Massadio Haidara has been interviewed by the Newcastle Journal today, and he talks about not seeing any problems at all in the Newcastle squad since he signed on in late January.
Massadio Haidara – made a good start to Newcastle career
The Daily Telegraph famously reported that the squad was in disarray after a number of poor results, but that report was quickly denied by the higher-ups at the club.
And Derek LLambias banned the Daily Telegraph reporters from St. James’ Park until an apology and retraction were received – which hasn’t happened – yet.
But in retrospect it appears the Telegraph report was way off the mark, and the team spirit at Newcastle seems to be as good as it’s ever been, and it would have been tested over those last six games of the season, when we picked up only 5 points, and lost at home to Sunderland, Liverpool and Arsenal and conceded 10 goals in those games. 🙁
Those last six games, after we were eliminated from the Europa League by Benfica, is why Newcastle finished so far down the league table last season.
Massadio says there have been no problems at all since he’s been at Newcastle:
“Obviously when some things aren’t going well people will look to create extra problems where they don’t exist. In my experience since I’ve been here, I haven’t seen a single problem – not among the French players, not among anyone. Quite the contrary, we all speak together.”
“It’s normal that you might stick to speaking to people who speak the same language as you, but that doesn’t mean we don’t speak to other people in the group either. I haven’t seen any single problem – we all get on well together, we all like each other. I think that will continue into the future.”
Massadio played eight times for Newcastle since he joined in January for £2M from Nancy, and that number would have been higher if he ha not picked up a couple of injuries.
But the French U21 International has made it clear he wants to be Newcastle’s left back next season, and he will challenge the incumbent – 22 year-old Italian International Davide Santon – for that position.
At least we’ll see some increased competition for places, especially in defense, and we need that after conceding a massive 68 goals in the Premier League last season.
Massadio has quickly become a big hit with Newcastle fans, and his attitude and temperament seem first class – he’s simply a smashing lad.
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216 comments so far
Indian Magpie
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:42 AM
Comment #1Does he know who Alan Pardew is?
G
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Comment #2I’m loving this guy. Hope to see more of him play next season, preferably without the iffy challenges.
marc
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:46 AM
Comment #3i think Bent is a good finisher just dont think he fits our current crop of players
think when he had downing and young feeding him he scored alot of goal for Villa so if we go out and buy two out and out wingers which wont happen then i would say sign him up
Tommyy
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:50 AM
Comment #4Sod Bent, although I heard the reason he hasn’t been playing is due to messing around with Lamberts daughter?
Tommyy
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:51 AM
Comment #5In which case him and Pardew should get on like a house on fire.
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Comment #6We are after Darren Bent….what has this club come to
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:53 AM
Comment #7bent would be good for a couple of years at newcastle…he’s a proven goalscorer and we’re very lightweight in that particular department…15 goals almost a certainty from him alone irrespective of the fact he’s played for the great unwashed.
just look at his record…nearly a goal every other game…you’d have to pay over 12 million for that record anywhere else so why not take the chance?
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Comment #8Gorgon
Ashley, Llambias, Pardew, Wonga – it’s a truly depressing state of affairs. SBR would be turning in his grave.
Of course we are not powerless to change things as we could vote with our feet but sadly people would still turn up to watch 11 black and white dogs and that’s what this regime counts on.
marc
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Comment #9whats this JOEL OBI guy like? (inter milan)
seen that we are linked to him now
TOON4LIFE195
Jun 12, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Comment #10This lads got a fantastic attitude hope he carry’s it forward to be fair i’d play him in defence and move Santon further up on the wing he loves to bomb forward has a good shot on him but struggles to recover back to his position after his run leave him up let Haidara stay at the back.
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:02 AM
Comment #11Rotonda
true indeed…. I am amazed that no rich hungry arab came in and bought us. Its just strange sure we are not based in London. But if Man City can do it why cant we. They are puny and are now massive.
We are massive with puny results, puny manager, puny management, puny mentality.
It hurts like hell seeing us not tying one transfer or not being strongly linkes with anybody in particular.
It starting to look, like I said starting to look like last summer again. I dunno, its amazing how last year that summer window was crucial for us to re established ourselves as a top team.
We didn’t we slumped to a new low. This transfer window we will have to pull things out of the rabbit hats, so far no strong sign of anything but a current bid for Darren effin Bent.
Ola going to Norwich sad but true. Why would he come to play under Pardew no tactics poor football.
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:03 AM
Comment #12he’s supposed to be a very promising kid but he’s been injured all year…no-one really knows how fit he is…a bit like when we bought hatem…could get him on the cheap and make a lot of money if he turns out to be ok…
JAMSHA
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:04 AM
Comment #13we need players…… anyways off to hospital.. hope i wont need a surgery….
VanToonMan
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:06 AM
Comment #14Manchester United have set the fee required for Nani at £8.5 million. Anyone else think that we should try and go for him….let Mike and Derek do some negotiating and maybe snap him up at around £7million. – I would definitely take Nani as a Jonas replacement – what does everyone else think???
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:08 AM
Comment #15gorgonzola…u hit the nail right on the head…last year we had the opportunity to attract just about anyone having finished 5th in the league and subsequently bought no-one…this year fifth bottom with a manager that’s been found out and no-one will want to come…sad but true…and players will want to leave because they have lost faith in Pardew so a double whammy.
Mt gut feeling tells me we’ll end up being disappointed this summer
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Comment #16Van toon man…I’ve been banging on about buying Nani for weeks now…i think he’d be great
G
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Comment #17@13 Nani looks limited, lazy and incosistent in a Manyoo shirt, however, asside from 4 or 5 clubs (which includes Manyoo) he would probably be the star man. Its just unfortunate for him that the measure of a midfielder has been set for years by the likes of Giggs and Scholes. Personally, I wouldn’t want him because he never tracks back, and starts walking when they lose posession, and if Fergy cant shout a work ethic into him, Pardew would have no chance.
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Comment #18Van Toon man potentially a new Obertan. he is not Jonas as Jonas can track back. But Jonas is Pardews favourite. No point to even look at a LW wont happen.
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:11 AM
Comment #19Gorgon
The very strong rumour was the guys who own city approached us first and offered Ashley 200M but he was asking 800M!!! The rest as they say is history.
Sometimes I do think we are really cursed, like now when have a great squad but the manager is the pal of someone whose casino went bust! Hardly the people you want running your club. As someone said it’s like running a Ferrarri on chip fat.
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Comment #20People really seem to wear some incredibly rose tinted glasses when it comes to our previous owner!
Shepherd:
– slagged off Geordies in the NotW expose
– was involved with getting rid of Keegan first time
– was responsible for sacking Bobby Robson!
– sank the club into ridiculous amounts of debt
– hired a series of crap managers who messed up our team
– embarrassed our club repeatedly with stupid statements
Do you realise that we’ve finished in the bottom half of the Premier League more often than we’ve finished in the top half? The only times we’ve got top 5 were in the Keegan era (albeit once under Dogleash), Robson’s era and once under Pardew. The only other manager to get us into the top half was Roeder!
dbpjake
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Comment #21Man U want £8.5m for Nani.
Surely worth a pop?
TOON4LIFE195
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Comment #22Sparky55 Nani’s wage demands would be the stumbling block Cashley won’t pay anything like the wage he gets now
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:14 AM
Comment #23Sparky
sounds about right… sadly
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:15 AM
Comment #24gorgonzola – it’s June the 12th man! The transfer window is open until August the 31st!
Many players and managers are on holiday at the moment, quite a few players are away for internationals too.
The negativity astounds me. We know that we brought a couple of signings forward to try and stay in the PL, and many of the transfers that have already been confirmed will have been sorted out weeks or months ago. We could hardly have been signing players when we didn’t know what league we’d be in next season!
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:16 AM
Comment #25Sparky 55
Pardew would have been found out at some stage regardless of new players. He always is.
The key phrase there is ” FOUND OUT ” so I’m not sure how exactly we are meant to progress under someone who considers Europe a burden rather than a pleasure.
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:18 AM
Comment #26TDS…rather watch decent football and be skint than watch dross and have millions in the bank…at least shepard was a fan/supporter whereas Ashley supports chelsea / tottenham.
Whats the point in an owner who doesn’t even support the club he owns for fux sake.
Roose Trollton
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:18 AM
Comment #27Nani would be a good signing for that price. But tbh more attractive teams will be in for him no doubt. I imagine theres better value wingers kicking around as well.
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:19 AM
Comment #28sparky55 – no, we couldn’t have attracted just about anyone last season. We may remember that many of us fans wanted to look at our club as if it had rejoined the big time, but any neutral would know that wasn’t the case. Last summer, there’s no doubt that we should have signed some players (the January signings would have been nice) but we were (and still are) limited on our transfer fees and wages that we can offer.
If the players have lost confidence in Pardew, then we’ll definitely hear about it and they will start to leave. But why didn’t that happen last Summer? Or in January? It’s almost certainly because it’s complete rubbish.
If Pardew has lost the dressing room then he will be sacked. That hasn’t happened so the indications are that he still has their full support.
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Comment #29Ashley in some ways is a great owner, but has just surrounded himself with his incompetent and inadequate ” jobs for the boys” pals instead of appointing a proper footballing chairman and a top line manager.
Whatever Ash does though can not overshadow the disaster that was Freddie Shepherd.
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Comment #30Rotonda,
really thats what transpired? Damn h8 Ashley even more now. He will suffocate us. Damn…. Wonga Llambias Ashley Pardew magical circle of quadrupled suffocating daemons.
I said this before, if HBA and Cabaye leaves I hope fans dont slag them and understand exactly as to why they left. Both of them came here because they WANTED TO. The club has suffocated them Pardew and co have no vision as to how to play their style of football. I dont know way i see it BA left we started to play ultra poor. Couple of games lasy year we where kings of turf ball now we have Cissoko as a CAM, Cisse isolated, Marveaux benched, Anita benched.
From the little I have seen Marveaux has enormous potential and is a great little player.
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:22 AM
Comment #31sparky55 – most owners don’t support their club before they buy them. And how many billionaire Geordies do you know?
Shepherd didn’t just make the club skint, he created the debt and made it tough for us to make signings in future unless we got in the CL every season.
Sure, I’d love to see us play exciting football again, and if we have Ben Arfa, Cabaye etc. fit for most of next season then I think we will.
Our most creative players were injured all too often last season.
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:23 AM
Comment #32Rotonda…not long now mate…this season is the beginning of the end as far as Pardew is concerned…and I get the feeling for Ashley too…I think he’s ready to sell now…the club has got a good income stream from SKY, from Wonga and 50,000 loyal fans…it’s a club on a few peoples radar…it’s all about Ashley negotiating the price that’s all.
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:25 AM
Comment #33Rotonda – we couldn’t attract a “top line manager” unless we also gave them a massive budget. All this talk of Benitez and the like has been ridiculous. And how do we get a “proper footballing chairman”? Of course he’s going to go for someone that he knows and trusts.
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:26 AM
Comment #34When your top scorer, captain and best player all publically state their unhappiness at tactics, along with Anita and Marveaux being constantly overlooked, coupled with the manner of our performances and where we finished, I would say that’s a pretty lost dressing room. The season finished only just in time for Pardew
Of course the Tiote’s, Jonas’, Perch’s etc won’t rock the boat as they are Pardew workaday type players who wouldn’t get a game elsewhere. Tevez and Mascherano anyone.
lesh
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:27 AM
Comment #35By golly, Massadio’s English has improved after his hols in the US!
gorgonzola ( former Pecorino former to gorgonzola)
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:28 AM
Comment #36The negativity sir/sirs
is because Pardew has evident tactical problems and he benches players that are in form. We are playing hoof ball that reminds me of Stoke and co.
We where NEVER really good at it quite honestly even with Carroll here. I just dont understand it. Many players this seasons form has dipped. Many players have gotten struck with Injuries and injuries that they got cause they where brought to soon i.e. HBA. Just pathetic and poor quite honestly.
The fitness team is of a school level, results are there on the board one cant hide that. To me sure its early days we should be clawing our way at players left right and centre. Look for all I know that is happening but from the proof of years gone by this smells like another last year.
You dont change overnight and winder purchases in January where a bit of a desperate call, logically so as we where in danger of going down. Why was that not done in August and more importantly why where no real high quality signings brought in? No offense to Gouffy and the rest.
Slank
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:29 AM
Comment #37gorgonzola @ 10
‘….It hurts like hell seeing us not tying one transfer….’
I’ve noticed like you that every year we tend to never buy anybody before the transfer window opens and after it closes we just seem to give up trying. Pathetic.
sparky55
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Comment #38TDS…you are strong advocate of pardew and i have no problem with that but your opinion is not the only one that counts and your argument at 26 is well flawed.
There was no drerssing room unrest after we finished 5th…why would there be…but there’s certainly some now after finishing fifth bottom.
IMO we could have gotten just about anyone we sensibly fancied after finishing fifth because we were on a major high and our stock was high…but now it’s a completely different scenario and pardew has proven yet again he’s a one season wonder…just like with every other club he’s managed.
So rubbish in your opinion but certainly not mine and watch this space…three existing purples will leave this summer and all because they hate playing the way Pardew wants them to play.
Argue all you like…it’s gonna happen so look forward to your Pardew defence statements at the beginning of the season…in the meanwhile don’t really want to get into an argument with you because been there done that…sharpen your wit and pencil for August so we can talk about fact rather than supposition.
ToonDarnSarf
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:32 AM
Comment #39Rotonda – they didn’t state their unhappiness at tactics in the way you put it! I bet I could find an article about a Utd player disappointed that they didn’t keep possession or kept playing long balls, but that’s not an indictment of SAF’s tactics!
The new signings need a pre-season with the squad, it’s too much to add 4/5 starters in January and expect them to gel with the style of play. Ben Arfa and Cabaye were injured, half fit or off form for most of the season so our creativity was stifled.
You’re not in a position to say that the dressing room has been lost, and you’re looking at the wrong evidence to find out if it is or not.
– no major players have left since Carroll (NUFC’s choice)
– Pardew is still in a job for next season
– we signed some top players in January (with a little help from current players)
Rotonda heights
Jun 12, 2013 at 11:33 AM
Comment #40We could certainly get someone with a bit more pedigree like Blanc, Garcia, Van Gaal, Rikjeard all of whom were available, or do what Swansea and Southampton do and get up and coming managers like a Solksjaer or Poyet. No one’s CV is as poor as Pardew’s to get a job at a big club.
Why invest millions in a club if you are only going to appoint 3rd rate people.