“Why Graeme Lied, I Don’t Know”: Jermaine Jenas Opens Up About His Newcastle Exit
Jermaine Jenas has accused Graeme Souness of “lying” about the reasons behind his departure from Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur, sparking a fresh wave of controversy over his exit from the club. Jenas, who was recently sacked by the BBC following allegations of inappropriate workplace conduct, has consistently denied the narrative that he left Newcastle because he was unhappy with life at the club.
Jenas, who joined Newcastle United in 2002 and was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 2003, secured a £7 million move to Tottenham in 2005. At the time, then-Magpies manager Graeme Souness claimed that Jenas was struggling with life in Newcastle, likening it to living “in a goldfish bowl.” However, Jenas has repeatedly refuted making such a statement and has challenged anyone to prove otherwise, told The Mirror.
“I always said, if anybody can ever find this quote from me, I’ll donate a handsome amount of money to charity on their behalf because it was never said in any way, shape or form,” Jenas stated. “Why Graeme lied about it at that particular time, I don’t know, I didn’t get it. The way I saw it was this: I was at Newcastle. I loved my time in Newcastle. Trust me, you don’t leave Newcastle to go to London for a quiet life.”
Jenas explained that his decision to leave Newcastle was influenced by several factors, including the sacking of Bobby Robson, the manager who brought him to the club from Nottingham Forest. Robson’s departure marked a turning point for Jenas, who began to feel that the club was heading in the wrong direction under Souness.
“So I was playing really well, Alan Shearer got injured, it made me kind of vice-captain,” Jenas recalled. “I was captain for a number of games, even over people like [Patrick] Kluivert, [Craig] Bellamy, and [Kieron] Dyer. And there was just a bit of a shift in the energy that I felt from the manager at that particular time.”
Jenas admitted that he initially looked forward to working with Souness, a former superstar midfielder, but was ultimately disappointed. “Graeme came in, and I was like, ‘Well, superstar midfield player, I can’t wait to learn everything there is to learn from you’. I probably didn’t get what I expected. He probably could easily sit there and say the same thing, probably about me as well.”
In addition to his concerns about the club’s trajectory, Jenas also had his sights set on the 2006 World Cup and felt that a move to Tottenham or Arsenal would better position him for selection. “I felt like Newcastle were going downhill. And I looked at Tottenham and Arsenal at the time, and I was just like, where have I got the best chance of going to the World Cup?”
Despite feeling that he made the right choice for his career, Jenas expressed regret over leaving Newcastle. “I was really disappointed by that because I loved my time in Newcastle and I didn’t want to leave.”
Jenas’s comments come in the wake of his dismissal from the BBC, where he had been a regular presenter on Match of the Day. The BBC terminated his contract after an investigation into allegations of unsolicited inappropriate text messages sent to a female colleague. News of his sacking broke on Thursday, August 22.