Hatem Ben Arfa (still a free agent)

[relámpago blanco]

He'll be back. I can feel it in my bones.

[Mattoon]

Too many fish in the PSG pond, deserved the move from his form but should never have gone there. Would still have him back in a flash.

 

Are you sure about that?

 

 

erm, yup?

 

Well, exactly. That's like saying I don't want to get a cancer or something.

 

OK I get you, there's just a fair few of our supporters that genuinely wouldn't purely based on the Pardew school of thought and the media's "difficult" line. There's a few on here fwiw

[summerof69]

Unfortunately I don't think he's a Rafa type of player. With that being said, can you imagine how amazing Hatem would be in the championship ?

[Holloway]

[Elliottman]

He looks fucked as it stands.

[Hanshithispantz]

Ah mint, he's going to have an average/shit stint at PSG and then the boo boys are going to tell us they were right aren't they?

It's going to happen like, I absolutely hate this planet

[wormy]

I can't champion him anymore. I fucking love the man. But what did he expect, going to PSG? Too good an opportunity to pass up, blah blah blah. I dont see how he has the career he's had, receives the adulation he got in particular from Nice, and is still stupid enough to take the move to the big club.

[Dave]

Yep, said as much in here.

[Guest]

Can't blame him having one last go at a big club but would like to think in January or the summer he'll go somewhere he can enjoy himself again.

[Dokko]

I can't champion him anymore. I fucking love the man. But what did he expect, going to PSG? Too good an opportunity to pass up, blah blah blah. I dont see how he has the career he's had, receives the adulation he got in particular from Nice, and is still stupid enough to take the move to the big club.

 

Yup. Should have signed a big contract at Nice, lived in a lovely part of his home country and be loved by the fans. Instead he chased the money and fame, and while at his very best he's good enough for psg, it's what he brings the rest of the time which is questionable. As soon as questions are asked of him he never recovers mentally and just slips away. It would be great to see him battle back and show his quality, but it already sounds like it's over for him there.

 

People joke but you could actually see him back here, he's crazy enough, it's just whether Rafa feels he can get the best out of him or not.

 

Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.

[Guest palnese]

What an absolute waste of a career.

[Foluwashola]

Difficult one if a proper football manager in Unai Emery is questioning his fitness.

[Bimpy474]

What an absolute waste of a career.

 

I get what you're saying but i wouldn't call winning 5 league titles and numerous cups in France a wasted career like, in general terms.

 

You're right if you mean he could have had so much more though.

[Si]

The emotional confusion on here if Rafa vs Hatem did happen

No confusion here. Rafa every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

 

[Hanshithispantz]

Puel left Nice who was responsible for his great season last year, cannot blame him for going to PSG

 

Like I said, if your penis was firmly in Pardew's mouth - and therefore you're jilted about the lad - you'll be absolutely loving this. It's a shame but whatever, it's blatantly obvious he was the most talented player we've had in a decade and should have been starting ahead of Ryan Taylor.

 

We're only a few games in.

 

[Zero]

I dont think it is a matter of Pardewed or not.  I just think he has more than enough talents and chances in his life to achieve something exceptionally great instead of eating shits here and there, no matter what the reason is. If I got just 30% talent of him I think I can be a decent EPL pro already, earning huge money enjoying fame and wags and may already representing England.  Really a waste of talent and career.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Difficult one if a proper football manager in Unai Emery is questioning his fitness.

 

In fairness as good as Emery is he's very cautious and tends to favour a different type of player than what Ben Arfa brings.

 

 

[Hanshithispantz]

It's hard to say he should have had a better career like, he obviously has issues which he's admitted himself. The crux of the matter is his career could have been great here if Pardew wasn't a vindictive bellend.

 

Everything was sorted, he just needed to play him.

[Elliottman]

Difficult one if a proper football manager in Unai Emery is questioning his fitness.

 

In fairness as good as Emery is he's very cautious and tends to favour a different type of player than what Ben Arfa brings.

 

 

 

As much as I love the bloke, I think we've ran out of excuses. Something's obviously gone on for him not to even make the squads.

[Hanshithispantz]

By all acounts he's meant to be lazy in training. He's never been fat but he's came back fairly over his ideal weight a few times. At PSG it's completely understandable that he would be dropped, they're a world class side. At Newcastle and Hull though, managed by Pardew and Bruce? Puel knew exactly how to handle him at a mid tier club, he just let him get on with it and was rewarded massively.

[Elliottman]

By all acounts he's meant to be lazy in training. He's never been fat but he's came back fairly over his ideal weight a few times. At PSG it's completely understandable that he would be dropped, they're a world class side. At Newcastle and Hull though, managed by Pardew and Bruce? Puel knew exactly how to handle him at a mid tier club, he just let him get on with it and was rewarded massively.

 

Aye I'd never argue with the way he was treated here, but can't really defend him at the moment.

[Hanshithispantz]

Aye deffinitely not, he's obviously doing something (or not doing something ) so it would be a bit daft to get on Emery's back.

[Guest firetotheworks]

I stand by my original point, his career post Newcastle changes nothing about his time here. You can feel vindicated by his time at Hull or Nice, depending upon whether you're a fan or not. Ultimately it means nothing, because when he was here he might have had issues, but he was brilliant, treated like shit by a gaping cunt of a man, dropped for far inferior and less effective players, ostracised, and should have done even more with us. Personally, I'm cautious around non Ben Arfa fans and generally just assume that they don't like football for what I consider to be 'the right reasons' and potentially know fuck all about football as well. He's one of my favourite Newcastle players of all time, not because he was one of the best (although talent wise, he is), but because for me he represents everything that I love football and what I loved about growing up watching Beardsley, Ginola and Asprilla. He plays like a kid in the school yard who wants to take everyone on a score. It's rare that you get that excitement from a player these days, and it's exactly what I want to see.

[WarrenBartonCentrePartin]

By all acounts he's meant to be lazy in training. He's never been fat but he's came back fairly over his ideal weight a few times. At PSG it's completely understandable that he would be dropped, they're a world class side. At Newcastle and Hull though, managed by Pardew and Bruce? Puel knew exactly how to handle him at a mid tier club, he just let him get on with it and was rewarded massively.

 

[Kanj]

He was never going to have the same treatment at Nice given Puel left for Southampton. So it's fairly easy assumption to think he'd have the same role or freedom or man management (which to me is really the key for HBA). He probably would have done best going to Southampton and getting the same role under Puel. THAT is probably his best move versus PSG IMO.