Rafa angry at Pennant

[Elrond]

Pennant had won me over before that game, however, after that constant fouling, I agree with the poster talking about him not being intelligent at all. He doesn't have the footballing brain, although he is quite a skillful player.

I would really like to see a front six of Kewell Alonso Gerrard Babel Kuyt Torres ...

I, along with most on here, believe Kewell's days are numbered at the club, but if he can get fit sometime this season, i think that would be our most balanced and effective attacking team. Just because he'll probably be leaving at the end of the season, doesn't mean he can't be effective for us for the rest of the season...

[Parm]

Pennant had won me over before that game, however, after that constant fouling, I agree with the poster talking about him not being intelligent at all. He doesn't have the footballing brain, although he is quite a skillful player.

I would really like to see a front six of Kewell Alonso Gerrard Babel Kuyt Torres ...

I, along with most on here, believe Kewell's days are numbered at the club, but if he can get fit sometime this season, i think that would be our most balanced and effective attacking team. Just because he'll probably be leaving at the end of the season, doesn't mean he can't be effective for us for the rest of the season...

good call, Pennants problem has always been in his head, just seems to be lacking a full pinic up there.

[ningnangnong]

He is mouthing off at the ref in almost every game and he is now starting to get booked for it.

Two bookings so far in the league for the above thing. That is just bloody stupid.

What he did was stupid, that is true.

But, why does he get booked for mouthing off at the ref, when ***** like John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, etc do it every game, to the extent where they all huddle around the ref nearly every incident involving one of their players, yet get away scot free and in fact usually influence the referee's decision.

It's a joke.

[Resu]

The guy is a little ****, along the same lines of Bowyer......

He`nowhere near Bowyer

[friedk]

Rafa is correct to be angry with Pennant and of course he must learn from this, but he is still an important player for us and has improved tremendously over the past year.

Rafa is never afraid to get rid of a player if he doesn't think they will fit into his system - not many managers sell a player after only a season, but from Josemi through to Bellamy he has done it time and again. That means when he retains a player, be it Pennant or Kewell, he sees a quality in them which will benefit the team.

A major complaint during the Houllier regime was that he could not acknowledge his mistakes, which meant dead wood stuck around for years when it was obvious within a few months that they wouldn't cut it. You can't say that about Benitez, it's a refreshing lack of arrogance which distinguishes him as one of the top managers.

Many, perhaps even most people were unhappy with the signing of Pennant, now most of them would have him in their starting 11. For some though, it seems they are only happy when he fails. When he has a good game it is "because we were playing a weak side", or "he only gets up for the big games" or any other ready made excuse. When he has a bad game, or does something idiotic like against Porto, it's always "told you he was a liability."

He has faith in his own ability, probably too much, but it hasn't stopped him from improving significantly since he arrived here, and at his age I feel we can really benefit from his best years. Some will hope that is not the case, but I'm with Rafa on this one.

[ningnangnong]

Rafa is correct to be angry with Pennant and of course he must learn from this, but he is still an important player for us and has improved tremendously over the past year.

Rafa is never afraid to get rid of a player if he doesn't think they will fit into his system - not many managers sell a player after only a season, but from Josemi through to Bellamy he has done it time and again. That means when he retains a player, be it Pennant or Kewell, he sees a quality in them which will benefit the team.

A major complaint during the Houllier regime was that he could not acknowledge his mistakes, which meant dead wood stuck around for years when it was obvious within a few months that they wouldn't cut it. You can't say that about Benitez, it's a refreshing lack of arrogance which distinguishes him as one of the top managers.

Many, perhaps even most people were unhappy with the signing of Pennant, now most of them would have him in their starting 11. For some though, it seems they are only happy when he fails. When he has a good game it is "because we were playing a weak side", or "he only gets up for the big games" or any other ready made excuse. When he has a bad game, or does something idiotic like against Porto, it's always "told you he was a liability."

He has faith in his own ability, probably too much, but it hasn't stopped him from improving significantly since he arrived here, and at his age I feel we can really benefit from his best years. Some will hope that is not the case, but I'm with Rafa on this one.

Superb post mate.

Agree with everything said.

[Johnny]

Next week we`ll all be talking about how great he is,He`s an easy escapegoat after all our players were gash on Tuesday.

[Morph]

To me he's just guilty of trying too hard (and maybe being a bit thick), it wasobvious we were struggling in that match and he wasn't getting much service which is difficult for a winger in game like this. He spend much of his time having to back track and defend and we know that isn't really Pennants game. It seemed a safe bet that Stevie was going to play there in the first place, so i think Rafa knew he wasn't going to be best suited to this type of match, and he was proved right.