Charles N'Zogbia: Petulance Not for Every Youth, Just the Spoiled Brats

There are many transitions in a young footballers career, with none more important than fulfilling one's potential, but unfortunately, not all young players can follow that road.

Many instead go from promising hard working kids into a stage that can only be described as “spoiled brats” and for me, two young Barclays Premier League players proved this week, they are on the wrong road.

Charles N’Zogbia was once described by Sir Bobby Robson as “gifted” and you’d be hard pushed to disagree but as we all know, being gifted just isn’t enough.

His reported refusal to pull on a Newcastle United shirt is a slap in the face to loyal Newcastle United fans (apology or no apology) who have kept coming to watch their, in all honesty, poor side, for prices most families could never afford.

He has a contract that those fans help pay for that states he is a Newcastle player. What makes Charles N’Zogbia think he is above that?

The Frenchman has only ever showed glimpses of his true potential in the black and white of Newcastle and has hardly spilt enough blood for the club (like Shay Given) to be honoured in a way that would see the Magpies stand aside to let him choose his own future.

It appears Given has been accorded that honour after a decade of loyal and at times, sensational service to Newcastle United but Charles you are not in that league. Not as a player and it would seem, not as a human being.

I remember throwing my toys out the cot as a player, when I was 12 and had my Dad picking the side but I think at his age he should be behaving a little better.

Yes, he may have fallen out with Joe Kinnear but there are amicable ways to rectify such situations. The worst road he could possibly have gone down, is to say he’ll never pull on the famous black and white shirt again and I for one, hope he doesn’t. He doesn’t deserve to.

The 22-year-old says he wants to move onto bigger and better things; well I say, prove it on the park and stop living in the past. You won’t prove anything sitting nest to Mike Ashley in the stand.

Petulance of course can occur in many ways, not just like the thoughtless reactions above but also thoughtless actions on the pitch.

Nadir Belhadj is four years older than the Newcastle player but showed on Wednesday night that he is more in tune with his shoe size.

The Portsmouth left back was sent off during his sides narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa for a second bookable offence but that doesn’t tell nearly half the story.

Algeria’s Belhadj has been garnering a fine reputation this season as a quality left/ wing back who has a lovely strike but when did it all go to his head?

His 28 international caps would tell him he should have got a straight red card for his swipe from behind on Craig Gardner, instead of the yellow card that was produced so surely then it is time to calm down?

Sadly not as Belhadj was clearly riled and presumptuously caught the ball to take a throw in before the ball was actually out of play. Another yellow card offence but one he may have got away with had he held his arms up.

Instead, the Pompey left back blew the proverbial fuse and verbally laid into the assistant referee, another yellow card offence before putting the final nail in his own coffin by booting the ball away when confronting the referee.

The obvious result was a second yellow and the red he was so desperate to receive.

Do we put this down to a tough day at the office or another player who just doesn’t respect the laws of the game?

To be fair, the Algerian has done little to get himself noticed in this way before but its not often a player spit’s the dummy so far over what was so little.

He better book himself into some anger management classes as the word is out, Nadir Belhadj gets riled and it is a long, long season.

These two players have taken different roads that are going in a similar direction, oblivion but they’ll have plenty of chances to turn off along the way and here is hoping they do so and reach the outstanding professional heights of the likes of Theo Walcott, Darren Fletcher, or Newcastle’s own Stephen Taylor, who have all had much more to trouble them but stick to their road of honest, hardworking deserving professionals.