Demba Ba was again in good form last night and scored another brace – his third brace of the season, in Newcastle’s vital 3-0 defeat of Wigan, and this lad has been an enormous success since he joined us from West Ham in the summer of last year.
Demba Ba – after scoring penalty last night
With 16 goals in 36 appearances last season in his first season on Tyneside, he is currently top of the charts this season, and is tied on 10 PL goals with Michu of Swansea, Suarez of Liverpool and van Persie of Manchester United.
Ba talked to nufcTV today and is only concentrating on doing his job:
“It’s not too bad so far, 10 goals in I don’t know how many games.” “I will just keep on doing my work and if it comes, it comes; if it doesn’t, it doesn’t matter as long as we win.””All I know is what we proved on the pitch last night, what we did on Wednesday as well.”
“We have shown people that we still have the spirit and we still want to win and go forward.” “It was very good, it was very good to win after these last weeks. Now we just have to keep our heads down and keep working and keep doing what we did last night.”
Note to Demba Ba – you have played 17 times for Newcastle this season for those 10 goals – just fantastic.
Of course there have been many reports about Ba’s release clause becoming active again in January, but we are still hoping Newcastle can do a deal before then.
And of course Ba is doing exactly the right thing by banging in those goals to get a contract along the lines of what Newcastle gave captain Coloccini earlier this year – and that’s what Ba wants.
He’s a great player and a good man is Demba Ba – and we’d love him to stay on Tyneside, and he seems completely unaffected by all the transfer talk in the papers about him.
Comments always welcome.
Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and +1 us on Google+:
You can also reach Ed at admin@nufcblog.com
=============================================
200 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:17 PM
Comment #1Sitting on a wreath of holly at his next board meeting is too good for Ashley.
Big Pappa Cissé
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Comment #2Really Love the bloke and hope he stays. Probably the best striker we have had since Shearer goals wise
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:25 PM
Comment #3if that lad who is going to the Q&A is still on, I would like to know if anyone has actually taken up the half price food & drink offer before the match and actually sat in the ground for an hour before kick off.
Magpies-till-d3ath
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:27 PM
Comment #4My favourite players:
1/ Ba
2/ Tiote and Ben Arfa
3/ Cabaye
4/ Santon
5/ Bigirimana(just cuz he’s awesome!!)
Graeme
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:29 PM
Comment #5Just assume, that like last window, his parasites, sorry, agents, are still looking for a pay day!!
Ba is no mug, he knows he is worth an awful lot more than NUFC are paying him and I’m sure NUFC are well aware of it as well. At some point I’m sure a deal will be done, but it will be at a figure much nearer his valuation than Lambsarse’ valuation.
Ba is joint top scorer in the league, he has pretty much proved the dodgy knee is a hell of a lot stronger than suggested. If he was on the open market, he would go for £10 million plus and at least £75k a week. How much are top scorers fetching at other clubs?? A lot more than Ba is allegedly being offered to stay I guess!!
Ginger
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Comment #6@ Beattie
Whenever she’s looking for gift ideas get her to hit ctrl + shift + N
Assuming your using google chrome this will open up a new tab and all the history that is in there will not be recorded. I was having the same issue as when I was looking for my girlfriends presents it was appearing on every add, something to do with helping out your search.
Mister Tuff
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:31 PM
Comment #7Now we know why the Toon players have until recently not been running/chasing down the opposotion and not giving 110% energy. Link:-
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=23676&title=Newcastle+United+world%27s+first+%27carbon+positive%27+football+club+
Catchy In Straight Jacket
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:31 PM
Comment #8Apparently you only get rice & beans Tsunki.
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:32 PM
Comment #9Conaldo – on the MC Hammer conundrum, it’s not MC himself its something he calls ‘this’ but for some reason he doesnt tell us what ‘this’ is. How frustrating can he be? Hope that clears that misunderstanding up.
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:33 PM
Comment #10I always thought of the balti pie in a bushtucker trial sort of way.
Catchy In Straight Jacket
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Comment #11Considering Van Persie, Tevez, Aguero, Rooney etc are all earning about a 100 thousand a week more than Ba gets. I think we should give him the pay rise.
Jail for Ashley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:35 PM
Comment #12Ba is being selfish and greedy if he expects the going rate for a leading scorer !
wreker16
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Comment #13I believe that’s six magpies till death…
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Comment #14Ba was happy with the offer he got when he joined us. Maybe we should see out the season with him and let him go where he wants, after all we may give him a pay rise and he could still move. I dont think anyone will be paid more than colo tbh, and thats not 90k/week.
GeordieTwo
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:40 PM
Comment #15Spot on Graeme @5. Demba knows his value to the team and his quality as a goal scorer even if Ash/Llam don’t. He will not be taken for a fool by those 2. Why should he stay with us for 40K a week when Colo makes at least 75K a week? He is equally as important. Why do we always end up with knobs in charge of the club?
jimiley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:40 PM
Comment #16I cannot see Ba leaving the Toon in January. He has always said he loves the place, so why would he want to go anywhere else. Cashers will not sell him for 7 million, so he stays as long as the player wants to stay. Why would he want to go to Liverpool (who do not want Carroll but would consider it sweet revenge to get Ba for a total bargain) or Arsenal. Two clubs who are in freefall. They offer nothing more than the Toon. Ba is staying. But if manure or Chelski or City or Madrid or Barca…..different matter. He’d be gone in a flash, even if he does love the Toon.
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Comment #17dont think colo gets 75k either….
Ian Toon
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Comment #18Fair comment. Ba is the first Toon player to score 10 or more PL
goals in consecutive seasons since Shearer. He did it in 2001-02,
2002-03 and 2003-04. As I said in my first post Ba was instrumental in our victory and MOM for me. No question we should renegotiate his contract and sooner rather than later. More movement off the ball from the likes of Anita and Marveaux opened up space for Ba and Cisse. With HBA soon to return as well we could become a real attacking force.
Novocastrian66
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Comment #19Ba performances have not been affected by the transfer speculation and that is to his credit.
Hopefully he will stay as he would leave a big hole on our team.
Catchy In Straight Jacket
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:47 PM
Comment #20Think he’ll go were ever the money is, though i hope we can keep hold of him. At least until the summer anyway.
Jail for Ashley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:48 PM
Comment #21Jmiley,
Whatever we may think of other teams demise,a 40K a week wage rise pulls a lot of strings,that is evident in the players that opted to play in front of 15 000 fans at Loftus road.
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:48 PM
Comment #22hasnt this happened in every TW since he joined? load of guff about nowt isnt it in the end? Personally i hope he stays, and if the club thinks he is worth a raise then fine, but if he demands more than morale and the club can bear then he wont be the first or last decent striker to move on, and we somehow manage to find another. I personally think Cisse will be revived if he did leave so I wouldnt panic if he’s angling for a move.
Tsunki
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Comment #23JfA – just a slight adjustment to your text – said players have hardly ‘played’ in front of the qpr faithful have they? 😉
I am still not sure on Ba the Journeyman idea.
GeordieTwo
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:51 PM
Comment #24Anyone who thinks Ba will stay with us and take a 40 or 50K a week haircut for the privilege is probably fooling themself because they love the club. An athlete’s career is very short. Ba does have knee problems which might make it even shorter. He will not stay on a low wage because Ashley wants to cheat him of a fair wage nor would I expect him to.
Dannyo
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:52 PM
Comment #25First off:
– None of you know what Ba makes
– None of you know what Ba is asking
– None of you know what Collo makes
Altho we make allot of our discussions based on assumptions, rumours and wishfull thinking, calling people knobs cause you think you are assuming right….
Well, that just goes for itself.
Everyone has their limit economically. Would you want Ba’s new wage to be so high we may have to downsize potential additions to the squad? Because we could maybe cross a financial line?
And don’t throw that “MA can spend what he wants” bull. Everything and everyone has its limits, we have ours and we simply have to abide by that.
Magpies-till-d3ath
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:53 PM
Comment #26Wrecker, I didn’t say that there was 5, Ben Arfa and Tiote are equal second you absolute w@nkshaft!
Jail for Ashley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:54 PM
Comment #27Geordie two,
Why would he pay that much for a haircut when Bigi has his own Salon and would probably do him mates rates.
mackas7
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Comment #28Pardew and Lambais giving the answers 1st question is about last seasons finish and lack of strengthening, only 1st teamed being Anita, saying Anita deal took up until the last week, took them a long time to tie up the deal, suffering with injuries can’t get away from critisism on that front, 2nd about formation, why haven’t we stuck with the 4-3-3 as it work and the impact on Ba’s happiness, Pardew: all about balance, ba asked to do a job didn’t like it, tried different systems, ba situation is hanging over us, being as concise as I can here with as much detail.
mackas7
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:57 PM
Comment #29Plans to purchase is January, we have a budget we have targets, these targets are long term targets.
89Norcal
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:57 PM
Comment #30Saw this tweet from Ba the other day after the salary news:
Dec 2
Demba Ba ?@dembabafoot
“Here we go again…..”
lol just tell your agents to keep their mouths shut, Demba!
I want Ba to stay especially now that him and Cisse are actually playing together now, but if he does go I wouldn’t mind too much since Cisse can be our sole striker again
GeordieTwo
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Comment #31I think we do know that Ba is making far less with us than he would elsewhere now. I think the point still stands, he won’t stay if it is financially ridiculous to do so. So it will be up to Ash/Llam to make him an offer that makes sense to him. This will be the crux of the matter, not love of city or team I’m afraid. Love doesn’t buy too many groceries.
mackas7
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Comment #32These are prepared questions by Michael Douglas who I assume is MSIDOuglas on twitter?
Jail for Ashley
Dec 4, 2012 at 5:59 PM
Comment #33mackas7,
What time is it starting ?
I went to the KK dinner last year and thought I would get a chance to ask him a question or two,there was about 1200 people there and the crowd got to ask two questions and they were sitting right next to the stage.
Ian Toon
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Comment #34Dannyo- I wasn’t making any assumptions at all. Goalscorers like Ba are worth breaking imposed limits for simply because they win you matches. If you have to cut your cloth according to your means then
we need to consider the options. For me providing we buy the long awaited full back and centre half I would be looking to secure Ba on a new contract. You don’t relinquish firepower without suffering. Look no further than Arsenal and Man U and Van Persie.
Offkey
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:02 PM
Comment #35He also tweeted about liking the ‘dont sell Cabaye’ chant, Im a bit cynical and it crossed my mind (only for a second) that he may have wanted a ‘dont sell ba’ chant ring round St James to leverage his position……
Ginger
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:09 PM
Comment #36I really don’t get the whole Ba situation, surely this seems to happen every transfer window with his agents linking him to other clubs… So why doesn’t he just fire them and get new ones?
Or am I missing something?
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:12 PM
Comment #37With Ba having a degenerative knee he would be a gamble for any club at 90k a week.
…regardless of what w thinh the club should pay I can understand why Newcastle are hesitant since I cannot see any insurance company wanting to touch him!
And you can’t really say Ba is worth that much just because someone is silly enough to pay the likes of RVP or Tevez huge money; it doesn’t work that way 🙂
ONLINE GUY
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:13 PM
Comment #38Marvo starting last night was the right way to go ..I think he will go well from now on ..He is a very good player.
I wrote over a week ago how he can get into the box and have a pop or draw the foul..causes havoc in the minds of defenders ..It worked well last night .
Also we have another really good player in Anita ..Work rate and skill ..Brilliant player , A great find .
We really need an animal of a centerback in January ..We need the real deal, not potential.
Danny Simpson done a job last night. He was OK, Just done his job the way you would expect ‘
Mike Williamson was all at sea a few times ,,but a slight improvement on the usual game he plays , Pardew has no choice but to play him ,,he is not Prem league standard at all ..Williamson probably actually know this..
Its frightning to watch him on the ball or trying to defend, I tend to look away when he receives the ball or try’s to defend ,he is often rooted to the spot !..Shame really. He is out of his depth..Probably a decent bloke too . We have lost a few/lot of games because of him . Other clubs do their homework and know his limitations ..
I hope he can improve ..Give him a chance ..But ….
Alderwield only please in January ..He is Brilliant ..Reminds me of Colin Todd, he was a world class player.
It will be difficult to sign him though, Champions League and all that ..
Novocastrian66
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:16 PM
Comment #39Ginger. Ba wants it known that he is available. If a substantial pay rise comes his way he will be off, or it is a means of securing a pay rise at Newcastle.
I think Pardew has been very candid on the situation also.
Catchy In Straight Jacket
Dec 4, 2012 at 6:16 PM
Comment #40It would be quite easy to put a clause in there. If Ba’s knee f**** up, we have the option to release him. It’s not going to be cheap to replace him, that’s for sure.