Contact From AFC Bournemouth Over Henry Never Did Materialize

It’s all academic now, but CF Montreal President and CEO Kevin Gilmore stated during today’s video-conference confirming Thierry Henry’s departure from the club, that last week’s rumour around his former coach joining AFC Bournemouth was, “... nothing but a rumour.”

“There was no-one who contacted us asking for permission. There were no discussions between the club and Thierry. He was not out there talking to clubs. This is something where the timing was odd. There were no discussions at all. Either on our end, or on his end with that club,” said Gilmore...

At one point, major UK book-making firms had Henry listed at 1/8 odds-on to succeed the dismissed Jason Tindall.

And acting as a pundit during the BBC’s Daily Football podcast last week, former England international Karen Carney declared she’d heard that Henry had gone to the top of Bournemouth’s wanted-list after he’d “... blown them away during an interview.”

Bournemouth appointed caretaker manager Jonathan Woodgate, a former player with Leeds, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Middlesbrough, as interim manager on Sunday until the end of the season, ending the speculation.

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Asked today if Thierry Henry was now free to join another club, Gilmore said, “First of all, we’re parting on very good terms. And maybe the Bournemouth rumours require that we speak with his agent to make sure that in the event of a move to another club in the near future, that there be some kind of compensation.

“And that’s something that we put down as part of this. It is important for us to handle the situation with him and understand.... and I’ll tell you right now there is nothing on his mind with respect to what he’s going to do next. His sole and only focus is his children and his family.

“But given what popped out last week, we felt it was best to provide for some kind of compensation if in the near future Thierry does end up managing another club.”



Check out the latest The Ball Is Round Podcasts. One recorded this evening on the ramifications of Thierry Henry’s departure (Ep 17) and....

... the other (Ep 16) recorded last evening, 24 Feb (before news of the Henry departure), in which we cover #CFMTL squad strength and depth heading into the new season and other Montreal soccer news... as well as the Canadian WNT at the She Believes Cup.

Every Week - The Ball Is Round...
@TBIRMontreal - please follow us for regular, weekly CF Montreal, Canadian, MLS and international content in English!