When the news that Jermaine Pennant would be joining Stoke City until January flashed onto one of the many tabs I had open in my browser, the reaction was one of disappointment. Yet another Englishman abroad has failed to prove his worth outside of the Premier League. It has been a rocky period for both player and club, but perhaps his failure to flourish under a Spanish manager at Liverpool was a sign of things to come. Turning up late for training sessions and stuggling to impose himself on games for a full ninety minutes perhaps didn’t help matters either.
His failings in Spain will be good news for Stoke City manager Tony Pulis who now has one of the most talented crossers of a football on one flank and the club’s player of the year Matthew Etherington on the other supplying the kind of ammo that record signing Kenwyne Jones will surely thrive on.
Sparky in Rotterdam '91 