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Yohan Cabaye

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Sifu

Sifu

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The bit about Cabaye from Saturday's matchday programme:

 

Curl It Like Cabaye

 

By Dan Sheridan - Newcastle United Managing Editor

 

HE'S THE FRENCHMAN WHO HAS CAPTURED THE HEARTS OF THE TOON ARMY AND EVEN REVIVED A SONG THAT HAS BEEN IN COLD STORAGE FOR THE PAST 12 YEARS. IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, MAN-OF-THE-MOMENT YOHAN CABAYE TELLS US WHY HE'S LOVING LIFE AT NEWCASTLE AND HOW HE TAKES INSPIRATION FROM A FORMER ENGLAND NUMBER SEVEN

 

YOU'VE ENJOYED A GREAT START TO YOUR NEWCASTLE CAREER YOHAN, AND IT GOT EVEN BETTER RECENTLY WITH YOUR FIRST GOALS FOR THE CLUB…

 

Yes, I am very, very happy. Against Wigan, it was not just my first goal since I arrived here but also a very important goal for the team because it was the winner, so I was pleased at the end of the match.

I was also happy with my free-kick at Blackburn because that is a side of my game that I work on quite a lot and it was nice to see that one go in.

I didn't expect things to start so well because in football, it is difficult to tell the future. But I worked hard during the summer before the season started and things have worked well so far and I am very settled here already.

 

THE NEWCASTLE FANS HAVE ALSO TAKEN TO YOU VERY QUICKLY - DOES THAT MEAN A LOT?

 

Of course. The fans are amazing at every single match and the gaffer told me all about them before I signed for the Club. I am very happy to play for them and I hope I can do so for a long time.

I'm really enjoying things so far and I am loving English football. It was a dream when I signed for Newcastle in the summer and every time I get out on the pitch I just want to do my best for the fans.

I have a good feeling with our supporters and they have made me feel so welcome. But I have to say, I don't really understand the song just yet!

 

WERE THERE ANY SURPRISES - GOOD OR BAD - WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVED IN ENGLAND?

 

As far as the games go, the biggest thing was how much goes into one match from the first minute to the last. The effort required is incredible and every player here works so hard and never stops running.

As well as being a good athlete, you also need to be a very good player at this level and the game is played at such high speed and intensity. That is very different from football in France.

But it is fine - I like the way the game is played here and I've enjoyed every minute of it so far. The effort you put in is for the team and the supporters, and that is important.

To be honest, this is the way I used to play back in France - box-to-box, attacking and defending - so my style of play hasn't really changed that much. The only thing I maybe need to work on is the physical side of the game.

 

HAS CENTRAL MIDFIELD ALWAYS BEEN YOUR PREFERRED POSITION?

 

Since I first started playing with the first team at Lille, I have always played the same role in the middle of the pitch. My style has not really changed and because I have always played there, it has helped my finishing.

So I like to get forward and look to pick up the ball outside the box but I also enjoy defending and keeping hold of the ball. This is the way I was taught to play football.

But here, having Cheik (Tioté) alongside me has really helped because he is an excellent defender that can play football as well. He's good for the team and good for me because with Cheik I can go forward and I know he is behind me covering.

 

AND WHAT ABOUT YOUR EYE FOR GOAL - IS THAT SOMETHING YOU PICKED UP AT A YOUNG AGE?

 

Yeah, I like to score goals like the one I got against Wigan, and I almost got my first Newcastle goal much sooner at Aston Villa, but their goalkeeper made a very good save.

I used to score goals like this at Lille and I like to get in good positions to shoot around the edge of the penalty area. I scored many goals like this in France and I would like to score many more here.

 

YOUR FATHER WAS A PLAYER WASN'T HE? IS THAT HOW YOU GOT INTO FOOTBALL AS A CHILD?

 

He was with the Lens Academy, but unfortunately for him he broke his leg when he was just 17-years-old. After that, it was difficult for him to come back.

But he encouraged me and once I had reached a certain age, I had the choice of joining Lille, which is only ten miles away from where I grew up, or Lens.

If I had chosen Lens, I would have had to leave my house and my family, and I was only 12 at the time, which is very young to leave home.

My father told me that he preferred me to stay at home because it would be better for me. He taught me that when you have finished training or playing in a match, it is important to take football out of your head for a while and staying at home allowed me to do that.

I had some difficult moments when I was young but fortunately for me, my parents helped me.

 

FRANCE BOASTED SOME OUTSTANDING FOOTBALLERS WHILE YOU WERE GROWING UP. WHICH PLAYERS INFLUENCED YOU AND INFLUENCED YOUR GAME WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER?

 

Like everybody in France at the time, I used to enjoy watching Zinedine Zidane, and he was a very important player when my country won the World Cup (in 1998) and the European Championships (in 2000), where he was player of the tournament.

But he was not a player that played in the same position as me and I am a very different player. For me, the player that I used to follow and liked to watch was David Beckham.

He is one of the best players of his generation and his right foot is just amazing. For me, he has the best right foot in the world.

I used to try and do things the same when I was growing up and try to learn from the way he took free-kicks and corners and the way he struck the ball and scored goals.

I like all of those things about him, but when you watch him in a match, his play is very simple and his game is all about his first touch. His range of passing - both short and long - is very, very good and back then, when he was with Manchester United and Real Madrid, he was the best for me.

 

SO YOU USED TO WATCH A LOT OF PREMIER LEAGUE FOOTBALL WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG?

 

Yes, and like a lot of French people at the time, I used to watch Arsenal. They had a lot of French players, such as Vieira and Petit, and a French manager as well. Plus I liked the way they passed the ball around and the way the played the game.

But in France now, people speak a lot about Newcastle, and not just because we have a lot of French players but also because we have started the Premier League season very well.

 

YOU LEFT LILLE AFTER 13 YEARS THIS SUMMER AND WON THE DOUBLE IN YOUR FINAL SEASON. WAS THAT AN EXTRA-SPECIAL WAY TO END THERE?

 

It was very special for me because Lille was all I'd ever known. I only played for one team before I came to England and that was Lille. It is where all of my friends and family are from, so for me it was strange to leave.

But I left at the best moment possible because we won the Ligue 1 championship and the French Cup, and you can do no more than that in French football.

This opportunity came along and I moved here with my wife, Fiona, and our baby daughter, Myla, who is 22-months-old, and we are very strong together. We knew we could move to England and enjoy it because we saw it as a new adventure.

Now, my family are enjoying it here and for me that is very important. I have some great memories from my time with Lille but now, if possible, I would like to stay in England for the rest of my career.

I like the English Premier League, I like Newcastle and I like everybody at the Club, from all of the players to all of the staff. I'm very happy to be here.

 

IT'S NOT JUST THE ENGLISH GAME YOU'VE TAKEN TO - YOU ALSO SEEM TO HAVE PICKED UP THE LANGUAGE VERY QUICKLY…

 

It's true. I could only really say 'hello' and 'goodbye' when I first arrived here in June. But every day, at the training ground, I listened to people speaking English and that helped me.

I have worked hard to learn the language and hopefully, in a few months times, it will be even better. There are different ways to do it, like listening to CDs and things like that, but I am learning all the time and enjoying it.

I think it's good for my family as well because being able to speak English is very important and it is one of the most popular languages in the world.

 

AWAY FROM FOOTBALL, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF NEWCASTLE AND THE NORTH-EAST?

 

Well my wife enjoys it here and I think she doesn't want to go back to living in France again! For me, I like the English way of life, the people and the mentality, and it's kind of the same mentality as people from Lille.

They are not so different, Newcastle and Lille, and the only big difference is the stadium. St. James' Park is in the city and in Lille, they have no stadium at the moment because a new one is being built, so they are borrowing one.

But I like Newcastle city centre very much and, of course, we have been to the Metrocentre, but I am looking forward to discovering and exploring the place a bit more and going to the coast and the countryside as well as visiting Scotland.

I am quite a simple person. I like to stay with my family and I'm very happy when I can go home and play with our little girl. My wife and me enjoy watching movies as well, and mainly we like to stay at home.

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Dr Venkman

Dr Venkman

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Posted

hope it was the injury that made him just watch rodwell waltz into the box and get a free header, bloody appalling tracking back that was.

 

Rodwell was Simpson's man on that corner.

 

Yeah,not talking about the corner,that would be appalling marking,not tracking back.

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Mr Logic

Mr Logic

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Posted

Good to have a few options on free-kicks.

 

Was thinking similar, during the Stoke game I think it was, we have a few now willing to have a go. Seen Ben Arfa stepping up twice now only for Taylor to pull rank. Raylor, Cabaye, Ben Arfa. :thup:

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David28

David28

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Posted

Good to have a few options on free-kicks.

 

Was thinking similar, during the Stoke game I think it was, we have a few now willing to have a go. Seen Ben Arfa stepping up twice now only for Taylor to pull rank. Raylor, Cabaye, Ben Arfa. :thup:

 

Marveaux as well. And don't forget Guthrie.

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CaliMag

CaliMag

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Posted

wonder what he's been told about Scotland? That's the third time I've heard him say he wants to visit there.

 

Well his wife does have a scots name so maybe there is a link there.

 

Also there is the fact that Scotland is actually a nice place.

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James

James

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Posted

wonder what he's been told about Scotland? That's the third time I've heard him say he wants to visit there.

 

Well his wife does have a scots name so maybe there is a link there.

 

Also there is the fact that Scotland is actually a nice place.

 

Fiona is an Italian name.

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CaliMag

CaliMag

Posted
Posted

wonder what he's been told about Scotland? That's the third time I've heard him say he wants to visit there.

 

Well his wife does have a scots name so maybe there is a link there.

 

Also there is the fact that Scotland is actually a nice place.

 

Fiona is an Italian name.

 

You are wrong you know.

 

Fiona is a feminine given name. The name Fiona was invented, and first used, by the Scottish poet James Macpherson (1736–96), author of the Ossian poems, which he claimed were translations from ancient Gaelic sources (sources, when challenged, he never produced). The name was subsequently used as a pseudonym by William Sharp (1855–1905), who authored several romantic works under the name "Fiona Macleod". The name has since become popular in England and Scotland.[1]

 

The name is considered to be a Latinised form of the Gaelic word fionn, meaning "white", "fair". The name Fiona is also sometimes used as an Anglicisation of the Irish language name Fíona.[1] There is also a modern tendency to equate the authentic Scottish Gaelic feminine name Fionnghal with Fiona[2] (note that it is possible that Fiona may have been based on Fionnghal).[1]

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiona

 

 

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Ronaldo

Ronaldo

Posted
Posted

wonder what he's been told about Scotland? That's the third time I've heard him say he wants to visit there.

 

Well his wife does have a scots name so maybe there is a link there.

 

Also there is the fact that Scotland is actually a nice place.

 

Fiona is an Italian name.

 

Bloody hell. :lol:

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