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Davide Santon (now retired)


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Lee Ryder @lee_ryder

Thrilled to secure recent exclusive with Davide. Glad that Simmo has taken him under his wing & he is now welcoming the advances of credible football writers. Fast learner, finally knows what's good for his career!

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Tyne-Wear rivalry is fiercer than Milan - Davide Santon

 

Newcastle United defender Davide Santon believes the rivalry with Sunderland is fiercer than his experience of the Milan derby as an Inter player.

 

The 21-year-old was still at the San Siro when the Magpies won on Wearside last term but experienced the home atmosphere in March's 1-1 draw.

 

"The Milan derby is a very important game but not like this one," Santon told BBC Newcastle.

 

"Here there is more rivalry, everybody thinks about the game, it's fantastic."

 

Santon joined Newcastle from Inter less than a fortnight after last year's win at the Stadium of Light, a success that extended their upper hand over the Black Cats.

 

United have lost just once on Wearside in the last 15 games, a run that stretches back to their Division Two loss at Roker Park in April 1980.

 

"Sunday we have to win 100%, but it's OK because if we put Shola Ameobi on the pitch and he scores," Santon joked of the striker's seven goal career haul against the Wearsiders.

 

"It's an important game, that we have to concentrate on and make sure we win. I played the second game [last season], it was fantastic.

 

"When Shola scored I was so happy for the team because I know how important it is for the fans from the city."

 

Davide Santon was talking to BBC Newcastle's Mick Lowes.

 

 

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"Sunday we have to win 100%, but it's OK because if we put Shola Ameobi on the pitch and he scores," Santon joked of the striker's seven goal career haul against the Wearsiders.

 

Damn right :lol:

 

Light the beacon!

 

A5WasrACYAAzfpU.jpg

 

NEWCASTLE NEEDS THE DARK NIGHT!

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"Sunday we have to win 100%, but it's OK because if we put Shola Ameobi on the pitch and he scores," Santon joked of the striker's seven goal career haul against the Wearsiders.

 

Damn right :lol:

 

Light the beacon!

 

A5WasrACYAAzfpU.jpg

 

NEWCASTLE NEEDS THE DARK NIGHT!

 

Brilliant pic, just tweeted it to Sammy, probably not the first one to do so, but still he needs to know the love his Big Bro gets!!

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/oct/20/davide-santon-rejuvenation-newcastle

Davide Santon's rejuvenation gets off on the good foot with Newcastle

 

A switch to the left has put the silky full-back dubbed 'Bambino' by José Mourinho back on track

 

    Louise Taylor

    The Observer, Saturday 20 October 2012 22.59 BST

 

A woolly hat warms his head and mud cakes his left knee, but Davide Santon's demeanour is that of a man feeling the sun's warmth for the first time after a long, hard winter. Newcastle United's overlapping left-back knows he has finally re-captured the form that led José Mourinho, his manager at Internazionale, dub him "a phenomenon" and once had Cristiano Ronaldo demanding his shirt.

 

Alan Pardew, Santon's mentor at St James' Park, has described the 21-year-old as a "revelation" yet a more accurate description might have been "re-born". Three years ago the Serie A-winning teenager hyped as "the new Paolo Maldini" damaged the cartilage in his right knee. Two operations followed and virtually an entire season was spent on the sidelines. When he eventually returned to Inter's first XI, Santon struggled and an unhappy loan spell at Cesena preceded a £5m move to Newcastle in August 2011.

 

Not that the erstwhile Italy defender who first arrived on Tyneside bore too much resemblance to the happy, confident character preparing to mark Adam Johnson in Sunday's derby at Sunderland.

 

If an inability to speak a word of English hardly helped matters, the principal problem was that his right knee frequently swelled up after playing and training. Some days there was discomfort, on others pain. Creditably, Santon battled through it, emerging as a key figure in Newcastle's ascent to fifth place in the Premier League, but everything is infinitely better this season.

 

As if to prove the point he presses his fingers hard into the kneecap and smiles. "I don't have liquid inside it anymore," he says. "The fluid has gone. My knee is so much better now, I don't have a problem. I feel good. This year I'm enjoying everything. When I go on the pitch now I just really feel much more confident – although I know I can still improve a lot."

 

Among other things, last season's "difficult" induction taught him about the sheer ferocity of the Tyne-Wear rivalry. A veteran of three Milan derbies at San Siro – all won by Inter – Santon was startled and briefly "scared" by the intimidating atmosphere of his first north-east equivalent last March.

 

Conspicuous for a lack of grace under pressure the 1-1 draw at St James' featured two red cards, eight bookings and an unseemly managerial slanging match between Pardew and Martin O'Neill.

 

"The fans here are more aggressive than in Milan," he says in his impressively fluent "nine out of 10" English. "I was even a little bit scared early on in March but after that I really enjoyed it. The fans are crazy and I remember the managers being crazy too, but it was a fantastic experience. The rivalry is more intense than in Milan."

 

Sunday on Wearside would be the perfect time and place for Santon to celebrate the first goal of his senior career. As a former right-winger, converted to full-back by Mourinho, he feels he should start scoring. "Everyone always tells me 'shoot, just shoot, Davide', but I never shoot," he says. "I have chances to shoot three or four times a game but I always pass. Now I have to make myself cut inside on my right foot and shoot because I know I can score. I really hope it happens at Sunderland."

 

If it does a cheer may echo all the way from Madrid. Mourinho has not always been known for his patronage of youth but he had a soft spot for the boy he called the "Bambino" and spoke proudly of Santon's "interesting, intelligent personality" and "tactically versatile, highly technical football ability".

 

The appreciation is mutual. "I have to thank Mourinho for everything," says Santon. "He put me on the pitch, he gave me lots of confidence. He's an amazing coach. I can only say 'thank you' to him."

 

He sees shades of the Special One in Newcastle's manager. "Pardew is something like Mourinho," says Santon. "In difficult situations, he gives us belief, something special when he talks to us in the dressing room. Afterwards, when we go on the pitch, we always believe we can win. I think he's a really good coach; he's really improving me."

 

Pardew has persuaded him that, despite being right footed, he is a born left-back. "Left is good because I can go inside or outside and that makes things easier," he says. "At right-back, it's harder to come inside on my left foot."

 

Such expert tutelage ensured Santon did not bite when certain Serie A clubs recently sought to repatriate him. "Some teams in Italy wanted me," he says. "But Newcastle is the best place for my improvement. I'm enjoying living in the city and my girlfriend is from here. At the moment, I don't want to go back to Italy."

 

When he seeks Italian conversation, Santon picks up the phone to call an old friend at Manchester City. "Mario Balotelli was with me, not just at Inter, but in school. He's a funny boy, if a little bit crazy. We speak sometimes and send each other texts. He's not a bad guy, just crazy."

 

If mention of Balotelli makes him giggle, the name Ronaldo prompts a big smile provoked by recollections of a Champions League draw against Manchester United at San Siro in which he eclipsed the Portuguese. "My first European experience was against Cristiano Ronaldo and that was a really good game for me."

 

Significantly, Santon refuses to dwell on the memory. "Everybody remembers me from that match but it's in the past," he says. "I don't want my career to be about one game."

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Pardew has persuaded him that, despite being right footed, he is a born left-back. "Left is good because I can go inside or outside and that makes things easier," he says. "At right-back, it's harder to come inside on my left foot."

 

90% of the forum: :okay:

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Sunday on Wearside would be the perfect time and place for Santon to celebrate the first goal of his senior career. As a former right-winger, converted to full-back by Mourinho, he feels he should start scoring. "Everyone always tells me 'shoot, just shoot, Davide', but I never shoot," he says. "I have chances to shoot three or four times a game but I always pass. Now I have to make myself cut inside on my right foot and shoot because I know I can score. I really hope it happens at Sunderland."

 

Pardew obviously been telling him.

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Pardew has persuaded him that, despite being right footed, he is a born left-back. "Left is good because I can go inside or outside and that makes things easier," he says. "At right-back, it's harder to come inside on my left foot."

 

90% of the forum: :okay:

 

Debuchy still to come in at right-back  http://www.newcastle-online.org/nufcforum/Smileys/Newcastle-Online/yao.png

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Did well today, easily kept Johnson quiet.

 

Agree, thought he was poor going forward though. Nowhere near his usual level.

 

Difficult to do anything when Gardner was given free reign to kick his legs out from under him, without sanction.

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He's improved defensively this season, good to see. I still think he's generally flat going forward, personally. He beats a man occasionally but never seems to do anything with the ball; we really need more from our full-backs but i'm not expecting it this season. Santon will improve though; pleased to have him at the club because when he does start providing in the final third (coupled with his improvements at the back) - he'll be a real asset.

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Guest Howaythetoon

Our most consistent performer this season?

 

His defending today was exceptionally good, so good Johnson has to be HAULED OFFftm as a result.

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