Newcastle linked with French international striker

toonsy

Olivier Giroud linked with Newcaste switch
Much of the talk of a January striker has been regarding Sochaux striker, Modibo Maiga, with some sources even going as far as suggesting that a deal is already sorted for the Mali international.

However he isn’t the only player that is attracting the interest of Newcastle as reports in France suggest that another striker could be on the cards. That man is Olivier Giroud who currently tops the Ligue 1 scoring charts with his goals that have fired Montpellier to the top of the French division.

Giroud has a much better goalscoring record than Maiga and has averaged a goal every two and a bit games throughout his career. He was given his France debut earlier on in the season and has since made another appearance for Laurent Blanc’s les Bleus.

The 25-year-old has bagged 11 goal already this term, three more than summer Toon target Kevin Gameiro, and his Montpellier total stands at 23 goals in 51 appearances which isn’t bad at all. In fact if you look at his career stats you’ll see that he’s made 168 appearances for Grenoble, Istres, Tours and Montpellier, scoring 69 goals along the way – a goal every 2.4 games.

Standing at 6ft 4in, he is a good all-round striker who can finish from a variety of positions. Just have a look at some of his goals.

Interestingly Sochaux and Montpellier met at the weekend, and it was Giroud’s team who took all three points courtesy of a 3-1 win. Giroud scored all three of Montpellier’s goals whilst Maiga was left out with the Newcastle scouts, apparently, watching on.

When it comes to a straight up choice I guess it’s irrelevant as we don’t really have a choice about who the football clubs signs, but as football fans we can have a preference and mine would be Giroud.

Who would you prefer?

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.

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79 thoughts on “Newcastle linked with French international striker”

  1. To be honest no little about either other than stats, Giroud wouldn’t be away for the ACN which would be a bonus but I wouldn’t base signing someone or not on that fact.
    I read the other day that we had been offered Giroud but had said no, not at the moment….but also read we’d had a scout there at every Montpelllier match this season. I suppose both could be true, one or neither true 😕

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  2. sorry i should of waited… i should of known there’d be a new blog at 8am.

    Sorry to be off topic but i wrote on the last blog:

    Looking forward to the chelsea game. Hopefully we can give the great Gary Speed a decent send off… if I remember rightly though we never used to sing ‘there’s only one gary speed’… does anyone remember what so we can start a fitting geordie tribute?

    On topic – i have never heard of this fella but he does have some unbelievable tekkers… i’ll trust Mr Carr!

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  3. Over to Graham Carr and Pardew I suppose. They seem to have the knack of identifying good players who are relatively cheap.

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  4. Rich – The other Montpellier player is that Niang or whatever his name is. Pardew said we weren’t interested. You;d have to think we’ve been watching someone from there on the grounds that we’ve been at every game apparently.

    Troy – Keep your eyes peeled. There is an article right up your street later on 😉

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  5. Nobby – I thought that last night. On the grounds he spent more time at Newcastle than he spent at any other club I’d like us to do something special for him, but what?

    Read some lads planning waving scarves? Not for me thanks. Not a tribute IMO 😕

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  6. I’d be happy with eith striker, if i had to choose, it would be Giroud..

    “I’d like us to do something special for him, but what?”

    singing “theres only one Gary Speed” for the full 90mins would be emotional..

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  9. No nowt about the Lad but from his stats he looks handy to have.
    I think I read about the club organising a tribute ?
    Would be a good thing for the club to do, as he gave a lot to the toon, he was intending to be at the game with Wor Al. 😥

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  10. Nobby..lol thats tru. I’m sure if evey1 sang it u could take a brather every now and then

    I thought Pards said we werent interested in Giroud.. coud be wrong tho..

    Didnt thea Niang used to play for Marseille? if hes the play I can remember he was quite useful but had a bit of Lua Lua about him 😡

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  14. Leeds fans are doing this: “Leeds United’s travelling supporters plan to sing Gary Speed’s name for 11 minutes solid from the 11th minute of tonight’s Championship clash at Nottingham Forest. The away-end tribute for the iconic No 11 will follow a minute’s applause and both teams will wear black armbands as a mark of respect”.

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  15. @nobby

    Comedy classic.!

    Nobby
    10 mins ago
    Lee ryder reckons we sung ‘Gary gary gary gary speed’ but to what tune? i can’t remember that one!

    It was to the tune of the magic roundabout with a touch of crystal tips and Alastair and the outro to the tune of captain pugwash.

    You must be too young ? 😯

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  17. @toonsy

    Troy – Keep your eyes peeled. There is an article right up your street later on

    Hmm? Andy Carroll issue perhaps? You will have me sinned binned . I can see it! 😛

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  18. @Nobby

    I’ve attached an audio file with the Gary Speed song. Just click or press on my link below;

    (audio G/Speed song)

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  19. No troy… i just didn’t get to many games back then… i left school in 1998 and joined the royal navy.. i would of loved a season ticket back then but i was never home to get to the games. as soon as i left. i got my season ticket (coinciding when we went to the championship). And then i was made redundant last year so couldn’t afford one… and then.. when i got back into work… got my season ticket again!! oh hoorah!

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  23. From all reports it is suggested that Maiga is a done deal , although the player himself did not seem so sure the other week when he said he did not know if Nufc would sign him or not , or if we would sign him in January or next summer.

    What is sure is that he was fourth choice behind Gervinho , Gameiro ,and Erdinc last summer.

    For me, he would be third choice now , behind Vossen and Giroud. .

    I would take Vossen as first choice because he would suit our style of play and he is a natural born finisher. Beat Cech easily when he played against Chelsea a few weeks ago.

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  24. Rich/Mark – But the thing that gets me is why are we watching Montpellier when were distancing ourselves from their players? A ploy perhaps? 😉

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  25. Toonsy….as I said, either story could be true, either could be false or both could be true or false, who knows 😕 😕

    Part of me would rather have no transfer window and go with what we have.

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  26. …Also it said they weren’t interested in Giroud at the moment so maybe watching him with a view to getting him in the summer but if that is the case wouldn’t it make more sense to get Giroud in Jan and Maigi in the summer?
    So the upshot will be we’ll sign no one 😆

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  27. Nice stats and good-looking boy with it, even though he appears to have an arm growing out of his back! 😆

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  29. Like a lot of people, I’ve only seen a couple of matches from Ligue 1 each season so I don’t know too much about the lad. Would be a great buy by the sounds of it though, my main problem with Maiga is that he seems to be a trouble maker. Alright, maybe he was trying to push through a transfer in the same manner as Ben Arfa-but benny was something special even back then. We can see now that whilst rooney definitely should have been carded on the weekend, Ben Arfa didn’t help out at all by running over and causing a fuss. Too many of those types and we’ll have another in-team brawl on the fucking pitch, which is the last thing we need. Plus Maiga doesn’t seem to be much better than what we already have.

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  33. Toonsy – just an idea but anychance of a quick page to go up for people stick ideas on for the weekend with regards to gary speeds send off… and then after that stick a poll up for the more popular ones.

    and then i’ll know what i’m doing at the match – i like to be organised! 😉

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  34. Giroud is a probably a longer term target. At the minute he’s too similar to what we already have. If we sign him unless Ben Arfa gets dropped it would be a straight fight between Giroud and Ba where as Maiga offers us flexibility as he could play in the 3 of a 4-2-3-1 or upfront on his own.

    Maiga’s pace would also give him an edge I feel and this is just a hunch but I think Giroud will turn out to be another Gignac. Both very similar but without pace fade away.

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  35. I would go for the cheapest one. Pardew and Carr will no more. Not seen much of any player to be honest.

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  37. @nathandio

    I’m waiting for the names to get more ridiculous by the week. The players we eventually buy will be none of the names suggested.

    Nothing more sure than Thud popping up with his smug face. 😛

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  39. on 26th nov ba reached his 9th goal for newcastle

    on 28th nov carroll reached his 9th goal for newcastle

    ba has a 2 day faster goal record 😎 😎 😎 😎

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  40. I’ve just dyed my pet poodle pink and tied a red bow round it’s neck! It looks the bizz like! 😛

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  44. troy how???

    he was unlucky v city and man utd he put the pen away beautifuly

    were u expecting another hatrick like??

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  45. @army

    I just think he didn’t look as sharp as he has been.
    I’m not suggesting that we drop him at all, I just don’t think he has looked like scoring in open play.

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  46. I’m sure all the required homework is being done on many players since the summer and a shortlist will more than likely be at Pardews disposal.

    One thing about Carr…he seems to come up with the goods and knows what and who is best suited to this club..

    I wait with anticipation for the January jumble sale. 😀

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  47. Troy, that’s because he’s gone from being the link up man between midfield and attack when it’s been Ba and Best to the target man for the team with Ben Arfa being the link up man so he’s always going to look more isolated.

    Being against Kompany and Lescott & Vidic and Ferdinand doesn’t help either but he’s still done some good things in the few chances he’s had like his run that took defenders away when Ben Arfa it the post, his hold up play to lay it off to Ben Arfa for the pen at the weekend and of course, his cool penalty.

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  48. I’ve just watched the video of Girroud and if he’s getting watched, I’d say this lad had got number 9 written all over him. 😀

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  49. I think we should be looking to see if any Montpelier players have sell on clauses or injury concerns or nearing the end of their contract. Especially centre halves or defensive midfielders… or goalkeepers… 🙁

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  50. @dan

    Shucks. . . I never realised that. 😯

    Will you always be by my side to keep me right in the future. 😛

    I never realised Best wasn’t playing and Barfa had stepped in and Ba was playing in a slightly different role.

    Is there a course I can attend to be as knowledgeable as you? 😛

    I stick to my view that he hasn’t been as effective and his more forward role should provide him with more goal opportunities IMO . 😯

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  53. Troy, Ba has just played in 2 away games on the trot against arguably the best two teams in the league and he still done well without being afforded the chances that he would normally get.
    Working as a lone striker against those two teams was always gonna be difficult even for any player on the planet.

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  54. Troy, well then surely you will have realized that in on the whole since Best has been playing the more forward role the goals have tried up for him as he doing more of the dirty like Ba is whilst freeing up space for Ben Arfa 😉

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  55. Steve , in all fairness, Ba hasn’t shown any signs of the injuries he’s supposed to be dogged by.
    Marveaux we obviously knew about but to be fair, he cost us nothing so was worth the risk as his wages won;t be bank busting.

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  56. My point being they are cheaper, I saind concerns, not injured. Barfa was injured when we bought him, wasnt Santon an injury concern as well ❓

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  57. Steve, Ben Arfa wasn’t injured when we he bought him. The next available game we had after he signed he played in, Blackpool at home I think.

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  59. Unfortunately a striker lives and dies by his strike rate and excels or suffers accordingly.
    Ba’s strike rate is excellent but naturally he will suffer in the lone striker role at times, especially against top defences.
    What some people overlook though is the fact that he drags players away with his clever runs which creates space for others.
    All defences know what a dangerman he is so he cannot be left to chance.

    He does a lot of unselfish work for the team that gets overlooked by some because the focus seems to be on his chances or lack of them.

    It’s team work that wins matches and it starts from back to front and is not just about one person being the main goal getter.

    Defences naturally target the target man, which Ba is and that’s where we can capitalize when we have the skills of Ben Arfa who can have more space to actually do some damage whilst Ba is occupying the defences time.

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  60. Steve, ah! But the fee was already agreed when we took him on loan so there would of been no difference in the price, especially the way that Dassier acted, couldn’t imagine him lowering the price.

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  61. Dan, yeah fair point, but we still got him cheaper than he should have been, probably cos of his playing up, but it does seem a bit of a trend, good buys, but good cheap buys.

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  62. Steve, Ben Arfa isn’t injury prone, he had his leg snapped against Man city as we all know and yes it was while he was on loan but we bought him because he wasn’t gonna break the bank for the type of player we knew he was. so it was a gamble but a gamble sometimes has to be took.

    I think he’s proving why we took the gamble and broken legs heal and so does the mind when something like that has happened.

    Granted he will be more wary but I don’t think he will dwell on it..

    It’s like having a toothache, you remember the suffering after having it removed for a few days but then it’s at the back of your mind and you don;t worry about getting another one until it happens.

    A woman giving birth tells you it’s hell on earth but 9 out of 10 go on to have another one. 😀

    EEEEEEE I’m like an owld woman aren’t I . 😆

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  63. Steve, agree that on the whole if players have a injury past they will come cheaper though. No doubt it will come out that Maiga/Giroud or anyone we buy has done their knee numerous times 😆

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  64. Steve@61.
    Good cheap buys is what we need at this time because we are still a club in transition if you think about it.
    Basically we have had to re-invent ourselves as daft as that sounds.

    It’s not about the price, it’s about the quality you can get if you do your homework on a player and know that you have a potential gem as we are proving in getting quality like Cabaye e.t.c.

    The last thing we need is a team full of Balloteli’s …clever players at a price with attitude to match.

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  65. Wolfie, I think Ben Arfa is a great player, and not injury prone, hopefully. I think the others are good players too, but I think the emphasis is on buying players whos transfer value will increase over time. We seem to look for bargains, rather than paying current valuation. We stole Cabaye at that price, cos he had a sell on clause in his contract.

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  67. It’s amazing how we got Tiote for the price we did because I don’t think he had a buy-out clause!

    I remember when we bought him Hughton said he’ll be challenging Smith for the holding role… Some challenge that was then 🙄 😆

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  68. B1GSteve – Is there anything wrong with that though? If you could buy a £500 tv for £200 would you not look at that first before buying?

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  70. Tiote was a bargain as well at the price we paid. M y point was, we are probably not watching Giraud, as he is valued about as high as he is worth!
    We are probably looking at someone else if we have been to every Montpelier Game this season.

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  72. Toonsy I think it is great we are getting these excellent players on the cheap, I was just saying I dont think we are targetting Giraud if he will cost what he is worth ❗

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  73. Steve I understand where you’re coming from mate honestly and you’re right.

    BUT..
    I think you are looking at the negative side of things if I’m honest.

    I know we are buying cheap but if you think about it, if we go gung ho on a player who is say…10/15 million, naturally they want wages to match and that means that the disease starts to spread through the camp with our other players deciding that what’s good for the Goose is good for the Gander.

    We seem to have a wage structure here and although we are a big club in many people’s eyes , we are not a bank of England club that can fritter away money like confetti which Shepherd managed to do.

    If your mindset is on us buying cheap to sell on at a profit, then I’d say you are partially right but not so we are a selling club…it’s because if an offer, too good to refuse comes in for a “said” player, then as big as people think we are and as rich as they think Ashley is…The club still have to play ball with the finances at this time, so it would be stupid not to accept a ridiculous offer and you can be sure it will take one for Ashley to sanction it.

    The only players leaving this club will be in three categories.

    1… A ridiculous offer above and beyond our estimations comes in.

    2…A players head gets turned by a bigger club.

    3.. A contractual problem, i.e wages or length of contract.

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  74. I was looking before, the last time we played Man United away our team; Harper Perch Williamson Coloccini Enrique Routledge Barton Smith Jonas Nolan Carroll – Average age was 27.

    Average age of the team on Saturday was 25, not much of a difference I know but you can definitely see what the club is trying to achieve.

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