Habib Beye signs for Aston Villa, fee undisclosed

[Thespence]

Who was SBR Rb? Hughes?

 

Hughes & Griff. Hughes did get moved round a fair bit as well, all that time searching for the centre half that was going to sort out the defence & the answer may of been pairing Hughes with Shitus Shambles in the middle.

I always liked Hughes for some reason, always thought he was a good honest player, who did a job wherever he played in defence. Might just be rose-tinted because of the stories about Martins.

 

Selling him for £1 million seems mental now with hindsight.

[Wullie]

Hughes has been a mainstay in a very solid Fulham defence this season. Said at the time that selling Zico was a rick.

[tmonkey]

Decent defender who could play anywhere across the back four.

 

We've had to put up with unbelievably shit defenders in various positions since he left, most of them costing at least double what we got for him. Fucking ridiculous decision to sell, but then that's the sort of decision made by managers like Graeme Souness.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Hughes has been a mainstay in a very solid Fulham defence this season. Said at the time that selling Zico was a rick.

 

;D

[ChrisMcQuillan]

"We have a challenge ahead in the next six games and if we can get 18 points that would be perfect."

 

No kidding, Habib.

[Greg]

"We have a challenge ahead in the next six games and if we can get 18 points that would be perfect."

 

No kidding, Habib.

 

Where did he say that?

[Thespence]

"We have a challenge ahead in the next six games and if we can get 18 points that would be perfect."

 

No kidding, Habib.

 

Where did he say that?

 

In the Telegraph

[TaylorJ_01]

I thought he said 12 from the next 18. Probably misquoted, but if not I like his optimism.

[Skirge]

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10278~1628104,00.html

Seb Can Be Toon Leader - Habib

By Craig Hope

 

HAVING taken young defender Sebastien Bassong under his wing during his maiden year on Tyneside, Habib Beye believes that the Frenchman will go on to become a "big leader" in the Newcastle United side.

[tmonkey]

Think everyone knows/agrees that Beye is a decent to good defender, but as he's technically playing out of position, it's simply worth noting that this was yet another convincing performance at centreback (imo). Personally, I'm sold on him being a centreback full time, he just slots in so nicely alongside either Bassong or Taylor, and given how we've struggled to find an experienced, reliable player for that position down the years, moving him across seems to be a perfectly natural and logical decision. Would also allow us to cash in on Coloccini and use the proceeds to buy a decent right back.

 

It's also nice to finally have a no-nonsense defender in the middle, especially when our current options, Bassong, Coloccini and Taylor, are all far from reliable when it comes to not giving away cheap fouls, loose balls or getting caught in possession. If Beye's under pressure, he'll lump it, if there's any danger, he'll clear it for a throw, if there's noone to pass to, it's goes back straight to the keeper. Everyone makes mistakes no doubt, but he's someone who you don't see giving away a cheap goal because of a bad decision.

 

Will be interesting to see what happens if/when we do stay up. Do we:

 

1) Keep Beye at centreback and sign a specialist right back (easiest option imo, with the most reliable defender in the squad playing in a key position), or

2) Sign another centreback/rely on Taylor/Coloccini and move Beye back to the right (harder option as we're relying on someone else to "come good" in the most important defensive position)?

 

Tough call.

[Guest optimistic nit]

tbh i fancy keeping our defenders in their most played positions. taylor may have made some howlers and colo has been hit and miss (some very big misses) this season but when you consider the work that needs to be done to the other 6 members of the team i dont think we need to mess too much with it. all our defensive options (apart from ryan taylor) are good enough for next season. we'll still need to sign another fullback or two if we can afford to after signing 2 new cm's, a right winger and 2 strikers.

[samag]

All good teams  build from the back,our defence still needs some sorting out just  as the midfield, and forwards do.

[Guest optimistic nit]

isn't neglecting the major problems of our midfield and attack to concentrate on the real but less significant problems of our defence what got us here in the first place?

 

we have some issues in defence but we're not going to have a blank cheque in the summer and our midfield and attack are 10 times more innept.

[Guest Phil K]

Stability is the key

But you need youth and experience of decent quality, and a manager who knows whats up

Sadly, we were lumbered with Kinnear by Ashley.

[Wallace]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/habib-beye-the-futures-bright-its-mangoes-1682201.html

 

Habib Beye: The future's bright, it's mangoes

 

Newcastle's Senegalese is a natural leader who has seen it all before, and he firmly believes Shearer's efforts can bear fruit. Michael Walker speaks to Habib Beye

 

 

Sunday, 10 May 2009

 

When the first six minutes and 11 seconds of an interview are spent discussing the taste and variety of mangoes in Senegal, you know it's not going to be the average clichéd football conversation. Like every other Newcastle United employee, Habib Beye has much to concern him, not least a relegation derby against Middlesbrough tomorrow night, so a detour into mangoes could be considered deliberate idiosyncracy. But it was not, Beye is simply passionate about his subject. Thirty more minutes in his company, via Alan Shearer, a website named Beyewatch and "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles, you discover Beye is pretty passionate full stop.

 

This is a 31-year-old Senegalese Frenchman who has been at Newcastle for 20 months. Yet Beye talks like a club captain. His having held the armband at Marseille, an equally tempestuous club, is perhaps one explanation. Another would be that in Beye Newcastle possess a character the dressing room is not crammed with. The following flowing answer is Beye on Shearer's return. He did not know Shearer intimately but having played against the No 9 at St James' Park in the semi-final of the 2004 Uefa Cup, he understands Shearer's status.

 

"I remember I swapped my shirt with him but he doesn't remember," he said of his manager. "I have his shirt at home but I think he maybe put mine in the bin. I kept his because I thought if one day I lose my money, I could sell his on eBay."

 

The Beye smile soon gave way. He was serious now. "The most important thing for me is that Alan Shearer didn't come for the glory," he said. "He had the job on TV. If he didn't believe, he would have stayed on TV. I did not know him really well, but I saw him the first time and I knew he was not coming to save the club and to be the hero. He already is a hero. He doesn't need to do this to be a hero. It won't change.

 

"If you are in the bottom three, it's for some reason. He came in and said we needed to change some things. It's not that before everybody was late, they weren't, it's just about respect. Everybody being on time does not mean we will win games, but it's about respect. He didn't click his fingers, he just said that he wanted to change some things. He wants us to enjoy our work. It's not like he's the police.

 

"I think if he keeps the club in the Premier League and he has enough power and resources to bring something to the club, he will do it [stay]. I see him in training and he is happy to be here. It's not like, 'Ah, just three more games', he's really happy to be here. I hope, and I believe, he will bring something next season."

 

Talk or time-keeping, as Beye said, does not win matches, but this is the strength of opinion required in the days building to a climactic encounter. Beye has the certainty of a believer and every Newcastle fan will be encouraged by his view of their club.

 

"Newcastle is not a bad club," he said, "Newcastle is a big club. We have the quality to be in the top six, top seven. When I see Everton, I don't see a team better than Newcastle, I see one more confident and with stability. I believe we will stay up and the manager will stay and he will bring this type of stability.

 

"Instability? At Marseille if you have two bad results, whoosh, they change the manager. That is instability. Here it's not been the chairman just sacking managers, this season we've had bad luck, a manager who was ill, injuries.

 

"But when you start to go down and when you change manager and then you change manager again, people say, 'Oh, come on'. You get tired. The confidence goes and when it is low it's hard to get back up. When you have confidence, like Michael Essien, the ball goes in the top corner. When people ask me about Newcastle, I say: 'For sure, this is a massive club.' But confidence. That is why I think if we can get out of this, we can breathe. Then next season the manager, if he stays, he will say, 'Come on boys'."

 

An insinuation this week was that in the wake of the Joey Barton episode at Anfield, Shearer's increased discipline was affecting the atmosphere. Beye disagreed. It is about togetherness.

 

"I think everybody is happy with the training. You look at Barcelona, they are the best example. They were under pressure for 90 minutes at Chelsea and didn't even have a shot, but in 93 minutes they score. This cannot happen if you are not together. If players are selfish, if [samuel] Eto'o says he is the best striker in the world, this can't happen."

 

Beye was signed by Sam Allardyce three Newcastle managers ago. After the three games that will decide Newcastle's fate, Boro and Fulham at home and a last-day trip to Aston Villa, Beye will have one year remaining on his contract. He is minded to sign an extension – "If the club wants to keep me, we will talk together in a good way" – but there is uncertainty to be overcome first.

 

While at Marseille he played in that 2004 Uefa Cup final, having eliminated Newcastle, with a team that included Fabien Barthez, Mathieu Flamini and Didier Drogba. With Senegal, Beye was a squad member when the 2002 World Cup quarter-final was reached. Valencia and Turkey were the respective opponents then but Beye says Middlesbrough tomorrow rates equally in significance. "Of course. Middlesbrough is not Chelsea or Manchester United but it's the most important game we have this season. We cannot afford to lose.

 

"Everybody here must realise it will be the most important game for this club. If Newcastle go down, and I don't believe we will, it will be a problem for everybody here. It's not good for you. I went down with Strasbourg when I was young and I thought, 'Somebody will buy me'. But I ended up staying and played in the Second Division. It's not easy. Everybody here must understand that it's not about your contract, it's about the club. Now is not about anyone's personal priorities, it's about the club."

 

Then, he said, everyone can have a holiday. One week of his is already planned. Paris-born, it will be a trip to his father's native Senegal. For the mangoes.

 

Beye has set up a trading company called Mangoes For Goalposts – "because here you say jumpers for goalposts". The aim is not simply import-export, it is to make a profit that can be channelled into an academy in Senegal. Failing that, short-term soccer schools will be created.

 

"I realised that when you go to a shop in England and you just want to buy a mango, it is really expensive. Not like a pineapple or an apple or oranges. I said, 'Why?' I realised they are from South America and I tasted it and it's not really good. It's good, but it's not like Senegal."

 

It should come as no surprise that this is the sort of man who inspires affection. Beyewatch.co.uk is a website dedicated to him. Newcastle fans sing the theme tune of Happy Days to Beye's name but there are many more songs. "'Yellow Submarine' – 'No 1 is Habib Beye', that's my favourite," he said.

 

Habib Beye is a different man. Who else can say: "When we get out of this situation at Newcastle I will be able to concentrate on mangoes."

 

Beyewatch songs

 

To the tune of 'Yesterday' by the Beatles

 

"Habib Beye, the best full-back in the league today, I'm so glad you chose to leave Marseilles, Oh I believe in Habib Beye"

 

To the tune of 'Get Back' by the Beatles

 

"Habib is a man who is a great defender, no attacker can get past. Habib left his home in Marsailles a la Français, he now plays on the Geordie grass. Right back! Right back! Right back is where Habib belongs"

 

To the tune of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen

 

"Is this Habib Beye? Or is this just fantasy? Caught in a poor team, No escape to a victory, Open your eyes, Sack Dennis Wise and see, We're just a poor team, Beye needs some quality, Because he's left-footed, right-footed, With a pen, with his head, Any way the Beye scores, doesn't really matter to me, To me"

 

 

[Dave]

What a fucking ledge.

[Peppe]

Good read.

Really hope he stays, even if we (please god, no) go down.

[Ronaldo]

Sickening that he isn't club captain ahead of the two wankers not fit to wear the shirt, never mind the armband

[Mistle17]

Sickening that he isn't club captain ahead of the two wankers not fit to wear the shirt, never mind the armband

[TêteDeMaure]

I'll be gutted if we went down and went to blackburn. I wanted us to sign him for years, we actually do, and to lose him, ahhhhh heartbreak.

[Ash]

Absolutely love the man.

 

Give him the captaincy now!

[LiquidAK]

If I could marry Habib Beye, I surely would.

[Guest Heneage]

I love Habib, and he's loved by all, for the simple reason that he cares.

[Astroblack]

What a class act.

[Andy]

Habib Beye is the one player at our club who I actually like - the "why?" of which is demonstrated perfectly in that article. Great read, and I'd echo the sentiments that the bloke should be captain ahead of the other jokers who have worn the armband in recent times.