Thursday, February 5, 2009

The strange disillusioned world of Charles N’Zogbia

The strange disillusioned world of Charles N’Zogbia keeps wandering to a stranger world as the young midfielder seems not understand the notion of being a “professional.”

Whimpering to the media about or anyone else who will listen to him, he said:

“There was no conversation at all. I was talking to Chris Hughton (assistant manager) all the time but I wasn’t talking to the manager - maybe when there was something bad in training but he wouldn’t tell you why you were on the bench. I think he did it with everyone.

“I can be moody sometimes, of course, but I enjoy my life.”

“It is good to have a manager who can care about you, ask you many questions,” he added. “When you are young you need that, something like he will be your dad and can really help you.

“You need that belief to be able to play your best football.

“When you don’t have that conversation you don’t want to feel like that. You want to feel like the manager is on your side.”

I’m not sure where to start and unfortunately few in the coaching world get a chance to write on such a topic. However with that said and a few decades on the pitch behind me, no, Charles, your coach isn’t your “Dad”. He doesn’t even need to be your friend. He’s a leader who gets the tough job done and you’re their to follow his direction. At twenty-two years of age, your days of being coddled should long be over and need to understand the professional side of sports.