4. Joe Kinnear And Charles (Insomnia) N'Zogbia (2008-09)
Joe Kinnear's farcical reign as Newcastle United interim boss during the dreadful relegation season of 2008-09 was typified by his ludicrous and embarrassing falling out with French winger Charles N'Zogbia. Nurtured through the youth ranks at St James', N'Zogbia was exciting but frustrating; he could excite with mazy runs and beautifully-whipped crosses, but he could also be non-existent for large periods of matches. And, during the 2008-09 season, it was obvious N'Zogbia was looking for a "get-out clause" - something which Kinnear duly handed to him on a plate. Following a defeat to Manchester City, Kinnear accidentally referred to N'Zogbia as "Insomnia" - and the player then responded by stating he would never play for the club again. Kinnear claimed N'Zogbia's antics just proved the winger was attempting "to engineer a move away" because all he had done was "mis-pronounce a player's name". N'Zogbia had already released a statement in December 2008 in which he said: "After four years at Newcastle, I want to reach a higher level of ambition. I don't think that is possible here." And, in the final hours of the January 2009 transfer window, N'Zogbia moved to Wigan Athletic in £6million part-exchange deal, with Ryan Taylor going the other way. Rarely has there been such an embarrassing episode in football - even at Newcastle United!
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
