Jermaine Pennant: Rafa Benitez made me an outcast at Liverpool FC

Jan 24 2009

JERMAINE PENNANT is looking forward to kicking off his Portsmouth career in today’s FA Cup clash with Swansea after claiming being English made it hard for him to win favour with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

Pennant, 26, arrived at Pompey on a six-month loan deal after finding himself out in the cold at Anfield since October.

Although he joined Arsenal for a £2million fee from home-town club Notts County 10 years ago and became their youngest player in a competitive match at just over 16, he was rarely given a chance by manager Arsene Wenger.

Pennant had loan spells at Watford and Leeds before joining Birmingham who sold him to Liverpool for £6million in 2005.

He forced his way into a star-studded team and played in a Champions League final.

But this season, after coming back from a broken leg, Pennant made just three starts for the Reds - the last in a 1-0 win over Portsmouth in their new manager Tony Adams’ first match in charge - and claims he was a victim of manager Rafael Benitez’s preference for foreign talent.

He said: “I don’t know what it is with me and Rafa. He knows I’ve got the ability and that I’m capable of playing in his team.

“But when you find yourself suddenly training on your own – when all the other boys are out there – and it’s just a couple of years after playing in a Champions League final, you’ve got to wonder where you are going.

“A lot of people at Liverpool told me they can’t understand why I’ve not even been given a sniff of a chance even on the bench, and I don’t know either because I played 34 games last season and suddenly I can’t get in.”

Pennant revealed he felt his career was “rotting away” in Liverpool’s reserves and that he simply had to review his options.

“I’ve come here to Portsmouth to do a job for them and when my contract is finished in July then the world’s my oyster,” he said.

“I don’t think Liverpool will be watching or coming back for me.

“They can’t say anything to me really.