Demba Ba (now retired)

[Dave]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

[Jack Flash]

He admitted back in September – unprompted – that a release clause was still in the striker’s contract and that Newcastle are “vulnerable” to predatory clubs

 

Wonder why he's shamelessly trying to sell some of our most important players in every window. Nobody is safe from "get 'em while they're hot" Pardew.

[joeyt]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

 

Ludicrous isn't it

[Decky]

Players these days man, why can't they sit down and sort out any contract issues at the end of the season or even at the end of last season instead of sitting down in November/December? We're going to find ourselves in real trouble if this becomes a problem for Ba and we're forced to sell him for fuck all in January because you can guarantee we'll find it tough getting another forward in.

[Kevo]

You would think people would realise that going to Liverpool from us is not a good career move.

[Decky]

You would think people would realise that going to Liverpool from us is not a good career move.

 

I said similar a few weeks ago, but now that we're losing points and Liverpool are moving away from us you can see why some players might still consider it a step up. Also money talks and Liverpool can pay him the wages he is after.

[Mole_Toonfan]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

 

Not really but with his clause and refusal to sign a new contact( apparently) it appears his long term future is not here so we may as well get used to the idea and consider how we are going to replace him.

 

Personally would love if it if he signed a new contract and stayed for rest of his career but that doesn't look like happening so we may as well get used to it.

[Tooj]

I really can't see him going to Liverpool as there's no way he'd be guaranteed to be playing centrally there either. I couldn't see Suarez being happy if he had to change the role that he has been playing this season as he's been sensational.

[Jagten]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

People clearly think Cisse is better.

[Disco]

I really can't see him going to Liverpool as there's no way he'd be guaranteed to be playing centrally there either. I couldn't see Suarez being happy if he had to change the role that he has been playing this season as he's been sensational.

 

He'll go wherever pays most. As I've said before I think he'll end up in a new money-ed league personally; Turkey, Russia or Arab leagues.

[Tooj]

I really can't see him going to Liverpool as there's no way he'd be guaranteed to be playing centrally there either. I couldn't see Suarez being happy if he had to change the role that he has been playing this season as he's been sensational.

 

He'll go wherever pays most. As I've said before I think he'll end up in a new money-ed league personally; Turkey, Russia or Arab leagues.

 

Aye that's a fair point.

[Cronky]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

 

Interesting parallel, Dave.  Towards the end, we made the mistake of bending over backwards to please Shearer and paid a heavy price for it.

 

If Ba is unhappy at the club, or he doesn't want to play where the manager thinks is best for the team, then he can take his miserable face somewhere else.

[Lush Vlad]

I really can't see him going to Liverpool as there's no way he'd be guaranteed to be playing centrally there either. I couldn't see Suarez being happy if he had to change the role that he has been playing this season as he's been sensational.

 

He'll go wherever pays most. As I've said before I think he'll end up in a new money-ed league personally; Turkey, Russia or Arab leagues.

 

Agreed.

[KaKa]

Not really sure what the alternative with Ba is though?

 

Both he and Cisse just look awful together upfront, and Ba doesn't want to play on the left.

 

Would have been nice if we had perhaps tried a diamond formation with HBA just behind both of them by now (remember Owen behind Martins and Viduka transforming what was similarly a largely dysfunctional team back then?), but our current manager lacks any kind of creativity so that was never going to happen.

 

I can certainly see why people think he ought to go.

[Jack Flash]

If the manager can't effectively use players as good as Ba and Cisse then he should be going.

[Kanj]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

 

Interesting parallel, Dave.  Towards the end, we made the mistake of bending over backwards to please Shearer and paid a heavy price for it.

 

If Ba is unhappy at the club, or he doesn't want to play where the manager thinks is best for the team, then he can take his miserable face somewhere else.

 

One of those catch-22s. He's the best we've had since Big Al, and I don't want to him to leave. But if by the end of all of this, we couldn't pay to retain him; then I guess you blame our inability to pay the wages and you just hope that if he does leave, he goes far away from the Premier League as possible.

 

I'd love to have an answer on how to pay him, keep him happy and also have Cisse here and have them both firing in goals in a fluid dynamic system that gets the best out of both of them and our squad which means wins and a higher position in the table, but we both (all) know the answer to that was that Ba couldn't buy himself a goal in that period last season. Had he scored 1 or 2 of those I don't think we'd be having this discussion if I'm honest.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Ba's scoring problems were more to do with luck and missing chances than the fact he was playing wider. If anything he was getting more chances than he is now.

[Kanj]

Ba's scoring problems were more to do with luck and missing chances than the fact he was playing wider. If anything he was getting more chances than he is now.

 

Yep, I've been saying that for quite some time.

 

He had some poor luck, bad form, and knackered fitness that all seemed to contribute to this. I still maintain that had he scored a few of those before the slump really kicked in, we'd have probably have had a higher finishing place and/or Cisse wouldn't have scored the same amount, and we'd be playing the 4-3-3 we all loved last season and Ba wouldn't have kicked off about this over the summer. He basically took the easy excuse and blamed the formation, which on paper - sure. But anyone watching these matches could see it was more him than the formation itself.

[Fenham Mag]

I think he'll be off in January.

 

Some newspapers are still convinced he's off to Africa in January.

[tmonkey]

I might be wrong but it appears people are actively advocating the sale of the best striker we've had since Shearer.

 

But conversely, if one believes that Ba isn't the best striker we've had since Shearer (in their opinion), does it then become reasonable to advocate selling him?

 

Ba has had one great half-season for us, as has Cisse last season and Carroll previously. I don't think there's much between them (and still consider Cisse to be the better/more talented striker, despite the miserable form), with the only real difference being that Ba has been with us in the Premiership longer (and in a team set up to his strengths).

[Hughesy]

If the manager can't effectively use players as good as Ba and Cisse then he should be going.

 

That's ridiculous.  Some players don't gel well together.  That isn't necessarily the manager's fault.

[Jack Flash]

If the manager can't effectively use players as good as Ba and Cisse then he should be going.

 

That's ridiculous.  Some players don't gel well together.  That isn't necessarily the manager's fault.

 

They were just examples, it's the whole team. He's wasted nearly every player all season and we've seen what a bad manager can do (Dalglish and Souness) to fantastic squads/teams before. It'll be completely unforgivable on his part if some of the better players leave soon.

[johnnypd]

I really can't see him going to Liverpool as there's no way he'd be guaranteed to be playing centrally there either. I couldn't see Suarez being happy if he had to change the role that he has been playing this season as he's been sensational.

 

Suarez doesn't really play centrally though, even if he's shown there on a piece of paper. He pops up pretty much everywhere and spends the entire game drifting around, particularly to the flanks, and besides Rodgers, for all his flaws, is a manager who knows how to instill positive movement in his players. Him, Ba and Sterling up front would be fantastic, unfortunately.

 

If Ba has rejected our contract offer I think it's time to sell - we should pre-empt any situation arising in the future and be pro-active in buying a replacement instead of waiting around and getting stung late on in the window. who knows we might even get someone who works better alongside Cisse as the partnership has been a real wash out so far.

[Guest Wally_McFool]

You would think people would realise that going to Liverpool from us is not a good career move.

 

Alan Kennedy, Terry MacDermott and Peter Beardsley (and even a rejuvenated Jose Enrique) might tell you otherwise

[Yorkie]

I think Ba's an excellent striker, however i don't think his individual ability and "what's best for the team" is adequately balanced. Factor in his poor natural fitness and constant media attention, i don't think it would be the end of the world if he left.

 

It'd be quite tragic in a way because he is such a good player who had a great start... but if he's a disruptive influence and if we can replace him with someone who makes us better as a team, it might be for the best.