It’s been so hard but the truth came out
J-ROD’S ON UP AGAIN AFTER RACE ROW HELL
JAY RODRIGUEZ says his career is on the up again after hitting rock bottom when he was accused of racial abuse.
West Brom’s England striker hopes to add to his four-goal start tonight against Birmingham and is dreaming of promotion back to the Premier League at the end of the season.
The 29-year-old admits he desperately wants some joy in his life again after a horrible start to the year which saw him accused by Brighton’s Gaetan Bong of racially abusing him during a Premier League clash in January
Bong gave evidence at an FA hearing that Rodriguez had said: “You’re black and you stink” while Rodriguez denied it claiming he actually said: “Your breath f***king stinks.”
Three months after the accusation was made, the case against him was found to be “not proven” by the FA.
And now, for the first time, Rodriguez has opened up about the torment of having his reputation dragged through the mud.
“It was a difficult time,” he said. “The fact that it hung over us for a few months was difficult, very difficult for myself and my family.
“I had to just keep myself focused on what I can affect, like I do with everything. The truth came out.
“The support was overwhelming. I don’t take that for granted. I appreciate that every day.
“Obviously it’s a serious thing not just in football but in life and people should report it if they are abused. So obviously for me it was a big thing straight away. It was hard.”
From the January incident to the April verdict, Rodriguez’s life was turned upside down.
And things weren’t going too well on the pitch either, even though Rodriguez grabbed 11 goals – including a memorable winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
“Obviously we were struggling at the time, so that didn’t help,” he said.
“I would say it was a horrible season in terms of winning games and things not going right. I mean I still look at the squad we had last season, and still believe we shouldn’t have been relegated.
“But we were and so we deserved it. It’s been a frustrating year, that is probably the biggest word I’d use – frustration.
“I think we use that hurt we had last season, you know losing games, and we want to now have that feeling of winning and getting that buzz back.
“It hurt everyone and we use that as a kind of motivation because we just don’t want to be on that side of it again.”
If J-Rod can keep banging in the goals he might even have a chance of adding to his one England cap against Chile five years ago.
“England? It seems a long time ago. It was one of those surreal moments you get, such a strange feeling that I had played for England. It will forever be with me.”