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Farewell Zigic
Tomorrow night is likely to be the last time we will Nikola Zigic play for Blues at St Andrew’s with it being the final home game of what is the last season in his contract. Viewed by some as talisman and by others as one of the chief reasons Blues are still in a financial pickle, Zigic has divided fans throughout his Blues career.
I will admit here and now I love the lanky Serb. It’s patently obvious that Zigic’s wages are a massive drain on a club which can ill afford them but I do not believe that is his fault – those wages should never have been offered to him in the first place considering how reliant Blues were on Premier League TV rights. I love him for scoring a deflected winner against the mob from across the expressway in the league cup quarter-final; for turning the semi final second leg in our favour and for scoring the first (and creating the second) in the final. I honestly believe without him in the team we’d never have won the League Cup – and for that alone he’s earned his place in my heart.
People may point to his scoring record as not being brilliant – 31 league goals in 126 appearances (which should be 32 and Lee Novak knows this), 35 goals in 146 appearances in all competitions, or one in every four games – for the fee and wages he has cost the club. I think his contribution can be measured in more than just goals though; I think he has consistently offered a threat for us up front and I think played in the right way he can bring everyone else into the game. A case in point was the Palace game last year which Blues won 4-0; as a lone target man with young hungry forward players Nathan Redmond, Ravel Morrison and Shane Ferguson around him he was the focal point and pivot in what was an outstanding game – the “kids” clearly loved playing off him and we ripped what was eventually to be a promoted side a new one away from home.
I know that Zigic can be infuriating; he’s not that mobile and he doesn’t run that much anyway, people think he should win more headers and work harder but in fairness I’ve never seen a player who gets consistently as fouled as much without any protection from referees – and I think it’s those fouls that prevent him from reaching half the balls people think he should. Clark has had his spats with him due to what Clark perceives as an unwillingness to put in the effort in training but I know who I’d prefer to stay at Blues out of the two.
Zigic is also the last remaining link in the team with that Carling Cup winning squad – everyone else out of the 18 players who were named that day has left or retired. He’s currently the longest-serving outfield player at the club and one of just two players in the current squad (the other being Chris Burke) with over 100 appearances for the club.
I hope he leaves us with a bang – scoring a winner at St Andrew’s to keep us in the division would be a good way for him to sign off his Blues career in what will be his home game; unless we get some seriously rich new owners I think it will be the last time for a while we’ll have someone as high profile in the team.
Tags: Nikola Zigic
52 Responses to “Farewell Zigic”
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Hope he gets a decent send off to be fair to him
I hope he gets a good send off, he’s a good a good lad and I like him, completely echo the statements you’ve said about him and good luck to him in the future, Blues legend for me!
Always scores or has a hand in important goals. Tomorrow could be the biggest! Should we stay in the Champ and get new owners I’d like to think a new (Sensible contract) could be offered to him. No doubt he does care for the club and those sort of players don’t come round too often these days.
Fully agree Dan, love him or hate him he is a Blue and deserves a good send off
Scoring the winning goal the only time I’ve witnessed us beat the Vile in a cup competition, the goal at Wembley, now set up for Wigan, Zigic you are a legend now make yourself an even bigger one! KRO
Fair summary except Ziggy’s wages are a drop in the ocean compared to the financial strain that BIHL have incurred on the club. Best game I saw Ziggy play was in 2012 when he scored all four against Leeds which resulted in the Leeds manager being sacked. He was rampant that game. I was sort of hoping for this last Saturday but the squad we have now is a shadow of what it was then.
When do the club finally stop paying him?
When his contract finishes.
30 June
As a person and for his personality I like Ziggy, as a player he frustrates me and I have made my views blatantly obvious.
For the memories of that day at Wembley I take my hat off and worship him and the other 18 players.
When used correctly and to his strengths he is unplayable, has Lee Clark done that or tried too without success or has Ziggy played his own frustrating way on purpose?
Hopefully Zigic will turn the player we know he can be and demolish Wigan for his swansong.
He has had issues with LC but I think he loves the club and the supporters, I have seen him chat with youngsters and sign autographs at away games.
He was probably the best player we had at Blackpool and his knock downs came off faultlessly, if only there had been more consistency form those around him he would not look so out of sorts or appear to not put the effort.
In a strange way, I will be sorry to see Ziggy go, I wish him every success wherever he lands. He only signed the contract that became a burden around the clubs neck, I believe he also tried to negotiate a reduction, I will applaud him tomorrow night along with every other Blues fan.
Good luck and best wishes Zig, and thanks for the glory at Wembley.
KRO+DNM
As bad a decision as it was to offer him those wages, equally poor was the decision to give him a 4 year deal rather than 3 years at his age.
He’s not earned his wages for the last two seasons at least, and some could argue he never really did. I don’t think he ever really got fit after his injury in the last relegation season.
I’ve always liked the big man and will never forget his contributuion to us winning our only major trophy since 1963 and making me so happy. KRO and good luck Ziggy.
I echo all of that.He will always be a Blues legend for me if only because of The Carling Cup.
Good luck Ziggy.
His contract and wages weren’t his fault, but outside of Dwight Yorke, the laziest player i’ve seen at St Andrews, and I accept that’s a controversial statement, but his goal return is poor and he should have gone two seasons ago, but nobody wanted to buy him. Yes, the CC final is a happy memory, but it’s one Zigic has dined off every since. I won’t miss him at all.
His goal return is poor because players keep booting the ball long to him when he’s a finisher like Darren bent you neeed to get the ball out wide and play the ball in to him!
I’m a fan of Ziggy and I hope he gets in the blues hall of fame. I’ll be sorry to see him go but would be nice to think we could offer him a new contract at a fraction of the cost to the one he is on?
You can’t truly blame Zigic for being on the salary he is. This problem of high Premiership wages and getting relegated has been around now for long enough. It was likely a calculated decision made at the time by the club and that is where the problem lies. The only thing we have had to shout about really of late is the League Cup win and Ziggy did a wonderful job for us that day. And let’s not forget the winner in the quarter final against Villa.
If one could prove he was the difference between winning and losing on that day I’d have him again if we could go back and decide.
To quote you Dan…..”I know that Zigic can be infuriating, he is not that mobile and he doesn’t run that much anyway. People think he should win more headers and work harder”.
I totally agree and I would criticise him if he was on £5000 per week.
BUT he is on £60,000 per week, which means he has received £12.48 million over his 4 year contract from the club plus his transfer fee of £6 million making £18.48 million.
I accept the wages and fee were none of his doing, but what I do expect is that he gives 100% in every game and uses the physical advantages he has to the max.
Unfortunately he has done neither in the vast majority of the games he has played.
someone payed 60,000 or 600 should still give 100%. i can think of plenty of players who have been on similar top wages at bcfc and haven’t done as much as ziggy combined. it sounds like you are having a pop at footballers wages in general
Footballers wage are a bone of contention compared to other occupations. However, if players are at the peak of their career, winning the Premier league, competing for trophy’s or playing in the champions league, then they can justify high wages.
We are talking about player who has seen better days but is now floundering in the depths of the Championship.
KRO+DNM
I don’t begrudge anybodies wages if they deserve them. Zigic doesn’t deserve his.
Agree with all Al said about Ziggy. I like the bloke as a personality and will always be gratefull for the league cup, for which he was vital in the quarters, semi and the final. I also think that his goal ratio to minutes rather than appearance would be fairer, as he very often started from the bench.
I know its probably his last game for the club, but I would love it if he could sign on next year at the going Blues salaray rate….. You never know??
I’ve always thought both things about big Zig to be honest…..I resent the drain his salary has had on the club but at the same time, you gotta love him!!
Scored the winner against the villa, scored in the league cup final…legend.
Just had a thought…completely hypothetical and all that BUT what would people think if we got new owners and they offered Zig a new contract at Championship wages (he’d be lucky to get any where near what he’s on now anywhere else)??
I had the same thought but it got caught in the OP “awaiting moderation” file for some reason.
Hi Mineheadblue, I worked down there back in the 90’s at Butlins, lovely part of the world, lucky you.
Would less wages make him work harder?
Would anyone volunteer to take an 89% wage cut.
I think for all parties it is time for both to go our separate ways for all our sakes.
KRO+DNM
Altho we differ in our views on Big Zig, I agree with you about the time to part. Sad , but inevitable..
he wouldn’t be volunteering to take a pay cut because he wouldn’t have a contract so it would be a fresh start!
unless we get billionaire owners we wont see a quality player and as influential like zigic for a long time.
If new owners wanted to offer him a new contract then I would have no issues with him staying at all, whether he takes a wage cut or not.
he is rubbish pure and simple
Zigic deserves a good send off. A point to make is though his personal goal return has not been great the number of goals he’s created for others must not be overlooked. We are definitely a better side with him in the side than not. It’s a shame we have not played him properly instead of isolating him and hoofing long high hopeful balls to him.
To those wanting to see the back of Zig, its very similar to the fans who didn’t appreciate Chucho. They only realised his worth after he was gone.
Zigic and Macheda up front in 442 and we may even get a result against Wigan. Sadly I think Macheda will be on the bench because our manager is simply clueless.
A perfect comment.
I cartainly echo the comment about fans not realising what we had in Chucho and soon to be in Zigic until after they were gone (God, I miss Chucho! RIP)
Zigic will not be getting a good send off if we lose tonight as it would mean almost certain relegation and be the realisation of a season defined by the worst home record in our history. Ziggy is a frustrating player to watch and he has dined out on those few but special moments he has provided. If he contributes to a win tonight then a warm send off will be coming his way as the team will have pulled disaster out of the bag. Simplistic but that’s the most likely outcome.
Love the Bloke , no matter what others say. He is a Blues legend In my eyes.
For me he is not a Legend. He has had a fortune to deliver more consistently for us.He was not a Horse or a Dugary. He was sometimes unplayable when he was riled up. Some people are easily pleased. Perhaps he can repay us one last time by getting worked up!
who is a blues legend to you then? what did horse and dugarry win for us? i wouldn’t say easily pleased as most blues fans expect to be in the premiership and that we are bigger than everyone in this league but were just not shwing it
Seeing as how Zigic wants to stay [reportedly] in the U.K as his family are settled here there is a small chance he may re-sign on more reasonable terms for Blues, his age tells against him getting another “”MEGA_BUCKS”” deal such as he,s had with Blues, one can only hope He stays…..and someone else GOES !!
He is grossly underrated by many, as the article above states his contribution stretches from more than just goals to being a physical presence that no team can adequately counter – he even chips in with defending, and has saved us a number of goals this season. I’ll miss him terribly, and he will be almost impossible to replace.
In my book he is grossly overrated.
His physical presence? He is 6’7 but rarely uses his presence, he spends more time looking for fouls and waving his arms than the ball.
That is why he is so frustrating, I will admit that he hasn’t had much protection, even Saturday he almost has his shirt removed but the referee and linesman took no action. But he does a lot of complaining had has a record with the referees, hence so many bookings.
KRO+DNM
whatever people may think of ziggy the thing that makes me sad is that we signed him as an active international football , from a major football nation , i hate to think how long it might be before we do that again.
for me those last three rounds of the cup make for wonderful memories , looking back until he got injured we looked in no danger of getting relegated , god that all feels like 10 years ago.
Just amazing how much Zigic is worshiped by the fans.
Terrible goal scoring record, terrible work rate, and an agent who continuously
points out he is massively overpaid and won’t move anywhere else unless they
match his ludicrous wages.
I for one won’t miss
the opposition centre defenders taking 3 or 4 touches when Zigic is 5 or 6
meters away from them, knowing Zigic will never make a meaningful effort to
close them down.
I am just so disillusioned at the moment. The club has joke
owners, nobody in the media writes anything in depth about our plight, and the
fans are happy to boo players who are earning 5k a week and giving everything,
and worship players earning 60k a week who do nothing.
We should be on this message board being angry. We should be
on here talking about turning up at St Andrews against Wigan and making it so hostile
we carry the team home to three points. Instead, we have all accepted
relegation and the 11,000 who do turn up at St Andrews are preparing to give
Zigic a hero’s send off.
I have been a Blues fan for 35 years, and for me it’s all
about being a working class club. Historically we never criticise players who don’t
have talent and give 100% for the shirt, we criticise those who don’t care and don’t
give a dam. I have never felt so detached from the club as I do at the moment.
Saturday was the first time in about 3 years he has put a shift in for us. His lack of effort is unforgiveable and I just cannot believe the amount of people who revere him on the back of about 4 good performances out od 125. We should today be honouring another striker who truly graced Stan’s and has hung up his boots. Super kev was the best finisher we have ever had – bar none in my book. Shame we only had him for a couple of years but for me he is more worthy than dugarry alongside trev in our all time team. Magnificent goal poacher
Absolutely spot on! If LC had played him all season with either Lingard or Macheda we wouldn’t be in this mess!
Ziggy will always be a legend for his CC goals for me. Yeah, we’ve had plenty of more hard working players over the years but they didn’t make my best day ever as a Blues fan, and not a few of them were rubbish. I love him to stay but we’ll struggle to pay L1 wages without being sold soon.
Kevin Francis’ stature just wish he had his heart. Never more wanted a player to do well as Nicolas but for me he couldn’t cut it, not cute enough and wound referees up rather than get the fouls he deserved. Disappeared in far too games and thought he was a player so followed the ball rather than getting in the areas he could hurt teams with. Wonder if he’d stay for £5000 a week?
well the end is near for his wages i mean…….hopefully big zig will be happy to sign a new contract for 5000 grand then we can see how much he loves living in brum,
i would like clark to make him captain for the wigan game, i feel we should give him the freedom of birmingham city for his extraordinary exploits in a blues shirt………he will at least add a further 5,000 on the gate so everyone can say goodbye………think i covered everything…………..
Cannot blame Zigic for the wages he is on, can blame him for the lack of effort in some games… If we found a manager who could work him and the big man would accept a wage cut i would be happy to see him here next season!
Yes
Alex congratulations Sir you are exactly right, we need the Gary pendrys of this world BUT we need the Dugarrys a whole lot more The game is about more than eleven blokes running through brick walls.