Yeah, it's all gone quiet on Obertan, can't say I'm in the least bothered. When Marveaux makes his recovery I think Pardew will be hard pressed to play Obertan, especially with Ferguson becoming a more viable winger alternative than Obertan
Oh, I'm not bothered/concerned by Obertan's absence - don't get me wrong. It's just interesting to see how Pardew is handling it, I suppose.
IIRC Obertan first left the first-team picture due to injury, but Pardew tried to re-integrate him thereafter. I think then Pardew left him out for poor performances, and since then we've heard of niggling injuries here and there, but I'm not sure.
My hope is that, behind closed doors, Pardew has been very stern with him and told him to stop being a passenger on the pitch and to develop some confidence if he wants to be a part-of first team football - which is the official reason Gabriel gave for why he came here. To get minutes. You'd think it'd be sufficient motivation.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I imagine it would be pretty difficult to develop confidence when your own fans groan if you don't cross the ball first time, berate you every time you lose the ball and cheer when you leave the field.
Still, the fans were right about Perch (and numerous others in the past....), so maybe they should carry on like this.