It’s up to Newcastle to sign Ben Arfa.

Posted on October 6th, 2010 | 140 Comments |

Sign him up!
Sign him up!
Those words in the headline aren’t my own, but they are my interpretation of what Marseille boss Didier Deschamps has had to say today.

Perhaps it’s understandable that most of the news seems to be about Ben Arfa. After all, there is no club football coming at the weekend, and to be fair the injury to Ben Arfa is just about the biggest talking point of the moment for us.

Most of us are aware that the signature of Ben Arfa was to be triggered after the young Frenchman played 25 times for Newcastle. Given the quality of the lad that wouldn’t have been a problem and we would have signed him automatically I would imagine. This catastrophic injury though has put a proverbial cat amongst the proverbial pigeons however.

There is no way that Ben Arfa is going to play 25 games this season now, which has led to a lot of questions and speculation regarding the future of our new crowd favourite. Just what does it mean? Will we sign him regardlesss? Is the deal now off? They are all questions that I have heard and read over the past few days.

Well you can decipher this for yourself, but this is what Deschamps has said about Ben Arfa today;

It’s a shame because he had just started to get his bearings with Newcastle. Now we’ll have to wait until the end of the season to see what happens.”

“There is an option for Newcastle to purchase him, bound to a number of matches. He won’t play them, obviously, but we’ll have to see what Newcastle do.

“There would be no problem for me in him returning to Marseille, but I don’t think it’s too much in his own plans.”

To me that reads as though the ball is firmly in the court of Newcastle United and Hatem Ben Arfa. The player seems to enjoy it here and seems to have taken to the fans already. It works both ways aswell as the fans love him already.

The bottom line is that Newcastle can sign him if they wish to, but that wish will be very much dependant on securing another season of Premier League football.

Let’s hope we can do it!

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

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140 Responses

  1. I don’t really think it’s put the cat amongst the pigeons Toony mate, I think it’s all signed sealed and delivered. He’s a toon player.

  2. Stay up I think he will sign. Im holding out some hope he might even take part end of this season. Although a year out is most likely.

  4. “There is an option for Newcastle to purchase him, bound to a number of matches. He won’t play them, obviously, but we’ll have to see what Newcastle do.”

    I reiterate what I have said all along. It is Newcastle that inserted that clause as an excuse not to buy him. Dechamps comments today only seem to confirm that, ‘we’ll have to see what Newcastle do’. They are consigned to losing him and if Ashley coughs up the £5M he will be ours whether he plays 25 games or not.

  6. Hope he stays with us although god knows what damage that idiot De Jong has done to him.
    I called it a two footed tree feller when i first saw it and i am amazed that the FA are still refusing to look at it this way, seconds after it happened Tiote was penalised for an innocuous push which makes it even worse.
    The clubs letter is spot on as we have a right to know why the referee has failed to protect the player and in this current climate of cards being dished out like confetti for petty incidents, they need to know exactly what this idiot of a referee saw and why he is condoning a career threatening tackle whilst giving a penalty for a perfectly good interception.
    Ben Arfa can only be comforted by the out cry from the club and fans, hopefully he will repay us with a long and productive career at the club.

  7. i think he will defo sign, they will hav seen enough of him in training to know whether to sign him or not and early reports are there was no ligament damage on his leg which is great news, yes u can question whether he will b the same player but its different from eduardos injury his ankle was hanging off it sounds like hba was a clean break get well soon hba

  8. djg marseille insisted on that clause of 25games in the contract thats what held up the deal, he will defo sign 5mill is a snip for a player of is quality n he loves it here

  9. nimagpie says:
    October 6, 2010 at 5:38 pm
    Stay up I think he will sign.

    Correct… and I think this time if we go down we can say good bye to Enrique, Jonas, Coloccini ect and Nolan and Smith wouldn’t be able to get us up without that lot.

    Look at Boro, they can’t keep or attract good enough players to get up and they are now stuck in the wilderness.

    It is a similar season for the heed in the conference, if they can stay up next season they will be in there new stadium with more corporate/sponsership/fans and I think they can kick on to a even higher level. Same for us, survive this season and then another 2/3 signings like benny and tiote. We would start to get more money again and be comfortable after that.

    It is essential that both Newcastle and Gateshead stay up this season because I think next season will be more comfortable for both.

  11. Completely agree with CLiNT, why would we keep him here with his wages if a deal wasn’t secured?

  12. bigbadbob,albeit I’m as angry as anyone about the citeh match, butTiotes foul on Milner was hardly innocuous push.

  13. Well according to the hacks he’s staying here.

    ‘The French midfielder, who will be sidelined for up to six months, is on a season-long loan from Marseilles, and in previous cases involving long-term injuries, a number of players have been sent back to their parent club to complete their recovery.

    Ben Arfa will remain on Tyneside, however, with Newcastle keen to manage the recuperation of a player who is still expected to join on a permanent basis next summer.

    “Hatem’s a smashing lad with great character and bags of determination,” said Magpies manager Chris Hughton. “With the help of our medical team and backroom staff, I am sure he will make a full and speedy recovery.’

  14. Can I just ask, alot of people seems to jump on the cliche band wagon and talk about players ‘not being the same’ after injuries. Who are these players?

    Granted, alot of the time when this does happen it is usually with muscular (michael owen’s thigh for example) and joint (ACL like Shearer’s knee) injuries.

    For me, though we have had no confirmation, the breaks on Ben Afra seem preety simple enough – going by the fact it was treated in that manchester hospital, and not by some specialist like that Steadman fellow – and not near the joint.

    Adding to the fact his age and fitness, I dont see a reason, physically, why ben Arfa should get back to 100% the player he was.

  15. ILM,thats what ime hopeing m8,think it might be more of a mental thing to get over with some of the thugs in P.L.

  16. let’s hope he heals well and can get himself back to the level he was showing glimpses of before we look to buy him.
    sounds a bit harsh, i realize, but i’m guessing that’s the reality of the situation. we don’t want to shell out 5M on a player who comes back as half of what he was.

  17. I think he will be alright because he plays with his brain more than his legs, Martins was the other way round.

  18. Yeah, I can understand the mental aspect, however, coming from someone who boxed after breaking my hand, it just takes a bit of time getting back into it.

    I would be smashing the bags and yeah, it would be sore, but that went over time. In a nut shell, and it may sound a bit simple, but it just takes a bit of beating to get over the psychological aspect.

  19. DJG,
    know what y’saying with regards relegation, but you can’t put us in the same category as the smogs. They can’t attract players cos it’s a shitehole. Newcastle has history & is a canny place to be.
    Oh yea, & the fans turn out in their 10’s of thousands to worship.
    Not something you could say about ‘boro mate.

  20. CLINT hows you m8,off topic,went to durham city y/day,lot of empty shops,digging up side streets now,2 teas 2 coff £10,sharp left :(

  21. Toonsy – that’s how I intepreted the comments … It’s up to us to buy the lad if we wish to.

    Even if we go down (god forbid) it may be worth buying him and selling him on for a profit … But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that ;)

  22. ice,
    alreet marra.
    What fettle?
    Eek!
    Wait ’til the cuts bite mate, then if there are any shops left you’ll get a better price mate.
    :)

  24. Why would he stay for rehab, why would we keep him here & pay him?
    Surely that means ‘something’?

  27. CLINT shops pleased i didnt go in for cupa that was the indoor-market,cheap my arse.

    i do think we will go on and win a few games now siege mentality maybe (i hope)

  28. ice,
    mate, those are london prices. :)

    I reckon the ‘siege mentality’ is a given now like.
    All i’m expecting is a bit more fairness & the odd bit of ‘luck’ coming our way from the powers that be from now on.
    It’s the least we can expect.
    It’s not like we haven’t had our fair share of crap so far, is it?

  29. CLINT just haveing refs to get there house in order would do me,there on 60 grand for a very short wk,surely they could meet once a wk and go over the past wk and try and get a level maybe get that ex ref from italy to oversee it,trouble is they have heeds up there arse

  30. There’s an interesting piece about transfers on ‘fancast’ but it won’t let me post it on here for some reason.
    It mentions ‘arry’s dodgy signing of van der vaart & how fifa have a new online way of ratifying transfers to stop money laundering & ‘late deals’ not making the deadline.
    Sounds like an admission to me like.

  31. ice,
    they probably do already, but it all stays ‘in house’, crafty gets.
    They will not admit to their mistakes.
    But they are bringing the game into disrepute.
    Banning offense if you’re a player/coach etc. Though not for them.
    A law unto themselves, hey?
    Nudge nudge, wink wink.

  32. I don’t think Tiote just pushed Milner, the way I read it was Tiote could see that Benny was in trouble so gave Milner a gentle kick on the shins to stop play.

  38. Anyone seen the comments by Stuart Pearce about Carroll? Apparently Carroll was just dropped becuase Pearce has three better strikers who have done well for him. Unbelievable!

  39. Stu

    I had a feeling like that when everybody jumped on the Carroll for england bandwagon. He had just snubbed them because of injury twice in a row, whilst seemingly being fit for Newcastle games. Im not suprised at all and I know he hasen’t had much service but he doesn’t look like scoring atm and I think his first touch has got worse reciently not better.

  40. Stuart-Pearce is just a bitter bugger. He demanded Carroll link up with the squad and play, both Carroll and the Newcastle physio’s said no after they discovered he’d “taken a knock”.

    Look at Wilshere, Pearce has again picked him knowing fine well would most probably be involved with the full squad a matter of days later. Given the fact Pearce plays number two to Cappello, you’d think the two of them could have put their heads together and came to the conclusion that it’s probably better he’s fresh and at full fitness to feature for the full squad and not the u21’s where he is essentially, now wasted.

    The whole international situation is a joke at the moment. Speaking of the International situation, TalkSport are seemingly now closet Newcastle fans. After ranting about Carroll being left out for Davies, they were also saying today it was ridiculous the fact we’ve stuck Robert Green in the squad and not Forster.

  41. Toonsy – wasn’t calling you mate on the other thread. I’m on nights this week too meself, I meant the board I general with posters nit the articles
    mate.

  42. Carroll snubbed Pearce, Pearce snubbed Carroll, who f### cares, nobody cares about internationals anymore.

  47. CLINT nowt a matter with mud bath pitches m8,not with the penny floaters they have noo lol

  49. ice,
    aye, give ’em a medicine ball to kick aboot. :)

    jay jay,
    a couple of years mate, 2013, i think.

  50. Hey Everyone,
    I just noticed that Poland is not part of the Euro qualification matches. Why aren’t they in any of the groups? I see they’re playing the USA in a friendly instread.

    Cheers

  51. CLINT ganning back to the old case-ball,how many players can you remember that could bend and spin a ball,i can only think of one,to the degree they can now like

  53. ice,
    it was more likely to bend or spin them mate.
    :)
    Who is it mate?

    NorCal, maybe they’re banned?

  54. CLINT only saw him as a kid, len the shack,saw him with my dad,bend a ball 4ft over 10yds,could make a dick out of you, drop a ball at your foot would spin backwards away from you,just a showman like

  56. ice,
    Only seen him in old black n’ white clips, briefly.
    Bit special, pity he went over to the dark side.
    What was he thinking?
    :)

  61. CLINT,the dicks in control of the club at the time stuffed him up bad over something,so he stuck it up them by going to the dark side,was at the gunners too when the toon went down he put 3 past them to rub it in think they ran riot that day :(

  65. Ice I send it again mate but dont tell Batty what im asking ye for mate ;)
    Batty how da hell is it going with you me ol bean :) I cant get on to that Facebook mate ? maybe they have me barred :lol: .
    Clint Mancicni can go fuk himself, anyway Carroll wouldn’t lower himself ;)

  67. BIG DAVE been on the drink m8,just checked again nowt there,must be problem somewhere,havent sent it to batty have you :)

  69. Dave,
    to think Carroll would go to shitty, especially after sunday.
    Laughable.
    :)
    Prostitutes!
    :)

  70. Batty I will try it later but I see enough bits and pieces normally, and believe it or not it doesn’t do owt for me some times its a bit embarrasing having to man handle womens parts :) is Fred your youngun with the Aztec back piece ??
    Ice I tried sending another mate

  72. Clint after Sun I cant believe that Shitty will be in the top 4 because they wern’t that good considering all the money they have spent, If it wasn’t for the Ref they would have got fuk all ;)

  75. Dave,
    you’re dead right mate, exactly what i thought.
    They were very underwhelming weren’t they.
    We played ’em off the park, they kicked us off the park & the ref cheated us off the park.
    I be gutted if i was a shitteh fan.
    :)

  77. Lads the only thing that worries me about it all is that I have seen a few clips of Tiote and he can be hard as fuk in the Tackle, so I just hope he can keep himself under control ;)

  78. ice,
    based on mancini’s attitude, i’d say aye, he’ll play.
    When i say play, i’m using the word in the broadest sense like.
    Hack & slash might describe what he does better.
    ;)

  80. Dave,
    he (Tiote) had a couple of little digs on sunday like, he was pissed off mind, but y’right.
    He doesn’t need to like, cos he has skills.
    Great little player, best DM we’ve had in a while.
    ;)

  81. Norcal (50): Poland are co-hosting the Euro 2012 with Ukraine. Both countries are directly qualified as host nations.

  82. BIG DAVE na mate not that i can see,did you send it via reply,maybe its my side,i will have to get the lad to check comp t/morrow if thats the case

  83. Reet lads im away to get something to eat then bed im wrecked, so catch you’s tomoro.
    Clint I think your right he is a cracking player and I dont think we have even seen the best of him yet so will be looking forward to seeing more of him ;)

  87. Not sure Poland hosting is excellent, they have some very real hooligan problems and I can see that getting nasty

  88. on a different note – have people seen the prices of the tickets for the mackems!!
    to sit behing the goal its £42 !! these tickets have so far been costing £25!!
    MA mite wonder why we can’t sell out!!
    £42 is a shocking price to pay is it not?
    what are fans thoughts?

  91. jettson says:
    October 7, 2010 at 7:51 am

    Thank yourself lucky you’re not a Spurs or Arsenal fan.

  92. £42 is daft for a ticket, even for THAT game. We’re so much more expensive than other countries, and get no more for it. Hopefully the new fiscal rules will have an impact and just calm the whole stupid excuse for a business down.

    In the mean time, I hope Ashley realises that empty seats are nails in the NUFC Brand coffin and must be avoided. Sell outs are all part of what keeps NUFC up there as a ‘special club’. We did well to re-enforce that last season by breaking attendance records, but this year’s not looking too clever. Ashley would do well to wait a year and re-establish tickets as hard-to-get items before trying to up the prices.

    Sorry to look at it as a cold business decision, like – but that’s how he has to do it.

  93. As for Hatem, without wanting to be the periah that speaks bad of the ill, let’s not get carried away. “New fans’ favourite” is a lot to say for a player who’s had just two starts. We can’t yet tell whether he’s going to be what’s needed, especially in terms of temperament and cultural fit.

    I suspect that 25-game clause was for the benefit of Marseilles in case he started throwing hissy-fits again and we wanted to send him back. However, it also gave us 24 games to check him out before committing.

    Now both sides are a bit stuffed. We won’t know enough about him to make an informed decision by next summer. They won’t know until he starts playing again whether his price on the (now open) market will be above or below what was agreed in that clause.

    If he comes back early and plays well, they can put him up for sale again to the highest bidder. If he comes back late or doesn’t play well (or behaves like a git) his value will plummet and NUFC are no longer obliged to pay that much.

    I don’t think anyone really knows what’s going to happen, to be honest, but his staying here for rehab is a reasonable indicator that NUFC currently expect to keep him. Or that Marseilles hate his guts.

  94. Whumpie says:
    October 7, 2010 at 9:54 am

    Unfortunately the club won’t get into a position were tickets are hard to come by until there’s something on the pitch to warrant it. That’s a million miles off.

    People don’t like just giving money away for nothing in return.

  95. Whumpie….

    Agree 100% about the perception that we’re a big club is not helped by empty seats being shown all over the world. A full-house is a marketing dream and if there is a risk of empties and without shooting itself in the foot, the club should make every effort ot get the bums on the seats by inviting say members of the forces, injured members of the forces or whatever at a discounted rate. That at least would show the club in a caring sense. It’s also better to get a contribution toward the cost of an empty seat than lose all of the revenue generated from a full-price ticket.

    You’re so right Whumpie, risking empty seats at what was always a sell-out match may be risky but I hope the powers that be have got their sums right and aren’t basing the pricing on a presumption that folk’ll turn up no matter what the cost. That would be unwise.

  96. ben arfa only played three games for newcastle , and fans want him to sign on the back of that?
    we should not get caught up in the whole emotion of the sorry incident , ben arfa himself would not want to sign for us on the back of some kind of sympathy vote.
    the thing that is doing my head in , is the way the ben arfa situation throughout the summer , is he signing , isn’t he signing , it just shows me how far this club has fallen.
    a few year back ben arfa signing for newcastle would have been a good signing with potential , but he is now a superstar after one goal , because our own playing staff are for the most part crap and that is the truth.
    it just seems michael wallace ashley , has created a situation , where we are happy for any scraps that are thrown from his sizeable table.
    we need to concentrate on the season ahead , because make no bones about it , we are going to be in a relegation battle.we cannot get caught up in the maelstrom surrounding one player , as this could take our eye off the ball.
    what happened to ben arfa is just one of those things that happen in football,it’s unfortunat, but we have to move on.

  97. i am sick of people talking about relegation battle..nobody knows what will happen..untill 16 games have been played..we wont no were ever body is..but i can see 12 teams being involved..they say u are to good to go down..to me we are as good as any team in the bottm half..we are better..results will improve and..i can say we can win any game..in that league..so to me we should have no problem being safe..

  98. asim,of course we’ll be in the shake up , and some of our results prove it will be tough this year.we have to think like that , then anything after that is a bonus.
    asim you were one of the posters who went on and on about us getting ben arfa.at the time i could not help but think that we were throwing all our eggs into one basket , and hey presto like kismet ben arfa gets injured.
    some posters had him down as pivotal to us staying up , but he’s injured and we have to move on.

  100. trojan spot on mate..we are jinxed club..tiote we need most…as he bossed citys midfield which made me think god..if we lose him then..what next..gosling is a big player for us..do u no when he is back..is he running yet..he brings us goals..can play winger..or anyway u wont to play him..all are best players get injuried..when will it turn..like the bent refs who have been after us..

  102. @ 96 correct – if we go down this season it wont be down to benny’s broken leg – it will be down to that fat bloke – ashley – for failing to back CH with proper money in the transfer market.

    – & there are a few reasons why we dont fill the ground anymore..

    1) ashley.

    2) money’s tight

    3) you can go into most pubs in the n/east on match day & the toon will be on the box home or away.

    4) what the majority on here do – watch it on the internet.

    even man utd have struggled with their season ticket sales this season – it’s just the way it football is now.

  103. To be fair, I think if we lost any more players we’d be in a real tough situation which would lead to hope that Hughton is looking to strengthen cover in January.

    With Ben Arfa already set to miss most of the season – our most gifted player, could you imagine Enrique or Tiote (or heaven forbid both!) getting injured badly?

    I feel without these undoubtedly important players we’ll struggle quite badly this season, at least not without any better cover than what we already seemingly have. That’s just me being pessimistic like but freakish things can happen I suppose, but for now I can only just hope we can keep our best players fit to keep us in with a chance of competing :)

  104. roy,did you here hughton’s interview after the stoke game?he said he wasn’t suprised we got beat,because we wont win many games in the prem anyway.if chris is saying things like that,then what is the f**kin’ point of us being in the league?

  106. 69 i didn’t see or hear owt from CH after the game m8 – but from a supporters point of view it’s not what you want coming out of his gob is it.

    mind he could be reet like.

    batty how’s your sales gannin m8

  107. roy there fine m8 unlike our ticket sales ,and as for CH i wish he would use his noggin and colin calderwood is a c unt for saying it was a good tackle i read some where

  112. regarding the crowds ,newcastle have always had a hardcore following of around 37 to 38 thousand fans, we used to get around that when i was a young’un.
    when they bumped the stadium up to 52,000 , we were still getting the middleclass prawn sarnie glory hunting brigade,now that the son of sam owns newcastle , they realise there is no european football anymore so they’ve f**ked off.the same thing happened at the stadium of light after years of bob murray , they are now left with their hardcore following of around thirty odd thousand.

  113. Didn’t we just pay an £800k loan fee for Hatem so don’t think we would have been able to buy many more baskets or eggs if we hadn’t got Ben Arfa ;-)

    Hughton post Stoke…

    “That comes with where we are at the moment, we are a team that’s got promotion from the Championship, we knew it would be a tough season. We’re probably going to lose more games than we win, that’s the unpredictably that comes with it.

    Nowt but the truth there,he didn’t say we’d hardly win any……..unless that was another interview in which case I’ll shut up ;-)

  115. Trojan……aye agree every club has a hardcore support who’ll go no matter what,the rest of the crowd will go depending on finance/tv schedule/entertainment value or playing style and how the teams doing in the league at the time…….. me I’ll go what ever playing style,which ever league and whichever tw@ts running the club at the time :-)

  116. see the back of the chronicle?”SHOLA’S PLEDGE”frustrated shola amoebi has asked hughton to give him a run in the team , and he’ll repay him with goals, ha ha ha , he’s pathetic old shola.

  118. going to lose more games than they win ,well that’s what he said after losing to stoke , doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence does it?

  119. aye,wouldnt every striker at every club say the same thing?……..stick all of them in the team!

  120. richie – there’s loads of fans that i know that have stopped going to the home games & go to the away games instead – strange but true.

  121. that’s what i call ed , “READY STEADY NEWSNOW EDDIE” that’s where he gets his articles from ,i think ed lives in north carolina , where you circumsize a red neck by kicking his sister in the chin.

  122. Trojan….maybe draw and lose more than we win would probably be more accurate but don’t think it needed to be said imo, a simple “it’ll be tougher to get a result in this league” or “we won’t be able to win as many as last season” would have sufficed.

  123. that’s him 69 – they reckon he can copy & paste blind folded & with his hands tied behind his back at the same time.

  124. Roy…..aye I know some who do the same, I prefer the away games for the atmosphere amongst the Toon fans and the craic but with the season ticket I can’t afford too many away games.

  125. roy sorry m8 a divent knaa him , i want some rich arab too own the club like him doon mancity ,u must of seen me on sky sports tellin every 1 :)

  126. richie – the home games is enough for me m8

    match day patter of play..

    full english

    pub

    sjp

    pub

    keeeeeebab

    give sum tart one.

  129. Roy……..same as me except it finishes with a black eye….when I call wor lass a tart ;-)

  135. richie – i always make sure i’ve got sum loose change in me pocket m8 for such occasions.

  136. Roy….aye her copper jar’s filling up fast, will soon be enough to cover my Bolton ticket.

  137. richie – she couldn’t stop a pig in a passage – must’a paid for your season ticket m8

    all in 1s & 2s like.