Newcastle United fans have long held a negative opinion of Jermaine Jenas due to the manner in which he left the club.
When Graeme Souness sold Jermaine Jenas to Tottenham, it was reported that Jenas believed living in the area and being a part of the club was like living in a ‘goldfish bowl,’ meaning that he couldn’t manage the strain of being a Newcastle player.
Newcastle fans have held this belief for 20 years, but Jenas has once again stated that he never said that, telling TalkSPORT (h/t The Chronicle) that he’s always denied ever saying that.
There was no goldfish bowl according to Jenas
“A lot of stuff was written around that time to try to sabotage my relationship with Newcastle.”
“Apparently, I said up there, “it’s like a goldfish bowl.” I’ve always told everybody who has inquired that if they can discover that quote from me, I’ll gladly pay them a lot of money.
“I know for a fact I didn’t say it, and that was something used at the time to sever my relationship with Newcastle fans.” All that happened was that I felt I wasn’t being coached. It (the standards) was deteriorating.”
Jenas, who joined Newcastle for £5 million from Nottingham Forest, went on to be named PFA Young Player Of The Year in 2002/03 under Sir Bobby Robson before parting ways with the club.
He was sold to Tottenham for £8 million and went on to have a decent career for Tottenham and England.
Graeme Souness pushed Jermaine Jenas out of the door
Jenas has now revealed the true reason he left Newcastle, and it had nothing to do with pressure or the resemblance to a pet’s territory, rather it was Graeme Souness.
“Under Graeme, I didn’t feel like our agendas aligned, which was strange.” He made me captain one minute, then moved me to left-back and signed Amdy Faye the next. I couldn’t figure out what he expected from me.
“I was really proud when we were playing against Yeading in the FA Cup.” Newcastle’s captain is a young man. Kieron Dyer, Patrick Kluivert, Craig Bellamy… and he’s appointed me captain.
“As we walked out, he (Souness) said, ‘We’ll talk about your contract situation next week.'” I never heard anything further about it. I was never able to figure it out. It was perplexing as a young player.”
The Souness era was almost like the signal flare that flew up into the sky to herald the arrival of Mike Ashley, the beginning of the end, so we can understand Jenas’ desire to escape that environment.
Souness was not well-liked by fans or players at the time, and after nearly two decades, we’re ready to believe JJ.
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