Finally someone at Arsenal has woken up and smelt the coffee.

It’s taken an incredibly long time but at last one of the Highbury top dogs has decided to pull his head out of the sand and admit that Henry is on his way out of the club.

Chairman Peter Hill-Wood has said in an interview that he is extremely worried the club captain may up and leave at the end of the season and set off for Spanish pastures and a lucrative contract at Barcelona.

“At the back of my mind there is a fear he may decide to go. I have no evidence – other than maybe I have been here too many times with players and have become cynical,” he said.

I appreciate that Hill-Wood may not have any actual ‘evidence’ to substantiate his concerns. But maybe the fact that Arsenal are a quite staggering 24 points behind Chelsea in the table should give him an indication as to why Henry will be on his bike.

As one of the best players in the world, Henry naturally wants success. But he certainly isn’t getting it domestically from Arsenal this season. It cannot be just a coincidence that the rumours about the player’s departure have surfaced during a season when the team has been struggling.

Barring a remarkable Chelsea collapse – which just isn’t going to happen – Arsenal will not be winning the title this season. And, come the summer, Henry will be gone no matter how much Wenger and Hill-Wood beg and plead and no matter how much money they offer him to stay.

However, there is a ray of hope. As I said, Henry wants success and Arsenal cannot give that to him domestically this season. But they can in Europe.

If Arsenal manage to put their Premier League form behind them in the Champions League – something they have been doing to good effect so far – then Henry will be tempted to stay. Not just for the next season but for the rest of his career.

They don’t even have to win the cup. Just reaching the final should be enough to show Henry that there is a future with Arsenal, a future with the possibility of more trophies.

Interestingly, however, the only hope Arsenal have of making it to that final is if Henry is on top form. He is far and away their best player and only when he is firing on all cylinders do Arsenal really raise their game.

So, for Arsenal fans, there is even more at stake in next month’s clash with Real Madrid than you would first imagine – holding on to the best player ever to wear the red and white of the Gunners.

Graeme Souness

As a manager I don’t particularly rate Graeme Souness. After all there is only so far you can take your teams on a blend of anger, attitude and aggression.

But I have to say I feel sorry for him and the ridiculous amount of injuries he has had to put up with this season as he struggles to return Newcastle to the top end of the table.

It seems at one time or another he has had just about every one of his first team out through injury – Shearer, Luque, Dyer, Carr, Ameobi, Taylor and Emre have all had spells on the sidelines.

Now, following hot on the heels of Michael Owen’s broken foot, Souness has been further depressed by the news that Scott Parker – arguably the Toon’s best player this season – is out for over a month.

But for once, Souness is not bleating about it.

“It’s another blow for the season. Scott has been our best player this season. But these are the cards we have been dealt and we have to stick together,” he said, before wandering off to bang his head against a wall.

Essentially it’s true. A fully fit Newcastle squad would be pretty formidable. As it is, maybe the injuries are not such a bad thing for Graeme. At least it gives him an excuse and they may, bizarrely, have bought him another season in charge.

Meanwhile, another manager who is having a traumatic season is Nigel Worthington at Norwich. Starting the campaign among the favourites to bounce right back it seemed as though nothing would go right for him as they slumped to near the bottom of the Championship.

But, almost uniquely these days, his club stood by him and it has proved to be a rather shrewd move with Norwich now on the crest of a wave which should see them start to challenge for the play-offs pretty soon.

In fact the Canaries have won five of their last six games, a run which earned Worthington the dreaded manager of the month award.

So expect him to be sacked by the end of January…

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