Jordan Henderson | New Athletic Interview: I strongly believe that me playing in Saudi Arabia is a positive thing

[Alex99]

Re-reading some of it, and what a car crash of an interview that is. Prior to this I never liked Henderson because I think he's incredibly averaged and his performances were elevated by a strong collective, and I hate his hard-man act, but I could at least respect that off the field he seemed like a decent enough person.

Turns out it's all a load of piss and he's a posturing hypocrite who happens to seemingly not be very bright or self aware.

I keep going back to it because it's just so, so bad.

My favourite bits were:

• Saying for the 15th time that "surely it's a positive thing that I've gone to Saudi Arabia?" and the interviewer going "I don't know."
• Talking about how the workers the Qataris arranged for them to meet had nothing but positive things to say about working in Qatar, the interviewer pointing out that it was almost certainly a staged meeting to make the Qataris look good, and Henderson just going "well, I had a good experience."
• "I've gone above and beyond to help them. I've worn the laces. I've worn the armband."
• Saying a big motivator for him going to Saudi Arabia was so he could be a driver of change, immediately following that up by saying he won't actually do or say anything as that would be disrespectful to the Saudis, then adding that he didn't actually want to change anything in the UK either.

 

[Zen86]

ah yes the old “I’m taking their money and legitimising them so I can drive change” routine

 

[MegadrivePerson]

Up there with the Prince Andrew "I can't sweat" Interview as one of the worst interviews of all time.

 

[Alex99]

ah yes the old “I’m taking their money and legitimising them so I can drive change” routine

He genuinely seemed to think it was a good thing that no one had told him to be quiet about his views, despite repeatedly acknowledging that he basically couldn't voice them. Jordan, they've bought your silence and compliance.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

• "I've gone above and beyond to help them. I've worn the laces. I've worn the armband.

You can almost hear David Brent uttering those words.

 

[SuperiorXI]

No one moves there for anything but the money, how thick does he think the general public are?

I mean a lot of the general public are pretty thick. Look at who they vote in every election.

 

[Semper Fudge]

I keep going back to it because it's just so, so bad.

My favourite bits were:

• Saying for the 15th time that "surely it's a positive thing that I've gone to Saudi Arabia?" and the interviewer going "I don't know."
• Talking about how the workers the Qataris arranged for them to meet had nothing but positive things to say about working in Qatar, the interviewer pointing out that it was almost certainly a staged meeting to make the Qataris look good, and Henderson just going "well, I had a good experience."
• "I've gone above and beyond to help them. I've worn the laces. I've worn the armband."
• Saying a big motivator for him going to Saudi Arabia was so he could be a driver of change, immediately following that up by saying he won't actually do or say anything as that would be disrespectful to the Saudis, then adding that he didn't actually want to change anything in the UK either.

What a martyr he is. My people thank him for his service.

 

[Alex99]

You can almost hear David Brent uttering those words.

"I don't wear the armband so they turn around and go, 'Thank you, Jordan, for your help. Thank you for your support.' I do it so, one day, someone will go, 'There goes Jordan Henderson. I must remember to thank him.'"

 

[Buster15]

Self righteous prick. If he wanted to be held up as a paragon of virtue, he should have gone back to Sunderland and helped them to the PL.
But he didn't. For one reason....

 

[Gehrman]

I keep going back to it because it's just so, so bad.

My favourite bits were:

• Saying for the 15th time that "surely it's a positive thing that I've gone to Saudi Arabia?" and the interviewer going "I don't know."
• Talking about how the workers the Qataris arranged for them to meet had nothing but positive things to say about working in Qatar, the interviewer pointing out that it was almost certainly a staged meeting to make the Qataris look good, and Henderson just going "well, I had a good experience."
• "I've gone above and beyond to help them. I've worn the laces. I've worn the armband."
• Saying a big motivator for him going to Saudi Arabia was so he could be a driver of change, immediately following that up by saying he won't actually do or say anything as that would be disrespectful to the Saudis, then adding that he didn't actually want to change anything in the UK either.

He's worn the laces and the armband.... what more can he do?

 

[jadajos]

He's worn the laces and the armband.... what more can he do?

He literally gone above the ground (laces) and beyond (armband). And now he’s gone beyond the beyond and wears a board in front of the head.

 

[maniak]

Apparently, the LGBT movement(at least a very noisy part of it) wants you to support respect for gay people only if you are willing to make all your life decisions, including professional and family ones, with their cause in mind as the primarly factor.

Sounds very dumb; if I was a leader of a social movement, I'd be as welcoming as possible.

Username checks out

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Even without reading/watching his interview of course it is a positive thing for him. He is already 33, playing in a less physical and demanding league, and making a lot more money. It is the same for CR7, Benzema, Firmino, Mahrez, Neymar, Mane, Kante.

 

[Gehrman]

He literally gone above the ground (laces) and beyond (armband). And now he’s gone beyond the beyond and wears a board in front of the head.

He's transcended any notion of good and bad and is now this massively rich cnut with a board on his face.

 

[always_hoping]

Sounds ungrateful for all Liverpool and Klopp has done for him. An average player where the Liverpool/Klopp system of play brought out the best in him and covered his limitations. If it wasn't for them it would likely be championship club and big deduction in wages for him in his mid 30s than a Saudi is a big money move but it isn't about the money? yeah right Jordan.

 

[DoneDaDa]

That was a bad each, should've just kept his mouth shut.

 

[LInkash]

 

[Pickle85]

Don't sign your posts.

 

[Joga Bonito]

Don't sign your posts.

 

[devaneios]

I find it amazing how people say "don't say anything if you're going to turn back if money is throw at you"

First of all, I don't know how you guys' brains work, but, when questioned about my opinion on some subject, I just say what I believe about it, and not stop to think: "Well, if Saudis tried to give me a job paying 10x what I make, even if it were just to exercise my profession, would I reject because of my beliefs? I'm not sure, so I gonna be silent."

Second: as I said, it sounds like they're only looking for martyrs. People can have different levels of commitment without necessarily being a hypocrite for that.

 

[Gehrman]

I find it amazing how people say "don't say anything if you're going to turn back if money is throw at you"

First of all, I don't know how you guys' brains work, but, when questioned about my opinion on some subject, I just say what I believe about it, and not stop to think: "Well, if Saudis tried to give me a job paying 10x what I make, even if it were just to exercise my profession, would I reject because of my beliefs? I'm not sure, so I gonna be silent."

Second: as I said, it sounds like they're only looking for martyrs. People can have different levels of commitment without necessarily being a hypocrite for that. If just who was willing to give away everything for the cause was accepted as a partner agent, probably gays would still be treated in western world like they're in muslim countries.

LGBT advocates arent fecking martyrs if they turn down the money to get paid by a regime that criminalise people for being homosexual and it some instances kill them for it. Its hardly like Pl stars are lacking for money. Would Henderson be changing the world anyhow? No. Is he a massive hypocrite yes. And it goes to show how vacuous footballers virtue signalling is. Harry kane wouldn't wear the armband for the fear of a yellow at the wc. Footballers are vacuous atrocious activists, the only who has tangibly done anything substantial is Rashford.

 

[always_hoping]

One of the best quotes on that.

we shouldn't idolize footballers as it's a recipe for disaster

 

[DJ_21]

Don’t understand why the Saudis are signing Average players like Henderson and offering them like 700k a week. He’s obviously gonna run over there otherwise he would be in a league below on halve the wages he was currently on. Alls it means now though is players that move over there are probably stuck there for the rest of their careers unless they take massive pay cuts to come back to Europe.

 

[top1whoisman]

Love it.

 

[The-Mezzala]

Is his gait still causing him problems

 

[adexkola]

Don’t understand why the Saudis are signing Average players like Henderson and offering them like 700k a week. He’s obviously gonna run over there otherwise he would be in a league below on halve the wages he was currently on. Alls it means now though is players that move over there are probably stuck there for the rest of their careers unless they take massive pay cuts to come back to Europe.

Part of a massive plan by the House of Saud to silence footballers who put on rainbow laces.

 

[Fridge chutney]

There are couple of bits early on where he essentially tries to frame his only options as rotting on Liverpool's bench or move to Saudi, which have their own issues, but the below stood out more to me.

On what, ultimately, convinced him to make the move to Saudi Arabia:



On whether his move increases the likelihood of change in Saudi Arabia:



On the face of it, these two answers look great and certainly consistent with his support of LGBT causes in the UK. However, he immediately follows it up by basically saying he won't do anything while in Saudi.

On how this is different to Qatar, where no change was visible:



On whether he'll continue to wear the rainbow laces/armband:



On the graying out of his rainbow armband in his announcement video:



On whether "respecting the culture" just leaves gay people in a situation where they essentially have to accept that their existence is illegal:




Henderson genuinely seems to be of the belief that his mere presence in Saudi Arabia is a force for good, repeating as much a few times throughout the interview, which is weird, because he also says at one point that he can't do anything because he's just one man. There's a bit of dissonance going on where he repeats that he's not been told to keep quiet about things so that's good, but acknowledges that he can't really do or say anything as it will be seen as disrespectful.

The last bit is unintentionally hilarious. "I've gone above and beyond for these people. I've worn laces, I've worn the armband, I've spoken to people. And I've got gay friends!"

I don't want to add much of my own commentary because I think those quotes essentially speak for themselves. There are also a couple of occasions where he gushes over how nice it was in Qatar and how nice it is in Saudi, and it's then pointed out to him that he's probably been privy to quite a manicured view of things, with his answer to that being "well my experience was nice." Ultimately, it reads like he wasn't prepared to be grilled quite as much as he was, and also that he had a few canned answers that he fell back on when challenged, without really answering the questions put to him.

I'm just not sure what he was hoping to get out of doing this interview as it certainly won't have done anything to win over the people he seemed to be trying to please by doing it.

What an absolute cretin Henderson is.

 

[Laurencio]

Part of a massive plan by the House of Saud to silence footballers who put on rainbow laces.

Expensive, but effective

 

[justsomebloke]

I find it amazing how people say "don't say anything if you're going to turn back if money is throw at you"

First of all, I don't know how you guys' brains work, but, when questioned about my opinion on some subject, I just say what I believe about it, and not stop to think: "Well, if Saudis tried to give me a job paying 10x what I make, even if it were just to exercise my profession, would I reject because of my beliefs? I'm not sure, so I gonna be silent."

Second: as I said, it sounds like they're only looking for martyrs. People can have different levels of commitment without necessarily being a hypocrite for that.

Maybe. But they can't take the money, shut up and claim to be an agent of change.

 

[tomaldinho1]

You can almost hear David Brent uttering those words.

The more you listen to it, the more Brent esque it is.

 

[Needham]

If any Saudi company in your field offered you 700k a week to up sticks, move to Saudi and work there, you'd all go. All of you.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

No we wouldn't.

 

[Rob]

If any Saudi company in your field offered you 700k a week to up sticks, move to Saudi and work there, you'd all go. All of you.

The thing about this is posters on the caf aren't multi millionaires and aren't on 190k/week contracts.

 

[Needham]

The thing about this is posters on the caf aren't multi millionaires and aren't on 190k/week contracts.

You'd go.

 

[Halftrack]

If any Saudi company in your field offered you 700k a week to up sticks, move to Saudi and work there, you'd all go. All of you.

It was 350k and no.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

You'd go.

When people make these kinds of posts, they think they are making a point about hypocrisy and morality or something like that.

In reality, all they convey is that they're desperate for someone to give them money.

 

[Rockets Redglare]

If any Saudi company in your field offered you 700k a week to up sticks, move to Saudi and work there, you'd all go. All of you.

How can you not see the difference? Henderson already made more in a week than most people made in a year, he was already in a position to be financially stable for the rest of his life yet he decided to bin his morals for money.

Don’t act like he was on the breadline before getting this mega contract in Saudi, he was on £140,000 a week.

 

[Rnd898]

If any Saudi company in your field offered you 700k a week to up sticks, move to Saudi and work there, you'd all go. All of you.

The set-up is entirely unfair. Of course most common folk would go if they'd get enough money in a year to retire early and still be set up for a life of luxury as opposed to working 9-5 for another few decades and still earn a tiny fraction of that money overall.

The thing is though, players like Henderson are already set up for a life of luxury having earned tens of millions of pounds in their career already. If they're not dumb as a rock and waste all the money on stupid shit then their children and their children's children won't have to work a day in their lives either unless they choose to. The only thing going to Saudi-Arabia will change for people like Henderson is now they can continuously spend money on unnecessary stupid shite and still be set for generations but is that really worth selling your integrity for?

Whether he has a net worth of £30M or £80M matters feck all for the quality of his life so he could easily afford to make a moral stand and would get righly applauded for it if he did. A regular guy struggling from paycheck to paycheck in a dead-end job might think differently if given the choice and that's fair enough.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

To make the analogy work for 'normal' people: if I was offered 700k a week to work in Saudi Arabia, I'd consider doing it ... for a week.

 

[Needham]

Actually, I agree. It's a terrible place. Buddy happy to take the shilling in the car industry worked there 8 years and his endless anecdotes are unrepeatable on here because the hard truth of them would eventually just draw out accusations of racism. The Henderson situation sickens me because he dies on the cross of the giant shibboleth of the day, LGBTQ ideology. The country is a bassackwards shithole for a thousand reasons even leading up to that. But so many of the fan base seem cool with dough from their ideological brethren.