Jermaine Pennant

[Frigiliana Pie 1]

Has signed for Isthmian League side, Billericay Town. As he's now 34, it may prove to be his last club.

Never fulfilled his potential IMO and I wonder if things would have turned out differently if he'd stayed at Notts for longer instead of moving to Arsenal at a very young age. But then we might not have got £1 million for him, or whatever it was.

Although they are at the 7th level in the pyramid, Billericay have signed other ex-league players, Kevin Foley, Paul Konchesky and Jamie O'Hara. Their wage bill is said to be £30,000/week. It looks like the League will eventually have yet another club with a small fan base, who have risen way above their normal level as a result of having a rich owner. The problem is that when that owner packs it in, the club concerned will plummet back to where it came from or go completely bust, e.g. Rushden and Diamonds.

[pedrolane]

We didn't end up getting £1M for him we ended up taking a much reduced fee when we were in financial difficulties according to an old board member.

[pedrolane]

A good point made re Rushden and Diamonds, a rich owner who loses faith leaves the club in a desperate position. Just wish we had a rich owner.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Has signed for Isthmian League side, Billericay Town. As he's now 34, it may prove to be his last club.

Never fulfilled his potential IMO and I wonder if things would have turned out differently if he'd stayed at Notts for longer instead of moving to Arsenal at a very young age. But then we might not have got £1 million for him, or whatever it was.

Although they are at the 7th level in the pyramid, Billericay have signed other ex-league players, Kevin Foley, Paul Konchesky and Jamie O'Hara. Their wage bill is said to be £30,000/week. It looks like the League will eventually have yet another club with a small fan base, who have risen way above their normal level as a result of having a rich owner. The problem is that when that owner packs it in, the club concerned will plummet back to where it came from or go completely bust, e.g. Rushden and Diamonds.

I quite agree. He was young enough and good enough to be at Notts for three seasons until age 19 and establish himself as a class act at the level we were at back then which was League One after the title winning promotion of 1998. He could have become a Notts legend in that time for us, and then could have moved onto the championship, and beyond. We would have got far, far more money for him as well.

Instead at 16 he chose to go and sit in Arsenals reserves for three years until he was 19 and then went out on loan to Watford who were in the championship at the time, and other clubs before moving to Birmingham in 2005 at 22.

I don't think his career path would have been any worse had he stayed at Notts for 3 years.