Ben Arfa could be out for 6 months.

Posted on October 4th, 2010 | 158 Comments |

A sorry sight indeed.
A sorry sight indeed.
With the news that Hatem Ben Arfa has broken both the Tibula and Fibia bones in his leg still being digested by many Newcastle fans, it is perhaps inevitable that questions will now be asked about how long the player will be out of action for.

The sensible thing to say is that nobody will really know until Ben Arfa has undergone surgery in Manchester later today. These kinds of injury can be very different from person to person and the length of time it can take for someone to recover can vary greatly.

Without wanting to sound too grotesque, the best thing we can hope for is that the breaks are as far away from the ankle or knee as possible and that they are clean breaks. In a strange kind of way, that is the best outcome of this terrible situation Ben Arfa has found himself in.

You have to feel sorry for the lad, not only for the injury, but because of the timing of it. Ben Arfa was just at the start of his career in England. He was trying to make a name for himself in the Premier League and insisted on coming to us. The promising start he made has now been cut short.

Quite what this means regarding the future of Ben Arfa and Newcastle is a question that will only be answered over time, but given that the club worked so hard to get him here in the first place I would imagine that if Ben Arfa can prove his ability upon his return then I doubt it would hinder the chance of us signing him permanently.

It’s early days yet, but the the most important thing is making sure that Ben Arfa recovers and gets back to fitness. I have no doubt that he will be the recipient of much better care than you or I could expect if we suffered a similar injury, but that will be skant consolation to a lad who has said he just wants to concentrate on football from now on.

Just in case you are wondering where I got the six month recovery time-frame from in the headline, I got that from Ben Arfa’s agent who told L’Equipe that six months is the anticipated length of time he will be out of action for.

The long and short of it is that nobody knows. Not yet anyway. I just hope we can see Benny back in black and white before the end of the season, and I hope the players that are going to have to fight on without him this season can use him for inspiration.

Do it for Benny lads!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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158 Responses

  1. Cannot say I’m suprised, what with our luck and a ridiculous ref.

    Got to say though, we have to play two up front on Saturday. I would play Carroll and Lovnkrands. We’re desperate for someone to make runs behind the defence. Lovenkrands is really the only one who plays that way.

  2. Stu, we could play who we want up front on Saturday but we still won’t get three points ;)

  3. Has Lovenkrands upset CH?………at the moment I’d be shocked if he gets any game time.

  5. Lovermans been skulking around CHs mrs by the looks of it, It make no sense the forward line of Carroll, Lover, Routledge and Gutierrez scored 35 goals between january and the end of the season…

  6. That pathetic excuse for a ref wants his neck braking, CVNT!
    Along with a whole host of his partners in crime.
    Absolutely no protection for quick/ flair players.
    It’s unbelievable that we didn’t even get a free kick for that horrendous assault.
    No yellow, no red, no free kick, just carry on lads, he’ll get up.
    de schlong is a phucking dorty CVNT, as he showed in the WC.
    When is this bullshit gonna be stopped?

  7. I was one who wasn’t sure about him coming here in the 1st place, but I am absolutely devestated for the lad. He has looked good in the games he’s played.

    In my own humble opinion I do not think there was any particular malice or intention, but the injury that resulted just goes to show how brutal and unforgiving this game is sometimes.

    Remeber the tiote tackles on youtube before him coming here … they were not pretty :(

    I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he pulls on the black and white stripes again this season.

  8. toonsy says:
    October 4, 2010 at 9:24 am
    Stu, we could play who we want up front on Saturday but we still won’t get three points

    A hint of sarcasm there, toonsy?

  10. Wat i dont understand is if the ref doesnt think tat shola was fouled,why doesnt he give him a yellow card for diving as even the ball was also clearly with him.That would have explained the ref’s decision.and shouldnt tevez have been given a yellow for leaving the field of play after scoring his goal?

  11. shrews,
    mate, he’s got form.
    He got away with trying to hack in the second half too, again the ref did nowt.
    As long as these kind of assaults go unpunished by biased/homer/thick/blind refs, the longer it will carry on & the more players will be seriously injured.
    He (de cvnt) either doesn’t like flair players getting past him, or just can’t keep up with ’em, so he flies in way too hard. He went in to STOP HBA progressing with the ball. He knew damn well that he would ‘clean the player out’. In this case HBA’s leg was planted, SNAP!
    If that had been Barton, he’d be being lynched in the media by now & be dragged back to jail.
    He’s a THUG!
    Along with tw@ermole/henry.

  12. What gets me is these days you’re practically not allowed to tackle in football…constantly stop-starting a game when players fall to the ground for the slightest contact…(usually refs protect the bigger teams this way).

    Then, on the other end of the sliding(tackle) scale, you’ve got Henry, de Jong, etc…

    Some effin reffin consistency would be nice….

  14. antmanbee,
    exactly mate.
    Tap a player on the shoulder, foul.
    Break someone’s leg, oh, he’ll be alright, not even a free kick.
    It’s unbelievable the no. of times this happens & there is no punishment whatsoever.

  16. Kidd boils me pee an’all…if that had happened to one of their expensive elite at the hands of say Barton, can you imagine the headlines? He’d have been arrested on the bleedin pitch! De Jong’s not that kind of lad…jeeezzz.

    God I ferkin hate the press/media bs an all…did anyone see match of the day last night? Disgraceful old boy nepotism bollox…all purring over the big money (laundering) clubs. You’d think they’d see thru the hype, and champion the smaller clubs, instead of ignoring them at best, or dissin/smearing them like the Mail does with us.

    What a world…money knacks football as well as everything else !!

  17. Brian Kidd said there was no malice in the challenge bacause he’s not that sort of lad. He Kung Fu kicked xabi alonso and broke Stuart holdens leg in a “friendly” how much shite can a man talk.

  18. Atkinson may be blind but could have shown the common decency to send off a player for breaking another’s leg.

  19. jay jay……..did ya get p!ss wet thru yesterday,my feet were still soakin when I got home…where you upper level or lower?

  20. I’m more perturbed about the penalty decisions. There the decisions that cost us the game.

    Tackles like De Jong happen very fast and the fact that Arfa wasn’t screaming in pain or rolling around on the floor indicated to the ref that it wasn’t a poor tackle. Maybe Arfa should of made more of it?

    The two penalty decisions were quite unbelievable, especially Shola’s – Why not book him for diving? It wouldn’t have been a more obvious penalty if Lescott had have used a baseball bat!

    It’s not a coincidence (it happens to often) that refs give the ‘big teams’ most of the big decisions.

    However, onwards and upwards, it’s gone and we have to move on.

    Wigan will be a nervy game and it’s a ‘must win’ game, already this early in the season. That doesn’t bode well.

    Remember this – WBA for the last few years when in the PL have played really well, but always gone down. It’s points that matter, not performances. That’s a worry for us.

  21. I was lower mate, I got soaked before I got to Manchester but stayed dry when I got there. Man city supporters are changing already, all umbrellas and prawn sandwiches. The women were a bit butcher than that though.

  22. richietoon says:
    October 4, 2010 at 10:18 am

    You should have been with us in the prawn sarny section! Lovely and warm and a great view. Only problem was I was the only Newcastle around (Apart from Jonas’ dad who was sat behind me and shook my hand when we scored. Or did I shake his hand?

  24. I was lower too…were you the fat lad with the old style NUFC badge tatooed round his belly button ;-)

  25. I feel like crying. It feels like it’s my son I’m that gutted for the lad. Let’s just hope de Jong gets some of his own medicine soon enough

  26. his latest shocker left them sickend back home in holland.dutch chief burt van marwijk said “i will talk with nigel about theses situations.”sparta rotterdam boss jan everse declared: “He needs to see a mental doctor .”And tv pundit hugo vorst said:”dejong is a criminal who needs to be dragged out of football .

  27. “Sometimes you have to win ugly,” he said. “You have to scrap and fight. And if you are going to win things or get a top-four place, you need some luck as well.

    This just about sums up brian kidd’s attitude. About as much an admission of guilt that you’re ever gonna see.

    manc are starting to get all chances from the refs, just like chelsea did the first season with mourinho in charge.
    So all you need is money & no matter how out played you are, you’ll still get a leg up the league.
    It’s good to see that crowds are starting to vote with their arses, & stay away from grounds. Plenty of empty seats yesterday. The bubble has burst.

  28. stuart79-‘Remember this – WBA for the last few years when in the PL have played really well, but always gone down. It’s points that matter, not performances. That’s a worry for us.’
    i think he has a good point.it is rather worrying because it really is the points that matter and that’s why you see teams like wolves and stoke staying up regardless of what we think of their footballing ability..

  29. “the fact that Arfa wasn’t screaming in pain or rolling around on the floor indicated to the ref that it wasn’t a poor tackle.”

    He needed oxygen ffs. Looked in a fair bit of pain to me.

  30. Batty @ 26- Great quotes, re: de Jong…are these following yesterday’s successful ‘sanction’?

    Clint @ 27- It seems money does buy not just an elite side, but guarrantee’s also media saturation, and favourable refereeing decisions. That’s fair…;0)

  31. WTVH,
    i think HBA needed oxygen cos he was shocked that the ref didn’t even give him a second glance.

  32. I’d like to know how much money Martin Atkinson received from the Manchester City heirarchy for giving those ridiculous decisions in City’s favour.

    The man is clearly bent and on the take.

  33. antmanbee,
    aye mate.
    I didn’t think i could think any less of the ‘pundits’ that be, i was wrong.

  34. WTVH @ 29

    He still managed a wave to show his appreciation to the crowd for the respect/sympathy they showed when the whole ground applauded him off. What a guy…;0)

  35. WhoTheVuckicHaris says:
    October 4, 2010 at 10:39 am

    He was waving to the fcking crowd too, doing a Asprilla. Do you do that if you’re in agony?

  36. No richietoon, full head of hair and no tattoos on me mate, dark French connection clothes, brummie accent and 3 nipples. Does this ring a bell?

  37. Clint
    Couldn’t agree more mate…jobs for the boys. What were we saying last week…more than a bloody tin teardrop today…!! ;0)

    Still haven’t got the smileys going…:0(

  39. This is actually a clear example of why players roll around on the floor, dive etc.
    HBA was hacked down, he didn’t roll about, he didn’t overreact, in fact, he was ignored by the ref for this. He didn’t make any fuss whatsoever & even managed a wave/smile/clap for the fans whilst being taken off.
    What a credit to his profession.
    He deserved better.

  41. Anyway, I’m gonna be catty…Man City won’t win owt this season! There i’ve said it…no sour grapes, or owt…;0)

    Seriously, tho, they were no great shakes…take the pens out and it would have reversed the scoreline…they still have a long way to go.

  43. his latest shocker left them sickend back home in holland.dutch chief burt van marwijk said “i will talk with nigel about theses situations.”sparta rotterdam boss jan everse declared: “He needs to see a mental doctor .”And tv pundit hugo vorst said:”dejong is a criminal who needs to be dragged out of football .<<<antmanbee yes after yesterdays match just been reading it m8.

  44. antmanbee,
    mate i’m gutted for the lad.
    Dachau blues or Human gets me blues might be more apt. today mate.
    BTW, was that a manc shirt i saw under the refs shirt yesterday?

    :( = : + ( with no gap between the 2.

  46. Clint
    Aye…me too…couldn’t sleep last night! Kept hearing that sound when the tackle went in…poor lad deserved a better start than that to the Prem. More like Frownland today…
    Batty
    Hope they drop the bast~~rd for good. He is a mentalist…I wouldn’t want someone in our side running ’round playing like that even if it meant we never won a trophy again.

  47. Why are we debating whether a double leg break hurts?

    I see what you mean about not rolling around but he was trapped by the scissor tackle in this situation – couldn’t go flying like Gomez for example and that’s why he broke his leg.

  48. Aye batty,
    the Dutch are disgusted with that cvnt.
    Which is good to see.
    Not like sly sports, motd etc.
    They just report how manc won a ‘hard fought’ victory, went 2nd & that we’re down to 15th.
    CVNTS!

  49. jay jay..naturally…I’d be dissapointed without else :-)

    Stuart….. did Jonas’s Dad have a ponytail? :-)

  50. WTF are you on?! Who gives a FUK how he reacted, he couldve done a fuki*g samba dance for all I care, he has a double leg break. Maybe he was high on the Oxygen and in so much shock he didnt even feel it!

    Bl00dy stupid to suggest that he shouldve rolled around a bit more to get him sent off. Pathetic threads. Almost as pathetic as the Makems who found it funny. Pri**s. Im mad today, and I have to find another player for the fantasy team now too

  51. ben arfa must be a tough little fuker ,waving too the crowd with a double brake , he,s young so it should heel ok ,hope its not the last we see of him in black n white as i think it would be a crying shame .

  52. antmanbee,
    aye Frownland is bang on. ;)
    Yea, the sound when it happened, it was obvious, immediately, yet no one did anything.
    It was particularly easy to hear in the library that is ‘the commonwealth games stadium’.

  54. any body notice david pleat the commentator on ben arfa’s broken leg ”if it was a bad break then he would be hitting the ground and waving his arms i dont think its a bad injury” what does he know about injuries

  56. Well Clint – These free gifts need to be looked after dont they. Be much the same with West Ham if they get the Olympic stadium. I am all for using them when they are built but they shouldve bought it from the tax payers, not been able to use the money to buy up all the talent. I am very interested to see how they go about this 120 million a year loss when they need to spend 50% of their turnover on wages. That will be interesting!! Maybe they will end up with loads of ‘gifts’!!!

  58. nufc337 – aye I commented on that yesterday. Its as if theres a set way to react when youve had a double leg break. Shame he didnt read the manual

  59. Ya don’t roll round with a broken leg………as for the waving,my cousin got the same injury and actually lined his own leg back up whilst lying on the pitch, you’d be amazed at what adrenaline and shock can do

  60. I’m absolutely furious about yesterday – a game we should have won! As for De Jong – isn’t that the same De Jong who broke Barton’s foot last time we played at Eastlands? Bloke’s a heavy footed thug just like Cattermole. Remember him putting Beye out for months? Furious!!!!!
    I’ll still be happy with a 14th place finish but with HBA it could have been top 10. There’s no way this team will roll over with the indifference of 2 years ago either. Looking ahead I think we should try 433. Jonas, Shola and Ranger up front quickly becoming 451 when we’re defending.. One thing I’ve learned after 7 games is Routledge isn’t up to it and Nolan really is too slow for No 10.

  61. Maybe his devotion to god gave him comfort at such a bad time. Maybe it was numb so he lost feeling. Maybe he’s harder than toonsy when he watches his secret collection of woman/animal porn? Injuries are different and so are peoples reaction to them.

  62. richietoon says:
    October 4, 2010 at 11:07 am

    He reminded me of Jiminez, the golfer. He had a tash, but his hair wasn’t short but wasn’t long either! He looked a little more dark skinned than Jonas though. Who was the milkman round their house…

  63. Just bring forward my question from previous article….

    On a side note, will Yven Moyo do the job for the missing ben arfa???

    ;)

    I just don’t wish to see Wayne continue starting at this moment. Oh my……either ryan,Yven Moyo,or even ranger pls start ahead of him~~~

    And for ben arfa,i feel pity for Him…he is gonna be a regular player in the international team,and now this bad incident happened to him.

  64. Yay! Monday! Must be time for a rant…

    Some people need to go watch rugby to see what real injuries look like. Injured people do NOT roll around – especially (Stu) when YOUR FOOT ISN’T ATTACHED TO YOUR LEG ANY MORE. Cheerist.

    Oh, and that Oxygen probably had a fair bit of NOX in it too; the same stuff they use in childbirth. Fantastic stuff – tried it when waiting for my sprog to make an appearance. Takes a while to kick in, but does allow you to wave at crowds while your foot is hanging off!

    Last bit of rant: How exactly did Williamson end up with a yellow? It was either a foul (last man, scoring opp and all that) in which case it was a red, or it was clean. There is no allowance in the rules that I’m aware of for a ref to give a yellow.

    Likewise Shola’s shout. Not a foul? Then book him. Grow some, ya corrupt, paid-off excuse for a ref.

    Again back to rugby: I’m fed up paying through the nose to see the WRONG TEAM win. It does NOT ‘even out over a season’ and replays do not spoil the flow. Get the TV replays in NOW and stop this stupid excuse for a sport disappearing further up its own jacksy.

  66. @Whumpie: i mentioned that way earlier,but i don’t think we can recall Him~~~

    U do rmb we have Yven Moyo,another Left winger French player. :lol:

    Then we have ryan taylor,or even ranger…..

    we already have cover for benny,which is Jonas…But wayne needs to be dropped.

  67. No Whumpie as Kaz aint good enough. I wouldnt be suprised to see Barton or Guthrie shifted out onto the RW to accomodate Nolan alongside Tiote if CH wants to play 2 up top. Id like to think he would but cant see him dropping Nolan so our really good CDM unit of Tiote and Barton will be broken up. I think it would be a good idea to play Mclovin and Jonas on the wings supporting Carrol as a sort of front 3 but again cant see CH moving from the tried and tested. I think when we are at SJP is when we may see some sort of tinkering, but away we are 4-5-1 all day long.

    Must say was suprised that Carrol was dropped for Strolla yesterday.

    Jay Jay – not sure if it is 50% or when it comes in, but you get the gist!!

  68. Raffo,
    bang on mate.
    excellent point about the manc’s getting a free stadium.
    Why shouldn’t they pay US back, same with wetspam. F**k ’em, why should they benefit from the olympics & no one else?

  69. Will we send benny back now he can’t play for us?
    Harsh, but we don’t want to be paying for a cocked player.

  70. I reckon Carroll was dropped, partly, so that he didn’t get called up for england, cos he ain’t ready, anyone can see that.
    & on Routledge, he is so much more effective when the ball is played in front of him, to run on to. Not played to his feet, with his back to goal, with a big gorilla hanging off of him. He did alright yesterday, as he usually does. Just hasn’t been released with a telling ball for a while.

  71. I think Ranger is perhaps our best cover; and don’t forget Guthrie is nearly back – but he’s no winger.

    Another thought: surely we won’t now trigger the 25-game clause in Benny’s contract? Does that mean all the negotiations are for nowt and Marseille can sell him to anyone at any price they can get?

    Really not great, this. Sucky match. The only silver lining I can think of is that our boys showed what they can do to a top team with our without Benny. Hats off to ’em.

  72. Cheers Clint – just a little chowed off today.

    Micky – I dont think so, I think how we treat him and look after him could play a major part in whether he stays with us after this season.

  73. Micky,
    that would constitute a terrible attitude on our part, just washing our hands of HBA cos he got injured.

  74. De Jong dropped from Holland squad. Will this convince the FA/premierleague to consider it might have been a foul?

  76. Raffo,
    sweet brother, me too.
    I can’t remember feeling this ripped off for a while.
    The way the game is lollaping into disrepute is really pissing me off. We seem to be constantly playing 12 men(or 11 men & a coward). The pundits snidey crap, the media’s oblivious bullsh & the fa/fifa/uefa’s reluctance or inability to act is ruining the game.
    Plus the ref’s ass. never help, even though he didn’t flag a foul for their pen, notwithstanding that it wasn’t even in the box, should tell the ref something. They don’t even seem to use the technology that they’ve got.
    Pig sick today mate.

  77. now gents, second post here – Can i just start a debate at how shit routledge is and how gutted i am he is our cover for Hatem??

    I mean surely he cant play for us all season? He cant impact a game at all. i thought he looked like a boy againt lescott y’day.

    What d’ya think? i for 1 prefer r.taylor cos least he can cross.

  79. I think Routledge has done alright this season. Needs to improve his final ball but it will come. I think it would be better to play Taylor behind him, especially at home.

  80. Raylor can cross, Routledge can run. Neither can do both well. If they could, they’d be worth kersquillions and we wouldn’t have them.

    Truth is, I’ve got time for both players, and I trust CH to do his homework and deploy the right man for the right match.

    I certainly don’t agree that Routledge deserves to be called ‘shit’. I’d say his end product is no worse than Jonas, and his ability to draw defenders and get past them is almost as good. Frankly, both could do with ‘doing a Beckham’ and staying behind after training for an hour’s crossing practice every day.

  81. WTVH

    You no nothing Ryan Taylor is much better than that dwarf, routledge is scared to take people on, he can’t coss, gets knocked off the ball either and generally doesn’t influence the match

  82. CC,
    same crap that stoke & wolves put out then, hey?
    It was us then & not them, even though we had a player with a broken leg, lescott’s vile stamp, Shola’s pen?
    Pathetic.

  83. Whumpie says:
    October 4, 2010 at 12:38 pm

    Raylor can cross, Routledge can run. Neither can do both well. If they could, they’d be worth kersquillions and we wouldn’t have them.

    Wouldnt the solution be to drop Perch and play them both ?

  84. Aye Clint – not to mention the MOTD and sky sports folk too. I am just mystified how we are now thought of by them all. It has taken 4 games for Henry to have a little criticism eventhough he has made shocking challenges all game. The worst thing has been how Shearer was even laughing at Bartons treatment, and hes supposed to be a Toon fan. And he cant even use the impartial crap as Hanson is so pro Liverpool its unreal.

    I am glad that De Jong has been dropped, hopefully for the right reasons to show a little class. I also hope the FA review the situation and hand him a ban. Any tackle that breaks a leg by definition must have been a porr tACKLE

  85. CLiNT

    Aye apparantly Bartons a thug so they can cripple our players thems the rules apparantly…

  86. Usually, when a team gets terrible decisions against, early in a game, they get ‘evened up’ by a sheepish ref later, not in our case though, hey?
    Siege mentality required now.

    Get off Routledge’s back.

  88. when will we get a home ref,what i would like to see refs to explain after every game why they gave these decisions,even down to useing vid replays,as is used by the F.A.on players,but ime afraid they have become the untouchables,makes you sick

  89. Raffo,
    mate, i concur, totally.
    It’s sick inducing.
    Aye, well done to the Dutch coach for his swift action.
    Class indeed, a lot more of that needed, can’t see any forth coming over this side of the north sea like.
    Many of us said that: after the henry assault’s on Barton, that something bad was gonna happen. It did, game after game & still nothing was done. Now at least 2 lads have had broken legs. One being our ‘game changer’.
    How many more have to have their season ended, or worse?

    CC, aye, it seems like we play ‘against’ different rules then. Most of Barton’s ‘indiscretions’ have been off the pitch, mostly lost on the pundits of this world.

  90. “I’ve seen the pictures back,” Van Marwijk added in the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper. “It was a wild and unnecessary offence. He went in much too hard. It is unfortunate, especially since he does not need to do it.

    Reckon the english FA will still do jack all

  91. Clint – seems that maybe Fergie and Arsene calling for more protection for flair players has been proven again. Nasri last season, Ben Arfa now, who next. All by supposed hard tough midfielders. No, you can be a tough CM like Keane without fouling and going to break legs every tackle.

    As I said, I hope that Arfa is treated like royalty and shown that we are still the club for him.

  92. ice,
    hell will freeze over before we get some ‘decisions’ from a ref. They don’t even bother to ‘even up’ their mistakes against us. Something they ‘feel compelled’ to do for other teams.
    How many pens against already this season?

  94. Clint
    Spot on @ 76 mate!
    Also, I’ve a lot of respect for the Dutch coach for dropping de Mong…all quiet over here so far with respect to the(Sweet)FA looking into yesterday’s ref decisions…

  95. This is THIS season if you havnt noticed and routledge has played sh*t and r Taylor deserves his chance

  96. alrite lads? i doubt it much…

    took my 7yr old twin daughters to their first away game yesterday,they were outraged at what went on! especially lauren who id just bought the new away top with ben arfa 37 on back……

    the ref was a joke as you will all know.but the worst of it is the lack of media attention on de jong,if it were barton then there would of been hell to pay.im glad the dutch are on our side though,shows a lot of class.

    the man is a thug who needs stopped.the tackle gets worse and worse evertime you see it and atkinson didnt even think it was a foul,but thought williamsons on tevez was!?!!?? surely the fa need to do something with these refs like a points system that see/s them suspended for these outrages decisions in favour of the home/big teams?

    also the city fans have changed alot,glad thats not our club…..we need to adopt a seige mentality from here on in and do it for hatem.hope we see him again this season.

  97. antmanbee,
    de mong-funny.
    & also the (not so sweet) fa.
    Brainless, football no-nowts. As much use as a chocolate teapot.
    The game is still run by people(?) with no experience of actually playing the game. A little boys club.
    Time for a change, all the way down the line.
    I wanna see players that are injured by thugs get their treatment & wages payed for by said thugs & their insurance premiums sky rocket.
    That would focus a few minds & redress the balance a bit.

  98. Routledge is what he is – A Championship player. It’s not coincidence that he’s had about 4 PL clubs and has ended up in the Championship.

    I cannot remember seeing him go past a player this season and I cannot remember his going past someone then producing a decent final ball.

    To me he looks short of confidence and doesn’t look to want to try to go past someone. He also seems to be getting the ball alot in our own half – Why? Get in the final third and try to make something happen.

  99. Salty,
    gutted your bairns had to witness that shite mate.
    Doesn’t set a very sporting example, does it?
    Players are role models, what about the guy in the middle, the fa, the motd/sky ‘pundits’?
    I guess they’re immune then, convenient?

  100. Maybe the universal ruling bodies’ (FIFA,UEFA,FA,etc) constant reluctance to employ the use of external technology, to level the playing field, as it were, with respect to refereeing consistency, has an ulterior motive…
    It would definately do away with any foul play from clubs/refs if there IS currently a situation where indeed, big games are swayed by buying refs before the game. I mean, if this IS the case…and it certainly looks dodgy, especially at the highest level these days…Henry for France e.g…then all control over outcomes would then be conceded if this technology became accepted.
    So…do the ruling bodies have something to hide? After all it’s the 21st Century, and it seems Corporate corruption is King ! Look at the EU FFS ! 12 straight years where the books haven’t balanced, No votes forced into Yes votes, and still going…;0(

  101. Right, i’m repeating it.

    On Routledge, he is so much more effective when the ball is played in front of him, to run on to. Not played to his feet, with his back to goal, with a big gorilla hanging off of him. He did alright yesterday, as he usually does. Just hasn’t been released with a telling ball for a while.

    He didn’t get one decision go his way yesterday, in fact we didn’t as a team.

  102. antmanbee,

    Where the big bucks are, is where you’ll find the biggest scams.
    Tax evasion is costing so much more than ‘benefit cheats’.

    The powers that be are lame ducks & support the well known teams, conflict of interest springs to mind.

  103. CLINT i ment footy in genaral m8 ime just asking for fair play for every team,no ref no game,we are missing the basic things,they are are part of the field of play,and yet not accountable,is there any multi/mill pound business in the world where there is one guy who makes the basic decisions and yet is not accountable, bloody stinks imo,something must be done surely

  104. ice,
    i totally agree mate.
    maybe you got the wrong end of the stick?
    Soz mate, me piss is still boiling.
    ;)

  105. Clint
    So basically, as it feels like in me watter, that it’s aye, they have got something to hide.
    I think things did seem to even themselves out over a season with dodgy decisions, but more recently, some clubs are more equal than others…lol!

  106. antmanbee,
    i totally agree.
    & as the ‘rules’ start to change, to ‘try’ & even up the playing field i.e. getting rid of debt in clubs etc.
    Then i reckon we’ll just see more bad decisions, in an effort to ‘realign’ the ‘top’ clubs, back to the top.
    Which will create an even bigger ‘demand’ for tech to be used. They’ll always find a way of keeping the status quo.
    Any means necessary, n’all that.

  107. Clint
    Aye, and so it goes…
    Just read some of Dutch national coaches comments about yesterday/de Jong. One thing in particular stood out about the ref:
    “The funny thing is that the referee did not even show a yellow card for it. Apparently, there are other standards.”

    Nuff said…;0)

  108. Hopefully positive words from Benny boy which may result in him staying. Also seems he will be staying in Newcastle for rehab which does kinda suggest something to me.

  109. Yeah, Raffo, just been reading some of that meself. Got me there,(chest region…) if u know what I mean? Hope it all comes together for the lad and that he still ends up playing in a b&w shirt.
    We need to get behind him…glad he’s doing his rehab here…

  110. Routledge does need to back himself a bit more and go more direct instead of slow interchanges with Perch. But he has shown he can beat a man on numerous occasions, I remember him getting past at least 4 in one run v. Stoke but it was on the halfway line and no real threat.

    My feeling is that we should keep him on the right at home – with Taylor behind.

    And away from home try Jonas from the right and Lovenkrands from the left in a front 3.

    In any case the criticism he’s getting is largely unjustified.

  111. I watched the game on big screen yesterday and was disgusted at the ref decisions. Gutted about Ben Arfa too.

    But reading through all these posts I’m pretty P**d off at a lot of our so called fans too. What is all this X player is shit or Y player is crap??? This is our team, they all wear the B&W and play for Newcastle UNITED!!! I will support whichever 11 players are representing our team and our colours. An individual player does not need to be a superstar – its more about fitting into a team and I believe all our player try hard and try to play as a team. Are we all supporters, or are we all football managers who believe we know everything about football?

    Routledge, Perch, Jonas, Et al, they are our players and our team and we claim to be supporters, that means givbing them support – leave the abuse for the other teams supporters! I do not agree with team bashing!!

    Sorry! But i have no problems with Perch or Routledge or any player that pulls on a B&W shirt!

  113. Kevin Davies selected over Carroll for the England game. Right decision for England and for Carroll I think. It’s a short term fix anyway and Davies can fill in well, whereas Carroll is looking off-colour since the Villa game to be honest.

  114. Kevin Davies selected over Carroll for the England game. Right decision for England and for Carroll I think. It’s a short term fix anyway and Davies can fill in well, whereas Carroll is looking off-colour since the Villa game to be honest.

  115. ant/Raffo,
    aye, let’s give the lad all the support he needs in his rehab. Glad he’s staying with us(for rehab), he has heart & guts. Some players would not have the sac to put out the positive stuff he is from his hospital bed.
    The lad clearly wants to be here.
    ALL THE BEST HATEM-Howay son, stick with us.

    Shanghaitoon,
    totally agree with you mate, well said.

  116. Shanghaitoon – I don’t think anyone on here doesn’t back the players on the pitch. However we do have the right to comment and if I think pique is better than perch then I will say so. Who wouldn’t swap perch for pique? No one.
    Messi or shola? Etc…

  118. Why is it the right decision for Carroll not to be picked?

    Last week everyone was saying it’s great and he deserves it but now it’s the right decision not to pick him. Pathetic!

    Why has he not been picked in the U21 also? Nobody can tell me he’s not the best U21 in this country.

    As for Routledge, are we not allowed to criticise anymore? I’m sorry, should we all be saying he’s brilliant and should be playing for England?

    Although some would change their mind no doubt, just to go with the swing.

  119. we all support the players but doesnt mean we cant debate on who we think would be better at rb/rm/gk etc etc. we arent making personal digs at them ffs,just discussing who we feel would be better in said positions for the better of our team

  121. Stuart79- At this moment I think Carroll needs the rest and the chance to concentrate on recapturing his form for a really important run of games. An injury would be a disaster on the back of Ben Arfa.

    Seems we may have pissed England off by pulling him out last time when he was carrying a knock at worst. I can’t see any other reason he wouldn’t be in the U21s but it doesn’t really concern me.

  122. I for one never said Carroll for england, as i feel that he ain’t ready for full int. football, he’s still got stuff to prove.
    But, as most on here know, i don’t support england & wouldn’t care if our players never got picked, as it would mean that i HAD to support them.
    So, no Routledge for england either.
    Just an opinion, not a criticism.

    I think what shanghai was saying was: why do people have to say this or that player is SHIT?
    Not that no one can critique.
    Bit of a difference.

  125. Ross,
    he spoke through his agent.
    While in the ambulance, holding his leg together.

  126. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    “Just an opinion, not a criticism.”

    Funny that, CLiNT. When others on here had an opinion on Routledge you were telling them to get off his back…

  127. Shanghaitoon – well said. Unfortunately, some on here don’t actually understand the difference between constructive criticism and dumb slagging-off.
    Asking for a discussion on “how shit” one of your own players has been is not criticism; it’s conter-productive idiocy. As is claiming Routledge hasn’t gone past any defenders.
    What’s really getting me more annoyed than the ref right now is the lack of praise for our team’s performance. (Perhaps I missed it on an earlier thread?) I thought they kept fighting despite an avalanche of cr*p luck and poor decisions, and actually outplayed the most expensive team on the planet.
    Considering I thought we’d get spanked, I’m just so impressed with our lads. Krul was superb – even taking the piss out of Tevez at one point. Sol was magnificent, with the other three defenders unfazed by the most expensive and ugliest attack in the league. Barton worked hard and showed some real spark, but his pass completion was dreadful.
    Overall, I think we should look past the ref and the injuries and just acknowledge what a great job the lads did.

  128. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:03 pm

    I think what shanghai was saying was: why do people have to say this or that player is SHIT?
    Not that no one can critique.
    Bit of a difference.

    By that reckoning people shouldn’t be saying that a players good either then? Same opinion on a player just at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

  129. Stu,
    only when they start saying one of our players is shit mate. He’s not shit.
    That’s all i’m saying,
    But anyway, they can stick up for themselves on here, our players can’t.
    Fair?

  130. Personally I think Wiltshire is a better U21 player than Carroll. But I know what you mean.:-)

  132. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    I’d rather people called him shit on here than at the match.

    Also I’m sick of playing well and getting nothing – That will take us down, you get fck all for playing well, ask WBA about it for the last 5 years.

  133. Whumpie @ 127
    Totally agree there…we looked even more like creating something at the end with the two forwards playing closer together and linking well…Citeh were looking exposed every time we went forward, but we lost the momentum/ran out of time.

  134. This is an absolute disgrace to the sport. I can’t find the words to express how gutted I am about this. Right down the referee being bought and paid for, certainly. Corrupt refereeing is something that FIFA should really start to take seriously, because it really seems to me that this kind of nefarious activity goes on virtually unhindered in professional football. Makes me sick. And as for that piece of sh!t, DeJong- I seriously considered buying a plane ticket to England just to beat his ass into a bloody pulp. He should be glad I’m not rich, the w@nker.

  135. Whumpie says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:10 pm

    Agreed about Campbell, Williamson was also very good but Enrique was at fault for the winner (although he did play well again) and as for Perch I don’t think it’s harsh to say he’s out of his depth at the moment.

  137. Perch put in some great tackles yesterday & got stamped on by lescott(again with no punishment) for his troubles, but still got up & carried on the fight. Which is what it was, against thuggery & a crap & biased ref.

  139. tattyheed says:
    October 4, 2010 at 3:28 pm

    Yes because we were playing against shit teams who couldn’t take their chances.

    Fed up of saying in this league you get punished. Although won’t accept it.

  140. But for all the ‘enjoyment’, it meant nothing other than the right to get to where we are now…

  141. Perch did have another decent game yesterday. Only a couple of misjudgements stand out and once again he put in some important tackles. That said, I think it is also fair to say that right back will remain a relative weakness throughout this season.

    These good away performances, even if we get a result, mean little if we continue to disappoint and drop points in the crucial home fixtures against the teams around us.

  142. @138

    Agreed. But victorys against Chelsea and Everton ect feel so much more sweet!

    I hope the club treat Ben Arfa well and those cvnts at Man City have to pay conpensation or something.

    Respect to the Dutch who dropped that donkey De Jong today.

  144. I gotta tell ya, as much as I love this sport, I’m hating the sh!te organization right now. It’s utterly disgraceful that these refs are allowed to get away with crap like this.

  146. And Ben Arfa was able to talk to the Evening Chronicle today:

    “I’ll be back. I will be working hard to play again in a black-and-white shirt and to perform again for the brilliant Newcastle fans.” “It will be a long road back, but I have to stay positive.”

    Ben Arfa’s advisor and close friend Simon Stainrod rushed to be on Tyneside today to support his player, and Stainrod added:

    “Hatem is in bits over the injury, but he will look to get his operation out of the way and then it’s the road back to recovery.” “He will be doing all of his rehab at Newcastle and hopes to be back as quickly as possible.”

    “That’s the sort of lad he is.”“It just shows his character when he sits up and claps the fans as he goes off.” “It shows the feeling he has for the Newcastle fans, and I don’t think that many players would have done that in that situation.”

    “He was enjoying everything at Newcastle.” “He felt under pressure at Marseilles, but he certainly felt comfortable here.” “He’ll do everything in accordance with Newcastle and he’ll be back.”

  147. I miss the CCC also. We already have as many defeats as the whole of last season! Thats frightening considering last season had more games. Benny being out for most of the season is a big blow. After Everton I think he was our only real game changer a player that could win us games from nothing. When is Hughton gonna realise that Nolan and Smith are simply not good enough for this league. Its now time to start banking points at home we simply can not afford to drop points at home like the second half shambles against Stoke. Wigan at home is vital, no if’s or but’s, only a top performance from every single player will do.

  148. The annoying thing for me is that we don’t look a million miles away from getting points, just the little lapses in concentration and newly promoted neivety is there. The refs for some reason never seem to give us as much as the opposition, maybe it’s because we arn’t considered a big team anymore, so that means we have to work even harder but it should be possible. This league is actually more open and unpredictable than the championship in terms of a bottom half team beating a top half team every weekend ect.

  149. DJG,
    we played pretty good in all the games we’ve lost so far, including yesterday’s game.
    But it means nothing if the ref is gonna be of the standard we’ve witnessed v wolves & manc.

  151. Cheers Clint (115), and Whumpie (127). I’m not saying that we cannot compare one player to another but out and out personal slagging off of our own players when they are clrearly trying hard for the team is what I’m on about. For sure Messi is a better player, he’s also valued at several million pounds more than our team.

    Anyway, its just my opinion. I’m a Geordie orn in Newcastle and a supporter for 40 years, through thick and thin, good times and bad!

  153. petitions whinging you lot are deluded hypocrites thug nolan done a much worse challenge yet you said fuk all…what goes round comes round…lets hope your relegated again

  154. No prob shanghaitoon,
    i knew what you meant mate & just tried to help clarify it for others. Plus, always stick up for one of our own mate.
    ;)

  155. 153,
    so long as you feel better you mong.
    ‘First they try to defend themselves, then they make excuses, then they make fools of themselves’.

    Now do one.

  156. Here’s a thought: now that we have an owner who’s not the type to give in to b.s. ‘standards’ or to pay through the nose for anything… are we just “that club that won’t pay off the ref” these days?

    I too miss the CCC. Far less of all this b.s. there because the silly money’s not there. Where there’s millions, there’s arseholes and corruption.

  157. I did exactly the same thing in a game 6 years ago… hurts like hell!

    So I know what it takes to make the injury more/less severe. Mine was (like Hatem’s) a clean break of both bones, half way up the shin and away from the ankle. Mine was worse in that the bone tore through muscle and nerves as it broke, so I’m left with a weird shaped calf and places in my foot which I can’t feel.

    I had to have an external metal frame fitted, but I know that the usual protocol is a metal rod inside the bone, along with a cast, and then that comes off after 6 weeks. Then it is about trying to get as much weight on it as possible to stimulate the bone to start healing.

    With the medical care he’ll have, I would think as long as his head is in the right place he’ll be back as good as before.

    Allez Hatem!

  158. Greg………its a nasty one, my cousin had the same thing,rod’s in the leg then I think it depended how it healed whether the rod would come out(I think)