Problematic past behind him now?Hatem Ben Arfa has been talking about some of the problems he’s faced in his career and how things are shaping up for him at Newcastle United.
Hatem Ben Arfa spoke to the French press yesterday about some of the problems that have plagued his life and footballing career to date and how they’re being addressed at Newcastle. Before going on, I should say that I used Google Translate and my grade 4 CSE French to translate a lot of this, so it might not be 100% accurate!
Benny starts by summing up the problems he had:
“I gave off something negative. I had bad energy. I am loud. I always wanted to participate in conversations. I had enormous difficulty submitting to authority”
He then goes on to say what he thinks the root cause of that ‘attitude’ was:
“My father never told me ‘I love you’. He ran out of affection in my life. He never managed to externalise his feelings. I do not want him. My father had no father. He reproduces a pattern I am trying to break for me because I have to move forward.” (more…)
Nearing full fitnessNewcastle United centre-back Mike Williamson nears fitness and, whilst an alleged bid for a West Ham defender fails, it seems that Modibo Maiga is actually heading to Tyneside.
With our central defence currently emptier than a Mackem’s head, there’s some welcome news that Mike Williamson managed 45 minutes for the reserve team against Bolton yesterday and apparently feels okay after it. Williamson said:
“I feel completely fine. That was the plan today – to play 45, to get myself back in and try and get the cobwebs out and then train on Thursday and Friday.
“It reminded me of what I’ve been missing. It was good and I enjoyed it. It was great to get the boots back on and now that I’m back, hopefully I can just get fitter.
“Injuries are frustrating but it’s just part and parcel of football. It has been really good to see the team doing so well and enjoying the plaudits that they deserve for working so hard.
“I’ll accelerate it as quickly as possible, but not to the detriment of anything. But my knee and ankle are completely fine now, so it’s just about getting the minutes under my belt. And I’ll try to get as much fitness and running as I can.“
I still doubt he’ll be fit enough to play in the Swansea game though.
Take it or leave it stage?Comments from Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew appear to indicate that Danny Simpson is now at the ‘take or leave it’ stage in contract negotiations.
Further to my article a few days ago in which I mentioned the contract situation with Danny Simpson, it seems the club is toughening its stance a bit more if Pardew’s latest comments are anything to go by.
Pardew said:
“It will be as dangerous for Danny as it is for us to delay any longer.
“He is a player who within 18 months has broken into the first team and established himself. We are a big club and he has done very well.
“Now we have a situation where he has a contract and feels he should be rewarded with a new one. I agree with that. I believe that really all we’re talking about are the figures, but is very difficult at this level to say we think negotiations are at a particular point when he probably thinks they are somewhere else.(more…)
How much will he be missed?Is the Africa Cup of Nations going to cause serious problems for Newcastle United, particularly in relation to Demba Ba?
The Africa Cup of Nations (ACoN) has its first group game on the 21st January and the final is on 12th February, which means that players will be away from their respective clubs for potentially 3 weeks of tournament time plus preparation/recovery time.
For Newcastle, that means the loss of two of this season’s top performers: Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote. Ba’s Senegal is in Group A along with Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Zambia whilst Tiote’s Ivory Coast is in Group B along with Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola.
Gossip abounds about Pardew’s desire to recruit a new striker, although if Modibo Maiga is that striker then we’re no better off during the ACoN because Mali is also in the tournament.
I would not imagine that the club will be recruiting a striker simply for a 3-week tournament anyway, so presumably Pardew intends to cover for the ACoN with the players he has already got. That could mean a start for Shola (if he’s fit) or for Benny, either of who could play up front with Leon Best.
The worry of course is how we’d cope without the player who has scored half of our 16 league goals this season. Ba had this to say about his absence: (more…)
Good vibes include Delboy, says TaylorNewcastle United defender Steven Taylor talks about the excellent team spirit at the club, including good relationships all the way up the hierarchy.
I was alarmed to see a headline in The Telegraph that said ‘Newcastle have Europe in their sights’. Admittedly the author of the article intimated that European football is more likely in future seasons than this one, but it also mentioned ‘whispers of Europe on Tyneside’ for this season following our good start.
The reason this alarms me is because it raises expectations and we’ve been down that road before. Many times.
I prefer it when nobody thinks we’re capable of anything significant and that with each win we’re exceeding expectations. Obviously our current Premier League position is going encourage some talk of Europe in people of a more hopeful disposition, but I fear that such people are simply setting themselves up for disappointment. (more…)
