Why Spurs should take a £6m punt on temperamental Frenchman

Football
FanCast guest columnist Paul Burchill wonders if
Harry should take a punt on Charles N'Zogbia to bring balance to the Spurs
midfield.

As excuses go it has to be one of the worse reasons
I have ever known in wanting to leave a football club, but N'Zogbia is no
ordinary person.

You ask any Newcastle United fan and they'll happily
tell you that the Frenchman has form and has been looking to worm his way out
of Newcastle for the past few seasons. Every year he threatens to quit and yet
all it took was a careless slip of the tongue by Kinnear to push him over the
edge and he now refuses to play for Newcastle United. It is a ridiculous state
of affairs and it seems that the player is likely to be granted his wish.

The annoying thing about N'Zogbia, as far as
Newcastle is concerned, is that he is a half decent player and they are a much
stronger for having him in their squad than without. Make no bones about it
Newcastle, like us, are in relegation trouble and Kinnear would want all his better
players around and this is a situation he could have done well without; he'll
have to hope that a club will come in and take him off his hands and take the
obvious baggage that comes with him.

I have to confess that I'm a fan of N'Zogbia and he
gave us a rough ride at St James Park. He is an extremely gifted footballer and
more importantly a left winger and how we are crying out for one of them at the
Lane. He is not as quick as Lennon, but is certainly skilled like the
aforementioned and could bring great balance to our midfield. I know his
discipline is somewhat temperamental and many think we shouldn't touch him with
a barge pole, but if anyone is able to tame him then surely Harry has a better
chance than any.

I just feel that the need of a left winger outweighs any such worries
about his attitude towards the cause and although he has said he would favour a
move to Arsenal or Villa, the chances of either them taking him on is close to
zero, given they have Samir Nasri and Ashley Young respectively. Newcastle has
previously valued him around £6-8m (depending
on what paper you read) and I honestly believe he would be worth a punt – I
mean we were prepared to pay £12m for Stewart Downing after all.

Should we take a punt on N'Zogbia, or is he more
trouble than he is worth?