I'm an egotistical footballer, get me outta here!
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- Written by The Rome
I wanted to come up with a better headline than that, but N'Zogbia doesn't exactly lend itself to quirky puns. It is the French winger’s unusual name however, that has ignited a war of words in what is one of the bizzarest and most transparent attempts to desert a club yet.
Despite signing a 5 year deal at Newcastle Utd in September 2007, Charles N'Zogbia has made it no secret for the last year that he is keen to ply his trade elsewhere. The first rumblings of discontent came a year ago after Kevin Keegan took the reigns. In a typical defensively minded Keegan-esque move, winger N'Zogbia found himself being played out of position at left back and he made his feelings of displeasure clear to his new boss who stated last February that "We'll look at it in the summer as the signs are he is not happy here."
A full round of Premier League fixtures took place mid-week and the televised Tuesday game saw the mighty Villa take on a Portsmouth side hopelessly waning under the stewardship of wannabe intellectual Tony Adams. On these pages I have sung the praise of the debuting Heskey and mercilessly slaughtered the managerial nous of mule boy, so naturally I was concerned that an Emile own goal would put the gloss on a Pompey landslide victory, achieved by some tactical innovation from Mr. Introspective. 
Over a pint in my local recently the conversation turned to the so called “hard man,” John Terry, and his tears after missing a penalty in the Champions League final. It got me thinking about the days when men were men and the role of the enforcer in a football team was as important as the goal scorer. 
Manchester City were very publicly snubbed by Kaka, missed the boat on Lassana Diarra and have been quoted exorbitant prices that they aren't willing to pay for Valencia duo David Villa & Silva. The sheiks will no doubt be delighted however that City boss Mark Hughes did manage to snare his Welsh compatriot, the meek and mild mannered Craig Bellamy. Is £14 million for the fiery nomadic hitman good value? You be the judge.