Would you have Habib Beye back?
Posted on May 31st, 2010 | 74 Comments |
The Senegalese defender joined Aston Villa in the aftermath of relegation with the player saying that he had to move to save his career. He has made six appearances since his departure from Tyneside, with most of them being from the bench, and has had to play second fiddle to a central defender playing at right-back all season. Now his time looks to be up at Villa Park, the 32-year old will undoubtedly be looking for another club where he can ‘save his career’. It’s widely percieved that we need a right-back, perhaps a starting right-back, but definately at least a back-up for Danny Simpson. So what would your thoughts be with regards to bringing Habib Beye back to Newcastle?
I know, I know, a lot of you will be saying that it isn’t going to happen, and it probably wont. But from a cost perspective, would he be a cheap enough prospect for us to buy? We sold him for £2 million last summer, and after taking a year out to complete his tour of substitute benches throughout the country, would be available for less than that now. So from a cost perspective it would work as a short-term measure.
But there is more to it than that. A move for Habib Beye would cause controversy between fans, with some feeling that he is a good player regardless of the circumstances in which he left, whilst others feel the way he moved away from Newcastle was below the belt.
Lets not forget that this is the player who released a statement on the clubs official website saying that he was comitted to getting the club back into the Premier League. Yet when the chips were down and we got thumped at Leyton Orient back in pre-season, Beye was one of those player who walked out when confronted by his team-mates who held a meeting and wanted to know who wanted to be at Newcastle and who didn’t.
“If you don’t want to be here, then leave,” was the cry from senoir players like Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan and Nicky Butt. Habib Beye got up and left.
So how would that be viewd by the Newcastle players who stuck with the club, got there heads down and did the dirty work of getting us through the season? How on earth could a player who jumped ship like a deserting rat when things got tough be trusted by his team-mates to perform when the chips are down, which they will be at points next season? How will Danny Simpson, who would be in direct competition with Beye, feel about being dropped in favour of someone who thought he was too good for the Championship?
Well that is one side of the argument. The other side would be the fact that Beye was always a comitted player in his time in the Premier League with us, and he turned into quite the fan favourite. He has demonstrated that he can play Premier League football, and at 32 he surely has at least another year left in his tank, especially with his lack of football?
There are arguments on both sides, but the first priority must be to ensure we keep our team-spirit intact, and with Beye being cited as one of those poisoned influences in the changing room, it’s hard to see how it could be maintained if the Senegalese defender ever did end up back on Tyneside.
We held a vote on this very subject some time back, and the results were pretty well split. When asked if you would have Habib Beye back on the cheap, 54% said yes, whilst 46% said no. So now it looks like Beye has the entire summer to try and find a transfer to another club, and to pick a vast collection of splinters out of his arse, I felt that perhaps now could be a good time to revisit this subject.
Discuss away..
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Beye can swallow turds the bullshitting twat.