11:09am Friday 8th February 2008
By Simon Parker
City’s trip to Nottingham Forest one Thursday night will never go down in the annals of classic matches.
It had little going for it, other than the TV audience on the doomed ITV Digital was thought to be one of the lowest of the channel’s ill-fated tenure.
But that evening in September 2001 did offer an inkling that a teenage lad playing for Forest might be a bit special.
Jermaine Jenas, only 17 at the time, had signed his first professional contract two days before and he marked the occasion by weaving his way through the Bantams back four to slot home the only
goal.
He got a kind bobble or two en route from the edge of the penalty area but the swagger and confidence he showed to take on – and beat – a packed defence suggested the youngster was not
lacking in self-belief or ability.
Given his tender age, the jury was still out whether he would go on and fulfil that potential. Six years on, the same question marks remain.
I doubt news of that result from the City Ground made it as far as Rome. Even given Fabio Capello’s exhaustive research, the score from an insignificant Championship match wouldn’t
warrant a blip on his radar.
But now the names of Jenas and Capello are forever linked. Thanks to that Wembley tap-in against the Swiss on Wednesday night, Jenas will always be remembered for scoring the first goal of the
Italian’s England reign.
Capello’s debut in the hottest seat in the house hasn’t revealed much. Just like the man’s limited grasp of the language, we have barely scratched the surface of what is really
going on behind that inscrutable expression.
But a win’s a win and, given what went on before, that’s a start.
Steven Gerrard strangely got the sponsors’ man of the match; Joe Cole was my own personal choice. But it’s with the likes of Jenas that Capello will prove his true worth.
If he can get him playing for Tottenham and England in the same carefree way he would once boss Forest games as a nipper, then the £6million a year that Capello is said to be trousering could prove
to be money well spent.
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