Pardew wants more goals from Colo

Posted on January 28th, 2011 | 18 Comments |

Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle United
The new Albert?
Alan Pardew wants Newcastle United defender Fabricio Coloccini to keep attacking goal.

Think back a couple of seasons and you’ll remember that Coloccini came in for a lot of criticism for his defending, particularly after we went down 5-1 to Liverpool. Fast forward to this season though and Coloccini is up there alongside Joey Barton and Jose Enrique as a contender to be our player of the season.

It just goes to show that players – particularly those who have been playing in foreign leagues – often need time to adapt and we shouldn’t judge them too harshly at first.

Faith in the player from first Chris Hughton and then Alan Pardew has allowed Coloccini to blossom into – arguably – one of the best centre backs in the Premier League, despite the horrific hair cut.

But it’s his attacking skills that Alan Pardew wants to see more of. He has scored twice for us this season, once against Wigan and of course against Spurs last weekend, and he’s had a few near misses too.

Speaking about Colo’s cracking goal against Spurs, Pardew said:

“He’s been good and he can keep doing that.

“Colo’s a good technical player, so once he chested it inside, I fancied he was going to get a goal. It was a good hit.

“He was the stand-out player for me. It was a brilliant performance against Spurs.

“He has a calmness about him, which I like. He’s calm in tight situations.

“And if centre-halves are like that, and compete and do the other jobs they’ve got to do, then that’s a top player – which he is.”

When it comes to Newcastle defenders going forward I can’t help but think of Phillipe Albert, so maybe Colo will turn out to be another one of that ilk.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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18 Responses

  1. I couldn’t agree more!!! Colo has been sensational this season… Lol you can’t rip off his hair cut, remember what happens to top players when they cut their hair??? *Cough* Torress!!!

  2. With Carroll out we will need goals from all over the team, the club are playing a dangerous game of bluff in the transfer window which could just explode in their faces if they dont act sooner or later and get some decent maintenance done on the squad.
    We are allready at a dangerous level and one or two more key injuries and we are looking sick.

  3. I agree bigbadbob but I`m afraid if the fat man is down at the casino losing money on a regular basis their`s no chance of him doing some decent maintenance.

  4. Carroll – injured

    Shola/Best/Loven/Xisco/Ranger –
    Notgood enuf/not being played/too young

    in addition we are not going to sign anyone

    Collo to the Rescue

  5. @mossa

    I have this image that on Saturday, fat Ash will take with him in a black sack, ALL of the first team with him to the Casino. And about 3 hours in will start placing Carroll and Colo on the table on EVENS.

  6. someone hit the nail on the head the other day , WHY IS PARDUE IN PORTUGAL ON A HOLIDAY WHEN HE SHOULD B IN ENGLAND TRYING 2 GET NEW PLAYERS IN SO WE SURVIVE IN THE PREM THIS SEASON!! The bloke is clueless! he wants more goals by colo? buy a feckn striker that we desp need , nevamind askn ya defenders 2 get the goals!!! striker and winger pardue , stop fartin around mate!! if we dnt buy in jan im going 2 b soooo angry with ashley and pardue!!!

  8. Colo looked/played fine for a least the first half of his first season with us, if my memory serves me?
    Then, as it became clear that we were gonna struggle after the ill-advised kk debacle, some fans needed scapegoats.
    Colo became one of them after a couple of mistakes & the rest is history, as they say.
    He’s not the only one mind.

    But, anyhoo,
    I’m really pleased with the way he’s shrugged that crap off & gone on to show us why we spent good money on him, worth every penny.
    Coloccini love in.
    :)

  9. It’s all well and good demanding that Pardew stays and dabbles in the market, rather than going on a trip to Portugal, but the existing squad clearly needed conditioning, so where shjould his priorities lie? We get another player, but we continue to concede in the dying minutes?

    What do you want?

    As far as transfers go, I’ll be honest, I was expecting nothing. Getting Ben Arfa on a permanent contract was a pretty sweet bit of business, and I’ll be happy if we get another body in between now and Monday. Someone that can play on either wing would be nice, but it isn’t essntial at present.

    We’ve coped alright without Carroll and it does seem that we have options for the right wing (Barton’s been a good deputy there and Jonas looks a much better player on his natural foot). My only concern really is who will come in on the left if Jonas gets crocked or suspended.

    Some players will be coming back from injury/suspension soon that will make us stronger than we already are, which is pretty strong when you consider that we’re now heading into a fifth game without a loss.

    I would like to see us make a serious foray into the market at the end of the season though. At present, though it isn’t one of the club’s aims, or something that I really want for the time being, there is still a realistic chance that we could be playing in Europe.

  10. Let’s not forget the one stand-out thing we all love about Colo:

    He’s got by far the best song.

    OH, COOO-LOOOO-CHIIIIIIIIIIINIIII…..

    Quality. :)

  11. Someone on a blog yesterday made a very good point about how AP is using Bull and Colo to better attacking effect, letting Simpson and Willo stay back and using the more attacking pair to move up and allow numbers forward.

    Hats off to him – it seems to have worked so far. We just need our 2nd-choice strikers to sharpen up a bit; we’re not exactly short of chances.

    It’s vital that the likes of Barton, Nolan, Guthrie and others start producing the goals with AC out. It’s a huge relief to see Guthrie showing his stuff; he’s an options we’re going to need a lot, with Tiote’s predelection for yellow and red. Also, he’s up there with Barton (or at least getting close) when it comes to passing and crossing ability.

  12. if all shola nile peter and leon are rubbish. and plp are saying we need a new striker stick colo up top to see what he can do done it to stevie watson a few times when sir les was out

  15. Martins would have been great, if…

    1. He’d only re-discovered how to hit a barn door at two paces
    2. He wasn’t a good example of the over-paid, under-achievers that took us down.

    Nice guy, fun to watch, but no thanks.

    For me, we need cover on the wings and better training for our strikers. Apart from that, leave it be and save the dosh. If a good striker is available on loan as cover for AC, with reasonable terms, fair enough.

  16. Never understood the blind love that Martins received from some quarters of the Toon Army.

    Terrific athlete, but probably the dumbest footballer I’ve ever had the misfortune to watch… no clue when to make a run, pass the ball or shoot. The only time he looked half decent was when he didn’t have time to think about what he was doing.

  17. Coloccini is a fantastic defender! Backed him from the beggining in his first season, i told everyone to keep faith when he was finding it tough because i knew what he was capable of and they wouldnt. Stuart79, sirjasontoon etc wouldnt even give him a chance to prove himself. Now look at him!………. As always, Toon_Factor is right!

  18. I think it’s Simpson and Enrique being urged to overlap more by Pardew, not Colo and Enrique. Colo mebbe’s going forward for set pieces…think that’s how he came to score v Spurs, if memory serves. (A freekick from the right went out for a throw on the same side, which then went to Guthrie. A sweet ball from him played in Colo, who was still on the edge of the box from the original freekick).

    I hear Simpson getting stick from time to time, but personally I think he’s improving. He needs more experience at this level for that to continue, but he shows a lot of promise for me.

    I know he was partly responsible for the Spurs equaliser, but he’s also showing well in the last third on the right, and starting to put some decent balls into the box.

    I can remember it wasn’t exactly the finished article with Enrique at first, and look at him now. Should get Simmo on Enrique’s diet to bulk him up a bit, though! ;0)