AyeDubbleYoo Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He is an absolutely cracking player for his age. Especially considering he was expecting to be starting League Cup games every so often and he's now thrown in against top PL teams. Fitness permitting he'll be one of our best signings for years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPL Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He has enormous potential if hes standing out playing this season, imagine what he would have been like in the team last year playing with confidence. Great upgrade from Guthrie. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20121229/bigirimana-keeping-the-faith_2281670_3022041 "Weeping might endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." That verse from Psalm 30:5 of the Bible is helping Gael Bigirimana to stay postive after two demoralising defeats in the last four days. God has guided the 19-year-old throughout his life and career so far. It is Him who Bigirimana believes urged him to ask for a trial at Coventry City's Academy while he was buying a pint of milk as a youngster and it is to Him that he prays before every game he plays. And it is Him who the Burundi-born midfielder will again turn to to ensure that he and his team-mates come back stronger in the weeks ahead after their 7-3 reverse at Arsenal, which came three days after the Boxing Day meeting at Manchester United when Newcastle led on three occasions before eventually going down 4-3 to the league leaders. At the Emirates Stadium, the Magpies trailed on three occasions but equalised each time - only to slip to a 7-3 thrashing, with four of the goals coming in the final 20 minutes. Both defeats were hard to take given how much the players put into each match, but Bigirimana is one young man who will always keep the faith. "Sometimes life will hit you down, hit you down, hit you down but God is just looking at you to see if you're going to give up like the verse in the Bible," he told nufc.co.uk after emerging from the away dressing room. "Football can be a cruel sport. You work hard and you do most things right - but you've got to do it 100 per cent right for the full 90 minutes. "You can't just do 85 or 80 minutes. You've got to keep going and keep going until you can't feel your legs. "We've given our all at Man United and Arsenal, two big teams in the league and in the country but sometimes when you think you're doing the right thing and you're playing well, football takes you and you've got to have the character where you keep going. "Football will punch you down and punch you down and punch you down. But you can't give up, because as a footballer you've got to have a strong character and when football doesn't go your way and it's hitting you down, you've got to stand up, not give up and just keep fighting back. "Eventually it will start falling your way. It's incredible sometimes - you just think 'what's going on?' but that's football. This game could be the last punch, or Everton could be the last punch, but one of these games will be the last punch. Then we'll get our time to start punching back." The Magpies certainly looked a little punch drunk towards the end of Saturday's game but Arsenal's Boxing Day fixture against West Ham was postponed due to the effect of a tube train workers' strike on the London transport system, and Bigirimana felt the Gunners' extra rest proved decisive in the final few minutes as the hosts ran riot against a tired Magpies defence. "It's no excuse but we've had two games in four days - and massive games away from home," said the youngster, who had been replaced by Shola Ameobi with his side trailing 4-3 in the 82nd minute as Alan Pardew understandably threw caution to the wind. "In the last 15 minutes we looked all over the place but we're human beings, we get tired. I can't say that's an excuse but we just have to learn from our mistakes and make sure we don't concede against Everton. "We always knew that we could score, even against Man U and Arsenal here. There was great character to some of our play but you've got to learn from these big teams. You've got to look and say 'what do they do best? What do they do to get even better still?' and we've got to add that to our game." Last season, Bigirimana was playing for Coventry as the Sky Blues were relegated to League One but a sign of how far his star has risen came when he started against both the Gunners and the Red Devils at two of the best stadiums in England. And despite the scorelines in the two games, he has looked completely at home in such surroundings. "I think I've done alright in both games but it's not about me, it's about the team," he insisted. "Even if I play excellent and we lose, I can't say 'I did well.' You lose as a team, you win as a team and you play well as a team. "I just give thanks to my God. I'm thankful to him because I don't deserve it. People might say 'yes you do' but you can't say I deserve everything I get because there are people who live in the street who are better people than probably I am, but they're on the street. So you cannot say 'I deserve this' because the people in the street deserve better. "But playing at Old Trafford and Arsenal and these experiences - I'm just living the dream. God always tests me, and he tests me to see how I react. But I always give him thanks - win, lose or draw, I give him thanks because I know there's always something good coming up." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 His composure on the ball tonight was so impressive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The College Dropout Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I know he looks like Tiote but he really isn't a similar player. If he was Italian he wouldn't get the constant comparisons. The lads a passer. He can put a foot in but he's not a holding player at all. Of all the players' he's played alongside/against he's more similar to Carrick than anyone else. Calmly, stroking the ball around. When he's in deep positions he'll often switch play and instigate attacks. When he gets a bit further forward he often chooses the wrong pass but that should improve with experience. In practice he's more Anita than Tiote. You worry a bit about size and power but they won't be outfought and are technically very good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaehyun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I know he looks like Tiote but he really isn't a similar player. If he was Italian he wouldn't get the constant comparisons. The lads a passer. He can put a foot in but he's not a holding player at all. Of all the players' he's played alongside/against he's more similar to Carrick than anyone else. Calmly, stroking the ball around. When he's in deep positions he'll often switch play and instigate attacks. When he gets a bit further forward he often chooses the wrong pass but that should improve with experience. In practice he's more Anita than Tiote. You worry a bit about size and power but they won't be outfought and are technically very good. Have to agree with you there. He's not a destroyer. It's just that as a young player perhaps without the confidence of stroking the ball around in his earlier performances, we noticed his body strength and his tackling first. He's definitely more of an an Anita rather than a Tiote. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dyeyzzon Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 ^Aye. First thing I did notice last night was how similar he was to Carrick. Spreads the play neatly to kick start attacks from the back. Not a destroyer at all, nor is he a Yaya Toure-style battering ram. He'll be a regular next year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
morpeth mag Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Thought his new hair style was good: and he played very well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ste Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Enjoyed reading that .co.uk interview, refreshing attitude. Feet firmly on the ground and unwilling to take plaudits for himself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BONTEMPI Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 The lad did great for a 19 yer old. Looked composed and assured. I was gutted when he went off as he was spreading the play great. If he had stayed on we would have run them very close. One for the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 The future? F*ck the future he is ready now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BONTEMPI Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 The future? F*ck the future he is ready now He's not there yet lad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Bloody love this kid. So mature on and off the pitch. We've really hit the jackpot here, should have cost us far more than we paid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He's not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination but he's ready to start games now imo. Arguably controlled long parts of games and distrubuted greatly against yanited and arsenal. We fell to pieces when pardew took him off in both games..... Sure theres a lot more to come but he can should imo start games now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He's not always doing the right things but at the moment he is making less costly mistakes than Tiote. Until Cabaye is back I would have a 3 of Tiote, Anita and Bigi. When he and Ben Arfa come back we will need to reasses but Bigi has certainly given himself a chance. The only issue is the weakest link at the moment is the only real destroyer so Bigi may miss out to Marv and Cabaye (can't see Cisse/Ba being dropped). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He's not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination but he's ready to start games now imo. Arguably controlled long parts of games and distrubuted greatly against yanited and arsenal. We fell to pieces when pardew took him off in both games..... Sure theres a lot more to come but he can should imo start games now Too many good teenagers are ruined by too many games or too many expectations. We should not be looking for him to be first choice for at least another two seasons in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I think over the years it has been a big issue over playing ids, we have done it alot due to piss poor squad size, however I think Bigi is such a sorted together young lad its not as much of a worry. Still though we should not be risking his progress by piling on so much pressure onto his shoulders in a very low confidence squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Well it ruined Fabregas and the Man Utd brat pack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 I'm not sure I like his new hair. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Well it ruined Fabregas and the Man Utd brat pack Huge difference being a young kid in a winning team surrounded by confident players Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He's not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination but he's ready to start games now imo. Arguably controlled long parts of games and distrubuted greatly against yanited and arsenal. We fell to pieces when pardew took him off in both games..... Sure theres a lot more to come but he can should imo start games now Too many good teenagers are ruined by too many games or too many expectations. We should not be looking for him to be first choice for at least another two seasons in my opinion. Agree with that maybe i'm going a bit over the top but he has been outstanding in last 2 games.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 We do the complete opposite tbh, keep players in the youth/reserves until they are in their 20's then they fail to step up. Bigi won't be playing 50 games a season for us but every game he gets will help his development. If he is performing well there isn't a problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 This lad is definitely ready. As Ronaldo said before he's benefited from playing games in the Championship already. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewJerseyMag Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Well with Tiote going to the ACoN he''ll get his chance. I think he'll do a decent job. Honestly, the way Tiote has been playing I wouldn't be too fussed if we cashed in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 He can play a bit. (Thought he'd a destroyer type of player solely.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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