Missing piece?Newcastle United’s Hatem Ben Arfa is keen to get started with Premier League football after his appearance against Nottingham Forest in the Carling Cup on Tuesday. Alan Pardew won’t be rushing him back but could it be that the eventual return of Ben Arfa will signal a shift in the way the whole team plays?
Hatem Ben Arfa has played very few minutes of first team football for Newcastle since joining the club, yet an awful lot of expectation seems to surround the lad. It’s as if he’s the missing piece to some puzzle.
After playing against Nottingham Forest in the Carling Cup on Tuesday, Ben Arfa is now keen to get his first Premier League start of the season. Benny said:
“All the year I worked so hard to come back and I’m very happy to be on the pitch now. I’m very happy to see the supporters again and I thank them for all the encouragement last year. I feel very good. I have confidence and I feel I will do very good things now.
“I feel ready to play in every match now, in fact I’m dying to play.” (more…)
Slapped wristsNewcastle United summer target Modibo Maiga is suffering disciplinary action by his club.
Modibo Maiga is suffering for his attempts to force a transfer during the summer as he has been ordered to play in the reserves, as has fellow contract rebel Kevin Anin. Sochaux Chairman Alexandre Lacombe told L’Equipe:
“We are working with the ones who want to work. I told them what I had to say – that is enough – it has become unimaginable. Now it is just up to them to let me know when they will be ready to be serious and reliable.”
And Sochaux’s grumpy manager Mecha Bazdarevic added:
“It has lasted two months now. We have been docile and tolerant enough. They must not do that, they have to respect the club, the group and the job.
“They have been put apart until it is be sorted out. It could last two or three days, we will see.”
Modibo Maiga vented his opinions on the matter too, saying:
“I am not thinking about the summer anymore, I just want to play. The chairman is the boss, but it is useless to keep me and treat me that way. I will go with the reserves and give my best, but I can’t understand. Maybe he wants revenge.” (more…)
Long ball game?With recent accusations of Alan Pardew’s alleged long ball tactics, I wanted to ask the question: do Newcastle United play the long-ball game and does it matter?
After England’s 1-1 draw against the United States in the 2010 World Cup Franz Beckenbauer had this to say:
“What I saw from the English in their 1-1 draw against the United States had very little to do with football.
“It looked to me as if the English have gone backwards into the bad old times of kick and rush. I am not sure if the England coach Fabio Capello can still change much there. The English are being punished for the fact that there are very few English players in the Premier League clubs as they use better foreign players from all over the world.”
Beckenbauer had the last laugh too of course because we subsequently crashed 4-1 to Germany, but is his general damnation of the long ball game valid? And I ask because there have been a few questions lately about Newcastle’s game plan and whether or not Alan Pardew prefers the long ball game. (more…)
Building up expectationsAlan Pardew puts paid to the idea of bringing in any free agents to plug any gaps in the Newcastle United squad, and he looks forward to the return of Hatem Ben Arfa.
You are probably not surprised to find out that this is ‘it’ now in terms of the squad until January. Pardew has previously told us that the loan market isn’t the way the club wants to go to plug any gaps – such as the striker we missed out on in the transfer window – and he has today confirmed that we won’t be pursuing free agents either. Pardew said:
“I’ve no intention of bringing a free agent in. I’ll go with the group.
“I think you have to remember I’ve got Hatem Ben Arfa training now. His imagination and flair on that pitch would have been a big asset for us – hopefully, fingers crossed, in two weeks’ time he’ll be on that pitch for us.” (more…)
Pressure is on tonightNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has the job of picking up the mood of fans tonight after a disappointing end to the transfer window, but does he deserve a bit of sympathy?
How about a bit of sympathy for Alan Pardew? Yes, I know he blabs rubbish a lot of the time and he doesn’t always seem to engage his brain before doing so, but he’s been let down in the transfer window as much as we have and the pressure is now on him to come up with some good results.
A bad run now would just add to that air of depression a lot of fans are currently feeling and Pardew will know that.
On the weekend, Pardew was lamenting the relationship between Mike Ashley and the fans and intimating that it doesn’t really help him do his job. Pardew said:
“It’s difficult at Newcastle and I don’t think the owner’s relationship with the fans helps. That’s obvious. I don’t think there’s anything I can say or do that will improve that.
“Hopefully over the next three or four years, if I bring some success to the club, maybe that can be looked at in a different light. But certainly not in the short term.” (more…)
