Hatem Ben Arfa (now retired?)

[Spider Jerusalem]

You don't pick your attackers based on their defensive contribution.

 

And that is the crux of the problem of Pardew's mismanagement.

[Guest ElCid]

Decent article by Simon Bird covering a few points

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/newcastle-united-5-things-watch-3993759#.U-c28mO9bBY

[Tsunami]

For some on here it seems that HBA can no wrong. I hope he doesn't feel the same way. I don't think anyone has laid all the blame for the current situation on him but many are prepared to lay it all at Pardew's door.

 

For all his short comings this isn't all down to Pardew, there has to be compromise and on the pitch the players must follow orders, no matter how bad they may be, the manager will get found out.

 

If the relationship has broken down beyond repair HBA needs to move himself on. I hope that's not the case if it is the manager almost always wins. The current state of affairs is no good for anyone, supporters included.

[Slim]

For some on here it seems that HBA can no wrong. I hope he doesn't feel the same way. I don't think anyone has laid all the blame for the current situation on him but many are prepared to lay it all at Pardew's door.

 

For all his short comings this isn't all down to Pardew, there has to be compromise and on the pitch the players must follow orders, no matter how bad they may be, the manager will get found out.

 

If the relationship has broken down beyond repair HBA needs to move himself on. I hope that's not the case if it is the manager almost always wins. The current state of affairs is no good for anyone, supporters included.

 

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/trlrky.gif

[TRon]

For some on here it seems that HBA can no wrong. I hope he doesn't feel the same way. I don't think anyone has laid all the blame for the current situation on him but many are prepared to lay it all at Pardew's door.

 

For all his short comings this isn't all down to Pardew, there has to be compromise and on the pitch the players must follow orders, no matter how bad they may be, the manager will get found out.

 

If the relationship has broken down beyond repair HBA needs to move himself on. I hope that's not the case if it is the manager almost always wins. The current state of affairs is no good for anyone, supporters included.

 

Actually I am more than willing to accept that Hatem's not an easy player to manage, not only that he doesn't make the best decisions on the ball consistently enough either. But then if you want a player with his sort of ability without those faults then we need to start spending £50m on a player not £5m. But if we aren't going to do that then it's a case of playing Obertwat or Ben Arfa, and Pardew has clearly favoured the former.

[Jordan]

Everyone go and watch his goal against Bolton again and remember how fucking fun it was. One of the best things I've ever seen at SJP and it's the absolute personification of football to me, much like HBA is himself.

 

Wasn't as good as some as Gouffran's passes back to Coloccini last season. Wow. That boy can play.

[Tachikoma]

You dont need to support Hatem just for the sake of proving Pardew is s***.  The point is, no matter how s*** the manager is, you should do what he asked you to do on the pitch.  He is asking you to do A, you think it is bullshit and do B instead, then why would you get picked the next match? This applies not only to football, but any job in this world: follow the instructions.  The result would prove that he is wrong anyway since the manager is s*** and you are right, isnt it? It makes no sense to ignore the instructions on the pitch.

 

This is especially important in a team game. If Hatem is allowed to ignore the instructions, why would the others listen to the manager then? Dun throw out s***s like Pardew is c*** s*** idiot retard etc, this happened EVERY TIME  when Hatem fell out with the managers. 

 

In the end, he is the one who suffer most. But that is down to him, not Pardew.

 

By the way, the only one who publicly support Hatem is Cabaye (after joining PSG).  None of the others do so.

 

This is all well and good in theory, but it's based on a very lazy portrayal of Hatem being lazy (which is itself exceptionally ironic). For example, we have all this criticism of Hatem being selfish, lazy, not willing to put a shift in, not a team player, etc etc, yet quite recently when thrown back into the team randomly, Ben Arfa spent the entire first half against Southampton in his own half defending at every opportunity and ensuring Shaw barely got a sniff in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. Yet he still got taken off at half time because Southampton had ripped us apart with their superior coached football (albeit with a 1-0 scoreline only irrc), and the criticisms of Hatem's "laziness" were still bandied about. He did everything Pardew wanted him to do, everything Ben Arfa supposedly doesn't do (according to his critics), and it still wasn't enough to stop him being the fall guy as Southampton showed exactly how football should be played and coached (something Pardew can't do).

 

Not only that, but Hatem in that Southampton first half was about as extreme a defensive winger as you can get. The point here shouldn't be lost - wingers should not be playing like that. I feel like we're living in an insane world where everything is twisted and we have wingers being scolded for not running all the way to the fullback slots when the team loses the ball.

 

Furthermore, this "lazy, doesn't track back" argument is utter nonsense imo, and based on sheer exaggeration of something all players (especially talented ones) do. David Silva, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, even Adam Llalana - Ben Arfa tracks back far more than they do (the big difference with them I would argue isn't that they're better players, but that when they don't track back it doesn't frequently result in a goal for the opposition because their teams aren't as utterly s*** at defending as we are). If anything, under Pardew Hatem has spent far too much pitch time defending near his fullback when he should have been further up the pitch trying to cause damage. Maybe the correct criticism should be that Hatem is really weak in the tackle and so he sometimes lets his man go past him whilst he's easily brushed aside, but then that's an obviously harsh criticism to make given that he's an attacking winger.

 

That half-time substitution when we were 1-0 down still makes my head hurt, and somehow Ben Arfa gets blamed for that shitshow when it finishes 3-0.

 

Agreed that he barely ventured out of our half that game, what more can you ask from him defensively?

[Newintoon]

You dont need to support Hatem just for the sake of proving Pardew is s***.  The point is, no matter how s*** the manager is, you should do what he asked you to do on the pitch.  He is asking you to do A, you think it is bullshit and do B instead, then why would you get picked the next match? This applies not only to football, but any job in this world: follow the instructions.  The result would prove that he is wrong anyway since the manager is s*** and you are right, isnt it? It makes no sense to ignore the instructions on the pitch.

 

This is especially important in a team game. If Hatem is allowed to ignore the instructions, why would the others listen to the manager then? Dun throw out s***s like Pardew is c*** s*** idiot retard etc, this happened EVERY TIME  when Hatem fell out with the managers. 

 

In the end, he is the one who suffer most. But that is down to him, not Pardew.

 

By the way, the only one who publicly support Hatem is Cabaye (after joining PSG).  None of the others do so.

 

This is all well and good in theory, but it's based on a very lazy portrayal of Hatem being lazy (which is itself exceptionally ironic). For example, we have all this criticism of Hatem being selfish, lazy, not willing to put a shift in, not a team player, etc etc, yet quite recently when thrown back into the team randomly, Ben Arfa spent the entire first half against Southampton in his own half defending at every opportunity and ensuring Shaw barely got a sniff in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch. Yet he still got taken off at half time because Southampton had ripped us apart with their superior coached football (albeit with a 1-0 scoreline only irrc), and the criticisms of Hatem's "laziness" were still bandied about. He did everything Pardew wanted him to do, everything Ben Arfa supposedly doesn't do (according to his critics), and it still wasn't enough to stop him being the fall guy as Southampton showed exactly how football should be played and coached (something Pardew can't do).

 

Not only that, but Hatem in that Southampton first half was about as extreme a defensive winger as you can get. The point here shouldn't be lost - wingers should not be playing like that. I feel like we're living in an insane world where everything is twisted and we have wingers being scolded for not running all the way to the fullback slots when the team loses the ball.

 

Furthermore, this "lazy, doesn't track back" argument is utter nonsense imo, and based on sheer exaggeration of something all players (especially talented ones) do. David Silva, Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, even Adam Llalana - Ben Arfa tracks back far more than they do (the big difference with them I would argue isn't that they're better players, but that when they don't track back it doesn't frequently result in a goal for the opposition because their teams aren't as utterly s*** at defending as we are). If anything, under Pardew Hatem has spent far too much pitch time defending near his fullback when he should have been further up the pitch trying to cause damage. Maybe the correct criticism should be that Hatem is really weak in the tackle and so he sometimes lets his man go past him whilst he's easily brushed aside, but then that's an obviously harsh criticism to make given that he's an attacking winger.

 

That half-time substitution when we were 1-0 down still makes my head hurt, and somehow Ben Arfa gets blamed for that shitshow when it finishes 3-0.

 

Agreed that he barely ventured out of our half that game, what more can you ask from him defensively?

 

I was at that game it finished 4-0,was when my patience finally snapped with Pardew he was tracking back as much as possible mbiwa was having a bit of a mare behind him but he was being played out of position and not Hatems fault, we were 1-0 down and needed a goal and he took him off. It was a perfect example of Pardew thinking we playing fucking shite here if I take hba off they will think it was because of him, im a genius ( your not your a cunt) 

 

 

[Slim]

LAST CHANCE!!!!

 

Can someone take the banner? Seems a waste if not.

I can make it for about 10 min then I have to leave but I am gutted,

 

 

Special Event. Meet Hatem Ben Arfa at The Back Page on Tuesday 12th August at 6pm.

( This is not a signing session. Hatem would just like to do a meet a greet with Newcastle fans )

Please share as we know it is short notice so we can get as many fans as possible here to meet him.

Thanks ....

[loki679]

Hatem Ben Arfa is going to be meeting fans at the back page on tuesday?

[Fenham Mag]

What a guy

 

 

[loki679]

I'm more surprised that Slim thinks they're going to struggle for numbers

[Elliottman]

Get in hatem lad 

[Tiresias]

Maybe to say goodbye 

[Elliottman]

Maybe to say goodbye 

 

I suspect so aye.

[Guest]

Just around the corner from Dixy Chicken. He's not stupid.

[Kanj]

Hatem is a maverick man

[Fenham Mag]

He's having a do and spread on afterwards upstairs in the Irish Centre afterwards if anyone is interested.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Looks fit and raring to go ...oh hang on.

 

 

could be an old pic with No.10 on the kit.

Oh hang on, it's just that you haven't seen it. That's only from a couple of weeks ago.

[Wilson]

Hope the banners there, need a picture of it with him next to it.

 

 

[r0cafella]

HBA continues his PR campaign against Pardew and the club lol.

 

He really doesn't give a fucc

 

[Interpolic]

[Andymc1]

Hope the banners there, need a picture of it with him next to it.

 

Should get one next to the Pardew one as well.

[sempuki]

Just around the corner from Dixy Chicken. He's not stupid.

[Big Geordie]

Would love to go to that, but the Back Page will be rammed. It won't take long for word to spread.