Probing Newcastle’s new signings – Demba Ba (+ videos).
Posted on July 3rd, 2011 | 41 Comments |
I was going to write that this is the final of my little series, but like many other Newcastle United fans, I live in hope that the club will be bringing more players in before this transfer window ends!
Of course, much there has been much discussion on the subject of Ba’s knee, which has caused him to fail medicals at both VfB Stuttgart and Stoke City before he was signed by the Magpies. However, I have already probed Ba’s knee problem, which stemmed originally from complications arising from an operation on a broken tibia (the larger of the two bones connecting the knee and ankle) in this post. Here, I will concentrate on other aspects of his career so far.
Ba is another fairly big lad to add to the Newcastle front line, standing at a little over 6’2″. Ba was born in Sèvres (on the outskirts of Paris) to Senegalese parents, is 26 yaers of age and was signed on a free after being released from his West Ham contract upon their relegation to the Championship. Although most people in the UK will know him from his brief but impressive spell for the Hammers, where he scored 7 goals in 13 games, most of his senior career has been spent at German Bundesliga side, 1899 Hoffenheim. There he scored 40 goals in 103 games over three and a half seasons until his half season move to West Ham in the latter half of the 2010/11 season. Signed iin a three year deal, it is thought that his Newcastle contract is similar to the one he turned down at West Ham, which offered a salary of around £55,000 per week along with a £500,000 signing on fee.
Style of play
Ba is a classic Centre Forward player who is powerful, mobile, faily quick and with good technical abilty. He has a keen eye for goal allied with good finishing skills and is good in the air. With dual French / Senegalese nationality, Ba plays internationally for Senegal, and his fellow international player, friend and former Newcastle player, Habib Beye had this to say on him, and his move to Tyneside:
“The Newcastle fans will love and appreciate Demba.”
“I have spoken to him and given him my best wishes, I knew straight away that Newcastle United was the club for him. I think that the fans will take to him straight away at St James’ Park because he is a player who works so hard and gets the goals as well.
“For me Demba was one of the top three our four strikers in the Bundesliga not so long ago, and being in one of the top leagues on the Continent makes him in my eyes one of the best strikers in Europe on his day.
“I think it will be great for him in Newcastle. If he enjoys his time at the club as much as I enjoyed my two-and-a-half years then he hasn’t gone too far wrong in my opinion.
“If things had have been different he’s the type of player that I would love to have played alongside in a black-and-white shirt.”
Controversy
Ba’s move from Hoffenheim to the Premiership was steeped in controversy as Hoofenheim did not want to sell the player. Ba, however, demanded to leave the club and effectively went on strike in a bid for a move. This ‘strike’ took the form of him refusing to join Hoffenheim’s winter training camp after the Bundesliga’s Christmas break, and the player’s behaviour was condemned in several quarters, including by the exectutives of other clubs. Bayern Munich’s General Manager, Uli Hoeness, said of Ba’s behavour:
“We have to strike back hard against people like Ba, and he’s just the worst of several cases”.
Klaus Allofs, the technical director at Werder Bremen, said of the controversy:
“Every German club needs to unite on this issue, to make sure Ba does not get offered a way out of Hoffenheim to another Bundesliga club.”
Of course, Ba eventually got his way, and a move to West Ham was eventually engineered. However, once again, he opted to leave the East London club upon their banishment from Premiership football, and so we find him at Newcastle United.
Here’s hoping his stay is much longer than it was at West Ham, and that his stay is reletively free of injuries.
Demba Ba in action.
A compilation video of Ba’s days at West Ham.
Highlights of Ba’s career at 1899 Hoffenheim.
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NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1091 articles on this blog.
Great Pardwho is off the hook ! He’s brought in a goal scorer so if we dont improve next season its……………………Pardwho’s fault !!!!