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
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:06 PM
Comment #41What about tassles? Does the kit need tassles? I think so. Oh yes I think so.
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:07 PM
Comment #42Laurent
She was an amazing belly dancer !..She don’t look like your typical misconception of a lady footballer..
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:07 PM
Comment #43Has anybody got a good belly dancing song we can play at the ground before games? Essential in my opinion. Harrumph.
mindshaft
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:08 PM
Comment #44Yup – our home form has been awful this season
West Ham 0-0
Hull City 2-3
Liverpool 2-2
Southampton 2-2
Arsenal 0-1
Citeh 0-2
Mackems 0- I can’t type it
Spuds 0-4
We should only be expecting to drop points against probably Arse and Citeh although if we’d played Arse earlier in the season I reckon we would have managed a draw, Pards and the team have gone to sleep since we reached 34 points
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:14 PM
Comment #45Agreed mindshaft. Another disastrous window to boot. An owner who is completely out of touch. Hires Kinnear, lets him do nothing for 6 or 8 months, then gets rid of him. Watches the team fall apart but does nothing else because we are sitting on 37 points.
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:15 PM
Comment #46Couple of Tassels on HBA and he’d fly down the wing.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:16 PM
Comment #47Remember the old adage “there can be no substitute for fine tassles”. Need I say more?
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:16 PM
Comment #48Beautiful online guy. Beautiful.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:18 PM
Comment #49Headgear people? Do we need headgear with fine tassles? Pause and reflect.
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:19 PM
Comment #50Can we get a Harrumph! for Ron Swanson
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:19 PM
Comment #51Wolfie
David Crosby’s wooden ship is up for sale ..check it out. There are some high resolution pics from a vendor in
Santa Barbara
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:19 PM
Comment #52Harrumph!
John Tudor
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:19 PM
Comment #53what about a gimp mask for Pardew
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:24 PM
Comment #54We can always get a Harumph for Ron Swanson. Beautiful.
wolfshead@toon
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:25 PM
Comment #55online
oh yeh a schooner looks amazing didnt realise hes 72!
stuart no9
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:26 PM
Comment #56i,m a big KKfan . Always have been – and will be. Keegan must shake his head in bewilderment when he watches the likes of Benny trying to defend , which, ok he cant and wont , what would Keegan have done with him? he would have done exactly what he done with ginola and robert.Them 2 couldnt defend for toffee, so he didnt make them , he got defenders it to do that, he got wingers to play on the wing , and he got midfielders to play in midfield. His philosophy was to play his players where they were going to cause damage- drop grenades all over the pitch , as he would say . Simple , however, so bloody effective . So there you go pards- take a tip from the King .
wolfshead@toon
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:27 PM
Comment #57jesper
im watching the new series on bbc4 i say new its series 3 were a bit behind haha
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:27 PM
Comment #58Well I’ve paused and reflected. We do need headgear with fine tassles. And sequins. We need a lot of sequins. Especially Pards. Headgear, tassles, nipple armour, sequins and a huge SD hoarding strapped to his back. Why hasn’t Mike thought of this already?
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:27 PM
Comment #59Belly dancing tune for team to run out to .
Goodness gracious how audacious goodness gracious me Boom biddy boom biddy boo etc..Oh Pardew we’r in trouble
Visions of Tiote in full belly dancing outfit …shaking it down ..then getting booked..
Finally lost it ..I’ll get me coat ……..
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:29 PM
Comment #60In fact let’s just get rid of Pardew, nipple armour and all and hire Ron Swanson as our new manager. No half measures I say. Huzzah.
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:29 PM
Comment #61Ref gives Tiote red card for wearing stilleto’s
John Tudor
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:30 PM
Comment #62and sussies may give the p-layers a lift they need
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:31 PM
Comment #63No we finally lost it against Sunderland online mate. The lads should dress to suit their performances.
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:32 PM
Comment #64Wolfs…it is very good right?
…I got Ibiza hooked as well 😉 I also got him hooked on It’s Always Sunny… And Community!
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:34 PM
Comment #65wolfie , His voice is still there ..amazing bloke .I see him as father of the woodstock/hippie era
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:34 PM
Comment #66I like your thinking by the way online guy. You would make a good PR man for the club. You’re very progressive like me and several others on here. The way forward is clearly through satire and ridicule of the owner. He deserves nothing less. 🙂
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:35 PM
Comment #67“Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”
Ron Swsnson!
…and the mantra by which Pardew coach!
AaranD
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:37 PM
Comment #68Parks and Rec… classic Ron 😀
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:38 PM
Comment #69When Jack Charlton was gaffa I half expected the team to run out in Barbour jackets and waders waving fly rod’s about …Used to talk to Jack a lot . usually.first thing he said to you was Yi got any Fook*ng tabs ? ! Love him.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:38 PM
Comment #70Could we possibly get Mike to lead the belly dancing? He definitely has the moobs for it. It would be the most useful thing he’s done for the club in ages. A dancing buffoon. Beautiful.
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:40 PM
Comment #71“When people get a little too chummy with me I like to call them by the wrong name to let them know I don’t really care about them.”
Ron Swanson!
…and the mantra by which Kinnear live
mindcompressor
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:41 PM
Comment #72i think it is good idea to let him try once again… it is easy to say to let young guys play however, it is worth to risk. maybe we got more talents, hidden diamond than we think… it s much better to invest in training grounds, academy, etc. than buy players who doesn’t care about NUFC and treat us like springboard to other clubs in PL…
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:42 PM
Comment #73Geordie
Call me tricky.
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:43 PM
Comment #74“The less I know about other people’s affairs, the happier I am. I’m not interested in caring about people. I once worked with a guy for three years and never learned his name. Best friend I ever had. We still never talk sometimes”
Ron Swanson!
…and the mantra by which Mike runs Newcastle!
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:46 PM
Comment #75Young home grown players can only be a small contributor to teams in the Prem now unfortunately mindcompressor. The money is there to invest and other clubs are scouting all over the world. Our owner is completely out of it. We can’t compete with our miniscule scouting group. We only watch a few European countries. Not nearly good enough now. And we won’t spend anyway. Home growns will only contribute one or two players to the senior team at any time.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:47 PM
Comment #76Say no more tricky. I understand completely (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).
ONLINE GUY
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:51 PM
Comment #77Geordie
Talking about good Pa .have you noticed how the press always pick the biggest fattest triple chinned picture of Ashley and publish it ..any attempt by the club at good PA is undone in an instant ..
Christ, the clubs in a pickle now ..Banning the press .. I don’t think it will make the press think twice about printing sh*ite about us ..saying that they have done it for eon’s now true or untrue ..Perhaps they will think about it more in the future ..we have been scapegoat’s and made a laughing stock by the neg stuff past and present ..It makes other clubs fans feel good and they all join in ..bit like the mentality on here at times .
Thump
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:52 PM
Comment #78I’ve just seen Wor Alan going into Ann Summers on Grainger Street with money falling out of his trenchcoat.
I think Online Guy might have started something here.
GeordieTwo
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:53 PM
Comment #79We can break the team’s problems down to a few key areas. Each of them deserves careful attention.
1. Ownership. Ours is poor bordering on criminal negligence. How to tackle this problem as supporters? Can anything effective be done. We should discuss this more.
2. Management and coaches. Are they good enough? The question is good enough for what? The current owner wants mediocrity but are they even good enough to achieve that consistently? And what kind of goal is that anyway?
3. Players. Have we recruited well? Has the owner really improved the reserve and junior teams? If not what are the key problems? Is it the coaching, the recruitment? Big issues here I would think if we look at the last few seasons.
Thump
Feb 19, 2014 at 5:54 PM
Comment #80@Online: In fairness, he doesn’t exactly make it difficult for them.