A leaner, meaner, and cleaner, Cheik Tiote

Will we see a better Cheik Tiote this season?
Cheik Tiote was a revelation last season. Quite simply he was excellent in his debut Premier League season.

When we signed him I remember questioning just why we needed a defensive midfielder, but he soon answered my question.

To me Tiote is one of the first names on the team sheet. He is a player that we can build around and, after a slow start, is once against starting to show his true worth to the team. In fact with two assists in the last two Premier League games there is an argument to be had that we are now seeing a better Cheik Tiote with more strings to his bow.

The improvement doesn’t end there for me though. My main criticism of Tiote was the fact that when he played the team would be guaranteed a yellow card. Put simply there would be no chance of sneaking in the Europa League by means of Fair Play with him in the side.

That isn’t the case thus far this season and we’ve seen a Tiote that is much less likely to pick up a booking. The nature of his game of his game is such that he will always be walking a tightrope with match officials, but it’s a case of so far so good for a very well behaved Cheik Tiote.

Tiote has been booked just twice so far this term. It’s early days of course, but if he averaged that throughout the season he would end up with only 12 bookings throughout the season. I say only, but it’s an improvement on last term anyway. Interestingly his two yellow cards thus far came at a time when he was a bit under weather in terms of his fitness. Now he is fully fit perhaps his average may drop further?

There is no doubt that he will be helped by having Yohan Cabaye next to him in the middle of the park. The Ivory Coast international has already said how he loves playing next to the Frenchman, and I can see why. Kevin Nolan was good for us, but he was always looking for that goal and struggled to waddle back into position which often meant that Tiote was left to hold the midfield together on his own leaving him vulnerable. He doesn’t have to do that any more as he has someone next to him who is willing to put a shift in.

So could we be seeing a better Cheik Tiote this term? Id like to hope so. I think with the help he is going to get from his midfield he won’t be left as exposed as last term with the result being that we’ll end up with a leaner, meaner and cleaner Cheik Tiote as a result.

Do you agree?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

81 thoughts on “A leaner, meaner, and cleaner, Cheik Tiote

  1. @Troy..75. I’m not sure what I’m seeing [possibly expectations of flying pigs] but I don’t think we really know what Ashley’s game plan is. everyone’s convinced he’s basically asset stripping just wanting to use the club as a vehicle to advertise his other business interest. But I think he’s more astute than that, and if I were in his shoes I would think that a successful club is a much more powerful advertising vehicle than a mediocre one…..just look at ManU…investor don’t go there because they ‘love the club’ they see it as a worldwide brand to hang onto by the coat tails. Whilst I’m not suggesting the we could become a huge brand equal to them, I do think that Ashley will realise that the more successful the club is the more positive exposure he can exploit for his other band names

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  2. Hmmm. Do you not believe he hasn’t realised that from the outset but realises it costs a fortune to invest?

    Blatantly obvious really.

    The facts are, he’s not rich enough to take us to the next level and the best we can hope for is the best of the middle of the road clubs.

    The best of the middle of the road clubs will not break into the champions league.

    On top of that, a club such as spurs who have invested heavily to break into the CL are in a very dangerous position as they must ensure they qualify every season or they struggle with the huge wage bills that come with it.

    That was our downfall when we fail to qualify back in 2004. We went on a downward spiral therein

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  3. 2004 was the beginning of our demise. That and suspect purchases – ie deals that stunk of bungs

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  4. Yes well….I suspect you may be right troy, although my eternal optimism wants to believe otherwise. I just think that he MUST see that he could be onto a small goldmine here and probably one of the few remaining clubs which could cash in, surely he didn’t get to be a billionaire by being a business numpty?

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