you can have problems with English players. I don’t know what you are driving at.”

West Ham United Official Statement:

The Club can confirm that Director of Player Recruitment Tony Henry has been suspended pending a full and thorough investigation. West Ham United will not tolerate any type of discrimination and has, therefore, acted swiftly due to the serious nature of these claims.
The West Ham United family is an inclusive one where, regardless of gender, age, ability, race, religion or sexual orientation, everybody feels welcome and included.
The Club will make no further comment until the investigation has been concluded.

Well there we have it, at best Hammers come across as dated and racist, at worst damage has been caused that will not go away, eventually it will be a case of 'Taxi for Henry' because there is no amount of spin, particularly from a hierarchy that is already despised by most fans, that can gloss over what are racist comments. Tony Henry will argue that his comments have been taken out of context, he will furhter argue that the reporter who was questioning him had a pre-set agenda that was deigned to 'ensnare' him while he was off guard. Two things (a) Henry should have chosen his words more carefully, after all he has been in the business for a long time, and (b) What on earth was Tony Henry doing talking to the press in the first place? There are Press and PR people at the club who are paid good money exactly in order to avoid such embarrassments, so maybe they should 'fall on the sword' along with Henry, because until he has gone there will be a nasty stigma hanging over the club. - Ed

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mcbikeman's picture

its convenient that a private email like this comes to light the day after transfer window shuts....wonder if its to distract fans from the fact they have been shafted again..not that anyone at our club would do such a thing

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204 users have voted.
Dartford Bhoy's picture

That was the biggest shock for me, the fact that we had one! Should have been fired long ago as our recruitment has been woeful! Reminded me of that Porridge sketch when Fletcher asks Groutie what his job was in the prison and he says Swimming Pool attendant... But we dont have a Swimming pool Gruatie :o)

I agree with with the guy, track record with Africans is not great and you lose them for the African Nations Cup at a critical part of the season it was just naive putting it in writing...plum! Well he has been suspended and hung out to dry, not the first and surely wont be the last!

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187 users have voted.
cast iron's picture

See that its Tony Henrys turn to get thrown under the bus to divert the fans away from the fact that Gold and Co are just a load of money grabbers if there was one transfer window that illustrates this its this one bet they could'nt stop laughing when they got the money for ayew and sacko and bought their Marquee signing Jordan Hugill ( ever heard of him ?? no neither have I) Marquee signing I dont think he could manage to buy a tent at Argos. Do you remember any of these famous quotes. Probably hear them again cos he is running out of excuses. These may not be word for word but the results the same and you will get the gist
1. We couldn't sign him because we did not have time to do the medical
2 We are broke and do not have enough money to sign top premiership strikers
3. offered Billic numerous players but he said our squad was big enough and we did not need them.
4 There's no value in the January window
5 There is no value in the summer window either
6 Premiership players are too expensive and there should be a cap on The amount the clubs have to pay.
7 I will give David Moyes a 30 million chest to help rebuild west ham.
8 Agents get too much money(About the only thing I agree with) 9. We cant get Carvallo but we will make an offer on the January window. 10 We cant get Dendonker we will make an offer at the end of the season. You are full of shit fed up with all the lies.11. When we leave the Boleyn and get Olimpic park we will take us to a new level we will be playing European football in 5 years. Sure you can think up a few more famous quotes and lies but after seeing this window I'm convinced that they are going to sell this club so F*ck off and sell it someone who cares and has ambition. I feel that we have all had the piss taken out of us, and enough is enough.
And another Question from All the fans where has all the money gone we are supposed to be the 15th richest club. Got paid out for Payet, Sacko , Ayew loads of players on loan that they get revenue from , club merchandise, season tickets and you pay out 9 million on Hugill not exactly our first target, Hope he is good value and I don't want to slag off a new player but I'm not expecting a Ronaldo or Messi.
So what happened to the 30 million that you promised Moyes, and where's the rest of it gone. Time to go. Oh, and Mr Sullivan don't tell us you are a supporter and how you were born in Green Street you might have been a supporter once but you certainly aren't now, no owner should expect us to put up with this crap. And if we are relegated every true West Ham fan will Remember what you have done in this window. Oh another quote From Gold springs to mind how you worked tirelessly night and day to get top players well you had a nightmare at the end of this window you must of been dreaming. thats the Quote you use in every window We've heard them all before lets hope we havent got to hear them any more see if you can find a buyer with some ambition because its time for the board to go

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214 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

what if he's NOT gearing up to sell West Ham? What if he keeps milking the dead cow for the next ten years?

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164 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

But you put the finishing touch on the image. BTW: I don't think he's too old for it. I kind of see them three rummaging around, Darren-Harry-Like, in the broom closet when things are down ... or should it be up?

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187 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

And those geezers might last longer than all of us, too.

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204 users have voted.
moore2come's picture

Here's the next quote for you for the coming summer " It's almost impossible to do business before, during & (in our case) after a WC as all players are putting themselves in the shop window and waiting for the best outcome"

Of course this shouldn't matter to SUGO as all the players we target and sign are not gonna be going anyway!!!

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207 users have voted.

Personally I don't see anything wrong in what he said. Anyone who thinks that's racist is just looking to join the snowflake generation. The club IS a shambles, but don't let this racist claim detract from that! I don't even think he should have been suspended. Personally it's much ado about nothing. I wouldn't buy African players because every 2 years they are off to the ANC. Oops sorry for being racist! Racist my arse get a grip people.

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135 users have voted.

The guy represented the club by saying they don't want anymore African players because they cause mayhem. This is a wild, ridiculous and derogatory generalisation based on race. Therefore it's racism. Not signing players based on them being committed to another competition is not racism. You are clearly in a tiny minority of people that can't seem to grasp or "get a grip" on that. Love Mr Snowflake.

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151 users have voted.

Well dicksy, I'm not sure I need to make a reply as you have said it all. I'm not too sure people nowadays actual lay know what real racism is. But that's the last I say on the matter.

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171 users have voted.

H65, yes I do agree with you mate. Having said that on a personal basis it's now got to the point that I'll say something in all regular everyday chat and then wonder if I've offended someone just because I could have phrased it differently. I don't believe it's they way to live your life, in all innocence.

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141 users have voted.

There was a time when people could "tell it how it is",though its probably easier nowadays just to keep schtum most of the time!!

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216 users have voted.
boogerscaravan's picture

I think it's just something that didn't need saying. In modern society you get cliques of people, black, white, yellow, space aliens etc, etc. In Sakos case he could have been a space alien, his one gripe was money, didn't matter what he was or wasn't. The dressing room clique could have been made up of under earners, doesn't matter what their ethnic origin is they are going to be disruptive through jealousy end of.

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177 users have voted.

This topic came up after we had played a swindle at the golf club (retired old gits) and most of my generation agreed it was nothing and far worse was said when we were younger. Problem is today's generation are basically bonkers and anything sexist, racist or even homophobic is not on. What you can talk about today and more importantly what you can't talk about is crazy.
Yes we know West Ham were having problems with Ayew and Sakho both demanding more playing time and more money in Sakho's case, but today you don't say it the way Tony Henry did. He tried to cover it with the term Africans rather than just saying Sakho and Ayew, which has landed him in a deep pile of poo!!! Absolutely crazy!

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203 users have voted.

A D Bonds

My comment "This is a wild, ridiculous and derogatory generalisation BASED on race" But thanks anyway!

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186 users have voted.

You should contact the club and world's media and quickly repeat your amazing insightful comment so the whole affair can be instantly dropped... You'll be a hero mate.

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203 users have voted.

I may be wrong, he may of course have been referring to all the white Asian Arabian African players at the club!

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147 users have voted.

Definitely must have been referring to them, especially when he said "african race" 100%. Still its all over now thankfully and dealt with swiftly. No room for such ridiculous bigoted "slip ups" anymore in the game, which is fabulous. Less questionable characters at the club means less people potentially offended or hurt, times have certainly changed for the better, just need to get rid of the childish racist chants next.

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141 users have voted, including you.

I can completely comprehend your perspective. This has certainly not helped the club right now and that angers me.

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189 users have voted.

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