Captain Colo: Wants to focus squarely on Newcastle.In an interview with Fox Sports conducted in Spanish when he was on duty with the Argentinian national side in Sweden, Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini gave more insight into his plan to escape from Newcastle United and return to his home country.
Carefully selected excerpts of his thoughts have been translated and published on English sites here and there. However, as there didn’t seem to be a transcript of the whole part relating to his current Toon – San Lorenzo imbroglio, I thought I’d have a bash myself, and the results are below. I also translated his previous Coloccini’s open letter to San Lorenzo on the same issue some time ago.
Interviewer: “What happened? Why didn’t you play in San Lorenzo and why did you stay in Newcastle?”
Coloccini:“Let me be clear that there are many versions, some of which were lies and some which were right to some extent. At the moment you know that I had spoken with people from Newcastle to go back to Argentina for personal motives, all San Lorenzo did was open their doors and give me all the support I could get, beyond playing or not playing for San Lorenzo. Of course I said that if I could dissociate myself from Newcastle they wanted me to play there, and the illusion was mine too because I’m a fan. But hey, I was not going to untie myself from Newcastle because I wanted to go to San Lorenzo. There was nothing I could do … The issue was that I wanted to return to Argentina for “x” reasons and well, after San Lorenzo emerged it became part of the story of San Lorenzo.”(more…)
Chelsea: Four draws in their last five games.Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Sat 2nd February, 2013. Kick off: 3.00pm. Referee: Howard Webb. UK TV: None.
Despite the fact that Chelsea are currently third in the league and we are lowly fifteenth, there have been distinct signs of hope for a draw amongst quite a few fans, and also Alan Pardew, for this one.
Why? As well as the new found optimism which has come from what has been regarded by most as a “successful” transfer window, not to mention our first away victory of the season at Villa Park, the Pensioners have drawn four of their last five games, and one of those was against League One’s Brentford! Of course, Rafa “the Gaffer” Benitez is a relatively new manager, unwelcomed by some amongst the Blues’ fanbase, and the team don’t quite seem to have settled yet under their latest manager, hence it might be one of the best times to take points off one of the top sides in the Premiership. (more…)
Mapou Yanga-M’Biwa: Daft pointy hair like Debuchy.Hello and welcome to the second of my series on the latest four Frenchmen to join Newcastle. The subject this time will be the versatile 23 year old defender Mapou Yanga-M’Biwa, purchased from Ligue 1 side Montpellier for undisclosed fee that is estimated to be around £6.9 million.
For those of you who didn’t read my last piece on Yoan Gouffran, as I explained in that, the reason why there isn’t one on the first of our January signings, Mathieu Debuchy, is that I have already written several pieces about him, including this one where I looked at Debuchy in comparison with Newcastle United’s existing first choice right back, Danny Simpson, which was written when Debuchy was still a Lille player. So without further ado, let’s get back to Yanga-M’Biwa.
The most expensive of Newcastle United’s new signings, Yanga-M’Biwa was signed from French champions Montpellier for a fee of around €8 million which converts to around £6.9 million at current exchange rates. Until he joined Newcastle United, M’Biwa had been a one club man, having spent the whole of his career at Montpellier, rising from the youth ranks to eventually become captain of the side. In total he played 211 games over seven seasons for Montpellier, becoming an established part of the side from the 2007-8 season onwards, and playing a key role in the Montpellier side which won the Ligue 1 title last season along with the likes of Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. In that time M’Biwa scored a total of four goals, providing 3 assists. He also has three caps for the senior French national side, along with five under 21 caps.
