There’s no doubt that Geremi, our Cameroon international midfielder, has had a tough first season at Newcastle United.
Geremi – playing great football for Newcastle
It all started so well for Geremi, who was appointed club captain by Big Sam Allardyce but then in December Sam stripped him of the captaincy, and gave it to Smith, of all people. Sam was never really straight on why he did that, and even said it was temporary because Geremi was going away to the African Cup of Nations for several weeks.
So when Kevin Keegan was appointed manager in mid-January things didn’t look too good for the player. But he had an excellent tournament in Ghana, and Kevin watched a lot of Cameroon’s games and was impressed with what he saw from Newcastle’s former captain.
And under Keegan in these last 10 weeks or so, Geremi has become a key member of a side now playing 4-3-3 with Geremi a revelation on the right hand side of midfield.
Kevin talked about Geremi today to the Newcastle Journal:
“Geremi’s only 29 – that’s what he says anyway!†“But he’s very fit. You have three guys in midfield who are the unsung heroes of this team but they enjoy it as well.â€
“Geremi’s very clever, Nicky’s experience is invaluable to us and Joey Barton’s enthusiasm and energy gives us a nice balance in there.â€
Geremi is playing great for the team right now, but in all truth every other player is playing up to their capabilities too, which has just about transformed Newcastle into a very good looking side, so late in the season.
Let’s make no mistake, this season has been very disappointing, but the way the lads are playing now it really looks like we could have a very decent side next season, and of course the team will be attacking all the time.
All we need is a few more wins before the end of the season, starting of course on Sunday by beating Sunderland, and maybe we can do our goal difference some good in that game too. 😀
Sounds good to us.
Comments welcome.
19 comments so far
Leo
Apr 17, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Comment #1i thought geremi was like 32, 29 i am suprised at. he still has a few years left.
Peter Hughes
Apr 17, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Comment #2To be honest i thought Geremi’s performance on the ball at Portsmouth was wasteful to say the least but he has performed a lot better under Keegan. As has most of the team. I’m so dissappointed with Alan Smith. If we could get 6Million for him in the summer i would be over the moon
Davies
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Comment #3I remember reading an article a while ago where Sir Bobby Robson said that Mourinho didn’t want Geremi anymore because his “legs had gone”. Sir Bobby was being openly critical about Big Sham at the tiem, which I was pleased about, but it would appear that Mourinho had misinformed him.
Geremi has shown a much greater side to his game in the last few weeks than I thought I would ever see from him.
Perhaps Keegans motivational skills have triggered something new in the old boy.
By the way, if Geremi is really only 29, then Roger Miller was also really only 31 when he played for Cameroon in 1990, and not 48, which he looked.
Ross
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Comment #4Yeah i think Geremi has been pretty decent this season, but he cant take corners for sh!t. Why can no newcastle players knock in a decent corner?!
staffsmag
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Comment #5Ross – good point about the corners – does any one know how many goals that we have scored this season have be a direct result of corners?
THELONGSHANKS
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM
Comment #6I agree geremi is awful crosser of the ball.his corners in portsmouth game were garbage and we got about 12.on the other hand he plays the easy balls and has beye to run him and links up well.He will always be dangerous outside the box for free kicks and has a vast amount of experience.Good squad player in my opinion.
zhun
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Comment #7when i saw Geremi took those corners, i missed Emre so much
ronaldeano
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Comment #8Bring back Nobby!! 🙂
scottish mag
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Comment #9thats us been linked with ben haim and a £15m bid for diego today, according to fansfc
Dirk
Apr 17, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #10barton can take great corners? so y he doesn try im not sure. and nicky butt isnt bad at free kicks so maybe he could try a corner :S?
brian tait
Apr 17, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Comment #11you’re having a laugh aren’t you the guy is the worst player since the days of tony cunningham and billy whitehurst to wear a black and white shirt
Toon Goat
Apr 17, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Comment #12This corner thing needs sorting out. It’s probably costing us up to 5 goals per season. Surely not difficult for a full time pro on a squillion quid a week to get the bloody ball past the first man is it?????Bring back Nobby indeed!
JP from The Rock of Gibraltar
Apr 17, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Comment #13Yeah good squad player but I still prefer Milner everytime. The boy needs to keep progressing. Geremi is terrbile at crossing the ball..he is a really bad crosser. Out of about 12 corners, he only sent in one decent corner. That is a great let down in his play which he needs to improve rapidly.
Sean
Apr 17, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Comment #14I think Geremi’s in danger of becoming so underrated that he’s overrated. He’s been solid but can’t cross a ball at all. So many moves broke down as a result of his inability to clear the first man and complete lack of pace (against Hermann Hreidesson of all people)
ObaFan2
Apr 17, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Comment #15Emre’s the best at dead ball/ corners for us but he’s always injured.
Geremi’s played well recently as have the 3 midfielders, Geremi, Butt and Barton. The amount of work they have done in recent games has been tremendous and has finally forged a team out of BSA’s signings.
Geremi should not take any more corners.
Obafan
Apr 17, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Comment #16He is a good player. One thing that I feel is that Geremi needs to prove double so much as another player (Milner, Taylor, …) to get the same respect from most of the fans.
If he kicks 3 good corners out of 5 on Sunday, most of you will shout that he is a fantastic crosser. Really funny how wome of you react 😉 .
millepede
Apr 17, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Comment #17everyweek i say to myself… geremi will have been practising his corners this week lol, and then he goes and delivers the same old shite
Tripp
Apr 17, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Comment #18Geremi was very solid and my MOM on saturday. He maintains possession and distributes the ball well. No he’s not Carl Lewis and his corners were shite, but a LOT of our attacking play went through him at Pomey and he performed quite well. He possesses the ball much better than Milner, who like Zog, just puts his head down and tries to take on defender after defender, without really ever accomplishing anything.
Milners has potential and at times has been a very solid player, but people need to give Geremi the credit that he deserves.
Obafan
Apr 17, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Comment #19Tripp – completely agree about the fact that Geremi deserves lots more credits than some give him here at this blog.