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Jermaine Pennant on Rafa Benitez | 'He's a distant manager'

Jermaine Pennant looked back on his never-dull career in the company of Joe Molloy on this Tuesda...
Neil Treacy
Neil Treacy

18.37 15 Dec 2020


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Jermaine Pennant on Rafa Benit...

Jermaine Pennant on Rafa Benitez | 'He's a distant manager'

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Neil Treacy
Neil Treacy

18.37 15 Dec 2020


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Jermaine Pennant looked back on his never-dull career in the company of Joe Molloy on this Tuesday's Paddy Power special on OTB.

In a career of highs and lows both on and off the pitch, arguably Pennant's most consistent spell came during his three year stint at Liverpool, whom he joined in 2006.

During Pennant's first season he played in the Champions League final with the Reds, as they were beaten by AC Milan in a repeat of the infamous 2005 decider.

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But after spending three months on the sidelines rehabbing a stress fracture, Pennant found himself struggling to get back into Benitez's side the following season.

And speaking to Joe Molloy on this Tuesday's OTB, he elaborated on his much-publicised criticisms of manager Rafa Benitez.

"He's totally different to Steve Bruce, put it that way! He's a distant manager, he's not a manager you can go up to and knock on his door and have a heart to heart. He keeps himself to himself, and his attributes are more on the pitch, tactics, stuff like that, but I wouldn't say he's the best man-manager I've had.

"I feel maybe he could have possibly sat me down and spoke more about what he wanted, because there was time when I wasn't playing I was frustrated. But he gave me no reason, or no idea why, and I thought I should have been playing."

Jermaine Pennant on Rafa Benitez

Pennant's frustrations weren't just about the way Benitez did or didn't speak to his players off the pitch, but also on the pitch.

In one of his much publicised criticisms, he recalled the moment he spoke to the press about his dissatisfaction about Liverpool's style of play, and the control Benitez wanted over his players' every actions.

"I feel when I was playing for him at times - on his side of the pitch especially - he was more controlling me, telling me where to run, where to go, where to pass.

"I said a quote in the paper that sometimes it felt like I was a robot, because he was telling me what to do, how to do it, rather than letting me express my skill and do what I do to influence the game, and obviously when I told the press that, they put a story out with me, my face on RoboCop's body which didn't go down too well!

"I said sometimes I want to be expressive. I'm an attacking player, I understand him giving me instructions, but when I've got the ball don't be telling me where to pass, how to pass it, I see the game and that's that. So it was a little bit frustrating.

"And I get it, sometimes he might see something that we can't because we're focused on the ball and our game and our man, and he's got a bigger picture, I get he sees more of that, but not every single time I'm getting the ball, I'm hearing Rafa shouting in my ear.

"I thought: just let me play sometimes. If I've got the beating of a man, you don't worry about anything else apart from me getting past this guy. Most times it worked, but it's the sense of freedom, that's all it was. That's Rafa for you!"

After leaving Liverpool in 2009 Pennant had spells at - among others - Zaragoza, Stoke, Portsmouth, Wolves and Wigan.

His reputation often went before him, in large part down to spending 30 days in prison in 2005 for drink-driving and driving while disqualified. It led to a slew of tabloid stories during his career detailing his private life, with one high-profile incident where it was claimed he left his Porsche abandoned at a train station in Spain, following his move to Stoke in 2011.

Pennant explained the circumstances of the incident, and said he was always aware of a target on his back from sections of the media.

"It's very easy to get a bad boy label and be tagged the bad boy, it's very easy to get that but it's very difficult to get rid of.

"The papers will jump on and target you for any slight issue. There's players out there who've probably done a lot more than me, but it's not been in the front headlines, it's not had a horrible headline, not made it an issue, but like I say when you have that bad boy label, it's more of a story."

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