Jermaine Jenas: Things got so bad, I had a big hole in my stomach at one point

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Steve Cording10 April 2012

Jermaine Jenas is unique. He was the youngest captain in Nottingham Forest's history at 18; was the first player to score a goal for England under Fabio Capello; was the only Tottenham player to hit the woodwork in Soccer AM's crossbar challenge . . . and is the only member of his family who spells his surname with a J'.

Jenas takes up the story: "It's true. My dad was called Dennis Genus but when he was younger he thought having the nickname DJ' sounded cool.

"It started at school when he thought he didn't want the G' any more and so he started signing his name with a J'. All his school papers were with a J' and when he got a bit older and he started applying for jobs he changed his name officially by deed poll.

"Then he had me and when my mum and him talked about names, they liked the idea of me being JJ'.

"So my name is now official but when my dad emigrated to America he had major problems with it as his details had two different spellings, so now he has changed it back to a G'.

"The rest of my family have been telling me to change it back ever since but my daughter is now the same as me, so we have started our own little group.

"When I first started playing at Nottingham Forest, Sky commentator Martin Tyler came up to me before one match and said, Look, how do I pronounce your name'? I just said Gee-nus, not Jen-nus, but it doesn't look like Gee-nus."

Dennis did more than just give his son a nickname. A former amateur player, he is still working on the other side of the Atlantic as a coach in New Mexico and Jenas is forever grateful for the effort his dad put in.

"He used to take me coaching with Darren Huckerby, who also lived near us in Nottingham," Jenas said. "We were a couple of years younger than the other lads but the experience was great for us. He left and went to live in America when I was eight which was tough. We now spend a lot of time on the phone and I go over and see him a lot but it drove me to prove to him that I could become a footballer whether he was here or not."

Jenas worked with his dad for five years at the Forest academy and he also coached the midfielder's school team and local side the Clifton All Whites.

"We started playing and learning moves when Jermaine was three years old," Dennis said. "I took him to the World Cup in the USA in 1994 where I told him he could play on this stage someday to which he promptly replied I will'."

Such is Dennis's influence that Jenas has had a tattoo done on his arm inscribed with the words: It is easier to destroy than create'.

"It was something dad used to say to me when I was younger," added Jenas. "And he is right. It is easier for critics to knock you down and Montenegro proved against England that it was easier to destroy a game of football than be inventive."

Jenas will be aiming to be at his creative best on Wednesday night, when Tottenham take on Inter in Milan in the Champions League. He wasn't involved in Saturday's 2-1 win over Fulham yet has every chance of being involved in the San Siro if Harry Redknapp employs the same formation he did in their first away game in the group in Bremen.

With Rafael van der Vaart suspended and Jermain Defoe injured, Spurs are likely to play Peter Crouch up front on his own with Jenas part of a five-man midfield as he was in Germany last month. The 27-year-old's performance in the 2-2 draw that night showed he was back to his effervescent best following two seasons hindered by injuries.

"I was using painkillers to mask the problems," he revealed. "When Harry Redknapp arrived in October 2008, we drew 4-4 with Arsenal in his second game and I had about six injections in my toe — three at the start and three more at half-time — just to get through the match and I was also struggling with my groin.

"I did that for about five or six months because we had a new manager and I was trying to impress. There were a couple of times where we played abroad and the gaffer said to me: Look, there is no point having these injections for this game — just leave it'. I was even having them before training to get through the session.

"Eventually your body tells you that you just cannot do this any more — there was a hole in my stomach and it had to get sorted so I flew off to Germany in March this year for an operation. Four days after the surgery I was running again . . . they advise that but it was painful and we had a lot of injuries at Spurs so I was desperate to get back in the team but in doing that I was picking up other things.

"I was not fully fit until the last five games of the season but did not really play any part in the run-in as we finished fourth."

Rather than seek a magic cure, Jenas came up with a simple solution — rest, followed by a summer of hard work.

"I decided to spend the whole off-season getting fit," he said. "I did not have much of a break and basically trained for the entire summer. I had the appetite to come back and play and make it through the whole pre-season without picking up any niggles.

"I just focused on pounding the treadmills and doing the leg weights and got myself into good shape — it has helped my body to heal and get back into the kind of fitness that I used to have.

"I came back after pre-season and felt fit and strong and secure in my mind that my body was ready."

And how he was ready. Jenas played in seven matches in the build-up to the new campaign and then got his chance back in the first-team at Stoke. His display that day against Tony Pulis's side was enough to convince Redknapp that the midfielder was worthy of a start on the biggest stage in club football.

"It was satisfying to get my chance in Europe because the manager had put me in against Stoke and I had done well in that game and I asked to play in some reserves matches to give myself a further chance to impress," added Jenas.

"Harry is the most fair manager I have worked for. He has put me and Alan Hutton back in the team and last year he did the same with Gareth Bale. A lot of managers who I have played for have said that's your shirt every week'. But with Harry it is tough. If you have two or three bad games he will look at it and make a change. Our squad is one of the best in the League."

Midfield is one area where Redknapp is particularly blessed: Wilson Palacios, Tom Huddlestone, Luka Modric, Jamie O'Hara, Sandro and Van der Vaart are all competing with Jenas for two spots — not that this phases him.

He said: "My career has been like that — when I went to Newcastle, Kieron Dyer and Gary Speed were ahead of me and I got into that team. Then they bought Hugo Viana, who had just been crowned Young European Player of the Year, and I still got into the side.

"It has been the same at Spurs; Michael Carrick, Didier Zokora, Edgar Davids — all these players were here when I first came but I still convinced the manager that I could play."

He will be aiming to do the same in Italy against a team that he could have been lining up for rather than against. Both the January and summer rumour mills linked Jenas with moves to Serie A.

His commitment and belief that he still had a future at White Hart Lane ensured that it never happened but he said: "It was something that would turn a footballer's head because you want to play in Europe and Inter went on to win the Champions League last year.

"The Jose Mourinho factor was there and a lot of players would love to play for him. At that particular time I am not going to say it did not interest me.

"I am very happy in the Premier League and I like being in London but Italy had not come into my mind until Mourinho started talking."

The Special One has now gone, not that his switch to Real Madrid has made the Italians any less of a threat under Rafael Benitez, according to Jenas.

"These are the games that we are in football for," he said. "To go to Milan and play against the European champions at the San Siro is phenomenal. I have been fortunate to have done it when I was at Newcastle and I am looking forward to going back.

"They have so many fantastic players. Lucio is one who is so hard to play against — he is huge but just wants to come out of defence every time he has the ball and take you on in midfield."

Another decent display in Milan and the chances of Jenas adding to that solitary goal against Switzerland under Capello will increase — as long as Redknapp does not decide to rest him.

The midfielder believes that crossed wires with former Spurs boss Juande Ramos may have cost him his place in the squad the last time England played France in a friendly, in March 2008.

With the French at Wembley again next month, he is hoping history does not repeat itself. "It does seem like a lifetime ago," he said. "It was a weird game against the Swiss, I felt like I played well and then I was not selected for the next game against France. It was an unfortunate one because again, I was playing with an ankle injury but it was not affecting me.

"We weren't really pushing for Europe in the League and had already won the Carling Cup and Juande Ramos pulled me to one side in training.

He said, Look, we have not really got a lot left to play for here and your ankle is in bits and you should focus on England'. It came across like him and Capello had had a discussion about not playing. So he left me on the bench for the next game and then the squad was announced and I was not involved!

"Ramos was very apologetic and just thought I was going to be picked."

Jenas did play three more times for Capello, with his last start coming in the 1-0 defeat against Brazil in Doha nearly 12 months ago. "I feel that I am back in the groove and I am playing Champions League football so I would like to think that I am on Capello's mind," he said.

"The next competitive game is not until next March but there are a couple of friendlies before then so it would be great to get back into the squad but playing well and consistently for Spurs comes first."

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