JJ makes the most of his chance

Last updated : 20 January 2003 By Martyn Elliott

Named as man-of-the-match after the 2-0 win over Manchester City, Jermaine Jenas was then tipped to captain England by his midfield colleague Kieron Dyer.

Typical of the comments in the press about JJ was his selection as the game’s best player in The Guardian and the comment "Best moment: All of them".

And afterwards Sir Bobby said: "JJ gave an adult performance. The lad is very young but he has that extra something - a player of enormous promise.

"He is a wonderful boy with a great attitude and we know what he can do. We know his attacking qualities but he can also play defensively when required.

"That is a sign of maturity in someone of such a tender age."

The praise certainly doesn’t seem to have gone to JJ’s head, but he’s certainly enjoying his experience.

"Newcastle is a brilliant place to be," JJ told the Evening Chronicle.

"The club, the city, the people - everything is great. It's just good to be learning my trade here with the quality of players around.

"We've got a lot of good young players and it would be brilliant to achieve something here."

With Dyer, Jenas and Bellamy all pledging their future to Newcastle and claiming that we are going to challenge for honours in the next few years, the future is looking bright.