Demba Ba (now retired)

[Dr Venkman]

We have two top class strikers with fabulous goal scoring records, the job of the manager is to find a system that allows them to both flourish. Pardew has not done that.

 

He has, but he's abandoned it amongst rumours of Ba not happy out wide, and he even mentioned himself (Pardew) that Ba was concerned about how much time he was going to spend playing out wide. We're now in the position where even Shola is pushed out wide to accommodate Ba's stubbornness. Imo it's very clear where the problem lies, and I think Pardew is trying his best to be diplomatic with Ba in order to keep him at the club so money can be spent elsewhere and not on replacing him, which would be difficult.

[Dinho lad]

                      Ba        Cisse

                              HBA

                    Jonas        Cabaye

                              Tiote

      Santon    Colo            Saylor      Anita

                                Krul

 

That could work?

 

Cabaye dosen't have the athletisicm to play in that sort of role, imo.

 

As for Jonas... well..... the match against WBA is where, sadly, I have officially given-up on him as a regular first team starter.

[The College Dropout]

We have two top class strikers with fabulous goal scoring records, the job of the manager is to find a system that allows them to both flourish. Pardew has not done that.

 

He has, but he's abandoned it amongst rumours of Ba not happy out wide, and he even mentioned himself (Pardew) that Ba was concerned about how much time he was going to spend playing out wide. We're now in the position where even Shola is pushed out wide to accommodate Ba's stubbornness. Imo it's very clear where the problem lies, and I think Pardew is trying his best to be diplomatic with Ba in order to keep him at the club so money can be spent elsewhere and not on replacing him, which would be difficult.

 

 

Erm, I think Pardew isn't moving Demba because he's the one scoring all our goals.

[taxfree]

That's because the formation that fits Ba, doesn't really fit anyone else in the attack. In the long run that simply doesn't work, and Pardew needs to realize it.

[Dr Venkman]

We have two top class strikers with fabulous goal scoring records, the job of the manager is to find a system that allows them to both flourish. Pardew has not done that.

 

He has, but he's abandoned it amongst rumours of Ba not happy out wide, and he even mentioned himself (Pardew) that Ba was concerned about how much time he was going to spend playing out wide. We're now in the position where even Shola is pushed out wide to accommodate Ba's stubbornness. Imo it's very clear where the problem lies, and I think Pardew is trying his best to be diplomatic with Ba in order to keep him at the club so money can be spent elsewhere and not on replacing him, which would be difficult.

 

 

Erm, I think Pardew isn't moving Demba because he's the one scoring all our goals.

 

Ok, does that explain why we started this season with a 4-4-2 with Ba central after finishing last season very well in a 4-3-3? Or do you think it's better explained by the fact that Pardew said he'd had to reassure Ba over the summer about playing centrally, and now that we are flirting with a 4-3-3 we're seeing none of the interchanging that was going on last season, at all, Ba is either central or not on the pitch. AND SHOLA IS BEING PLAYED ON THE WING. How much more proof do you need!?

[Mick]

It's just your anti-Pardew agenda eeking through again. Don't over-think it.

 

The agenda card is played. 

[Guest BooBoo]

Howay Mick, you must admit you've generally always had a downer on Pardew from day 1. Didn't you say that such was your dislike/ distrust of him that you weren't prepared to give him a chance?

[Mick]

Howay Mick, you must admit you've generally always had a downer on Pardew from day 1. Didn't you say that such was your dislike/ distrust of him that you weren't prepared to give him a chance?

 

I can't remember posting what you've just tried to pin on me and I doubt I would actually say it because I've got no choice but to give him a chance.  Do I like him?  No I don't particularly like him but that doesn't matter because what he does or doesn't do as a manager is all I really care about.  Do I distrust him?  I've never really thought about it.  Probably not because I think he comes out with a load of shit at times and he's done it within the last week when trying to blame our poor performances on Europe. 

 

As a manager, I thought he did well at Reading and West Ham to start with, I also think at the end of last season he had won me over.  Now, it's totally different and I think he's underperforming and we're suffering for it.

 

Regarding Ba, I don't think he's handled the situation very well at all and we're not benefiting from it.  Football is a team game and we’re not playing for the benefit of the team, we look to be playing the formation Ba wants and it’s doing us no good.

 

[High Five o]

Any news about Dembas injury?

Will he play?

 

Crucial for my PL fantasy team. 

[Skirge]

Any news about Dembas injury?

Will he play?

 

Crucial for my PL fantasy team. 

 

:lo: its a valid worry

[Ryan]

AP: "Demba Ba has a knock but he has a good chance. He will come into my thinking tomorrow." #nufc #lfc

 

Ryder.

[Guest icemanblue]

Aye, that'll be right. Just took him out of my Fantasy League team.

[Fenham Mag]

AP: "Demba Ba has a knock but he has a good chance. He will come into my thinking tomorrow." #nufc #lfc

 

Ryder.

 

Mind games.

[Dave]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2227057/Demba-Ba-interview-Striker-turned-Watford-Barnsley-prove-himself.html

EXCLUSIVE: All my life I have had to prove people wrong, says Toon hero Demba Ba

 

By Colin Young

 

PUBLISHED: 23:00, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 23:00, 2 November 2012

 

 

It reads like a Who isn’t Who of European football: Montgaillard, Le Havre, Frileuse, Mountrouge, Olympique Lyonnais, Auxerre, Foligno, Watford (twice), Barnsley, Amiens, Rouen, Mouscron. Even Stoke City.

 

All clubs who could have signed Demba Ba and cashed in on the full potential of one of the most explosive strikers to play in the Barclays Premier League.

 

Ba is hot property right now. He is Newcastle United’s top scorer again, following the 16 goals he scored last season with six more in this  campaign. Saturday’s opponents Liverpool are among the clubs who may be tempted to spend £7.5million to trigger the clause in the contract Ba signed last summer when he left West Ham.

 

No wonder manager Alan Pardew and Newcastle are desperate to renegotiate his deal. Ba, 27, is an essential part of a team which could reach the knockout phase of the Europa League in Bruges next week.

 

It’s a very different European adventure for the Paris-born Senegalese who kicked a ball around with his pals every day until he joined a sports and studies school for his secondary education. He was a defensive midfielder when he started his desperate journey to win a contract somewhere, anywhere.

 

‘I was like Patrick Vieira,’ he says when asked for a comparison. ‘I was technically good, natural, big and strong, but I didn’t like a tackle. I have never really liked defending, chasing people. Tackling like Cheick (Tiote), for example. I couldn’t do that. I was 18 when I became a striker — it was late, not even 10 years ago when my agent and my best friend convinced me. I’ve learned fast.’

 

He trained with the pros at Watford and was on the brink of signing when manager Ray Lewington was sacked. It was such a blur that Ba gets Watford mixed up with Barnsley, where he also had a fruitless week.

 

‘We started training and then they sacked the manager the next day so then no training for two days and we just went back to the hotel and waited.

 

‘We met the manager one day, shook hands with him and the next day he was gone. Wow. Welcome to Barnsley. Welcome to professional football.

 

‘I just loved kicking a ball but I was determined to be a footballer and I wanted a professional contract, I would go to any professional club to get one. From 15, all I wanted was to be a footballer.

 

‘I had no clue who Barnsley or Watford were. All I knew was they were professional clubs and I said to myself, “If you make it you will have a professional contract”. It did not matter where it was, from there I could start proving what I can do. I just had to be patient.

 

‘And I have done everything. I went to France, Italy, Belgium. I had a trial with a team in the fourth league near Bologna. They wanted to sign me and I did well there but I got an injury and I couldn’t train for weeks so I had to go home. Maybe it was a good thing. I had proved I could play.’

 

Life changed in Rouen. Although he was to break his shin, he did enough to alert scouts from Mouscron in Belgium, who signed him, and eventually sold him to Hoffenheim for £2.5m. And then he really took off.

 

Speaking at the Gateshead International Stadium, where he had done three interviews and a photo shoot for adidas, pausing only for time to pray, Ba was amused by the change in his circumstances. He likes events like this, he says, ‘once in a while’.

 

‘When I went to Rouen I got a little contract, earning less than £1,000 a month. I was living in a flat that is smaller than this,’ he points at a typical sports hall changing room and laughs. ‘Wow. You know I was so happy because I was playing football, and my team-mates at Rouen were absolutely brilliant, some good dudes.

 

‘It went well for three weeks, then I broke my shin and I was out for seven months. But I came back stronger, had a good two months and I scored seven in seven games, and then after that, Belgium. Rouen was the start of the happiness but there was no real sadness then.

 

‘Unfortunately today in football there are times when it all goes wrong. You guys are on us all the time — people, press, media, agents, money, everything comes to a head and you just want to stop playing football.

 

‘And then you remember why you started and you keep on going. It has not been as dark as that for me but sometimes I do ask, “Why all this work, all these sacrifices?”’

 

If Ba is willing to express such deep concerns about his profession after all his efforts and personal sacrifices, it is no wonder. Amid all the recent controversies, it has almost been overlooked that the Newcastle striker, along with team-mates Papiss Cisse and Cheick Tiote, were among the Senegal and Ivory Coast players being protected by army and police on the pitch when their Africa Cup of Nations play-off was halted by fans last month.

 

Days later Ba was the subject of alleged racist abuse during a typically poisonous Wear-Tyne derby at Sunderland. Ba’s late own goal settled the game and he was cruelly mocked by Sunderland fans as he made his way to the team bus afterwards. But after what he had been through in Africa, he was unmoved by the abuse.

 

‘The military were there, police, state police,’ he said of the riot in Dakar that led to Senegal being disqualified. ‘And this is not the police in Europe. If you go into the lion’s den in Africa you get some serious trouble.

 

‘When you see police trucks coming on the pitch and all the players in the middle of the park waiting for half an hour before we can go to the changing room and you need an escort, it is a bit different to Sunderland v Newcastle, believe me.

 

‘It is a football match. But people have nothing other than football and they put all their happiness in the sport until it gets to a point where they get disappointed. And because they have nothing else in their life that can bring them happiness, they get mad.

 

‘It is difficult to understand. When you haven’t been to Africa you don’t know how it is. I can understand how it can affect some African players when they go home.

 

‘Was I scared? No, not at all. Because we are Senegalese and they are Senegalese and they won’t hurt us. Senegal as a nation is very good and unfortunately we saw a very bad image of them for one week but they are very good people.

 

‘Football can bring out the best and worst in people. The bad side saddens me and I was more upset about the image of the country than anything. It is just a sport and should bring happiness, not sadness or disappointment. But unfortunately football is so important in the life of certain people that it becomes their reason to live.’

 

Of course there have been  successes along the way for Ba, too. After helping Hoffenheim to get into the Bundesliga, he played 97 games for them in nearly four years and scored 37 league goals.

 

He has fond memories of  Germany. ‘It was absolutely magnificent,’ he said. ‘Germany is one of the best countries in the world to live, the football is brilliant, all the stadiums are full every week, and the football is good. But from the beginning, for me, the target was always the Premier League. As soon as I was interested in football, that was the target. Germany has money and full stadiums, they have everything but Premier League is  Premier League.’

 

Stoke City offered the first escape route after a bust-up with Hoffenheim’s owners over his desire to move to England, but a £7m move collapsed after he failed a medical. How he must have savoured his hat-trick for Newcastle at the Britannia last season.

 

‘Unfortunately I can’t stop people talking,’ he said. ‘The only thing I can do is play every week and prove people wrong but I am not playing football to prove people wrong.

 

‘Even if I play 70 games this season and score 50 goals, people will still talk about it. I am at the point where it doesn’t matter what they think.’

 

West Ham stepped in to sign him, and though he scored seven goals in 12 games, they were still relegated.

 

‘I still do not know how that happened,’ he said. ‘When I came we were bottom, got up to 16th and then started losing. I don’t know how. I didn’t want to leave West Ham but the desire to play in the Premier League was probably higher. After five months in the  Premier League and getting the taste for something, you just want to keep it going, so I had to leave.’

 

The adventure has continued at Newcastle, although it has not all been plain sailing.

 

After the arrival of his Senegal team-mate Papiss Demba Cisse, who was given the coveted No 9 shirt, Ba only scored one goal, and that was in Cisse’s debut. They may share a name and frontline responsibilities, but not the goals or a close bond.

 

Ba added: ‘You have ups and downs, that is football. But I am happy at Newcastle and I am with a group of players who are very nice and it is good.

 

‘There is a good core of people. Our captain is very good as a man and player and we have the  Newcastle legend Shola Ameobi. He is our big brother.’

[Dave]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2227115/Alan-Pardew-Demba-Ba-His-faith-makes-perfect-professional.html

Alan Pardew: Brilliant Ba's faith makes him the perfect pro

 

By Alan Pardew

 

PUBLISHED: 22:45, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 22:45, 2 November 2012

 

 

Signing Demba Ba in the summer of 2011 was a complete no-brainer for me and Newcastle United.

 

I still have contacts at West Ham, friends throughout the club who told me all about Demba. After watching his performances for West Ham, I was convinced he had the right attitude and characteristics. More importantly, he was a player who would score goals at this club.

 

One of the things I wanted to check out was his injuries. I had heard the rumours, and there was the failed medical at Stoke, but he trained every day at West Ham and they didn’t perceive it would be an issue.

 

Other than the fact there is a picture of his knee which doesn’t look very well, I wasn’t bothered. I’ve not even seen the picture. That’s not to say that at some time in his career it won’t have an effect on him, but he has trained every day with us, too. That is all I need to know.

 

As a man and a footballer he is strong, clear management material and a leader who tells you how it is. I like all of those attributes in a player.

 

He is a big leader in the dressing room and I want him here for years, to take the club forward.

 

Demba is one of a number of Muslim players at Newcastle United. We have as many as eight, and it is a very important part of our club.

 

Some don’t portray it openly, some do, and Demba is a strong believer who follows the traditions, perhaps more than others, and I respect that.

 

Their lifestyle makes for great professional footballers because they don’t drink, they live correctly and are absolutely perfect ambassadors for their religion. It is nice to listen to their opinions, too.

 

There are players who aren’t religious who live just as well. But this group’s focus on their life, career, profession and success is very important to them, and it is not just about how they live, eat, sleep or conduct their lives.

 

We have thought about building a prayer room for all faiths within  St James’ Park which can be used on match days. It is right and we are still trying to nail a place down within the stadium and are investigating the issue to make sure we get it right.

 

Demba has shown great determination to get where he is today and I see that every day. I see it in negotiations with him. I think he has been hurt by the whole process and he wants to prove to people he is a top player.

 

I would like to think we have helped him do that at Newcastle United. We are one of the first clubs to offer him security. We all want Demba to stay at Newcastle and we’re working on trying to secure his future at the club.

[Dave]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2227133/Demba-Ba-contract-Newcastle-want-sign-new-deal-clause.html

Clause for concern: Newcastle want rid of Ba's contract buy-out in new deal

 

By Colin Young

 

PUBLISHED: 23:08, 2 November 2012 | UPDATED: 23:09, 2 November 2012

 

 

Newcastle United want to secure a new contract for striker Demba Ba and the first priority is to get rid of his £7.5million release clause.

 

The Senegal international has been linked with numerous Barclays Premier League rivals, including tomorrow’s opponents Liverpool, since the details of his current deal were revealed a year ago.

 

No club came forward in the summer with a firm offer for the 27-year-old, who has scored 30 goals in 55 English league games for West Ham United and Newcastle, but that could change with the January transfer window looming.

 

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew signed the striker after he scored seven goals in five months at Upton Park and West Ham were relegated.

 

Pardew moved quickly despite concerns over a failed medical which led to the collapse of a move to Stoke City before West Ham signed Ba from Hoffenheim for £6m.

[Ketsbaia]

It's a no-brainer but I certainly won't be getting excited yet. Pardew says many things.

[Ronaldo]

As much as his insistence on always playing centrally has hurt us, in that role this season he's been feeding on scraps and has 7 league goals. Got to stay.

[Spudil]

Absolutely. You certainly can't blame Ba for wanting to play in his favored position either.

[OzzieMandias]

Be useful if Cisse took over the scoring for the next couple of months, and then everyone will lose interest in buying Ba. He can start banging them in again after the transfer window is over.

 

Good read, that interview above. Clear that Ba is very committed to a career direction, and will probably seize any opportunity to move to a "better" club. I don't think he's likely to show us any particular loyalty. The contract negotiations are likely stalled by him wanting to keep his options open.

 

Interesting that Cisse bit just before the end: no quotes. Colin Young obviously couldn't get Ba to say anything about the issue, so cobbled that stuff together because the story had to work it in somehow.

[Pata]

‘There is a good core of people. Our captain is very good as a man and player and we have the  Newcastle legend Shola Ameobi. He is our big brother.’

 

:lol:

[hakka]

If Demba ends up at Liverpool I will be furious. That's a shit house of a club right now, although it has great history it's been wank for a few years and currently is in a worse position than us.

 

I know he's moaned about not being main striker at times, but that's at least something honorable to moan about. His goals this season have proved why he must stay up front really.

 

If he goes to any of last years top 4 plus Chelsea, I'd understand that he is wanting to be in a team better than ours and would accept that.

[Cheshire Mag]

In other words, he's off.

[flyingscotsman]

I will lose total respect for Ba if he clears off to scousers. It would hurt for him to move to a CL club but you couldn't really hold it against him, Liverpool would be a sideways move at best in terms of football, just look at Carrol and Enrique, just hope his bastard of an agent doesn't interfere too much.

[ExiledGeordie]

 

We're a much steadier ship than Liverpool at the moment and in many aspects a better club moving forward and Ba seems to have an affinity towards us. You just always worry that if they offered him a massive salary increase he'll be off.