Alan Pardew talked after the game last night, in which Demba Ba got a brace and goes to joint top of the Premier league goal scoring charts, and said the club has been frustrated in its attempts to get Ba signed up to a new contract on Tyneside.
Demba Ba last night – yet another goal
It was frustrating in June and July when that £7M release clause in his contract was activated, and since then Newcastle have done their level best to get him on a new contract, without any release clause in it.
But Newcastle have not been successful so far, and news over the weekend was that his agents have turned down the most recent offer from the Board, and the Tyneside club will not meet his wage demands.
Ba now has 10 Premier League goals this season, and that goes with the 16 he scored last season, so he’s on 26 goals in 52 total appearances for Newcastle since he arrived in June of last year – and that’s not too bad at all.
While talks are on-going for the Senegal striker, it only takes a club to come in during January and meet the £7M release price, and then they can try to negotiate a wage deal with Ba.
That’s not a great position for Newcastle to be in and the Newcastle manager is unhappy that details of negotiations have been made public over the weekend:
“We’ve had to board our training ground up because our team’s been leaked, and details of Demba’s contract have also been leaked since I’ve been here and that’s not acceptable.”
“He still has a clause in his contract and it’s hanging over us. We’ve tried to negotiate it away but haven’t managed yet, but he’s never done anything other than look me in the eye and show me he wants to stay here.”
“He loves it here, and he understands it’s a football city. We’re trying to do a deal to take the clause out because it makes it difficult for me, for Demba and the club.”
No word yet on how bad Ba’s injury is – as he limped off the field after 85 minutes – with what looked like a hamstring strain.
We’re hoping for the best on Ba’s injury and also on his contract.
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4 comments so far
JAMSHA
Dec 4, 2012 at 1:05 AM
Comment #1Ba is fit …. tiote is a dought
Sav
Dec 4, 2012 at 3:52 AM
Comment #2Ba has not looked a happy camper for quite a while. And Cisse didn’t ,look in any hurry to put Ba through on a couple of occasions tonight.
Minato
Dec 4, 2012 at 4:03 AM
Comment #3Saw the same interview and Pards later stated that he pulled Ba off as a precaution. Actually think that the pair (Papiss) has their best game together in a long while. 4-3-3 seems to definitely suit us better, easily our best performance so far in the league (albeit against ten men).
Still think the pair working together is a problem. They just don’t seem to be on the she wavelength. Even though Cisse has hardly hit the ground running I think he is far more suited to the kind of style we played today and was a little unlucky not to be on the scoresheet. I honestly don’t see Demba leaving unless someone pays him 80k plus a week and frankly I don’t think he is worth that.
Might sound strange but aside from his goals I really don’t think he contributes much else. Is a poor target man and uncomfortable when we play a passing game at pace. In the plus side Marv had his best game for us and will hopefully use this performance as a platform. MOTM for me was definitely Anita..I felt the criticism towards him was a little harsh and he has consistently grown in each performance. Easily our best man over the last three and could be just the man to fill in for Cabaye, thought both his defensive play and ability to pick a pass were exceptional today.
So relieved to get this win..tough fixtures coming up and we really needed this to add bit of confidence. Hope this will be a reminder to Pards that a 442 really doesn’t suit us…
Minato
Dec 4, 2012 at 4:12 AM
Comment #4@ 1
Hate to say it but this might not be a bad thing right now. Im a big fan of Cheik but this season so far he’s cost us a few times (and potentially could have been a lot more) with sloppy play bringing the ball out of defence. Lately he’s been taking far too long and has been caught out a few times. Seems to me like a bit of over confidence. Really hope he gets his act together because at his best he’s one of the best defensive midfielders around.