Tiote, Cabaye, Maiga, Giroud? How will we look after January?
Posted on December 19th, 2011 | 34 Comments |
Reflections on Saturday’s game and a look ahead at what might and might not be happening in the January transfer window as far as Newcastle United is concerned.
How did we not win that game on Saturday? Swansea have one of the best defences in the league but luck was certainly on their side too, particularly in the first half where we were totally dominant throughout. I suppose it’s a case of what goes around comes around – I’ll be the first to admit we rode our luck a lot in the first half a dozen games this season.
The return of Colo was welcome and I thought he was fantastic on Saturday. Likewise I was impressed with Santon and Jonas. As to Obertan, Alan Pardew has been springing to his defence after he noticed the crowd getting on his case a bit. Pardew said:
“That’s a bit harsh. Because he is so quick you always want him bursting down the outside. I thought he played well first half. He created three or four situations for us. He is a player who has only played 14 Premier League games, he is learning, his discipline was much better defensively but when you get a 0-0, there can be frustration from the crowd.
“Overall, I though the crowd was very positive and I thank them for that. Yes, we want to win. We want the possibility of the top six. Don’t make me think I am happy with the draw.“
I thought Tiote looked a little raw, as you might expect from a player returning from injury, but I still think we’re a better team with him in it.
Alas, I will be very surprised indeed if Tiote is still with us at the end of January. Press speculation now has Liverpool joining Man Utd and Chelsea in the hunt to sign the £15m-rated star. Chelsea still seem to be favourites though and there’s talk of cash plus a player coming our way in exchange for Tiote, but who would be that player? And would we be offering enough in wages to be able to afford a Chelsea player?
With interest in Yohan Cabaye being piqued too by some of his excellent performances for us this season, I’m more than a little concerned that the upcoming January transfer window could be a particularly active one for us, which could be very disruptive.
I can see why, under the current regime’s novel idea that a football club must balance the books, we have to expect a turnover of players, but that must surely be balanced against our footballing needs too and it’s not easy to recover from too much disruption in the middle of the season. Even if we bring in potentially good players, they need time to settle.
However, one player who won’t be coming to us is Modibo Maiga it seems. Apparently he failed the Newcastle medical, much to the surprise of his agent Karim Aklil, who said:
“I am disappointed by the turn of events. Modibo is in perfect physical condition and this was confirmed by specialists. I am surprised by what has happened since his medical and the diagnosis was established by doctors authorised by the club.“
And so ends one of the Toon’s long-running soap operas. Rumours abound as to who we’ll target now and here’s a selection of them from the last week or so:
- Olivier Giroud: a 25 year old Montpellier striker with 70 goals from 169 games and 2 appearances for France.
- Luuk de Jong: a 21 year old FC Twente striker with 26 goals from 75 appearances and 1 from 6 for Dutchland.
- Moussa Sow: a 25 year old Lille striker with 29 goals from 48 appearances for Lille and 5 in 13 for Senegal.
- Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa: a 22 year old Monpellier defender with 151 league appearances and 8 national appearances to his name.
- James Collins: the 28 year old Villa defender.
There are others too and will no doubt be more over the coming 6 or 7 weeks.
The football continues though and a home fixture against West Brom on Wednesday follows hot on the heels of the Swansea draw. Cabaye will be missing as he picked up a fifth yellow card on Saturday, so we can expect at least one change for the West Brom game.
Which reminds me: if you’re in our prediction competition, note that the next set of predictions needs to be made by 19:00 tomorrow (Tuesday 20th December 2011). I had a terrible week with that on Saturday and picked up a measly 3 points, although I was carrying an injury by way of a side strain.
I thought Swansea set their stall out and said break us down if you can, and we couldn’t. If we went to any of the top teams and did the same we would be full of praise. So well done Swansea. We will play worse and win.
Highlights for me were Santon who looked really good and can’t see him losing his place now. Colo was his classy best. Tiote was a bit rusty but not surprised given his extended lay off, but still very effective. Cabaye was good again. Ba was a real handful. He is strong, two good feet and is a good header of the ball and also works hard for the team. Must be the bargain of the year. Who needs Carroll?
What was missing on Saturday was a little bit of trickery and magic to unlock their defence. The game cried out for Ben Arfa. I find Sammy flatters to deceive. Obertan is frustrating. Perhaps we should play Ben Arfa instead of Obertan even though he will probably drift all over the place. I’m assuming Vuckic will play alongside Tiote.
If we sell Tiote I am assuming that any club after him will know that Ashley will demand an extortionist price. Ashley holds all the cards. I cannot see a figure below £30 million being acceptable. I think a forward and a defender will arrive in January.