Matthieu Debuchy.Regular readers of my efforts for this blog will know that, like many other United fans, I place little credence in 90% of the stories which appear in the media about who is leaving and who is joining our illustrious club.
There is so much media “noise” going on at the moment about movements, and it’s a case of sorting the wheat from the chaff, as the old saying goes. In other words trying to identify the stories which might, just might, have a grain of truth in them.
Anyroadup, the problem is that in terms of the great Newcastle United, there aint a lot else going on in newsville at the moment, so transfer babble it is!
Here’s some of the stories which might just be on the right tracks – but remember, it’s just me saying this – I’ve read the stories, put the kettle on, had a think and what follows are my thoughts on what might be the stories which run to fruition – selected from today’s vast array of speculation. But who the hell am I to know better than anyone else!
SpeculationThe speculation season has started in earnest for the British football press. With the domestic season over and the European Championships yet to begin, there is still a need for footy hacks to justify their bloated salaries and write stuff that sells newspapers. And they never let the truth get in the way of a good story – even if it was made up without checking any facts or even leaving the office.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve got nothing against factual, truthful reporting. I just can’t remember the last time I actually read any! If Newcastle United were to eventually sign all of the players we are supposedly linked with, we’d end up with a wage bill approaching the level of the national debt. So there must be a lot of crap reporting out there somewhere – it stands to reason.
The key to spotting made up stories is of course the lack of direct quotes. If it says “a source close to the player” or “a source close to the club” – lets face it, un-named, impossible to prove sources are reliable? I don’t think so. Treat all such stories with a pinch of salt. What makes matters worse is that a made up story by one journalist is then picked up and repeated ad-nauseum – and this is particularly easy since the advent of the Internet, it’s not just other publications repeating made up stories but online publications, blogs etc If you don’t believe me, check a news aggregator like Newsnow, pick a story and watch it get passed around and grow! (more…)
White rice is the secret!Newcastle United number 9 Papiss Cisse has been talking about his (half) season with Newcastle and claims the best is yet to come.
Whilst I was browsing around some French sites I came across an interview with Papiss Demba Cisse. I found it on a site called ‘Furturs Medias’, although I’m not sure if that’s where it originated.
Anyway, I ran it through Google Translate and it came back with something vaguely resembling English, which I’ve then tried to ‘tidy up’ with my grade 4 CSE French. That sounds like recipe for disaster but I hope the result is something close to what he actually said.
Talking about his first game for the club, he said:
“Honestly, I did not wish Best was injured. I did not even know I was going to play, because there was Ameobi, another great striker of the club, who has been there for a long time. I even call him ‘Mr Ameobi’ because he’s such a nice guy who works for the team.”
He then says something about Jonas that I can’t translate but I like to think it was about how he parts his ponytail. Then I picked up the translation when he says:
“When Demba scored the first goal I thought ‘it’s going well’ and at the end of the second half I scored the second goal and we won 2-1. The ball eluded Demba and came to me and I tried not to think too much about, I just reacted and it’s in the net ‘goal!’” (more…)
"I Want Curly Hair Too"One question which will hang around for United fans this summer – until it’s resolved – is the one about the future of Demba Ba.
Tottenham manager “Droopy” announced to the world before the last January transfer window that he had discovered Ba had a £7M release clause in his contract. Since then, United have pretty much confirmed it exists, although we are informed that it’s not quite in the form that Droopy thinks it is.
Ba has not said much, and there were rumours that United were trying to re-negotiate his contract with the club to take the offending clause out – but given the stance of the club on wages, I doubt if they have much room for manoeuvre, as they apparently have an upper limit on what they are prepared to pay individual players – any individual! From Ba’s perspective of course, his game is about goals – and he had scored 16 before he went off to the African Cup Of Nations, but didn’t score a single one when he came back, after his role was changed to accommodate the arrival of his mate Papiss Demba Cisse.
United manager “The Twice Chosen One” Alan Pardew has gone on record imploring the Geordie faithful to tell Demba they love him, as with Ba it’s not about money, he just needs to feel wanted – Howay Man Pards that’s a load of syruppy bow locks!! (more…)
Following on from part one of Newcastle United’s 2011 / 2012 season review, we begin at the start of the new year with a home tie against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
January – Man Utd humbled / A Nightmare at the Cottage / The new number nine…
A stunning display from Pardew’s team saw champions, Manchester United, comfortably beaten 3-0 at St James’ Park. Two brilliant goals from both Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye put United on course to victory, with Phil Jones putting through his own net to complete the rout. It was a tremendous start to January, and helped eradicate the previous month’s below par performances. Pardew got the tactics spot on, knowing that Man Utd’s centre backs Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones couldn’t handle the physicality of Magpies front men, Demba Ba and Shola Ameobi. (more…)
