He was a little bit of a gamble. Bought as a young player who might have improved. For £1m he was a cheap option that more than paid for himself. We made a big profit on him. I know it's not all about money, but transfer windows were a bit of a chess game then trying to get all the pieces you want slotting some in and some out on a limited budget. (American chess uses money). I would have preferred few, but more quality, transfers but that wasn't an option. N'Gog was a bargain and a great signing for the price. Ultimately not good enough for more than a backup role, however had he lived up to possible potential he would be paying dividends.
His one life fantasy involved being naked with N'Gog in a deserted prison shower and "accidentally" dropping the soap.
Unfortunately for Rafa, money was a major influence in what he did. Early in Rafa's reign, we had a good squad of players but lacked the true top class quality we needed to push on. We bought Torres but had to get rid of other players such as Crouch and Bellamy. It was one or the other; big squad vs quality players. The middle part of his reign saw the quality with the likes of Torres, Mascherano and Arbeloa in the side (Alonso was part of the early years too). The latter years were a result of having to struggle by on a buy to sell policy, not to mention his big **** up with Alonso.
That's an oxymoron. A signing who was cheap, and supposedly therefore a bargain, but was also ****e.........................so not a bargain at all then.....
I love MITO to bits but that's harsh. When Torres was injured N'gog scored a good total of goals and also scored in his own right; he was all we had in the absence of class - Torres!??! Yes, back then - and did more than Balotelli did this tenure without Sturridge. Had he been managed properly, who knows? I know when he moved on to Bolton he didn't step up there, but maybe he felt let down at Liverpool. I dunno. I was sorry to see him go myself. Honestly.
Don't you remember the bet he had with Talks Rubbish? Something about how many goals he'd score, if he reached the agreed total, mito had to write a poem of undying love about N'Gog and there was a different forfeit for TR which I can't remember because mito lost and had to publish his 'ode'
No, don't recall that #oldlady, but I have to say, considering the dross we have bought since - with the exception of Coutinho obviously and Sturridge although permanently injured - we could have done a lot bloody worse
