Mehdi Abeid joined Newcastle almost three years ago, and he came well recommended and started his Newcastle career so well in that first summer, that he forced his way onto the American tour with players like James Perch not making the trip.
Mehdi Abeid – playing well in Greece
Mehdi is on a season long loan at Greek side Panathinaikos, after he went on loan to St. Johnston last season, and it seems the regular first team games are improving the 21 year-old, who has been getting excellent reports for his play in Greece.
While at St. Johnstone, Mehdi played 13 games, and while on loan this season he has played 22 times and scored 5 goals for Panathinaikos, who have been Greek Champions a total of 20 times, the last time being in 2010, and they were one of the founding members of the Greek Super League 55 years ago.
The Algerian has 4 caps at the U23 level (for Algeria) and played for the French U16, U17 and U18 sides before he arrived on Tyneside on a free transfer from Lens in the summer of 2011.
The Chronicle is reporting the Greek side would love to keep him on a permanent basis, but they cannot afford the transfer fee – and in fact they cannot afford a lot more important things than signing new players, such is their very poor financial state.
This is what Mehdi himself has said: about the situation
“I feel perfectly fine here. I want to continue my adventure with Panathinaikos, but as everyone knows, the decision is not mine.” “The Directors of Pana will negotiate with Newcastle to redeem my contract.”
Mehdi signed a five year deal with Newcastle when he joined us, so there is still almost two and a half years left on his contract – but if Mehdi has done so well in Greece this season, surely Newcastle will want to take a look at him in pre-season, and see how well he has progressed.
Mehdi Abeid – in Panathinaikos colors
After all Mehdi doesn’t turn 22 until August, and maybe he can still make it on Tyneside – especially since the word on him in Greece is that his work-rate, passing and intelligent play have made him extremely popular with the fans.
But Greek clubs reflect the state of the Greek economy, and to put it bluntly – they are skint – and can hardly afford any transfer fees in these times of severe economic hardship.
But if Mehdi has done that well, he surely deserves a chance to show what he can do for Newcastle in pre-season, and that’s especially true because his work-rate is high, and that should please manager Alan Pardew.
It will be good to see how far the 21 year-old has progressed when pre-season starts in early July – we hope he’s come on in leaps and bounds. 😀
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
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230 comments so far
Transfer Sage
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:49 PM
Comment #1can imagine, seeing as we will need 6/7 players in the summer he will be counted as one of them and we’ll be told he’s like a new signing.
mindshaft
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:50 PM
Comment #2Well hopefully one of our loanees will come back improved as it looks like Cambell, Vuckic etc have found their level in the sweaty sock leagues / League 2 – Fergie can’t even get a game at Brum so Cashley will get nee cash for that lot
toonarmydownsouth
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:52 PM
Comment #3Toonarmydownsouth
0 mins ago
Mindshaft
7 mins ago
@TDS think you’ll find NUFC make a fairly large cash donation as well as offering full support – government cuts have cut charitable grants hugely this year and that is what they’ll need to make up in charitable donations ( of which toon contribute)
I get they make a donation, my point is why is it a charity carrying out the work rather than the club it’s self?
Both seem to do very little tbf and government cuts certainly haven’t factored in to many other clubs community programmes
toonarmydownsouth
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:54 PM
Comment #4He may well be a better player but it sounds like he’s already got one foot out the exit door
Be about right, one of our loanee’s actually look half decent and there scrabbling for the exit!
Ciaran
Feb 19, 2014 at 1:57 PM
Comment #5Scitoon from previous thread
Why should investment for non-league clubs, grass-roots football and women’s football be mutually exclusive? Newcastle United is a multi-million pound club and the relative budgets of these clubs/areas for development are minuscule in comparison so surely NUFC could afford some form of investment to improve women’s football AND non-league development?
toonarmydownsouth
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:08 PM
Comment #6Ciaran
This is where the Ashley sponsorship argument comes in, mainly because except Wonga, we don’t have one
Sponsors usually back the clubs massively with community projects
Where as we pay our sponsor………
toonarmydownsouth
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:49 PM
Comment #7http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/02/19/manchester-city-and-newcastle-join-richairo-zivkovic-suitors-list/128262/
lesh
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:50 PM
Comment #8The Chronicle is reporting the Greek side would love to keep him on a permanent basis, but they cannot afford the transfer fee – and in fact they cannot afford a lot more important things than signing new players, such is their very poor financial state.
Whereas we are blessed with an owner who could afford transfer fees but won’t!
What a plight we’re in and the sooner Ciaran and his chums can find a buyer who’s committed to developing the club, the better. Ciaran, is t4c made any progress in that direction yet? any thoughts on engineering some international media coverage saying that Toon supporters would love to talk to a credible, potential buyer (s) to show them just how much the club means to its fans.
Or better still, talk to Ashley….. in a constructive manner naturally.
STB
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:51 PM
Comment #9On the Women’s team, either the club should not let them carry the name or they should give a bit of investment. Positive marketing as a family and women friendly club for a small investment.
As the current lot are pretty hopeless, if I were a 1st team player on well over £20 k per week, you would think i could at least sponsor MY female counterpart for a few £k per year ?
Rotonda heights
Feb 19, 2014 at 2:58 PM
Comment #10yes come back abeid and be developed by pardew!!!
mattnufc
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:04 PM
Comment #11Pardew, Carver and Stone couldn’t develop their disposable cameras..
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:05 PM
Comment #12Tads
Citeh or NUFC eh?……. Thats a tough one! 😀
cestriasteve
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:05 PM
Comment #13We should take a look at how Konstantinos Mitroglou plays for Fulham before they go down, I reckon he could be a top Prem player.
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:06 PM
Comment #14Mattnufc
I dont know how to develop a disposable camera either, thats why photo shops exist 😉
Laurent Robert 32
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:16 PM
Comment #15No surprise that Mehdi was one of the youngsters slaughteted publically by Mr. Pardew as not good enough yet it is now getting praise when he’s in another team.
Funny how he excels when he’s elsewhere and has been given a chance. Probably better coaching other than just contain, contain, contain, means his skills can be utilised to a lot better effect.
Of course Pardew put Campbell on and made him what looked like a wide defensive midfield player. That’s nothing new. Ask Tevez and Cisse.
I’m sure Abeid could be a good player for the rest of his career. He won’t find much development here though.
Laurent Robert 32
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:18 PM
Comment #16*Slaughtered (typing on the phone with the lag makes my typing prone to errors. Sorry)
mattnufc
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:21 PM
Comment #17@ Markaccus
Hahah, I mean they couldn’t find the photoshop.. I’m a failure.
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:22 PM
Comment #18LR32
I have trouble on my phones touch screen keypad, but its
More to do with big fingers 😀
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:29 PM
Comment #19Matt
just not good enough mate. Have a word with yourself. Must do better 😀
toon kk
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:29 PM
Comment #20The summer transfer window will test Mash, if he sticks to his tight transfer policy, which he probably will we will be relegated come the end of next season.
Our better player’s will want away and who can blame them? The rest are better suited to the championship.
I’m really p….d off with this joke of a club just pleased I didn’t waste my money on a season ticket.
Laurent Robert 32
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:32 PM
Comment #21Mark, this is a big Galaxy Note so it’s a good size. It’s just annoying with some of the little lags and things. More so than the thumbs angle. It’s a bit fiddley to move the cursor to correct a couple of things.
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:37 PM
Comment #22LR32
Im on a galaxy s3 phone. It must be a samsung thing. This site seems very laggy today.
Markaccus
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:44 PM
Comment #23Blog has died. I know what the problem is…… no arguments!
Everyone is a Bast*rd! 😀
hibbit
Feb 19, 2014 at 3:47 PM
Comment #24ashley wont have mugs running sd top top people who make it one of top retailers in the world he buys nufc and look what happens either a mug at the top or nobody why ??
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:12 PM
Comment #25Pardew is a tactical genius who takes our flair players to a new level!
…Benny and Marv were never going to go places anyway…that is why we bought them and clubs like Liverpool have been interested in them!
catchy in norway
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:22 PM
Comment #26Jesper
I hear Milan only want HBA because he is the best defensive AMC /RW in the prem
there not worried about what he can create , only that he helps the RB out
Laurent Robert 32
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:25 PM
Comment #27Marveaux had the medical issue with his groin which is why Liverpool didn’t persue the deal wasn’t it?
I like his technique on the ball and how comfortable he is in making short accurate passes. He’s quite subtle. Doesn’t need to launch long cross field passes, just tries to play neat football. Similar to the type of passing Swansea have done in recent years. A bit like Anita, but with a lot more vision for a final ball.
As I’ve said this morning, I think he has some very worthwhile plus points to his style and I would want to tap into that productivity, not dismiss him because his defending isn’t very good.
Attacking is defending…
beermonkey
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:25 PM
Comment #28before any of our loan players are thrust back into the first team they all play at regular onloan to at least top 10 championship teams,
to be honest I cant see pards playing any of them
he did it with fergurson bought him in he did ok got some assists then gone, why he did more than Jonas in 3sub appearance than Jonas in a season
now we got remy goofy back it will be bye bye Sammy
if any of our youngsters have any desire to do well there better of seeking pastures new,
its a real shame ok it would be nice if we could develop world class players but what we need is for it to develop a good standard of squad player
this by far the worst club to support even my mates that are man u supporters are having a better time at least they know there goin to address there problems in the summer
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:29 PM
Comment #29I’m still having trouble understanding the shocking form at home recently. Are we really that bad? If so it’s fortunate we have 37 points already. The collapse against Sunderland was the worst of it of course but we’ve been poor in many games at home this season. I still remember the loss to Hull for example. A failure to recognize underperforming players by Pardew is definitely part of it.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:37 PM
Comment #30I think we only have 5 wins at home so far this season. With only 6 home games remaining our record is going to be shocking. Possibly only 8 or 9 wins at home out of 19 games! Poor to say the least. How to explain it? Poor tactics, lack of depth, underperforming players, I think we’ve had a bit of everything.
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:38 PM
Comment #31Catchy…yeah what were we thinking signing him?
…we all know Pardew knows best right!
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:47 PM
Comment #32All the talk about Woman’s Football brings back some memories for me Strange with the Villa game coming up
My EX girlfriend was Captain of the Aston Villa Ladies team back in the early 80’s late 70’s her name ?….
Victoria Day ..I still have pictures of her in her strip
A few years after ..I had not seen her for some time, she turned up on Coronation street as a belly dancer !
beermonkey
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:51 PM
Comment #33onlineguy
is that ur claim to fame
wolfshead@toon
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:52 PM
Comment #34geordie
what do you think of old wooden sailing ships mate? ron swanson says they are beautiful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6c7Vw6R33E 🙂
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:54 PM
Comment #35Does our squad have a belly dancing coach? Possibly that’s what we’ve been missing all along?
Laurent Robert 32
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:56 PM
Comment #36Online, that’s quite a career change.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 4:58 PM
Comment #37Ron is a manly man wolfie mate. Look at that moustache. Beautiful. Old wooden ships? Yes. Danes? Yes Very manly. Stud Muffins? Of course. Have I missed anything?
mindshaft
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:03 PM
Comment #38“On 18 June 2011, Marveaux agreed and signed a five-year deal with Premier League club Newcastle United. He had reportedly been very close to joining Liverpool under the management of Kenny Dalglish. Marveaux rubbished claims he failed a medical at Anfield, confirming he could not agree terms”
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:03 PM
Comment #39Beer monkey,,naaa. I know some canny people past and present…She is a great lass mind.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:05 PM
Comment #40A belly dancing coach could make us very slinky and difficult to tackle. We could go serpentine much more often. Dazzling footwork, Turkish nipple armour. That’s clearly what we’ve been missing. I’ll pass that on to Alan straight away.