OMG! Liverpool’s Jermaine Pennant got drunk!
Liverpool’s Jermaine Pennant is a good kid, despite his problems and a talented footballer despite a career that has threatened to derail and spectacularly failed to take off.
It’s easy for critics to lash out at Pennant - he had everything as a young kid - taken to Highbury in 2m deal, bundles of talent and one of the best managers at his side. To mess that up with various disciplinary offenses and to get jailed for drunk driving was one of the dumbest things to do, and that effectively threw his career in a spin until Rafa Benitez rescued him by bringing Pennant to Liverpool.
It’s not fair to blame his ‘rough’ childhood either, where his mother had ‘walked out at a young age’. Many people have it tough as kids; some come out of it stronger, others come out with depression and a penchance for drinking to compensate for it.
The problem here is that these guys are still quite young and immature when money and fame comes there way and not everyone handles it particularly well. And then there’s always the case of personality disorders - people who would get drunk at nightclubs and fall over themselves would never get a second glance from us, unless they are famous and we are going to see them get dragged through mud by the tabloids the next morning.
This time, Pennant was not in trouble with the police (although his mate did get arrested), and overall this will do nothing apart from create a minor embarrassing moment for Liverpool and Pennant. This won’t damage his chances for England either, which were pretty poor to begin with. The only way Pennant would get in trouble is if he fails to give 100% on the pitch for Liverpool, and while he may have a tendency to drink too much, Pennant knows that his chance with Liverpool is bigger than the breaks he’s had before - if he screws this up, it’s all downhill from here.
But seriously - getting drunk and not being able to stand up at a pizza takeaway? That’s hardly a bad thing, let alone a crime.
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‘I’m In Best Form Ever’ Says Pennant
Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant believes he is in the best form of his career, having put in a string of fine performances for The Reds so far this season.
With the arrival of Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel this summer, many thought that Pennant’s place in the starting line-up would be under threat.
But the former Arsenal trainee has shown that persistence pays and was recently voted the second-best player of the month behind new signing Fernando Torres after some spellbinding performances in August.
With his team riding high at the top of the Premiership, and having received rave reviews from team-mates and his manager, Pennant is duly optimistic of the season ahead.
“I probably am playing the best football of my career at the moment,” he told Liverpool’s official website.
“The team are playing well, we’re scoring goals, winning games and I think we’re all enjoying our football.
“I think my attacking play has been good but I’m also working hard all the time on the defensive side of my game and that’s getting better all the time.
“I finished last season well and my aim over the summer was to make sure I started this campaign in the same way. To play well in a Champions League final was a massive boost to my confidence and that has definitely helped me perform to a higher standard more regularly this year.
“I still have work to do though. Although I’m happy with my form at the moment I know there is more to come. For a start, I could score more goals. That’s a part of my game which I’m definitely capable of improving on and I’ll be looking to get on the scoresheet more often as the season goes on.”
sorry im not exactly clear on this but what happened exactly??
He got drunk and stumbled about a bit, then one of his mates who is also allegedly a footballer got arrested. Its mostly a nothing story that wouldn’t have got much coverage except for Pennants previous antics.
Personally i think Pennant’s played well so far this season, my only concern is whether he can last the pace. He seems to go ott when drink and i worry that this will affect his performances later in the season
What is worse, drinking until you can’t walk or hiring top rate whores to come to your hotel room?
pls penny boy drink more and u cld also take some of that Rio’s stuff so that u cld score own goals while Man Utd takes the lead in the Premiership
Top comment Jimz- Ahmed Bilal, real carppy logic with “But seriously - getting drunk and not being able to stand up at a pizza takeaway? That’s hardly a bad thing, let alone a crime.” You’re damn right it’s not a crime,but when it’s reagrding footballers,those who carry influence and are role models it’s a different ball game altogether. I’m not saying he isn’t entitled to enjoy a drink and let himself go, but he, like all professional athletes,celebrities,those of fame and influence in the eyes of the public really need to be on their guard. Cris Ron and the whores/dancers/girls they picked up at the club included, it all adds up, the kids and youngsters all pick up on these things and they are then somehow legitimised as being part of the package and the whole attraction with football.
And yes,in the grand scheme of things it is a nothing story, kids are dying everyday in Africa, the world keeps on throwing up different issues-but reign it all in and look at it objectively, or rather consider the following- you’re a mad liverpool fan and so is your 9 year old son, who just happens to idolise Pennant, you don’t for a single second believe the 9 year old won’t be untouched by this episode?? About it not being a crime.. Sheesh.
“you’re a mad liverpool fan and so is your 9 year old son, who just happens to idolise Pennant, you don’t for a single second believe the 9 year old won’t be untouched by this episode?? About it not being a crime.. Sheesh.”
With all due respect Your Highness, a child is much more affected by his home environment than what he sees on TV. If his dad shrugs and laughs it off, than the kid will too. If the dad takes his son aside, and explains to him why what Jermaine did was wrong, than that will lead to the kid viewing the incident correctly.
I think the more appalling thing in media coverage these days, both in how much it is covered and how easily it seems to happen, is bastards like Lampard and Terry, blatantly cheating on their fiances/wives. The media laughs this off, raising their eyebrows and grinning. Tell me Zamunda, would you rather that boy, that 9-year old fan, grow up with a little partying in his system, or as a man who treats his wife as an object, a cheater and a liar?
C’mon, Pennant has done some very, very stupid things before, and he should stay away from the alcohol (for his own good), but this incident is so stupidly innocuous it’s funny. I mean, the guy walked around drunk! My god! Let’s see, how many thousands of people do that every weekend at Anfield???? Yeah, I wonder which is more influential, a boy’s immediate environment, or a headline? People need to stop caring about this kind of stuff…it’s simply dirt to distract us, as you pointed out, from the really important events going on in our world, our cities, our neighborhoods. Amen
It is not a big crime but when it is a footballer, people expect them to be exemplary in behavior. Pennant should cut down more of such antics and focus on his football; he may a chance to break into the England squad if he keeps up his performance with Liverpool.
I like how you scousers try to point the fingers elswhere and blame other people for their wrong doings and then say well in comparison blah blah blah………..
He is always getting up to something this fella lets not sugarcoat things for him, he is downright trouble
up until the cl final. i was sure that he was gonna leave liverpool in the summer, he had a few good games but didn’t seem to be able to produce the form needed in games involing a higher calibre of teams. then in my opinion he was our man of the match against milan. reprieve. then he show against chelsea once again that he can play well inn big games, so maybe he could only do this in big games well once again he had a stromer against sunderland so i stand corrected. give the lad a break he is allowed a day off.
Yes SteelScouser, so are we then blaming all the boozing kids in Briatin get up to on the home scene?? Of coourse what you say is correct, to a certain degree, but get off your scouse inclination and see it for what it is- he’s a high profile, public figure, much maligned/adored depending on your outlook, and he, like many others in his position, be it in sports or otherwise, are letting not only themselves down but young impressionable folk who look uo to them. Who are you kidding by calling it inocuous?? Walking around drunk is commonplace, yes, doesn’t make it any less acceptable, not least from a premiership footballer, well-paid athlete who, at the very least, in his OWN interest shouldn’t find himself legless as it may indeed end up with him head walking straight into a bus.. which I daresay is a far better option then passing it all off as “inocuous fun”; you’re suffering from a case of Scouse Genius you, about inocuous fun???
And Jim- fair point, but give the poor fella a chance, he likes to enjoy himself, he’s come from a real tough background and likes to fall down and pick himself up every so often without waking up to the reality of his situation, which is to say that without football he’d probably be dead or locked up, cos with football he’s still a bag of left over curried chip and roll.
All I was trying to say King, was that everyone here is acting as if every kid that idolizes Pennant/Liverpool will see this incident and commence accordingly. My point is, there are far, far more influential things in a child’s life than reading a headline. The media makes news nowadays my friends, not the world. Sure Pennant is a chap with a troubled past. Easy Target. Where was all this righteousness when Joe Cole was found running drunk, half-naked through London two years ago? Where is the indignation at Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, and Anderson, throwing a sex party? If the media reacted to all these incidents the same way, as did the public, I would have no problem. I was not there, you were not there, so please - always take it with a grain of salt. I’m not saying the papers lie; I am saying they like to add a favorable spin to things.
Pennant’s behavior should be chided, what he did was irresponsible. However the fact remains that the newsworthiness of this incident is marginal at best. Why do we need to know about it? How does that help us understand our world better? “Oh, a footballer got drunk, then walked to a pizza shop! Oh Horror!” Calm down. And Jim, nobody is saying this kid isn’t trouble, he definitely has a good track record of messing up. We’re just saying “who cares?”
Hey, I banged on about Cris Ron and the sex party too- it’s crappy behaviour that is embarassing for him and for the club and yes, a bad example for the kiddies. And yes, Joe Cole, John Terry, Lee Bowyer- mugs the lot of em, though granted some of them have matured and are sticking to what is best for them and that’s their footy.
And yes it isn’t newsworthy but please don’t wash it off as nothing??? Yes there was a spin to it, yes he may’ve just walked into the pizza shop and had to steady himself slightly and the cheeky so and so pizza shop owner accepted Pennants £20 tip and still ratted on him, adding his own flavour to the story- you’re still left with a grown man, in a very influential position who should’ve known better than to be strung over by the papers, a grown man who has plenty of experience being strung over by the papers and should be looking to throw all of this crap back in everyone’s faces by keeping his head low and playing the footy we all know he is capable of. It all adds up, the papers, the media, the lifestyle- it’s all transferable and you can’t turn the cheek to it by relating it to newsworthyness.