We're likely to sign a right-winger in the summer and that pretty much forces Pennant out. It's a bit of a shame because he has shown great signs in the past, being a bit of an inconsistent feature to our side (in his performances rather than appearances i mean)... He was arguably our best player in August/September time and you do wonder what would've happened had he not suffered a bad injury - but that's the way it goes and Rafa seems to be losing patience with certain players.
I don't think him playing in the reserves means he's going to go, rather that like Ram K1 said he was striving for full fitness - Alonso had the same treatment and Benitez is intent on keeping Xabi (i am yet to converse with Rafael about that, but i can safely assume). That said, i think he'll be the one to make way. It's either Benayoun or he, and Yossi offers more versatility and can perform better in our recently set formation of 4-2-3-1 where the wingers are further forward and need to offer a goal threat.
Personally, i'd rather we switched Babel to the right and bought a left-footed left-winger. The improvements needed are vast such that i can't see Babel making them - he's too one-footed to be on the left, and thus i see his future either on the right or in attack. He still can use his favoured weapon on the opposite flank, his shot, just not by coming inside to do it... We saw against
Newcastle that's possible. Plus he can fluctuate from side to side, as Benitez likes to do.
