Portsmouth manager Tony Adams has revealed that he will turn down the chance to sign Jermaine Pennant from Liverpool should a face-to-face meeting leave him feeling that the player doesn’t want to join the club.
Pompey have agreed a fee with Liverpool for the signing of Pennant paving the way for a move to happen, but it is being reported that the former Arsenal man is far from keen on moving to Fratton Park.
Adams says that he will be speaking to Pennant at some point soon and ‘see how he feels’ about joining Portsmouth. Then, should it become clear that he doesn’t want to go through with the deal, Adams ‘won’t take him on board’.
The Portsmouth boss then when on to say that players who join have to ‘want to play’ for their new team, work hard throughout their stay and do all they can to ‘represent’ their new club with pride.
If Pennant is less than enthusiastic about playing for Portsmouth, then perhaps Adams would be right to steer clear of his signature. Nobody wants to pay decent money for a player that won’t be giving his all. Then, even if he does start playing well, you fear that he will look for the first exit out of Pompey.
This sort of attitude is very hard to understand as far as I am concerned. Fair enough, Pennant may prove people wrong and make it clear that he wants first team football at a new club, but should he wish to stay in Liverpool’s reserve team, then so be it. Why would the Portsmouth fans want to pay for their football tickets to watch a player who would rather be elsewhere anyway?
The fact that Adams needs to speak to the player first is understandable. Once he has discussed the move with Pennant, he can make an informed decision on whether to bring him to the club.
As for the type of team Pennant would be joining, well they could do with a win or two to claw away from the relegation zone. They are only three points clear of the bottom three teams after a run of just one win in their last nine Premier League games.
Adams is confident his team will start to pick up some victories though, with the help of some ‘reinforcements’. As for whether Pennant will be one of these new recruits, well that remains to be seen.
By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting
