[cite]Posted By: bingaddick[/cite]I am sorry to see him go. Even more sad because we only really got a taster of his abilities last season due to injury. I have little doubt that were he fit for the whole of last season we would still be in the Championship.
I still think its the lack of player motivation and management at the route of the problem.... ie Parky
Also, doubt he would have stayed at the Valley if we finished mid table in the Championship. The saddest thing in this story is that he leaves on a free.
[cite]Posted By: thewolfboy[/cite]Zilch loyalty, like most pro footballers these days. (How refreshing and surprising it was to hear Kevin Nichols speak of his love for Luton!) ZZ spent most of the season getting paid for being in the treatment room. Didn't play particularly well when he came back. Not angst about him going. Was nice to see some Chinese faces in the crowd at the valley though.
He's got no reason to be loyal to us though. He's good enough to get offers from Championship sides. He's out of contract, why can't he consider his options without being called disloyal. We've had far worse players when it comes to that. Not saying I'd describe him as loyal, but it's harsh to say his disloyal just because he doesn't want to play in League One, when he knows he can get better offers.
A shame really, but I never felt that we saw the best of him. I was half-surprised when we picked him up after relegation from the Premiership as I felt he looked totally out of his depth in our Premier League run in, but he is good enough for the Championship and seeing as we aren't we've got to expect that he'll be on his way especially as he is out of contract.
The main thing for me is that we hang on to Racon and Bailey or at least fight as hard as we can to hang on to them. If we can do that we can have a very good midfield next season.
Always put in a good shift, but it's a shame he didn't go to West Brom last year taking a bit of our debt with him. If a premiership club couldn't match his terms with us there's little surprise that we couldn't keep him. Greedy git that missed his last chance to shine in the Premiership to line his pocket or pro looking to maximise a short career?
one of our best players and will be sorely missed.
scored a great goal at Wolves and made a big difference when he came on at Coventry, but then again most of you wouldn't know that because you don't go to away games.
[cite]Posted By: ken from bexley[/cite]So goodbye ZZ.... a player who always seemed a luxury to me, ability yes, but lightweight and not up to the rigours of the Championship and this forthcoming league. Others were more impressed than myself, never convinced personally. Always of the opinion that his injuries were a little shall we say 'indulgent'. Not a player that I would have in my team, not that he would give a toss anyway........
lightweight? i'd say he was arguably the best athlete we had in the squad.
what was indulgent about his injuries? he did his groin and then broke his foot.
[cite]Posted By: golfaddick[/cite]one of our best players and will be sorely missed.
scored a great goal at Wolves and made a big difference when he came on at Coventry, but then again most of you wouldn't know that because you don't go to away games.
Lol ha ha ha Fair point I will only criticise by games I have seen! And Zheng was arguably our best player in the chumpionship (bar reid).
[cite]Posted By: ken from bexley[/cite]So goodbye ZZ.... a player who always seemed a luxury to me, ability yes, but lightweight and not up to the rigours of the Championship and this forthcoming league. Others were more impressed than myself, never convinced personally. Always of the opinion that his injuries were a little shall we say 'indulgent'. Not a player that I would have in my team, not that he would give a toss anyway........
lightweight? i'd say he was arguably the best athlete we had in the squad.
what was indulgent about his injuries? he did his groin and then broke his foot.
He was one of the fittest I'd say, but I think "lightweight" is one of the main reasons some people don't rate him. He's not big and strong, doesn't "get stuck in".
I wouldn't call him lightweight, but in central midfield he's hardly a huge presence either.
i would say his athleticism made him a presence in midfield. he's not stocky like bailey, but then neither is jonjo. but he had a bit of strength and the fitness to run and run which makes life difficult for the opposition.
a lot of our fans seem to not rate any player who doesn't crunch into tackles and knock people flying. that's what we seem to want, and a bit of finnesse is not good enough. even to the point its been suggested ZZ faked injuries. maybe it's because we got used to watching players who made up for lack of ability with hardwork, or maybe it's an english mentality.
[cite]Posted By: ken from bexley[/cite]So goodbye ZZ.... a player who always seemed a luxury to me, ability yes, but lightweight and not up to the rigours of the Championship and this forthcoming league. Others were more impressed than myself, never convinced personally. Always of the opinion that his injuries were a little shall we say 'indulgent'. Not a player that I would have in my team, not that he would give a toss anyway........
lightweight? i'd say he was arguably the best athlete we had in the squad.
what was indulgent about his injuries? he did his groin and then broke his foot.
He was one of the fittest I'd say, but I think "lightweight" is one of the main reasons some people don't rate him. He's not big and strong, doesn't "get stuck in".
I wouldn't call him lightweight, but in central midfield he's hardly a huge presence either.
ZZ is the player Holland was at his best (arguably before he joined us!)
Nothing obviously outstandingly good or bad but highly competent with a decent ratio of goals from midfield.
[cite]Posted By: BBClaus[/cite]i would say his athleticism made him a presence in midfield. he's not stocky like bailey, but then neither is jonjo. but he had a bit of strength and the fitness to run and run which makes life difficult for the opposition.
a lot of our fans seem to not rate any player who doesn't crunch into tackles and knock people flying. that's what we seem to want, and a bit of finnesse is not good enough. even to the point its been suggested ZZ faked injuries. maybe it's because we got used to watching players who made up for lack of ability with hardwork, or maybe it's an english mentality.
English mentality is a big part of it. That's why some fans love John Terry but think Rio Ferdinand is lazy, doesn't concentrate and doesn't even like football.
I thought ZZ usually worked hard even though he fly into crunching tackles. Certainly couldn't be called lazy or a player that didn't care (at least when he was on the pitch, no idea really off the pitch).
English mentality is a big part of it. That's why some fans love John Terry but think Rio Ferdinand is lazy, doesn't concentrate and doesn't even like football.
I thought ZZ usually worked hard even though he fly into crunching tackles. Certainly couldn't be called lazy or a player that didn't care (at least when he was on the pitch, no idea really off the pitch).
That's true enough, however, I think Zheng was a bit of a headless chicken at times. He's a goodish Championship player but nothing more and he wouldn't have done too well at West Brom last season as he looked out of his depth in the Permiership.
I think in football and particularly central midfield, partnerships are very important as well as technical ability, and I would question whether ZZ ever achieved this, mind you did anyone else over the period of time where we certainly have had a gread deal of flux..
Totally gutted, in a dismal season last year, when he came back I started to enjoy watching games again. I suppose that's how I judge if a player is good or not, you just can't wait for them to get the ball and you're excitement level goes up when they do. Step up ZZ, Jonjo, Racon, and Bailey. If we are left with only 1 out of that lot next year....feck!
[cite]Posted By: McLovin[/cite]. If a premiership club couldn't match his terms with us there's little surprise that we couldn't keep him.
But they did.
Why did he not go then?
Agent wanted a huge payment from WBA to himself. WBA wouldn't pay it. Nothing to do with ZZs terms, the deal was done..
Would you not say that is part of the deal though? If the agent really did scupper the deal it must have been written into his agreement with the player that he would recieve x% of any deals (or else I'd presume ZZ would cut him loose and sign for whoever he wanted). If both us or WBA didn't want to give up that x% and ZZ didn't want to lose it out of his cut, then the terms weren't met. Generally everyone knows what the agent is getting and who is paying that, up front. It can't have just been as arbitrary as implied or I'd just declare myself Nicky's agent and demand a 500% fixers fee in the hope of keeping him at the Valley for another season.
To be honest, I'd say it's more likely that an aspect of his terms weren't met - believe he had some odd image right stipulations - and this got in the way more.
No I wouldn't say it was part of the deal or the terms as the player is meant to pay his agent not the buying club.
He tried to be clever at the last minute to get a big lump of dosh, allegedly, and it back fired badly. Well done to WBA for standing up do him but it did us no favours.
And you can say it was more likely that is was image rights or whatever but that it like saying you think the club made up the ST sales figures.
Sorry do not agree with the views defending him. lets rewind, he was injured the season before, took an eternity to get back, then did so to play in the Olympics, then got injured again to play, complain of injury which I understand mystified the physio at the Club, had treatment which others returned after 7 weeks took him over 4 months!, fit for the transfer deadline, suppossed to be going to WBA, deal fell through, injury again then in and out. Groin injuries.. as Jimmy Greaves stated we played through groin injuries in the old days!, okay times change but despite his talent which he has, and vision, he took a long time to adapt to the game, and to me was not the type of player to get 'involved', track back and play or the team. A luxury player, fine in the prem, possible in the Championship, not really in this league.
He was offered a contract and chose to go back, his choice.... probably sensible for the lad. On several occassions he declared that he wanted to play at a higher level, nothing wrong with that, but spoke to the papers declaring his own interests on more than one occassion.
So No not my type of player, simple as..... the fact is no one has rushed in to buy him have they, now or Christmas, or last year.....
i felt he was too mercenary for us and not what i would consider a charlton type. he came back from injury and we beat our fellow relegation sides and a few 0-0 draws. well whoop de doo.
I'm one of those who thought he was a bit overated....plenty of enthusiasim and application but except on the odd occassion he never really shone for us.
On balance, I'd like to have kept him considering where we are now....but not a great loss IMHO.
Broken foot is not a groin injury..... I think you will find that he had both!. although he played with the injury too his foot for two games or part of! but complanied of being 'uncomfortable'......
He went to his own specialist I understand and had treatment on a fracture . Regardless of any of this Beckham and Rooney were out for 7 weeks not almost 7 months!. okay almost 6.....
I think the truth is he wanted out, and was hoping to get into another prem club. Has a decent following in China and has a good pr profile( Gordon Brown Downing street etc).
All very nice if this sells shirts and tickets, but is not really on the menu as a priority at present is it!... Will the Chinesse follow first division football, cannot see it myself! can we even follow it, more than the scraps of UK tv! The fact is, and never let a good fact get in the way of an opinion!..... is he was offered a contract and refused. Simple as.....end off.....shall we move on like him!
Bottom line: it appears he was 'reluctant' to play in the Third Division.
He has a high profile being China captain and no doubt he needs to play at a higher level than the comparative obscurity of the English Third Division. Or he is better off going home.
Can you blame him? He's 29 next month and he's only got the chance to achieve his ambitions for another couple of years.
Sometimes we forget that players are people too.
It really is amazing how many either loved him or hated him. If you rated all Charlton's Midfield players in order since he arrived, apart from Reid definately & Bailey maybe, no-one has been as consistently good as him in his position.
[cite]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]It really is amazing how many either loved him or hated him. If you rated all Charlton's Midfield players in order since he arrived, apart from Reid definately & Bailey maybe, no-one has been as consistently good as him in his position.
Comments
I still think its the lack of player motivation and management at the route of the problem.... ie Parky
Also, doubt he would have stayed at the Valley if we finished mid table in the Championship. The saddest thing in this story is that he leaves on a free.
He's got no reason to be loyal to us though. He's good enough to get offers from Championship sides. He's out of contract, why can't he consider his options without being called disloyal. We've had far worse players when it comes to that. Not saying I'd describe him as loyal, but it's harsh to say his disloyal just because he doesn't want to play in League One, when he knows he can get better offers.
The main thing for me is that we hang on to Racon and Bailey or at least fight as hard as we can to hang on to them. If we can do that we can have a very good midfield next season.
Welcome to the site btw
scored a great goal at Wolves and made a big difference when he came on at Coventry, but then again most of you wouldn't know that because you don't go to away games.
But they did.
lightweight? i'd say he was arguably the best athlete we had in the squad.
what was indulgent about his injuries? he did his groin and then broke his foot.
He was one of the fittest I'd say, but I think "lightweight" is one of the main reasons some people don't rate him. He's not big and strong, doesn't "get stuck in".
I wouldn't call him lightweight, but in central midfield he's hardly a huge presence either.
a lot of our fans seem to not rate any player who doesn't crunch into tackles and knock people flying. that's what we seem to want, and a bit of finnesse is not good enough. even to the point its been suggested ZZ faked injuries. maybe it's because we got used to watching players who made up for lack of ability with hardwork, or maybe it's an english mentality.
ZZ is the player Holland was at his best (arguably before he joined us!)
Nothing obviously outstandingly good or bad but highly competent with a decent ratio of goals from midfield.
English mentality is a big part of it. That's why some fans love John Terry but think Rio Ferdinand is lazy, doesn't concentrate and doesn't even like football.
I thought ZZ usually worked hard even though he fly into crunching tackles. Certainly couldn't be called lazy or a player that didn't care (at least when he was on the pitch, no idea really off the pitch).
Agent wanted a huge payment from WBA to himself. WBA wouldn't pay it. Nothing to do with ZZs terms, the deal was done..
Totally gutted, in a dismal season last year, when he came back I started to enjoy watching games again. I suppose that's how I judge if a player is good or not, you just can't wait for them to get the ball and you're excitement level goes up when they do. Step up ZZ, Jonjo, Racon, and Bailey. If we are left with only 1 out of that lot next year....feck!
To be honest, I'd say it's more likely that an aspect of his terms weren't met - believe he had some odd image right stipulations - and this got in the way more.
He tried to be clever at the last minute to get a big lump of dosh, allegedly, and it back fired badly. Well done to WBA for standing up do him but it did us no favours.
And you can say it was more likely that is was image rights or whatever but that it like saying you think the club made up the ST sales figures.
lets rewind, he was injured the season before, took an eternity to get back, then did so to play in the Olympics, then got injured again to play, complain of injury which I understand mystified the physio at the Club, had treatment which others returned after 7 weeks took him over 4 months!, fit for the transfer deadline, suppossed to be going to WBA, deal fell through, injury again then in and out. Groin injuries.. as Jimmy Greaves stated we played through groin injuries in the old days!, okay times change but despite his talent which he has, and vision, he took a long time to adapt to the game, and to me was not the type of player to get 'involved', track back and play or the team. A luxury player, fine in the prem, possible in the Championship, not really in this league.
He was offered a contract and chose to go back, his choice.... probably sensible for the lad. On several occassions he declared that he wanted to play at a higher level, nothing wrong with that, but spoke to the papers declaring his own interests on more than one occassion.
So No not my type of player, simple as..... the fact is no one has rushed in to buy him have they, now or Christmas, or last year.....
Just my opinion,
No one rushed into buy him at Xmas as he had a broken foot and couldn't play for months.
Let's wait and see where he ends up.
not for me thanks.
On balance, I'd like to have kept him considering where we are now....but not a great loss IMHO.
I think you will find that he had both!. although he played with the injury too his foot for two games or part of!
but complanied of being 'uncomfortable'......
He went to his own specialist I understand and had treatment on a fracture . Regardless of any of this Beckham and Rooney were out for 7 weeks not almost 7 months!. okay almost 6.....
I think the truth is he wanted out, and was hoping to get into another prem club. Has a decent following in China and has a good pr profile( Gordon Brown Downing street etc).
All very nice if this sells shirts and tickets, but is not really on the menu as a priority at present is it!... Will the Chinesse follow first division football, cannot see it myself! can we even follow it, more than the scraps of UK tv!
The fact is, and never let a good fact get in the way of an opinion!..... is he was offered a contract and refused. Simple as.....end off.....shall we move on like him!
He has a high profile being China captain and no doubt he needs to play at a higher level than the comparative obscurity of the English Third Division. Or he is better off going home.
Can you blame him? He's 29 next month and he's only got the chance to achieve his ambitions for another couple of years.
Sometimes we forget that players are people too.
Oh really..............you could of fooled me!