Newcastle center-back David Rozehnal has given a surprising interview to Pravo, in which he says he is bitter at Newcastle United.
Rozehnal – surprisingly negative comments from our Czech International
David told Pravo today:
“I am bitter. I was looking forward very much to coming to Newcastle after playing at Club Brugge and PSG.†“Now I am not sure if this looks like a dream spell. I did not expect I would be sitting on the bench.â€
“Once I play as right-back, then left-back. Then in right midfield, or as a defensive midfielder.†“For instance, in the FA Cup fixture against Arsenal the coach wanted me to play in center midfield like when I played against Bolton, but Enrique injured himself so I was put in defence.”
“I don’t like such rotation.” “I don’t want to drop out of it ahead of Euro 2008. Training (sessions) at Newcastle are of a high-quality but game practice is irreplaceable.”
Rozehnal, who apparently has been linked with Lazio and Real Zaragoza, plans to speak with Keegan over his plans for the future, but still says he is determined to fight for his place.
David said:
“He promised to speak to us individually. I want to know his ideas and therefore know what I can expect.–I like competition, it is useful. There are four equally-talented players for my position. I admit that the team composition is up to our coach and don’t complain at all.â€
“But I think we are on the same level, I am not worse than them. Moreover, I showed some good performances at the beginning.â€
“That is why I am so sad that I don’t play as much as I wish to. That is why I don’t feel as well as I felt in Brugge or in Paris. I will fight on.”
David though has a bad habit of making mistakes that lead to goals, and he has made such mistakes at Newcastle. But if he is this unhappy we may see him moved out in the summer, depending on what Keegan has in mind for the summer transfers.
We only want players who want to play for the club, and in all honesty he has hardly set the Premiership alight in his time at Newcastle, although he has looked a decent enough player.
We’re surprised and a little disappointed by this outburst, and think David should have talked to Kevin Keegan first, before expressing these views in the press.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
130 comments so far
Shane Coghlan
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Comment #1Lucky to be getting a game anywhere tbh 😛
Marguerite
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Comment #2Quite
Kash2
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Comment #3Needs time, definitely better than Cacapa, needs to learn how to be no-non-sense defender!
sparetheman
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Comment #4I think he was somewhat unfairly mistreated at the beginning of the season by Allardyce, particular when Cacapa and Faye came in to replace him and Taylor after the Man City game. He was our best defneder up till that point. After that he seemed to lose his confidence and hasn’t been able to take advantage of the opportunities he’s had in the first team since. He’s going to have to earn back his place now with some solid performances when his next opportunity arises I’m afraid.
Howie
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Comment #5at the moment very lucky. i think if you buy foreign defenders they need to be in the mould of faye,vidic,alex. no nonsense and very strong. theres no doubt hes a talented player. i just think he might be too light weight for this league
Hadrian
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Comment #6maybe he should stop watching the ball roll by him and actually go in for a few tackles .
he dances around the pitch like he does in training .
Big Mal
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #7David Rozehnal has been culpabale for several goals this season. For me he sits to far off players to be an effective premeir league defender. He would only be a bench man at best for me. So if he wants to go – bye bye.
Callum
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Comment #8Let him go if hes unhappy, i’ve been thoroughly disappointed with rozenhal this season and there should be no room for whiners in the team
surey
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Comment #9I don’t blame him.
Chris F
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Comment #10if he wasn’t such a soft git, who shys out of any tackle, he might get more games.
i’ve never before in my life seen a so called defender who has been as reticent to put in a challenge as he is.
warm butter is harder than that bloke.
Dragoner
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:29 PM
Comment #11“Needs time, definitely better than Cacapa”
I can’t believe how much people have turned against cacapa, he is better than people perceive him to be
Kash2
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Comment #12@ Hadrian – I’d agree, he jockies far too much for my liking when he should be getting in with a tackle!
ToonKing
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Comment #13he’s a good player but still not used to the pace of the premiership. He takes to much time on the ball and tries pretty things when he doesn’t have the time to do so.
broon ale
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Comment #14not good enough for me! I do not trust him at all! He is complaining about rotation but he’s lucky to find himself involved at all.
Hammy
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Comment #15Tape worms maybe? he looks a bit thin…..
steve k
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Comment #16Have to agree with sparetheman, Rozehnal wasn’t given a fair chance with Newcastle at the beginning. He performed really well to begin with and then after one poor display (of which Taylor was more of a culprit) against City, he was dropped by Allardyce. In that game, it was the midfield that made the key defensive errors more than him from what I remember.
I think he’s been treated unfairly and has a right to complain, but obviously not publicly.
Kash2
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Comment #17I have nothing against Cacapa, he just doesn’t have the legs for the EPL. Vastly experienced, and you see that when he’s there, but due to him being proper knackered against Arsenal he kept dropping our back line deeper and deeper. Taylor was holding a nice decent line, then Cacapa started becoming the deeper player as the game progressed.
Ells
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Comment #18I like Rozenhal, granted, he’s had a poor season so far, but he’s shown glimpses of class, he’s extremely composed on the ball and hasn’t made any ‘Bramble-Esque’ blunders like Cacapa has. He and Cacapa need a little more time, very few defenders come into the Prem in their first season from abroad and played brilliantly.
paul p
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Comment #19rozenhal and cacapa are not good enough for the premiership as it has been proved far too many times this season. these 2 have cost us goals, points, wins, draws the lot. get rid of them both and bring some english based premier league players in such as upson, brown to replace them
Matthew Tom
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Comment #20These seem like very ill-advised comments from someone who has genuinely not done enough to cement a regular starting position in our defence. It’s not like he’s been competing with Ferdinand/Vidic or Terry/Carvalho for a place in the team is it.
To my mind he’s got decent positioning and general speed and aerial ability, but I agree with some other comments above. He does seem to be lacking the essential instinct of a good defender to just stop the opposition at all costs. He should take a close look at Steven Taylor in training to see what he’s missing.
Kash2
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:39 PM
Comment #21Anyone remember when Torres rinsed him with the same trick 3 times in a row in the same matach against Liverpool? Good thing Torres was rubbish that day, he would’ve had a hat-trick coz of Rozey.
Also, what type of nick name is Rozey for a defender!
Tom
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Comment #22Frustrating player, wont put a foot in, then every time he gets the ball in the middle of the park, he plays a long high ball up to Owen. Just shows he’s not the most intellent of players! Get rid and get Wes Brown.
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Comment #23Can be a very good player on his day but is a bit lightweight and can be brushed aside easily at times. Cacapa is better defensively, his positioning is excellent but then again is a bit slow compared to Rozenhal who has some pace. Our two CBs should be Cacapa and Taylor with Faye being our defensive midfielder. LB Enrique and our RB should be Beye. Although with him participating in the African Cup we could play Carr (who is playing much better now) or Geremi who can also play there (if he is eliminated from the Cup). That is A VERY SOLID BACK FOUR. With Faye there to break the opposing teams play before it even reaches our backline.This way we should not concede many goals. Rozenhal can stay on the bench incase of injuries and use him as back-up.
cooldj
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Comment #24what a tit
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Comment #25Wes Brown is crap!!! He is not wanted by Man Ure fans so why should we want him????
GM
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Comment #26Before people jump on the band waggon and start slagging him off, do we know the validity of these statements?? after all they appeared in a newspaper and with all the f’g shite that they spout, UK based or not I would be slightly guarded about what they print as “statements” same goes for the mystical “club insider” most of the time it is bullshit made up to cause trouble.
In his defence he has been played out of position almost all over the park, so on a positive note it could be said that he does try 100% for the club as he is prepared to play wherever the manager needs him. People are quick to say zog must play on the wing not at LB as he is wasted, could this point not be made about him also? he is a DC not a RB, LB, DMC, MC etc etc
Tom_Toon
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Comment #27Can we please get a striker with an immense first touch like Rosenberg. 🙂
Bigted28
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Comment #28Would be no loss if he leaves. Will prob be shipped out in the summer. Has a lot to say, like Robert, but does not contribute all that much….
jimmer
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Comment #29i think he’s got a lot of potential. he needs good coaching. will he get that here under keegan?
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Comment #30LB – Enrique
CB – Taylor
CB – Cacapa
RB – Beye (or Carr for now till Beye returns)
DM- Faye
Nick Dryden
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Comment #31On another tact, it’s great to see all these youngsters coming in in a way we’ve never seen before a la Arsenal.
However, the trouble is we have very, very poor English coaches like Pearson, Mc Dermott and Round. We desperately need someone like Simon Clifford (futebol de salao programme) or a Quiroz type figure if these whizz-kids are ever to reach their potential.
ELFER
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:50 PM
Comment #32absolutely definteley not better than CACAPA, that’s for sure!! Also he did not fullfill the expectations we had, so I think he will be able to go in summer and that’s good.
KK will start on recruting good defenders anyway, CACAPA has only 1 year left and FAYE is a good backup. So I guess we should have one main speaker and leader to go out there with either TAYLOR or FAYE. Then add one more for backup. That’s for sure where KK will start in sommer the building of his squad.
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #33Yeah I agree Nick as our coaches are bit old fashioned. We need Alan Shearer showing players like Martins how to hold the ball and improve his first touch. A foreign coach with a wealth of experience (preferably an excellent retired player) would do wonders for our reserves and our young future stars.
jimmer
Jan 31, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Comment #34i agree, but defensive coaching is a priority
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Comment #35I hope we improve our ridiculous attempt to sign Barnes from Derby. I cannot believe that we have the chance to sign a promising english talent for such a low price and are not willing to pay a bit more. After all the hype surrounding the player since last summer. We now have the chance to steal him from our rivals and what do we do..wait for summer to arrive and for Tottenham or another club to snatch him!!! Fu::ing ridiculous!!!
John
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Comment #36He is an intelligent, ball-playing centre-half who, like Cacaps, looks uncomfortable with burly opponents (K. Davies).
I agree that he was our best defender at the start of the season but post-Man City he seems to have lost confidence.
Most foreign players need one season to come to terms with our league so I hope we keep him for at least one more season rather than selling him now.
In my view, he and Cacapa are the brains of the cente-half partnership whilst Taylor and Faye provide the brawn. Partnerships are what we need and in my view, we need a bit of both aspects but this should be tempered by the needs of the game (i.e culture is useless against Bolton-style thuggery).
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Comment #37By the way wasn´t Keegan going to come to an agreement with Shearer this week over a ¨Role¨ at the club!!??
Chicken
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:04 PM
Comment #38Bloody hell – some of you lot on here are unbelievable.
Can we just rewind a few months please Ed and remind people what they were saying about Taylor at the start of the season – now all of a sudden he’s the best thing since Jonathan Woodgate.
Rozenhal hasn’t just become a bad player overnight – he’s been messed around with, asked to play in different positions and he’s obviously still adapting to life in the Prem.
If he has said those things at least it shows he’s bothered about playing for us and not content just to collect his wages like some we’ve had in the past.
Give the lad a break FFS!
M. Stockley
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Comment #39its ironic that one of the worse players on our books should be moaning at having to be versatile annd how he cant be gaureenteed a game… he’s shocking and he a lieability and should be grateful that we havent sent him to go and work in the club shop.
JP from Gibraltar
Jan 31, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Comment #40Good point John, we need both types of CBs at the back. We should keep Rozenhal for another season though, just to see how he plays now that he knows the EPL.