Goodbye Jermaine Pennant and Good Ridance

I don't normally berate ex-Liverpool players, but after Pennant's recent spoilt-child comments, I am glad he is finally being pushed out of the Anfield door by Rafa Benitez.

Jermaine Pennant has claimed that one of the main reasons why he has never had a fair chance at Liverpool—with the same excuse being used after he was sold by Arsenal—is apparently because he is English.

Was Rafa not giving him a fair chance for the two seasons previous to this one, where Pennant featured in a great many games for Liverpool?

Why was Jermaine Pennant not complaining about the manager's favouritism for foreign players when he was picking up his Champions League medal?

He claims that Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger do not appreciate the English mentality and have a disregard for homegrown talent

Arsene Wenger has paid good money for young British players like Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey whilst bringing through players like Jack Wilshire, Gavin and Justin Hoyte, and Jay Simpson. 

Not to mention English players like Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn, Ray Parlour, David Seaman, John Lukic, Sol Campbell, and Ashley Cole all managing to hold down regular places with the French manager.

The current Arsenal reserve squad also consists of 19 English-born players from the 27 they have on the books—with 13 of the 18 academy players born in England as well.

Jermaine Pennant stated he would have made it at Arsenal had it not been for Arsene Wenger and his policy for developing local talent.

Whilst the Nottingham-born 26-year-old makes his claims about the Liverpool manager, the Spaniard has still managed to purchase British-born players like Jermaine Pennant himself, Peter Crouch, Craig Bellamy, Scott Carson, Robbie Fowler, David Martin, and Paul Anderson—with the possible additions of Robbie Keane and Gareth Barry.

That is a pretty destructive thing to do if you don't want English players in your squad.

The Liverpool reserve squad also has nine English players on the team, and the youth academy currently has 10 English-born players.

Jermaine's own father has stated Pennant's career at Arsenal was going to be difficult from the start due to his attitude and how comfortable he had become at Notts. County.

He said, "He thought he could get away with things like missing training sessions and turning up late," but Pennant did not think his routine lateness was actually a problem.

Arsene Wenger considered it a serious discipline problem.

Pennant was also sent home from England under-21 duty in 2003 after missing a curfew by a few hours, and the Liverpool squad have said they constantly joked about his lateness to training.

Pennant has always split supporter opinions down the middle with his displays on the pitch. He was the Premier League's most consistent crosser before joining Liverpool in 2006 and looked set to finally reach his rumoured potential.

But a supporter-voted man-of-the-match performance in one Champions League final and a handful of good games against poor opposition do not make a great player in my eyes.

He has always been inconsistent in a Liverpool shirt, and I personally believe he is a one-trick pony who only has a decent cross as a positive—without the skill to get himself into the positions required to cross the ball in.

His ability to beat a defender is very limited, and more often than not he loses possession without a massive desire to win the ball back.

Even when he does see fit to chase down a ball he just gave away to the opposition, he normally steams in and gives away a foul.

It is not hard to see that Rafa Benitez has a certain discipline for professionalism when he recruits players to Liverpool, and judging by Pennant's behaviour and social lifestyle over the last 10 years, Rafa was unable to change the perspective of a player considered to be a future England great before he joined Arsenal.

After the 2007 Champions League final and a good start to the following season, Pennant said that he has never played so well in his career and that he has seen the best form of his life whilst playing for Liverpool—the club he has apparently supported since he was a young boy growing up in Nottingham.

Instead of paying respect to his supported club and to a manager that apparently revitalised his lagging career, he chose to revert to tradition and possibly prove why Rafa was not happy with his mentality.

A mentality that would have been disliked by many, regardless of the English origin.

After Liverpool's 6-0 demolition of Derby County last season, Pennant—who featured in the game—stated he would be happy to play wherever Rafa wanted him to play.

Well, Jermaine, Rafa wants you to play anywhere but Liverpool.