Thierry Henry caught with his pants down

Henry gives people of Barcelona a large stool for Christmas

Who doesn’t love a traditional nativity scene? The baby Jesus in his manger, the oxen, the three wise men and…wait! Who’s this amongst the shepherds? Thierry Henry taking a shit? Where in the Bible did that bit happen? Was The Spoiler so overcome with goodwill to all men that it missed this episode of the virgin birth?

No Catalan nativity scene would be complete without the “caganer” or shitter, a figure who traditionally appears with a red hat and trousers round his ankles, somewhere off to the side, giving something back. And given the commercial-mindedness for which the people of that part of Spain are known, if there’s money to be made from selling figurines of Thierry Henry, Leo Messi or Espanol’s Raul Tamudo squatting over a firm dropping, then M. Henry and pals will just have to manage without their dignity for a few weeks.