It was a cruel blow to both Newcastle United and French whiz kid Hatem Ben Arfa, when the 23 year-old broke his leg in two places, playing against Man City in his 4th appearance for the Tyneside side,  in early October.

Ben Arfa – let’s make sure we keep supporting this player

Newcastle have given no time-frame for when Ben Arfa will be back, but the surgeon has said the Frenchman can make a 100% recovery – and that was certainly great to hear.

It’s very hard when you are out for long periods recovering from injury, and on a personal note I broke my left leg in two places (tibia and fibula – straight through) playing for England Universities in goal, against the England Amateur team at Hillsborough, way back when I was in my early 20s.

I remember hearing a huge crack around the stadium and I was stunned, and when I fell I remember vividly that my lower left leg was swinging – and when I landed on the ground the lower left leg was almost at right angles to the rest of the leg – oh my!

It’s a moment I’ll never forget, and 17 weeks later I got my full leg cast up to the thigh, finally removed.

Whoops, but this is not meant to be about me, and the point is that Ben Arfa will be finding  it very difficult in his recovery, whether he admits it or not.

As Ben Arfa gets back to full fitness, we want to ensure the boy knows we are thinking of him during his recovery, and are following  his progress.

And it seems that Ben Arfa has not been around St. James’ Park recently, as manager Chris Hughton said today:

“We haven’t seen him at the training ground because he is still very much in the early part of his rehabilitation, but I’ve spoken to him and he is in good spirits.”

“It is obviously hard for him, a long injury lay-off is always frustrating, but we are happy with how things are going.”

“There haven’t been any additional complications since he had the operation to repair the leg which is a positive for him and us, and as far as I am aware everything is going well. He is on schedule with everything so far.”

The purpose here is to encourage those readers who want to – to send messages of encouragement and support to the French International – and let him know we are looking forward to seeing him back in black and white stripes again – and cannot wait for him to return to the freezing North East!

We’ll do this periodically over the next few  months, so he’s not forgotten,  and who knows, he may even be back sooner than we expect, although early March was the time period that was mentioned for his return.

The best way to leave a message for Ben Arfa is probably via the contact us section of the Newcastle United web-site – which is HERE.

Thanks for supporting one of our best players. 😀