N´Zogbia refuses to play after Kinnear ´insult´

Charles N’Zogbia said Thursday he would never play for Newcastle again while Joe Kinnear remains manager, accusing him of insulting him by apparently forgetting his name in a television interview.

“First of all I wish to apologise to the fans for wanting to leave the club,” the 22-year-old Frenchman said in a statement.

“However, having been insulted by Joe Kinnear, I will never play for him again while he remains Newcastle manager.

“The club are aware that there are offers on the table for me and they should accept one of them.”

According to The Times, the row blew up after Kinnear appeared to forget N’Zogbia’s surname during a television interview on Wednesday night, twice calling him “Insomnia” before finally settling for “Charlie”.

But the Magpies manager hit back, accusing N’Zogbia of trying to force Newcastle into allowing him to leave St James’ Park.

“OK, I got a little tongue-tied — but if I had a pound for every time I’ve mispronounced a player’s name down the years, then I’d be a very wealthy man indeed,” Kinnear said, according to The Times.

“There have already been plenty of quotes attributed to Charles during January, saying he is interested in leaving for other clubs. But the truth is we haven’t received a formal offer for him.

“Sadly, this just smacks of a desperate attempt to engineer a move away from Newcastle United.”

N’Zogbia’s agent Franck Peslerbe told the newspaper the player would be “very angry” at what Kinnear had said about him, adding: “It is clear that Charles will feel that he has no future at the club.”