Nee scran for Ramadan?In more Demba Ba news to add to my story from earlier today, it’s that time of year again (Ramadan) and the Senegalese hitman is already off his scran during daylight hours for a month.
Of course, many of you will remember the fuss from last year when Ba had just joined the club, and the debate on how it affected his performances, and his goal scoring. Having written that, it did begin 11 days later in the year of 2011, and Eid Al-Fitr, which brings the end of the fasting, didn’t come until the end of last August, after several weeks of Premiership games had taken place. On the other side however, with the added burden of European competition to contend with, the demands on players will be higher than ever. Lee Ryder from the Evening Chronic stated in one of his pieces on Saturday the Demba had indeed started his fasting for this year’s Ramadan last Friday (January 20th). Whatever the dates in any given year though, there may be a solution to the problem in years when Ramadan fall within the Premiership calendar, which I will explore a little below.
Tracking back a little though, the same observance of the fast will almost certainly be true of the other Demba too, Papiss Demba Cisse, as they seem to be like peas in a pod. Though if it is true, it certainly didn’t stop Cisse scoring freely with Freiburg at the beginning of last season. (more…)
Toon's Messi?Hatem Ben Arfa has scored some excellent goals since joining Newcastle United – which is your favorite?
Hatem Ben Arfa has certainly brought some flair to Newcastle United and scored some cracking goals in the process. He also seems to do a job defensively when necessary now too. Earlier in the season Alan Pardew was a little critical of Benny’s defensive work and that might be the reason why a lot of his 25 appearances for The Toon were as a substitute, but he now seems to command a regular staring place so his defensive duties must at least be up to Alan Pardew’s satisfaction.
Ben Arfa started his senior career at Lyon where he’d previously been a youth player. He played for Lyon from 2004-2008 and scored 11 goals in 87 appearances before moving to Marseille for €11m. In his time at Marseille he notched up 15 goals in 91 appearances before first being loaned to Newcastle in 2010 and then being transferred in 2011 for approximately £5m.
He’s played for us 21 times now and scored 7 goals – 6 league and 1 cup – and of course he had to contend with a major leg break injury after a crunching tackle from Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong. Of those 7 goals, I narrowed it down to 4 contenders for ‘Ben Arfa’s Best Goal So Far’, so take a look at these and vote for your favourite. (more…)
Sympathy for the Devil?I think Sunderland signing Martin O’Neill as their new manager is one of the most significant events to happen in the North-East recently.
Of course there is massive rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland, so it takes a lot for a Newcastle fan to say something like that. But rivalry and competition manifest themselves in every walk of life. Being better than others at school, in your job, sibling rivalry at home, my car’s faster than your car, my dad’s bigger than your dad – the examples are endless. It’s part of life and something we have to deal with every day.
When it comes to football however, rivalry can often get out of hand to the point of bigotry and violence. “Local Derby” rivalry has existed since football began, and no matter what anyone says, there is no bigger derby and no bigger rivalry in football than that between Newcastle United and Sunderland. The rivalry between the two modern-day cities can be traced back to the 1600s and linked to them supporting different sides in the English civil war! But sometimes it’s important to remember that these days it’s mainly about football, and whether we like it or not, there are bigger issues in life and basically people are pretty much the same wherever they come from. (more…)
Back in contentionNewcastle United injury round-up and manager’s opinions ahead of Saturday’s visit to Old Trafford.
There’s good news for Alan Pardew as the word on the street is that Gabriel Obertan will be fit for Saturday’s game, although it remains to be seen whether or not he gets a start. Less encouraging news is that Tiote is still ‘doubtful’ with his knee ligament problem, although as far as I understand he hasn’t been ruled out yet.
Leon Best is likely to be back in contention for his usual place up front alongside Demba Ba too but I wonder how Pardew will set things up. Hatem Ben Arfa showed signs of some of the skills we bought him for when he played against Manchester City, but is it enough for Pardew to start him even with Best fit?
Anyway, Pardew fears a backlash from Man United’s midweek draw and said:
“I know he will be smarting from Wednesday’s draw, so unfortunately, we are on the back of a negative from Manchester United’s point of view, so it will be a tough game for us.” (more…)
Responsible for attackJohn Carver offer some insight into how Newcastle United run the dressing room on a weekly basis and talks about how he’s now convinced that Alan Pardew is the man for the job.
In a recent interview, John Carver told of how he and Alan Pardew split the workload at Newcastle, with Pardew concentrating mainly on the defensive side of things and Carver concentrating on attack. Carver said:
“Every Monday he [Pardew] comes into work having compiled a defensive report on the opposition. That’s his project, working with our video analysts to provide players with the best information.
“This week, for example, he will talk about Manchester City’s angles of attack, their set-pieces, their movement, as well as focussing on individuals. The lads will be made aware of Dzeko’s strengths and weaknesses, the best way to nullify Silva, Milner’s incredible work-rate, everything.
“That takes care of Monday to Thursday. On Friday it’s my turn when we look at ways to get at opponents. Put simply, Alan concentrates on how not to lose and I then find ways to win.”
It’s interesting that we spend the largest portion of the week on defence and goes some way to explaining why we have the best defensive record in the Premier League. I don’t know if that’s the typical way a Premier League manager does things but I can only imagine that it’s totally different to the way Keegan ran things in the 90’s, where it seemed that Darren Peacock and Philippe Albert were only vaguely aware they were defenders. (more…)
