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Houllier: Henry not returning to Red Bulls

Thierry Henry New York Red Bulls 203

Photo by Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports

 

By FRANCO PANIZO

Thierry Henry could possibly continue his illustrious career following the conclusion of this MLS season, but it will not be at the New York Red Bulls.

Red Bulls’ head of global football Gerard Houllier told French outlet France Football on Thursday that Henry’s time at the Red Bulls will come to an end following the expiration of his contact in December. Houllier added that Henry could opt to sign a deal elsewhere after becoming a free agent, but added that the Red Bulls are not an option.

Henry has been rumored to exiting the MLS club despite publicly saying he will wait until the winter to make a decision, but Houllier’s latest comments seem to confirm that the 37-year-old Frenchman is on his way out of the team he joined in 2010.

The lethal striker has enjoyed a strong individual showing since arriving in MLS. He has 50 goals and 41 assists in 119 regular season games, and also helped New York win its first piece of significant hardware, the Supporters’ Shield, in 2013.

There have been signs throughout the course of the season that this could be Henry’s final year with the Red Bulls. Arsenal, the club where Henry made his legend, made a rare stateside appearance for a friendly in July. Houllier also said following that match at Red Bull Arena that he thought Henry was leaning towards retirement at the end of the season.

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What do you think of Houllier saying Henry is leaving? Not surprised? What club could you see Henry continuing his career at after this year if he were to make such a decision?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. No surprise. I’ve not heard any current or former player say or suggest that playing for RBNY is a good job. It would be a side-splitting laugh if he went to NYCFC!

    New ownership couldn’t be much worse than current ownership, so a sale couldn’t hurt.

    If they drop NY from the name and make it NJ, I fear there might be more defection to The Bronx than has already occurred, and there is nothing to say a name change to NJ would interest more NJ fans. There just aren’t enough NJ soccer fans interested in MLS and it’s unlikely NJ residents would fill the seats lost if/when NYers leave.

    I don’t think it’s a good idea to add NJ or change to NJ. But, it doesn’t really matter. There are bigger problems.

    Reply
  2. hope he doesn’t retire or leave. one more season! would understand if it is though and hope he continues to be a part of MLS even in retirement.

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  3. How about “Cosmos Metro” or “Cosmos Metro FC”? It is similar in structure to “Sporting Kansas City” — name, then place (the entire NYC metropolitan area). It picks up the still-popular Cosmos name, and incorporates the Metro name as well.

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  4. Huge risk for NY1 in my opinion. They need to find a replacement for Henry or they will really be bad. Good luck.

    The other side of that..huge risk for Henry. He should try out for Burnley or Sunderland. I bet he could make it 😉 Test himself against the best !!

    Guys come here because they played for championships and they want to again. Good luck finding that. Maybe he plays for the top Portugal team ?

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  5. There is only one clear way to judge the Red Bulls committment to the franchise going forward, and its how they go about replacing Henry.

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  6. Happy henry is leaving! About time! Four years of building a team around a player that may or may not give 100%. This man was paid to carry the team and be a leader and he is not. Demoralizing! Four year highlight real that should include moments when a so called great gives the ball to the B team player. These legends should know when to retire if they don’t want to play. Don’t believe just look at his pedetrian demeanor in the galaxy game. All the greats on the field and henry walks the pitch. Donavan kean were running the whole match and had heart. Good riddance. Bring in 3 dps like juan pablo angel please.

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    • This is lunacy. Henry has 50 goals and 41 assists in 119 games, he’s averaged better than 85 minutes a game since he joined the team, he was named Best XI for two years, and won the Supporters Shield last year. And he clearly loves being in New York as opposed to just collecting a paycheck. He also became incredibly knowledgeable about MLS and its players and made himself available for signings and other fan events. You could not pray for a better DP signing.

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      • You know how in baseball there is always some poor hitting, little white guy who doesn’t actually produce, but he looks like he’s trying real hard all the time? That’s the guy the press and half the fans love. You are responding to a guy who doesn’t both to look at results – only at demeanor. So much of imperious majesty on the field. Goes right past him…

  7. They did this so the fans could give him the proper send-off. People would have been miffed if they had have announced it after the season.

    Red Bull put a lot of money into this team, and picked up Henry and made him happy for his years here in NY. They may have cut spending in the past couple years but overall they have been a very good owner.

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  8. Cosmos buy the team and stadium from Red Bull with the stipulation that Red Bull have to pay for stadium naming right for 3-5 years. This will provide a little but of continuity for fans, while allowing the Cosmos organization to get things figured out on the marketing front.

    The team should be called Cosmos. No New York. No New Jersey. This avoids the hypocrisy of calling a New Jersey based team “NY” and gives the impression that the team is a tri-state team. Not to mention it can build off the great Cosmos brand.

    Pretty simple. $300MM and add water.

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    • Why is it “hypocrisy” to call a team NY just because the stadium is in NJ? The team represents the NYC area. Many stadiums are not in the specific town that their team is named for. Is it hypocritical to call the Union the Philadelphia Union instead of the Chester Union, for example?

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      • The 49ers not only don’t play in San Francisco, they play farther from San Francisco than the Oakland Raiders.

      • So let me ask you this,…if the team’s stadium is in New Jersey and the team’s training facility is in New Jersey,…why don’t they call themselves the New Jersey Redbulls?

  9. Best player I’ve ever seen. NY soccer fans should be grateful they got a chance to see him play live. I just hope they find a new, committed group to buy the team and the stadium. The Red Bull organization has been out to lunch on this team for the last year or so.

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  10. Houllier’s willingness to speak about this, when Henry himself has deflected all questions, is another sign of the dysfunction in this organization. Unless he’s trying to push Henry out the door, which seems unlikely, I can’t see any reason for him to go public with this. Maybe it’s a signal to potential buyers that Henry’s salary will be coming off the books?

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  11. Thanks, Titi, for gracing us with your presence and taking our league seriously. Congratulations on a truly stunning career.

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      • NY/NJ is so catchy?? Like the NJ Jets or NJ Giants? The only professional team with NJ is the NJ Devils and they don’t seem to draw well even when they have good teams. It does seem more and more likely like Grant Wahl’s story is true. Metrostars sucks. Would love to see a more classic football (aka soccer) name and owners.

      • Bullsh#%…The New Jersey Devils have no attendance issues whatsoever..

        The franchise has enjoyed great success over the last twenty years or so and the fans have come out game in.. game out..

        Get a new act..

      • ignorance is bliss…

        “Attendance at Devils games had been trending downward. From 1994-1999, the Devils had averaged at least 16,200 fans per game throughout the season. From 1999-2012, they never cracked 16,000 again. The lockout-shortened season attendance spiked to 17,114 but I’m not sure if that’s not just a function of the NHL being “taken away” from its fans. Even with this spike in attendance, it still put them near the bottom-third of the league in average attendance and they only averaged about 122 more ticket sales per game than the Florida Panthers.”

        http://www.xnsports.com/2013/08/08/jersey-devils-facing-bankruptcy-owner/

        – bottom 6 in attendance last season:
        http://espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/_/year/2014

        http://www.northjersey.com/news/devils-ceo-wants-to-take-the-hockey-team-corporate-to-boost-ticket-sales-1.569130

        Don’t let facts get in the way of an argument….

      • ignorance is bliss…
        -“Attendance at Devils games had been trending downward. From 1994-1999, the Devils had averaged at least 16,200 fans per game throughout the season. From 1999-2012, they never cracked 16,000 again. The lockout-shortened season attendance spiked to 17,114 but I’m not sure if that’s not just a function of the NHL being “taken away” from its fans. Even with this spike in attendance, it still put them near the bottom-third of the league in average attendance and they only averaged about 122 more ticket sales per game than the Florida Panthers.” (www.xnsports.com/2013/08/08/jersey-devils-facing-bankruptcy-owner)

        – bottom 6 in attendance last season: (espn.go.com/nhl/attendance/_/year/2014) and (www.northjersey.com/news/devils-ceo-wants-to-take-the-hockey-team-corporate-to-boost-ticket-sales-1.569130)

        Don’t let facts get in the way of an argument….

      • I would have an easier time accepting Devils-like attendance if it meant we got Devils-like results (i.e. multiple championships and trips to the Stanley Cup final). The Islanders have pathetic attendance too. I think it has more to do with the Rangers being the more popular team in the area and three hockey teams probably being more than the area can fully support.

      • Slow,

        I agree with you on the results. The success they had in the ‘naughts were impressive and I would take those attendance numbers if I had better ratings though.

      • Antney..

        If im not mistaken.. the poster suggested that the New Jersey Devils constituted a poor attendence draw..

        15000-16000 fans per game does not indicate issues in drawing fans..

        The NHL as a whole, has seen a dip in not only attendance but overall national profile..

        The poster seem to support the argument that positioning of a professional sports franchise in Northern New Jersey is poor choice..

        Hence the use of the term “bullsh@t”

        Love it when wannabe eggheads google numbers then project the idea of ignorance on people who were aware of the ‘facts’ in the first place..

  12. Red bull is a mess, if I was a billionaire and had another rich buddy i would buy this team since 300 million is not that bad, it includes a stadium and a team in the the New Jersey New York area, what else do u want.

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    • Get a NJ based company to buy them. Red Bull is a joke. They have no idea how to treat their fans or run an MLS team. Building a big stadium and signing a few stars isn’t how you build a franchise.

      They were never welcome here to begin with and they won’t be missed.

      NJ Metrostars!!!

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      • The door is open, now it’s up to MLS and red bull fans. Go to the game and protest to be sold,simple as that.
        Make a huge banner calling out the cosmos to buy in or a banner saying, for sale 🙂
        Make it happen now, before it’s too late and MLS is stuck with red bull for 5 years more.

      • How do you build a franchise? By not building a world class stadium and not signing big stars who produce, want to be here, and lead your team to a Supporters Shield? How would you feel if the team were playing on turf in a three-quarters empty cavernous MetLife Stadium with no stars or chance of winning? Because that was the alternative.

    • This has been mentioned numerous times. But the glitchy video ads on this site are forcing me to check other soccer sites moving forward. Its ludicrous.

      Reply

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