Karl Henry must hate debate. That's the first thing I thought when the Wolves captain was given an early red card on Saturday.
The Karl Henry Experience Continues: Wolves Captain Dismissed After Tackle Launches Jordi Gomez
The defensive midfielder was dismissed (and now faces a three match suspension) after this tackle on Wigan’s Jordi Gomez:
Oh, please, that wasn’t that bad. OK, it was terrible, but I’m trying to have a discussion here, people - the same discussion that’s taken place for the last month. Are Wolves’ tactics too physical?
Henry was apparently tired of the discussion and sought to end it with one, definitive blow. At least, that’s the best explanation I can muster for this otherwise inexplicably reckless challenge.
Unfortunately, the dismissal is only liked to foster the debate surrounding Mick McCarthy’s team - and Henry, for that matter, who is at the center of this discussion.
And as it concerns Wolves’ captain, let’s consider a few other pieces of evidence:
On August 28, Henry led a rather ostentatious (if epic) attack on Newcastle's Joey Barton, so epic that even Match of the Day picked-up on it. See the video, below, where Henry is responsible for at least four of the charges:
On September 11, Henry broke Fulham's Bobby Zamora's leg in a reckless if slightly less dangerous tackle than was launched a Gomez. Zamora's out until February. Henry didn't even see yellow.
The final piece of evidence is more anecdotal. Aggressive play is not new to Karl Henry. In fact, he’s often commended for it.
While some of this year’s incidents have garnered a higher profile (because of greater severity) than last year’s tackles, it’s too early to know whether Henry is demonstrably more aggressive than last year, when his play was lauded if not ignored as benign. The Zamora incident may have been an accident, and the Barton treatment may have been a one-time tactic designed to rattle a temperamental player.
And if the Barton approach was a team-wide tactic (hard to see how it wasn’t), it starts to add fire to the claims that Wolves, as a team, have become excessively physical.
Regardless, this Gomez tackles was bad. Really bad, and thankfully, nobody was hurt. Now, Henry gets three matches to consider things, with manager Mick McCarthy missing his best midfielder through the end of October.
Ultimately, was Henry’s tackle dirty? Have your say, below, and when a player’s impending suspension is likely to end on October 31, we’d be remiss not to mention he’s ...
This post has no direct affiliation with the failed Wyclef Jean for President of Haiti Campaign. In fact, we’re huge fans of Sean Penn’s work.
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