Osaze: I’m not a madman

Embattled Super Eagles and Cardiff City new signing, Osaze Odemwingie, has hit back at those who branded his January deadline day drive to Queens Park Rangers as lunacy, insisting “I’m no madman.”
Back in January, the Nigerian striker had been hoping to leave The Hawthorns for Loftus Road and his drive down to London in an effort to force through the move has earned him a degree of infamy.
Baggies boss, Steve Clarke, labelled it an “act of lunacy”.
But when asked if he felt the tag of him being a madman was unfair, he said: “Of course, a madman is someone in prison. I have no criminal record, so it is just ridiculous to hear.
“I know maybe my manager’s tongue slipped when he said my drive to London was total lunacy, but we had the Professional Footballers’ Association on the case and the deal was in place.
“West Brom were having nightmares at the last minute because they miscalculated on the move of Junior Hoilett. I had no information that my deal depended on Hoilett going the other way.
“It has happened to Shane Long now, they were waiting for another player. He was waiting there in Hull City to sign a contract and in the end he had to go back, but he wasn’t branded a lunatic.
“There was a deal in place. So all those things make me feel bitter towards the club.
“Before Steve Clarke took over last summer, he knew 100 per cent that I wanted to leave then, but it didn’t happen and there were some things that I wasn’t prepared to tolerate anymore in the group, so that is as simple as that.”
The 32-year-old also claimed West Brom almost scuppered his £2.5 million ($4.3 million) move to Cardiff by demanding extra paperwork be completed late on, with the transfer only going through in the final two minutes before the deadline.
He said: “It won’t be a secret that West Brom brought a lot of paperwork on the table at the last minute which made the whole thing more complicated.
“But this time around I had satisfaction because I wasn’t on Sky TV, my agent was on Sky half of the day and, you know, it is just proof again that things are not always smooth and straightforward.
“I was just happy this time around that a big agent who is respected in the game was right there in front of the cameras saying the deal was done, but the deal wasn’t done. It was going through at the last minute.”