Hatem Ben Arfa (still a free agent)

[Interpolic]

He's tried loads, it makes no difference because he's not Pardew's type of player and is an easy scapegoat when things go wrong. Not surprised he's got to the stage he doesn't bother as much, I'd do the same.

[Wullie]

Pardew and Ben Arfa are equally responsible for this s***.  And i must say both Bellamy and Dyer are easier to manage than Hatem, at least they didnt fall out with EVERY managers they had.  Pardew is s***, for sure. How about the other managers who've managed Hatem before?

 

Agree with this. Pardew deserves stick for loads but a good Pro would have knuckled down and proved his manager wrong.

 

Proved him wrong in what sense? I don't see how that could have been possible. He'd have to change his game entirely (and become Gouffran/Jonas) to ever be a permanent presence in that man's team. When it's 1-0 and we're defending a lead at home to Norwich, Ben Arfa is persona non grata.

[Wullie]

Talking to fans outside of this forum, the majority think he's a lazy bastard and deserves to be out of the team.

 

The majority (at times) used to think the same about Laurent Robert. Suspect it's mainly the same clueless fuckwits this time round.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Knuckling down and prove the manager wrong? Bit hard when he's done everything asked of him and Pardew is still acting like the egomaniac cunt he is.

 

What has he done to let the fans down exactly?  He hasn't done anything wrong. As for his history, how about Pardew's history? Which includes verbally abusing Pellegrini and headbutting a player.

 

I'm sorry but you're talking out your arse.

[Guest palnese]

Knuckling down and prove the manager wrong? Bit hard when he's done everything asked of him and Pardew is still acting like the egomaniac cunt he is.

 

What has he done to let the fans down exactly?  He hasn't done anything wrong. As for his history, how about Pardew's history? Which includes verbally abusing Pellegrini and headbutting a player.

 

I'm sorry but you're talking out your arse.

 

We have no idea about what's going on behind the scenes. It's been reported that Ben Arfa isn't very well liked within the squad for starters. I'm not saying that this isn't Pardew's fault, but I don't think Ben Arfa is as innocent as some might think.

[TRon]

Talking to fans outside of this forum, the majority think he's a lazy bastard and deserves to be out of the team.

 

The majority (at times) used to think the same about Laurent Robert. Suspect it's mainly the same clueless fuckwits this time round.

 

Bang on, in fact there were plenty of "knowledgeable" pundits who also questioned Robert's work rate and Bobby Robson didn't give them the time of day. Pisses me off no end to see two great managers like Robson and Keegan being used to try and make a case against Ben Arfa. They were managers who knew how to coach teams and produce good football. The exact opposite of bullshit king Pards.

[Wullie]

Knuckling down and prove the manager wrong? Bit hard when he's done everything asked of him and Pardew is still acting like the egomaniac cunt he is.

 

What has he done to let the fans down exactly?  He hasn't done anything wrong. As for his history, how about Pardew's history? Which includes verbally abusing Pellegrini and headbutting a player.

 

I'm sorry but you're talking out your arse.

 

We have no idea about what's going on behind the scenes. It's been reported that Ben Arfa isn't very well liked within the squad for starters. I'm not saying that this isn't Pardew's fault, but I don't think Ben Arfa is as innocent as some might think.

 

"Within the squad" is a fairly sweeping statement. If Dan Gosling and Rob Elliott didn't/don't like him, who gives a flying fuck? There doesn't appear to be a problem between him and the French lads, who, let's face it, are probably just about the majority.

 

I'd bet any money you like that there's more within the squad who dislike the manager than dislike HBA.

 

Also, there's people that we all work with that nobody likes, you've just got to fucking get on with it, you can't just ask the boss to tell them not to come in. This is meant to be the manager being professional and HBA being unprofessional is it?

[Sima]

Alan Oliver was the worst critic of Robert.  Would consistently give him 4 or less in his ratings, even after that double against Spurs.

[Guest palnese]

Knuckling down and prove the manager wrong? Bit hard when he's done everything asked of him and Pardew is still acting like the egomaniac cunt he is.

 

What has he done to let the fans down exactly?  He hasn't done anything wrong. As for his history, how about Pardew's history? Which includes verbally abusing Pellegrini and headbutting a player.

 

I'm sorry but you're talking out your arse.

 

We have no idea about what's going on behind the scenes. It's been reported that Ben Arfa isn't very well liked within the squad for starters. I'm not saying that this isn't Pardew's fault, but I don't think Ben Arfa is as innocent as some might think.

 

"Within the squad" is a fairly sweeping statement. If Dan Gosling and Rob Elliott didn't/don't like him, who gives a flying fuck? There doesn't appear to be a problem between him and the French lads, who, let's face it, are probably just about the majority.

 

I'd bet any money you like that there's more within the squad who dislike the manager than dislike HBA.

 

Also, there's people that we all work with that nobody likes, you've just got to fucking get on with it, you can't just ask the boss to tell them not to come in. This is meant to be the manager being professional and HBA being unprofessional is it?

 

Can't disagree with any of that

[TRon]

Alan Oliver was the worst critic of Robert.  Would consistently give him 4 or less in his ratings, even after that double against Spurs.

 

Alan Oliver is exactly the sort of fan that Ste will have been talking about when he said those outside the forum didn't rate Ben Arfa. Useless thick bastards.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Not to mention Pardew and the board are known bullshitters who lie through the back of their teeth.

 

I'd personally rather not side with anything they say or do, anything related to them is 100% bullshit.

[Zero]

You dont need to support Hatem just for the sake of proving Pardew is shit.  The point is, no matter how shit 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 shit 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 shits like Pardew is cunt shit 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.

 

 

[Wullie]

Alan Oliver was the worst critic of Robert.  Would consistently give him 4 or less in his ratings, even after that double against Spurs.

 

Alan Oliver is exactly the sort of fan that Ste will have been talking about when he said those outside the forum didn't rate Ben Arfa. Useless thick bastards.

 

It's like when you listen to 606 after any England game, about 80% of the callers will say that the main problem is that players/manager don't have enough passion. As a football public we love it here, passion, work-rate, get stuck in.

 

It's best to work from a starting point that most people know fuck all about football imo, rather than taking a majority view and assuming that has any merit.

[midds]

Always find the critics of Ben Arfa are exactly the same type of people as Pardew. They'll always focus on the things he doesn't/can't do rather than see the things he can do. Pardew is the most negative prick in the world, constantly telling anyone who'll listen about the things the club/squad/players can't do. Can't do this, can't do that, can't do the other, everything is can't - it's inherently negative.

 

Dopey cunts swallow all of the negatives and ignore the positives a fit and motivated Ben Arfa bring to a team. The ability to win a game of football with a good 5 minute spell, a goal out of nothing, a killer pass, a dip of the shoulder to create space to win a game is just ignored. He's a fat/lazy/unprofessional wanker - get fucking rid. They need wiping from the face of the earth. 

[Waddles mullet]

He wouldn't pass the ball,

[tmonkey]

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.

[Tsunami]

Knuckling down and prove the manager wrong? Bit hard when he's done everything asked of him and Pardew is still acting like the egomaniac c*** he is.

 

What has he done to let the fans down exactly?  He hasn't done anything wrong. As for his history, how about Pardew's history? Which includes verbally abusing Pellegrini and headbutting a player.

 

I'm sorry but you're talking out your arse.

 

We've tried to play everything through him at times, his decision making as been very poor at times, players around him stop making runs because they don't believe he'll make the pass. Whether people like it or not, even the most talented players do have some responsibility for getting back when the team needs it. If nothing else he should always be in tip top shape.

 

Saying he's not a Pardew type player doesn't wash. He'd have issues with even with the most expansive type manager. As an opposing manager you'd tell your team to double up on him when he's in possession and attack his position when you have the ball. That happens, Hull at home is the most obvious example. He has to become a more rounded player, not massively but enough to become less predictable. Yes, he is predictable, brilliant at times but still too predictable.

 

People need to stop making excuses for him, we're paying his wages and are expected to accept never mind, you take our money and don't worry 'cos Pardew's a twat. It's not your fault.

 

I genuinely feel he's let us down, teasing us with his moments of genius and taking a lend of us because he knows he's got what we want and we'll forgive his indiscretions. Femme Fatale.

[Dave]

The chronic lack of movement off the ball is a problem that's been evident throughout the Pardew tenure, irrespective of whether Ben Arfa is on the pitch or not. It's just worse when he's there.

 

Personally I would say it's the manager's job to ensure this doesn't happen, but whatever.

[Jack Flash]

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.

[Tiresias]

mate was in crowd with a bolton fan friend, they were going down and he just had head in his hands while mate was going mental 

[Wullie]

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.

[ponsaelius]

Still think the Blackburn goal was better. Amazing to be there for both of them live.

[henke]

Just watched it half a dozen times. I remember the game being quite frustrating then boom, Ben Arfa scores a goal the other 21 players would struggle to replicate on an Xbox. His first touch is mental.

 

Edit: Bolton goal.

[Jack Flash]

Still think the Blackburn goal was better. Amazing to be there for both of them live.

 

From a technical standpoint that was much better but just the fucking thrill of him doing that out of nothing in such a shit, depressing game meant the world.

[Anderson]

Still think the Blackburn goal was better. Amazing to be there for both of them live.