Potential?
With Leon Best sidelined for the rest of the season and Shola being forced to miss the game, it certainly left Alan Pardew with few striking options on the day. On another day Kevin Nolan may have been asked to play off a striker, something he has done several times for Newcastle. Sadly though Kevin is currently serving a suspension and wasn’t available for selection.
Nile got his chance to impress at Villa Park and started the game up top with Peter Lovenkrands. Now I don’t wish to single out Nile for criticism for Sunday because in reality there were several poor performances on the day, including the man who he partnered up front.
I was very interested to see how the London born player would perform in truth. Alan Pardew has made it public knowledge that he has been unimpressed with the teenagers attitude at times. We have all heard about Nile’s bad time keeping and the Newcastle boss has had no problem questioning Ranger’s desire at times.
With all this in mind I think that Sunday was a great chance for Nile to prove that his ability is one thing we shouldn’t be concerned about. Unfortunately it wasn’t a chance he was able to take with both hands and I say it was unfortunate for Nile just because he rarely starts senior games, you have to take your chances when they come.
Ranger was always going to be up against it, facing a very strong Villa defence. James Collins and Richard Dunne may not be the most nimble but they are both big, strong defenders. Dunne had Nile in his back pocket all afternoon and the striker rarely caused the Republic Of Ireland international any problems. One thing Nile has over Dunne is pace, but he just didn’t use that to his advantage.
Giving my honest feedback of Ranger on the day, I thought he looked out of his depth, lazy and at times uninterested. I do however find it incredibly unfair to judge a player based on one game. As I said earlier Nile isn’t a usual starter for Pardew and in all fairness lacks experience in the top flight and probably a bit of match fitness too.
I have spoken to many people about Nile Ranger and opinion has always been divided. You speak to some people who think he’s wonderful and will be a massive player for Newcastle United, where others think he’s over hyped and overrated.
It does sound as if the lad has had more than one chance to sort out his lifestyle and his attitude. I think it’s quite right that he hasn’t started more games if he isn’t applying himself in training and hasn’t got the decency to arrive on time every morning. These are problems that he must iron out now, if indeed they are still an issue.
In my opinion he has potential to be a very gifted footballer if he knuckles down and willing is to work for it. I think he is very sharp around the edges and needs polishing up, but just look at Andy Carroll. Andy looked very raw at times, but credit to him because he obviously listened to the coaches and worked on his game. Look at him now, England international who has just cost £35 million to buy.
With Andy gone could Nile continue to develop and be the next big thing or is he just not cut out for it? One thing is for sure we need a couple of quality strikers in the summer. In fact we need to add a few bodies in various positions if we are to move forward.
I won’t write Mr Ranger off just yet, but I think he has an awful lot of work to do. What do you guys think? « Another one bites the dust! | Should Jose be dropped? »
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56 Comments
Very good read.
Not a fan of Ranger tbh, he’s got the talent but he’s the kinda guy who would waste it.
His twitter remarks about “Gangster 1st, Footballer 2nd” say it all
haha, does it really say that on his twitter?
Personally I would say no, but as you rightly say you cant write someone so young off. Finishing is something that should come naturally to a striker but not to ranger and although he looks decent everywhere else ultimately the job of a striker is to score and his finishing just seems woeful.
Good read mate. I think Sunday may, hopefully, wake Nile up a bit and make him realise that he isn’t the dogs dangly bits that he thinks he is and still gas a lot more work to do.
He wasn’t helped by the rest of the team mind
agreed mate
Good read Mark. Was always going to be up against it like you say with Dunne and Collins big, experienced defenders and with the limited service he got from midfield. He didn’t do himself any favors with him seemingly concentrating on the defenders more than the ball.
Your right that Carroll leaving will be good for Ranger and it might be that him leaving will be like how relegation was for Carroll.
Good article Mark. In my opinion he’s not ready to be starting games, be better with big Kuqi up front for the first hour or so, and when he’s given the defenders a good battering throw Nile on to run rings round them.
Hate to go off topic early on here too, and I apologise if this takes the attention of your article mate, but can’t not pass on what I’ve just seen/read – could be worth an article in itself Toonsy?
It’s from the Daily Mail, which is usually a pile of tripe, but it does have the video to back it up, and it doesn’t make for happy viewing.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1375807/Joe-Enrique-Liverpool-deal-says-Phil-Thompson.html
Bad times.
Pete – we’ve already done an articleon that mate. Can’t grab the link as I’m on my phone but I think it was abou 4-5 blogs ago
Pete;
http://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2011/04/10/joses-away-then/
Whooooops, you’s are churning them out quicker than I can get on to read them these days! I’ll assume it was accompanied by the usual grumblings, Ashley/Pardew bashing, conspiracy theories and general discontentment?
So, Nile Ranger then…..
Pete, pretty much
To be fair, I think Ranger would have shown more if he could have knocked down and played alongside Nolan rather than Lovenkrands who i think has just about had it now…even so, is he good enough? Well he might have some talent, although signs of that are hit and miss, and to be honest I’ve always valued the less skillful players who give their all rather than those who claim talent and don’t bother showing up half the time.
Newcastle United have refused to comment on reports linking Jose Enrique to liverpool…according to the metro..If its true,I think its a done deal..
he looked worn out in the 2nd half and though i was excited to see him start i think kuqi could have made a better impression
Deepak – Nothing new there surely? Isn’t it club policy not to comment?
It’ll be interesting to see what, or if, pardew says anything about it. I imagine yesterday would have been a day off so he might cone out with something later.
I know that Toonsy,but the club have not exactly been adhering to that policy,have they?They even chose to comment on Jose’s ‘out of context’ interview and on the pic of ireland,Folan and Best in the pub..Surely,this is a more serious issue than those,right?
Plenty of ‘also rans’ have never made it, not through lack of ability, but lack of application. He really shouldn’t need encouraging to work hard is the priveliged position he has. Talent has got him this far and he appears to be of the mindset that talent is enough.
Psychologically, it’s the difference between being a Prem player and being a lower league player. I don’t think Ranger has the correct mentality. A season in the Championship or even League 1 to bring him down to earth and get him some 1st team experience may help, though I don’t think this leopard can change his spots.
Ranger will never make a decent no9
Enrique is most likely off but unless Newcastle have agreed transfer, surely this amounts to tapping up.
Not happy to see him leave and this could start an exodus but it looks like he wants out so I’m not blaming cashier Ashley this time
Even if the club released a statement….so what?
How many times did we hear, he’s not for sale in the Gypsy transfer saga?
Maybe pards read http://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2011/03/11/pardew-writing-cheques-he-cant-cash/
And has decided to keep his gob shut this time so he doesn’t get egg on his face in case it does end up happening (whether it’s been agreed or not)
Carroll had a decent game last night but hey what did we expect, I don’t expect loyalty from any player these days, only loyalty in football comes from the fans. Everyone else is in it for the spondoolas.
Looks like we’re gonna end up with about 50 million to potentially spend in summer so we’ll be linked to every fooked going, reckon fatty will spend about 20m and keep the rest for wages etc
If that’s the case I expect others to leave
WTF,are we liverpools feeder club,WTF is ashley and co playing at,he needs to start paying decent wages to keep owa best players are we will be fked next season…
barton”if you pay peanuts you get monkeys”
ranger, get rid
You can see his talent as an impact player now but when it comes to starting
. He clearly needs more experience and i think he should bee loaned out next season to get it. There have been two games now, Villa and Fulham were he failed to do anything, even just to catch the eye, he needs to experience to know what to do when he is in them situations like against villa. Maybe then with the experience under his belt he can have that impact that he has as a sub for a whole game. 
I didn’t make a post yesterday but read the blogs
i couldn’t believe the criticism a young lad making his first premiership start got in what was a disappointing all round performamce. If the lad had missed chance after chance then maybe just maybe it would have been justified.
Where were our seasoned pro’s on Sunday. Did Simmo, Jose, Guthrie, Barton, Jonas and Lovenkrands all play better than their opponents? Did they hell.
People were giving Ranger stick for not passing to Lovenkrands. What difference would that have made. Ninety nine times out of a hundred Lovenkrands misses.
What Ranger needs now is good man management and he should be told now he is starting the next game (albeit manure) dropping him is not the way forward. he is still all potential, work in progress whatever you want to call it and in comparison to a previous number nine ahead in in his development
Hear hear Toby
On what I’ve seen so far no….definately not yet anyway, still young though so if he changes his sh!t attitude hopefully he’ll make it.
Deepak…..if ya still about The Freemans a cracking hospital….my Mam is a nurse there
I was a bit pissed of at the time when Ranger didn’t play Lovenkrands through but don’t forget he’s a young lad desperate to get his first prem goal, maybe a little to desperate which is the main cause of his poor finishing imo…and as Toby says Lovenkrands would probably have missed anyway
Toby@24, couldnt agree more, i thought he started well but Lovenkrands would make Pele look indifferent and the midfield were crap behind him
some people make me laugh ,at 1st your shouting for ranger too start and now some are saying give kuqi a start ,give your head a shake will yas ide rather play young airey than kuqi
none of it matters we’re safe anyway
Great article first of all ,
I agree that he has the potential to be a good player but he needs to work hard in training to realise that potential, I actually thought he started well on sun but faded out of the game. I think if he gets his first goal his goals will come , he has a good scoring record for the reserves , clearly there is a massive difference between the resevres n the premiership and he has to work hard to bridge that gap.
A season on loan in the Championship next year is what Ranger needs, get his confidence of finding the back of the net.
What’s rangers goal record in the reserves? It’s virtually non existent in the seniors. Is non existent in the premier.
Anyone who raves on about Ranger being our future needs to take a look in the mirror and repeat the following words ” I know nothing about football. I know nothing about football”.
I’m not totally writing him off but I’ve seen enough already to know he’s not gonna be prolific.
You’ve either got that or you haven’t.
He hasn’t .
He has the talent but his attitude is letting him down. Cant help but agree with people saying he should go out on loan i think it would do him the world of good.
& if you go by the name of djg – you should be saying exactly the same thing as wor bobby @ 33 is telling ya.
but i would suggest you repeat it about 20 times just so it sinks in.
@Roy crapper
Don’t wind DJG up or he’ll gan to work in the huff again.
Jobey 07 – if Ranger has put that on his Twitter – gangster 1st, footballer 2nd, he’s an even bigger idiot than most people aleady think he is.
The lad needs to give his head a good shake. He’s obviously got potential, but imo his attitude will do for him.
Very good article,concerning Ranger he simply do not posess the skill necessary for the premier league.I’m not giving him stick,simply giving my oppinion.Offcourse I could be wrong,but the Villa defenders taking care of him were not exactly the cream of the crop,still Ranger hardly won a single duell as far as I can remember.Maybe Pardew had reasons beyond the tardiness for never letting him start a match before there were no other alternative.
I think Ranger needs to be given the time that Judas was given. Judas also had a season in the championship and I would send Ranger on loan next season to somewhere like Leeds where he will get a good standard with expectation.
I read something about Puncheon at the weekend. Talked about how he was hung out to dry by Danny Wilson when he was 22ish. He was the big I am and didnt realise what he had until he was released and Wilson spoke to all the football community about him to put people off. I think he then went to Barnet to resurect his career and ended up where he is. A great lesson for Ranger to learn I think
Not a bad article here aboot the Toon from a neutral perspective: http://www.redwhiteandblue.tv/blog/the-magpies-are-minging/
Saying that it doesn’t exactly tell us anything we don’t already now, i.e. the next transfer window will be pivotal!
WHAT A STUPID QUESTION?? IS NILE RANGER GOOD ENOUGH FOR 1 OF ENGLANDS TOP TEAMS HAHAHA??? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! WE NEED A STRIKER THAT SCORES EVERY GAME, RANGER HASNT EVEN SCORED YET!! A CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYER IN THE MAKING!!! BEST , AMEOBI AND LOVEN EVEN ARENT GOOD ENOUGH!! NEWCASTLES STANDARDS HAVE DROPPED SO MUCH IN THE PAST 5 YEARS MIND!!!
ashley and pardew out they are makeing us the laughing stock again please some 1 buy us and get these clowns out of our club
@A69
Stop shouting! We can hear you if you use small letters .
lyes lyes lyes and more lyes that all these inbread twats ashley feed us on , jose wanted to stay and ashley wanted to sell sell and he refused to give him a new contract thats how much of a n*b ashley really is
all ashley does is bleed this club dry
FFS just woke up like. I’m on the verge of being sent back to sleep with the same patter from the same people
A load of to$$ Shearer – Jose has not gone, he may not go, he may stay. He may just do what he has said he would and wait until we are safe and see what the money is spent on. Frankly I am also fed up reading this type of crud all the time. For gods sake we couldnt turn down the money, and it is now the middle of April and Judas has only just got his first goals. Where would we have been with him still here? £35 million poorer and still 9th. Lets just see whats done in the summer. Frankly if Jose wants to go then go. If Joey wants to go then go. I only want players that want to play for the toon here and there are loads of great up and coming players that will more than fill the void. Jose is not the only LB in the world, he isnt the best LB in the league so lets just get some perspective. I am happy we have a club to support.
Toonsy – talk about my post above re Puncheon
Raffo – It might take something like that for Ranger. Maybe a loan deal at a lower league may wake him up and make him see how privileged he is?
Raffo – I read somewhere yesterday where a Newcastle fan said we should be offering Barton £90k a week plus bonuses
Now generally I don’t think we are deluded, but every so often I have to wonder
imo,the lad hasn’t improved one iota,in the last two year.on sunday he looked slow,sluggish,poor in the air,and all round as though he didn’t want to be there.the startling thing about is,even shola amoebi at 20,looked a better prospect,than the self titled “dutty custard”.the trouble is,we cannot afford to wait ten year for him to show some promise,like slowla amdopey.
Bobby Shinton number 9
Posted April 12, 2011 at 12:03 PM
@A69
Stop shouting! We can hear you if you use small letters .
shut up u moany get
Its idiots like that that give us the reputation we have, and they always seem to be the ones who end up on SSN etc. I find it laughable. He isnt worth that. He has offered to take a pay cut which is great, I would like him to stay but I wont loose any sleep from anyone wanting to leave. The relegation season has made me realise personally that having ‘big names’ isnt always a good thing and I wont lose any sleep. Like I said, I only want people who will fight for the shirt. I am sure many others will feel the same if we sell Jose for £15 million, find another 3 Tiote/HBA gems for less than that and still manage to sign a couple of marque players. We will be better off in the long run.
I sit in the camp if they want to go let them go.
I too only want players to play for Newcastle because they want to not because the money is good. Someone (pleased its not me) has to make the decision can we get a better player than Joey for 50 grand a week
Yes I think we can get a better player for less than 50k a week, but the question is Joey worth more than 50k a week? Frankly I dont think he is. I dont know if anyone in our squad is to be honest. I know its a case of inflated wages in the EPL but I suspect that the average wages may just start to creep down a little
One bad game!
Quick! Eat our young!
to all that are saying it’s a witch hunt after a poor performance- get a grip and read the article properly.
i mention his bad performance against villa, he was shite lets not get away from that.
my point is take his attitude and application into account, do you think he has what it takes. thats the debate, there is no dount he has ability.
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