N'Zogbia injured

[danlanza]

It's probably hypothermia, he was out for a night on the town and ended up collapsed in the gutter after 90minutes of wandering down blind alleys, his friends tried to show him where to go but he didn't seem to notice anyone else was around.

Very good, very funny.

[Damo70]

I like him as an impact sub. I know his wages are a consideration, but whilst not wanting to go back to the MON days when big money signings on high wages were totally out of the picture, I think we should be happy to pay if players are going to be in the match day eighteen.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Another crap signing to be filed in the bin marked "waste of time, effort and money" alongside Ireland, Curcic, Balaban etc.
Over the years I hate to imagine how much cash we have squandered on time wasters.

[glasses]

Of course, this could be an injury sustained whilst trying to keep himself fit in his spare time in preparation for pre-season training. The players are contracted not to turn up for pre-season badly out of shape. Dunne was fined for such was he not?

It's not un-common for players to be seen keeping fit in their 'off-season'. A lot of people having a pop could have the wrong end of the stick. His attitude last season appeared to be much better than the year before.

[myf]

Didn't the Zog tweet a receipt pic of a grand worth of booze bar-bill when on hols the summer he joined-us? Nice pre-empting of his signing-on fee.

I've heard a few stories about his boozing exploits in the Arcadian.  Ordering crates of champers.

I actually thought he would be a good player as always looked ok for Newcastle.  A few decent performances last year but not good enough IMO.

[paul_e]

My thoughts on Charlie have always been that he looks good as an individual but not as part of the team.  He's a great example of a player you can see youtube clips on and think he's amazing but the reality is far less impressive.  I'm surprised he didn't do well under TSM though as he's perfect for that style of game.  4411 with him being in the hole with no responsibility other than to make things happen.

[villa `cross the mersey]

Didn't the Zog tweet a receipt pic of a grand worth of booze bar-bill when on hols the summer he joined-us? Nice pre-empting of his signing-on fee.

I've heard a few stories about his boozing exploits in the Arcadian.  Ordering crates of champers.

I actually thought he would be a good player as always looked ok for Newcastle.  A few decent performances last year but not good enough IMO.

Living up to the title "Champagne Charlie" then

[eastie]

Makes it hard to shift him off the wage bill if not fit by the deadline , i doubt he would have made the starting line up in August so from a playing side its no great loss to us.

Strange player, clearly has the ability but not delivered anywhere near enough considering his wage and transfer fee.

[Merv]

Annoying. Hard to know what to make it all until we know exact injury, length of time out.

Still think CNZ has something to offer us. His problem is, he's best (IMO) either wide left or right, in those roles occupied by Gabby and Weimann. And those two will be hard to shift.

Tonev's chances of getting some decent game time have just increased significantly.

[rob_bridge]

Annoying. Hard to know what to make it all until we know exact injury, length of time out.

Still think CNZ has something to offer us. His problem is, he's best (IMO) either wide left or right, in those roles occupied by Gabby and Weimann. And those two will be hard to shift.

Tonev's chances of getting some decent game time have just increased significantly.

Disagree - he is a big time Charlie, not a team player and his vision and decision making are poor. He is also on a big fat contract which he doesn't earn.

He can go to Hull or Palace and be a big fish in a small pond.

Move on - nothing more to see here.

[Merv]

Never get the impression he's a big time Charlie, not at all. What's he done to demonstrate that, while he's been playing for Villa? He hasn't been a consistent performer, I agree, but that's what you get sometimes with attacking players. He drifts in and out of games a bit, as many winger types tend to do. But I don't see an attitude problem, a refusal to play, any evidence of falling out with the manager.

As for the salary.... he's one of many, many, many PL footballers who earn too much money. Far inferior players than him earn as much, if not more. I can't use that as a stick to beat him with. It's the way it is.

Didn't see him as a starter next season but a more than useful option from the bench, or for certain matches. Shame if he'll be unavailable for months.

[Toronto Villa]

I have no idea where he comes across as a big time Charlie. I'd like to see some evidence of that. He's played for Newcastle, Wigan and us in the PL, so he obviously wasn't above moving to mid lower or mid table size clubs. As for his contract, is it his fault that's what was offered, or should he have told us "you know what I don't want to come across as a big time Charlie so give me less".
Nobody on the planet in any profession ever turns down a salary offer for less.

And for those of you who think he caused himself a serious injury to avoid being sold. You are utterly fucking bonkers.

[rob_bridge]

I have no idea where he comes across as a big time Charlie. I'd like to see some evidence of that. He's played for Newcastle, Wigan and us in the PL, so he obviously wasn't above moving to mid lower or mid table size clubs. As for his contract, is it his fault that's what was offered, or should he have told us "you know what I don't want to come across as a big time Charlie so give me less".
Nobody on the planet in any profession ever turns down a salary offer for less.

And for those of you who think he caused himself a serious injury to avoid being sold. You are utterly fucking bonkers.

2 seasons of non performances - sometime wholly abject - helped form my opinion. Someone sited a lack of stamina which doesn't suggest a wholly professional approach to fitness.

He is lucky we have a complete twunt in Ireland still here & Bannan to a lesser extent or else he would have been the recipient of much more stick.

To clarify he isn't a big time Charlie because he is receiving stupid money I'd just rather some mug punters from another club were paying said money to him.

And I never suggested he deliberately injured himself as have no access to his innermost thoughts and/or didn't see the incident. Just hope we have a decent insurance policy to cover his some of his wages.

[supertom]

He had something of a reputation for being a bit of a moody sod at Newcastle I recall. Possibly Wigan. I don't think he worked hard enough last year. Never looked really interested. His effort increased under Lambert I'll give him that, but he still offered not nearly enough. A handful of okay performances around Jan-Feb time aren't enough to justify a 9.5 mill player on 50k a week (at least).

Don't think his type of game will suit our style. He's too much of an individual and unless he's gonna score 10 goals a season, which was his best at Wigan, there's no point in him.

I'd also agree that he didn't seem fit enough for us either. He used to have pace to burn but he looked a couple of yards short of his full speed last season. Sometimes I'd expect him to roast a fullback but in comparison to his pomp at Wigan, he seemed like he was wading through treacle sometimes.

I think Lambert would be looking to sell him. We have few players we can cash in on, who we'd want to lose. We won't get much for some of our younger lot like Bannan, or for Holman. Zog we could probably get 4-5 million for from someone. And again, that would be enough to fund a couple of new players who fit the Lambert critieria, and still save on wages.

[nick harper]

Won a penalty and scored a great free kick to kick start our run in v West Ham so I will cut him some slack.

He is a an edge of you seat player as he runs at the opposition. Doesn't always come off but he makes things happen. I still think he is a player worth persisting with and I'm hoping Lambert still wants to work with him.