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Gabriel Obertan signs for Anzhi


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Guest neesy111

He's showing some determination, at least.

 

Or he doesn't want anyone else getting a run in the team...

 

Appearance Bonus....

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Glad he's recovered, if we get pegged back in our half we need some pace as an outlet.

No white text?

 

Nah, genuinely. I think he will be useful in this sort of game.

 

Jesus f***ing wept :facepalm:

 

With it being unlikely that HBA will be played in wide midfield I would rather have him fit to choose from otherwise our 3 options for the two wide positions would be Jonas, Ferguson and Sammy.

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Just seen this update on Obertan, all I can say is, f***'s sake! :harry:

 

FWIW, I'm basically of the same opinion as Dave:

 

I've nowt against the bloke like (apart from that he's been poo so far), I just wanted something to force Pardew's hand with regards to selection. Obvious Obertan will start on the right tomorrow as per every other game.

 

There is literally nothing else but an injury to Obertan that will force Pardew to make changes to the personnel/system.

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Toon Talk

Articles

 

Obertan has the ‘F Factor’

By Joe Harms Friday 30 Dec 2011 11:22:00

Browse all Joe Harms articles

 

 

 

 

 

The X factor is a singing contest which is fast becoming a cult soap opera in the UK, for a period of months every year the country is obsessed with Simon Cowell’s money making series. The country is angered when their favourite act is voted off, buy various gossip magazines to learn more about the contestants and perch eagerly on the edge of their IKEA furniture as they await the judges choice of outfit on the live shows. For the first time this year, the final was held in Wembley arena in front of thousands of screaming children, off their faces on Rowntree’s fruit pastilles and panda pops. ‘Little Mix’, a band consisting of two Geordie girls were crowned the champions and have therefore, according to the British public, got the X factor. What a wonderful privilege and label to behold.

 

If you are reading this, I congratulate you; you have the curiosity to see where I am going with such an obscure introduction and for that I am appreciative. As stated in the title I wish to talk about our French right winger, Gabriel Obertan. The Ex Manchester United player is yet to set St James’ Park or any other stadium alight thus far this season, a talent who appeared to have much promise when he arrived on Tyneside has started to come under some heavy criticism from supporters. It appears that many fans have lost patience with Obertan and are subsequently perplexed as to why Alan Pardew persists in selecting him in the starting line up. Unfortunately, this has led some supporters to celebrate and even boo Obertan when he is substituted from the field of play. It must be stressed that this is the minority. Despite this, it is not pleasant to see and not necessary in my opinion. At the end of the day, he plays for Newcastle and should therefore be supported by us, regardless of performance.

 

I believe fans are starting to show such animosity towards the 22 year old winger because of what I call the ‘F Factor’, with the F referring to the word frustration. This ‘F Factor’ appears to be sweeping St James’ Park and is fast becoming the latest craze. I hope you see what I have done here; I have made a very tenuous link in order to increase the comedy value of this article – Genius. It is obvious to any Newcastle United fan that Gabriel Obertan is a player who possesses all the necessary attributes in becoming an excellent attacking threat. He is tall displaying decent prowess in the air, skilful, hardworking at times and blisteringly fast. If a player has all of these qualities then why are we not seeing the best of him? Admittedly, we have seen glimpses of the impact Obertan can have on a game, but only glimpses. Against Stoke we saw him run into space with desire and pick out a beautiful cross onto the head of Demba Ba and similarly we witnessed him provide for Ba again for the second goal against Bolton on boxing day.

 

It is this frustration or ‘F Factor’ as I like to call it that is causing the Newcastle United faithful to lose patience with the winger. He shows many glimpses of how capable he can be with a football but does not display this on a regular enough basis; an issue which must have something to do with confidence. The French man has raw pace, a skill that cannot be taught, and should therefore attempt to beat his full back with more self belief. Newcastle fans have always loved attacking football and although I may only speak for myself, I would much rather see Obertan attempt to dribble past his man and fail, rather than simply cut back at every single opportunity. These thoughts have been echoed by Pardew who has urged fans to be patient with the player who was signed for an undisclosed fee, the manager has said in the Chronicle recently that “Sometimes you just want him to open his legs and do something exciting.” This may appear to be a somewhat graphic and erotic illustration of the point I am trying to make. However, I think you will grasp the concept.

 

It is also important to defend Obertan in this article and outline that we should still back him to be a success at Newcastle United. He is only 22 years old and therefore has a lot of developing to do; I believe this is a fact we need to take into consideration when criticising the player. In addition, Obertan is obviously not a poor player due to the fact that he has played for all France international teams from the age of u16s to u21s and due to the fact that he was brought to the premier league by Alex Ferguson, who has won the league and champion’s league on multiple occasions. Lastly, I would urge all fans to remember Fabricio Coloccini’s first season in a black and white shirt. Many fans questioned Coloccini’s price tag and place in the team and look at us now, we are proud to call him our captain and sing his name in a hilarious but adoring manner.

 

To conclude, we can all see that Obertan has all the attributes to excite Newcastle fans and the ability to create chances and maybe even score in a black and white shirt. It is because he possesses great potential that we are so frustrated at it not being put into practice. He is still young and is still a normal human being like you and me; he has recently moved to the North East so may still be settling into life in a new area with new people. In addition, it is easily forgotten that Obertan only made 14 appearances for Manchester United over a two year period and is therefore still learning his trade in the premier league. I am by no means saying he has played well this season, but I am saying that he obviously hasn’t been that disgraceful given our league position. Every fan is of course entitled to an opinion, however, criticising a player and voicing this so obviously will not improve his performances or motivate him to do so in anyway shape or form. We need to keep the faith with Gabriel Obertan and hope that his ‘F Factor’ transforms into the ‘X’. You never know, we might make it to Wembley just like ‘Little Mix’ in the coming seasons. Believe.

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I thought he'd at least be average, and we could build on that, but he's been nothing but shite so far. I was also hoping he was backup, to come on late in the game and run at tired legs, this first team role doesn't suit where he's at ability wise.

 

Hope he comes good, we can't afford passengers, especially with Jonas on the other side offering very little going forward.

 

So far though, very little point in selling Routledge and buying Obertan, in fact I'd rather have kept an English body around.

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He shows the on-field intelligence of the kid back at school who doesn't like sport but plays football anyway because he's nothing else to do at lunch break.

 

He'll never be good enough. It's not a confidence thing, it's an ability thing.

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A surprisingly supportive article by Toon Talk there which I think is good. The problem is where he says

 

"we can all see that Obertan has all the attributes to excite Newcastle fans and the ability to create chances and maybe even score in a black and white shirt"

 

he doesn't look like he's going to score in a month of Sundays because he's too scared to try. He never gets on the end of any crosses from the other side, and he's never really looked to cut inside and let one fly despite being in great positions to do it if he had the inclination.

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