Newcastle target Hatem Ben Arfa has talked to the French Daily L’Equipe, and said he will not play again for Olympique Marseille, as he tries to force through a move to Newcastle United.
Hatem Ben Arfa – currently in Newcastle
The France international has refused to train with his club since returning from International duty last Thursday, and travelled to Newcastle on Friday afternoon, where he was spotted and photographed at Newcastle Airport, and is currently holed up at a Newcastle hotel with his representatives.
He wants to be able to talk things over with the Newcastle club, but no agreement has yet been reached between the two clubs for a season long loan deal.
The Marseilles officials say they will pick up the muddled situation again tomorrow morning, to see if something can be worked out, but there is a huge chasm between the Marseilles position and that of the player and his representatives.
Newcastle have wisely kept a diplomatic silence in all of this, and will not be drawn into a public slanging match – despite some conflicting statement coming from the Marseilles President Jean-Claude Dassier last week.
But Ben Arfa told L’Equipe:
“I will not return to La Commanderie (OM’s training ground). It’s over. I am ready to not play this season. I have my pride, my dignity.”
“I am not a stop-gap. Over time, people will see that I was right. Just because we are paid does not mean we are slaves.”
The 23-year-old played for France last Wednesday evening, in new manager Laurent Blanc’s France squad, and scored a terrific long-range goal within minutes of his introduction at half-time against Norway.
Where this saga goes now we have no idea, but it’s hard for a club to keep a dissatisfied player, and we would expect common sense to reign in the end.
What needs to happen is for the two clubs, Marseilles and Newcastle, to agree to a deal, and then Ben Arfa can be signed and maybe even be available for the home game against Aston Villa next weekend.
That’s what we will be hoping for, after there has been a few days for all parties to calm down a little, and for Ben Arfa to to have enjoyed some black pudding, stottie cake and other local cuisine on Tyneside.
Comments welcome.
117 comments so far
Thump
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:24 PM
Comment #81Can you confirm my earlier post, MD?
MOONDUST
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:25 PM
Comment #82Thump it will take a few mins to go through moderation but after its been moderated the 1st time thats it u can post under it without moderation
MacToon
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:27 PM
Comment #83Yeah MD I appretiate that 😉 We ended up having logins because of previous trouble with bloggers faking names so this way it can be traced or atleast comments blocked and deleted if neccesary.
Suppose it depends on how well this is moderated by Ed.
MOONDUST
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:27 PM
Comment #84Thump u dont need to change ur account and NO i didnt post on .org or any other blog as CC
MOONDUST
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:28 PM
Comment #85Mac 😉
MacToon
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:29 PM
Comment #86So basically we’ll have to ask Ed everytime craig posts to ask if it’s actually him… lol, Ed’s gonna love that.
MOONDUST
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:39 PM
Comment #87Thump I wont explain the ins and outs of it 😉 but once ur post is moderated u arnt going to be abusing bloggers as me r u ? 🙁
Mac there must be an easier way of stopping it happening
Thump
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:43 PM
Comment #88Oh okay, and no I won’t. I don’t have the energy because I’ll probably start believing my bull!
The moderation has to come from Ed himself (or somebody with admin/editor powers), so if he isn’t around then it might take a while.
gunnarnufc
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:44 PM
Comment #89“just because we get paid, does not mean we are slaves”
Slaves have some pretty good salaries. Oh wait..?
MacToon
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:49 PM
Comment #90It’s only for a couple of weeks anyway lol, ’till the transfer window shuts!
YankeeToon
Aug 15, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Comment #91As a American Newcastle fan who wasn’t able to watch them in the Championship last year where do you see them realistically finishing in the top flight this season?
I thought this was too good of a team to get regulated two seasons ago. The team make up hasn’t changed much from that same team.
Also how does Carroll do this season, and I saw that Hughton is the odds on favor to get sacked this year. Can Hughton coach well enough to keep us up this year?
teacoozy
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:06 PM
Comment #92ben arfa is in the dunston excelsior having a pint and a game of snooker with gazza’s dad , you heard it here first.
toonsy
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:31 PM
Comment #93Just to clarify, MOONDUST is right. Anyone can register with the same name as another poster. As far as I am aware, WordPress don’t have a plugin that can stop it.
We had 2 el toro’s on .org the other week 😆
rknufc
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:41 PM
Comment #94I can see CH playing a very strong defansive team tommorow and we’ll be very hard to break down and big ANDY will score from a Raylor free kick. what do you think?…… HOWAY THE LADS!!!
rknufc
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:42 PM
Comment #95http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD_4kW0_d7o LOL
jimiley
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:49 PM
Comment #96Ben Arfa would be bad news because he would disrupt team morale. If he can’t get his own way, he’s off!!!! We don’t need him. Gosling and Perch are terrific additions and should ensure we finish mid table. Keep the faith in CH and the fat man. Fatty won’t spend any money but he runs a tight ship. I can see us bringing in loans for the next few years and reaching 6th.
teacoozy
Aug 15, 2010 at 9:56 PM
Comment #97love you jimiley xxx
Thump
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Comment #98@toonsy: it’s something that SHOULD be wrote into the backend.
Maybe I should get coding…
toonsy
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Comment #99Thump – You will put nothing into my back end thank-you very much 😆
Munich Mag
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:06 PM
Comment #100I wish the transfer window was closed…it’s all doing my head in …!
Howay The Lads
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:22 PM
Comment #101jimiley, that is the most optimistic thing I’ve seen you ever type 😀
toonruz
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:25 PM
Comment #102any 1 got an spare tickets for 2moro
Howay The Lads
Aug 15, 2010 at 10:31 PM
Comment #103Have you seen the Marseilles president now weasling up to Ben Arfa.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11678_6314707,00.html
He is trying his damndest to keep him away from Newcastle isn’t he?
He’s going through all the ways of running a company. First he went autocratic, now he’s gone paternalistic/laissez-faire.
Mags
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Comment #104Toonsy (96) so funny :rofl:
toonruz
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Comment #105they are going to give in i beleave he be a toon player 2moro
toonruz
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:31 PM
Comment #106Newcastle United
Lack of investment hampers Newcastle’s chances of building momentum but they have enough about them to survive
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Joey Barton Joey Barton points the way forward for Newcastle in a season when the club’s playing resources are likely to be stretched. Photograph: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto
Guardian writers’ prediction: 16th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise’s prediction, but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 1st in the Championship
Odds to win the league: 1,000-1
Mike Ashley has something controversial in common with Willie Walsh. Just as the British Airways chief executive officer wants to gradually replace his older, expensive “fleet” of cabin crew with more youthful, lower-paid alternatives, Newcastle United’s owner aims to get back into the black by signing younger, cheaper players.
The general idea is that newcomers should be under 25 and, ideally, earn less than £25,000 a week. The theory behind it all is that Newcastle can hoover up the brightest young talent before others spot it and those signings will imbue the team with energy before being sold on for a profit.
Granted, at nearly 36 Sol Campbell hardly conforms to this blueprint but he did come on a free transfer and Chris Hughton had to plead special dispensation to recruit a defender he once coached at Tottenham. Otherwise the imports – James Perch, Dan Gosling and, possibly this week, providing a loan deal is finalised, Hatem Ben Arfa – conform to the general policy.
The only problem is that sometimes there is a gap between theory and practice. After all Xisco, now back at St James’ Park after returning from loan, was a young Spanish striker Dennis Wise, Newcastle’s former director of football, believed would tick all Ashley’s recruitment boxes. Unfortunately he does not appear remotely good enough and is unlikely to be the only similar gamble that goes wrong.
Maybe it would be better for Newcastle to live in the moment, invest in proven talent and remember that players don’t usually reach their peaks until 27 at the earliest. In doing so they would be speculating to accumulate vital Premier League points. If, and it’s a big if, you can still run a decent airline with a budget crew who have jobs rather than careers, cutting transfer market corners can end up looking penny wise and pound foolish.
Since Wise’s welcome exit Newcastle have been relegated from the Premier League only to make an instant return courtesy of Hughton’s astute coaching and man management. The current squad should be able to just about survive this term, but there are bound to be a few stumbles along the way.
This may be an era of austerity but Newcastle’s manager has been handed a summer budget so slim that even the chancellor George Osborne might blanch at its content and start pondering the dangers of a double dip.
We are talking relegation rather than recessionary fears. Promising as Gosling may be, the free transfer sprung from Everton is sidelined until January while he recovers from the cruciate knee-ligament injury sustained last March. Meanwhile the £1.4m Perch, although full of youthful promise, was, nonetheless, regarded as a bit of a weak link at Nottingham Forest last season.
Campbell’s current need to get properly fit allied to the shoulder injury which will sideline Steven Taylor – a key defender – for three months and the knee problem also ruling out Danny Simpson may dictate Perch plays more than was originally envisaged this autumn. Let’s hope he does not endure a baptism of fire. At least he will be playing in front of an excellent goalkeeper in Steve Harper.
Alongside Perch, the left back José Enrique should surprise a few people who saw him struggle in the top division two years ago by thriving this time round. The Spaniard is a very good player but there is an alarming lack of cover in his position.
Fabricio Coloccini, though, is another matter. The sometimes classy, sometimes comic Argentina centre-half possesses real ability – so much indeed that you wonder if he might not be better deployed as a quasi-sweeper sitting in front of defence – but he often neglects the basics. These can include remembering to jump with his striker and challenge for the ball at corners.
In midfield much depends on whether Joey Barton can stay fit – and out of trouble. If so the man who reckons he’s “as good as any English midfielder” could yet prove the catalyst that brings good times back to St James’.
Alongside him Danny Guthrie is skilful but arguably lightweight at this level, Alan Smith works hard but lacks pace, Nicky Butt has retired and Kevin Nolan may well be deployed behind a lone striker should Hughton opt for 4-4-1-1.
Expert at late dashes into the box, Nolan can score freely from midfield but is hampered by a lack of speed. The former Bolton player also remains very important off the field. The self-styled leader of the “players’ committee”, he is a powerful figure when it comes to dressing-room politics. Hughton will want to keep him onside.
Many believe Newcastle’s manager should have resigned in May or June when it became clear Ashley wasn’t going to offer him much in the way of spending money. After all, Hughton had carried out such a brilliant job last season that he would surely have walked into several other posts.
None, though, would have been quite like Newcastle and the challenge proved understandably irresistible. Surmounting it, though, will involve ensuring his side score sufficient goals – a real worry.
Much may depend on the winger Wayne Routledge, a wonderfully pacy and perceptive signing on Hughton’s part last January, continuing to shine. Routledge is a far better crosser than the more vaunted Jonás Gutiérrez, who may flatter to deceive this season, but Ben Arfa should be an exciting acquisition.
That trio’s job is to create chances for a somewhat motley attacking crew. Properly motivated, Shola Ameobi is better than many people think – remember his scoring streak under Glenn Roeder – but he seems to get injured almost every other game these days. The underrated Peter Lovenkrands is surely good enough to discomfit decent defences, but the Premier League is possibly a field too far for Leon Best while young Nile Ranger remains overly immature.
Then there’s Andy Carroll. No Angel of the North, the young centre-forward faces a crown court trial on an assault charge in October. Whether or not the buildup affects his game remains to be seen but, in pure football terms, Carroll remains very much a work in progress. There is genuine ability there but he has a long way to go before fulfilling it and could find the Premier League represents a reality check.
In other words Hughton desperately needs a new striker – and preferably two. Such signings could yet be as important to Ashley’s peace of mind as the passenger-soothing presence of a couple of polished, old school BA veteran attendants on a packed overnight flight.
Which brings us to the question: Is Newcastle’s owner really in it for the long haul? The club are officially no longer for sale but things have been strangely calm for quite a while now and no one would be entirely surprised to wake up one morning and find it was suddenly in Arab, US or even Chinese hands.
As the most casual Newcastle and Ashley watchers appreciate, you should expect the unexpected at St James’.
baro
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:38 PM
Comment #107Has anybody seen this? We are hijacking a bid from Fulham to sign Rafik Halliche a Algerian World Cup defender. Never heard of him.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1303366/Newcastle-make-late-bid-hijack-Fulham-defender-Rafik-Halliche.html
Howay The Lads
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:40 PM
Comment #108baro, never heard of him, but looks like he got a nasty wound some time:
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01524/Rafik-Halliche_1524541i.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/6589613/Egypt-and-Algeria-face-sudden-death-in-World-Cup-play-off-in-pictures.html%3Fimage%3D3&h=388&w=620&sz=35&tbnid=k_QhRRMTzPxsXM:&tbnh=85&tbnw=136&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRafik%2BHalliche&usg=__s-QMIleelaYAzvzSzxSQZE3R88w=&sa=X&ei=mmxoTJPDIuXc4wahjYiZBA&ved=0CB8Q9QEwAQ
baro
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:45 PM
Comment #109Howay The Lads
OUCHH!! How did that happen?
Anyways he looks like a pretty descent defender from doing it the Dennis Wise way of scouting. 1.3 million is nothing in my opinion for this guy. Can play Center Back and Right Back and just ahead of the defense as a CDM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sfu0qz5424s
baro
Aug 15, 2010 at 11:52 PM
Comment #110Also remember that he and the Algeria defense shut down the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney and a lot more stars of England in the world cup this year. Algeria got a 0 -0 draw
Howay The Lads
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:00 AM
Comment #111I don’t know how he got it just came up when I Googled him 😆
He definitely sounds like the sort of player we’d go after. Young, potential, already decent, versatile and would probably take pretty low wages.
If he’s any good I’d hope Hughton would sign him up
baro
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:02 AM
Comment #112I think we should go snap him up, he is really cheap. And with the amount of players we have injured like our star defender Steven Taylor i would go get this guy, he is still young.
lewman
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:05 AM
Comment #113it was those bloody minded egptians that did it to him. theyve been at it since the days of the pyramids.
baro
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:10 AM
Comment #114lewman
Well now that u said that it even got better. Because the mackems have a Egyptian on there team. 🙂 Ahmed Al-Muhammadi is Egyptian player who is currently on loan to Sunderland. So it would be nice to see this Algerian come to Newcastle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Al-Muhammadi
Rangerman
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Comment #115We were linked with Halliche months ago.
lewman
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:20 AM
Comment #116baro i hope he goes on a bloodthirsty rampage and attacks darren bent and malbranque so they have to spend a chunk of the season on the sidelines
Thump
Aug 16, 2010 at 12:41 AM
Comment #117@toonsy (99): Well you just had to go and upset me, didn’t you?
I’ve only just stopped crying because of that comment.