This is what we’ve missed all season!

toonsy
Hatem Ben Arfa.

I think it’s fair to say that with Hatem Ben Arfa in the side we’d have picked up more points throughout the season than what we have done. Take a look at this and you’ll understand why I think that.



That is Hatem Ben Arfa at his brilliant best against Everton earlier on in the campaign, before had his leg bust in two places by Nigel de Jong obviously.

I’m not saying that he would been like this in every game for us as I’m sure he would have had his share of stinkers, but when he is in this form he can win a match on his own. In fact he won this match on his own to be fair.

We’ll have to wait for next season now to see the lad in action, which is a good thing in hindsight. I’d much prefer he came back at 100% with a full pre-season behind him as opposed to trying to rush him a bit and get him back for a token appearance at the end of the season at a risk of aggravating his injury and potentially keeping him out for a much longer period.

I can’t wait!

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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161 thoughts on “This is what we’ve missed all season!”

  1. I remember the Everton game well, and recall thinking flippin heck we’ve got something special here ! Hope the lad comes back just as good as before his horrendous injury.

    I also hope the prospect of lining up on the left with HBA will perhaps persuade Jose to sign up too….

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  2. getting Ben Arfa on my shirt next season without doubt. Even is he f*cks off he’ll still have been the most exciting creative player I’ve seen at the toon. (Too young to appreciate Pedro and wouldn’t class Shearer as ‘creative’)

    Pure Class

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  3. I think he’ll be worth £30m after a couple of seasons.

    You can just see that he is so technically gifted he’ll cause havoc with defences.

    He’ll frustrate at times though I don’t doubt.

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  4. Watching that clip really brings back the memory of that match. When compared to every other match and especially more recent ones it shows just how much we miss that technical class, but also the mentality to beat a player. Our strikers don’t often seem to have that mentality, and most of our midfield are too slow to act on it with the exception of Jonas. The fact that Arfa is not only capable but also willing of taking on one, two, three even four players show’s what a quality player he is. I’ve no doubt he’ll have some bad games, and his insistence at running may even cost us, but you can’t deny that its bloody beautiful to watch. That’s what football is about, none of this sh1te that stoke through up earlier today.

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  5. Also how about Colo steaming up on the left at 2.20ish, absolute legend 😀

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  6. im getin the new newcastle top next week , ben arfa on the back , whats his number gonna be next season tho? 8?

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  8. Cannot wait for his return. I only hope we don’t become too predictable as it would be easy for our tactics to be “Get the ball, give it to Benny”

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  11. We really have a special player on our hands here! Exceptional on the ball, quick as **** and good at creating and picking out passes for teammates. He will really blossom as our star in the team and at the centre of everything. Plus he feeds of great relation with the fans, and with us he will be adored and feel appricitated (spell 😕 ) Shame we got robbed of him this season.

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  12. Sunderland fans on 606 going on about how they’ll never get to Wembley with Brucey 😀 Maybe after next season he can take them to Grimsby…

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  13. The commentator should have said, ‘it wasnt even arfa chance’ Instead of ‘half’ 😛 😆

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  14. I still think there is too much expectation of HBA, his injury was horrendous, time will tell whether he has overcome both the physical and mental scars.
    I wish him well. 😕

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  15. Got myself a little part time job today, get saving for away days next season 🙂

    Great video just watching him there man! Why did he have to get injured 😈

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  16. This vid really has left me wondering what could have been. Hopefuly he can get back to the level of performance we saw here 😥

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  17. cwarr07 Colin
    Still hearing without it being confirmed that #nufc is being sold #nosmokewithoutfire

    The rumours just refuse to die 😐 …..anyone heard anything? ❓

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  18. Andrew- saving for away days is easier said than done 😆
    Ive got £130 locked up for them so far, ive put em in a jar with a superglued lid 😆

    And aye Sy, hope he gets back to his best.

    Really hope cashley makes good invesment in the summer, if that means spending 10mill on 4 players, aslong as they improve the squad I dont care.

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  20. SpencerTheToon
    Posted May 14, 2011 at 7:47 PM

    Really hope cashley makes good invesment in the summer, if that means spending 10mill on 4 players, aslong as they improve the squad I dont care.

    mate its the most sense i have heard all day!! look at stoke , do they blow 30 million in the transfer window?? nope they buy players that are gna fit in2 the team and do well and look where it has took them , into the final of an fa cup!! yes you do need cash to survive in the prem as it is a fact but , spending the cash wisely is another thing!! 27 million for dzeko and hes got 1 goal , 50 million for torres and he has scored 1 goal , up2 now they are a massive waste of money!! it makes me laugh when i see cheik tiote at 3.5 million then i see torres at 50 million haha , the game has gone nuts!! well done carr ,keep getting the bargains mate!!

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  21. Army69-Maybe Stoke isn’t the best comparison on spending wisely-10mil on Kenwyne Jones? 😆
    Still, I get your point on most of their dealings.

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  24. AOD- get a link up and ill tell you haha

    And aye army.

    Hba-7mill
    Tiote-3.5mill
    Bargins

    What was hernandez? 8mill another example.

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  25. newkie they never ussually spend much tho and they have a great team , tony pulis has done mint !! another 1 – james milner 26 million or summit!!!! hes ok but never ever 26 million , nowhere near hba and tiotes talent imo!! we have to gems in our midfield lads

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  29. i think when you add the money we paid for the loan at the start and the wages we payed whilst he was still a loan player it comes up to 7.5 overall, bargin anyway like 😆

    AOD-I saw that the otherday actually, to many stripes for me, not enough on our’s, maybe we can steal some 😛 😆

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  30. Actually i would prefer Milan shirt design to copy over to Newcastle.

    Thin black strips,with white background? 😆

    and white strips on shoulder? 😳

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  32. Seriously Serie A is the place for any brazilian attacking players.

    Look how flop robinho was in epl,and now in Milan.He is hot on form. 😯

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  33. Too many for me, few less and ide like it, not a fan of puma tbh.

    Much rather adidas…

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  35. angel robinho has scored 12 goals this season , its about the same as what he scored in the prem , he is over rated

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  36. Who has been your NUFC Player of the Season for the 2010/2011 campaign?

    Fabricio Coloccini (32%, 28 Votes)
    Joey Barton (29%, 25 Votes)
    Cheik Tiote (24%, 21 Votes)
    Kevin Nolan (10%, 9 Votes)
    Jonas Gutierrez (1%, 1 Votes)
    Wayne Routledge (1%, 1 Votes)

    who the hell voted for wayne routledge hahahaha !!

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  37. Army69: Robinho just score another. 😉

    3-0 atm. a brace from him,and a gattuso header.

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  40. AoD..does that not make him level as top scorer for AC with Pato and Ibrahimovic? so not a bad season and a championship medal 😉

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  41. Aye Pulis is a good manager, his personality is better than most as well. Problem is stoke’s brand of football, coaching that kind of thing, absolutely dire to watch, but they do what they must to survive.

    I reckon theres good deals to be done on the periphery members of city tbh in the next few seasons. Judging on Mancini’s keenness to get more players he’ll have to shift some out-and I doubt they’ll hold out for big money. Hopefully they’ll buy a sh1tload of new players, maybe we could go in for people like Adam Johnson then 😀

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  42. Why cant I vote for Perch as player of the season???
    hmmm. Guess it will have to be our other rock in defence- Collo.

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  43. That was Dyer in that video wasn’t it?
    Shame he was injured most of his Toon career.

    I’ll never forgive him tho the way he treat sir bobby and had a fight on the field with Bowyer!

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  44. Newkie – Would absolutely love Johnson! What a left foot he’s got. Hopefully he’ll be down the pecking order 🙂

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  45. Sy your gunna have to sort the player of the season oout,, no Raylor man NO FECKING RAYLOR!

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  46. ALAN PARDEW has issued a rallying call ahead of injury-ravaged Newcastle United’s tough trip to Chelsea as he looks to bring an end to 25 years of hurt.

    The Toon team bus included young guns Samuel Ameobi, Kazenga LuaLua, Greg McDermott, James Tavernier, Michael Richardson and Ryan Donaldson, with all of them on the fringes of the big test against last term’s Double winners.

    why aint airey mentioned????????????????????

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  47. Spencer…you have to have been good enough to play 10 league games, hence no Raylor 😉

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  48. Spencer you think Raylor will be on tmorrow and score a screamer or freekick???

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  54. -APP

    Yeah Johnson would be quality, think I might be being too ambitious in thinking he’ll be here this summer though 😀 Wouldn’t surprise me if Milner was transfer listed this summer or next, he’s contributed sweet **** all. Be interesting if Villa buy him back for a reduced fee. Thing is we’ll never match the lure of CL nor the wages…but then Santa Cruz did go to Blackburn so obviously playing matters to some players.

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  55. Ryan Taylor’s goal in the cup was a decent strike, but if you watched the match/seen the replays you’ll see what an absolutely sh1te wall Chelsea put up. I couldn’t believe they were happy with it when Raylor went up to strike it 😯

    I reckon if Ranger gets a start he’ll score though, has to happen 😀

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  56. Newkie you might be right that we are aiming a bit high with johnson like. It will certainly be interesting to see how many changes will be made in their squad, and how many will be going for first team football. Hopefully Johnson can see we are going in the right direction??? 🙂 He would certainly be a first choice here

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  57. As with all players, it’s not just what you can offer them but also what the clubs you’re competing with for the players can offer.
    Aim high, if ya get fecked off so be it, Young will leave Villa in the Summer imo and Villa I suspect may try for Johnson, if Ashley doesn’t even give us the means to compete with the likes of Villa who are about our level at the moment imo then we may as well not bother.

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  58. APP-Yeah think it would take a serious dressing room disaster for Johnson to want out unless city went out and bought Robben or something. Still if we can get up the league…maybe the boyhood club factor could play a part? 😀

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  59. Mike Ashley’s point is that “he” shouldn’t have to let us compete with anything.

    We get a bigger crowd than Villa, I can’t imagine they make much more than us in terms of sponsorship and worldwide revenue so….. we should be able to outspend them with what the club makes on its own.

    Our wages devour most of that, however, which is Ashley’s point. Villa have only competed up the table as Randy Lerner spent his personal money so far.

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  60. Richie-Aye mate, we need to look at competitors, and you have to say that realistically speaking I think we have more appeal than Villa/Bolton and should have more money than Everton who are the group we need to be competing with. Obviously we’re still likely to get blown out of the water by Liverpool or Spurs, but they wouldn’t be too interested in buying Johnson i’d imagine.

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  61. FJ….Where did I say Ashley had to use his own money? , the “means” is the clubs own money, ie the Judas money and it is Ashley that has to give Pardew those means 😉

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  62. Richie spot on mate 😉 I just dont see Shitty letting Johnson go and even if they did he would be a fortune because he is English 😀
    Bobby I watched and read a few Dyer interviews and the spat with SBR is one of his biggest regrets, remember but SBR treated him like a son and many of us have had falling outs with our Dads, same as with the Bowyer incident I think he was just young and stupid

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  63. Aye Dave, I seen that interview about regretting the spat with SBR and how they were young lads with loads of money being worshipped by the fans in the Toon and said the outcome was that they thought they were gods gift and acted like tw@ts. Fair do’s to him for that…..he’s still a **** tho 😆

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  64. What on earth are yous dreaming about again? Johnson will be on a cracking wage at citeh. He’s a top player and we couldn’t afford his wages.
    Please stop it. 😕

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  69. Bobby-Simply theoretical about Johnson 😀
    My main point is that City will be forcing players out, possibly in this summer, but certainly in the future if they continue in the champs league/start pushing for the prem. Mansour still seems happy to splash the cash, so players that really want to cling on might even have their contracts cancelled and be compensated for it. I think a fair few would be willing to go to other clubs despite reduced wages, think Santa Cruz, Ireland, Adebayour when he was supposed to go to Spurs etc.

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  70. Dave….what about city players on loan tho? they will have to shift players out to bring players in 😉

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  71. Richie I just think Johnson will be part of the Mancini squad, as for their other players I think you could pick some up aslong as they are not young English player we could be in with a shout 😉

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  72. Dave…I don’t think we will get Johnson, my original point was if Villa lose Young which they will imo, I believe Villa would have the balls to at least enquire about the likes of Johnson. We should be enquiring about players even if there’s little chance of getting them, as long as you have other targets lined up when/if you get fecked off. The other Citeh players may still have to be on loan as their wages are too high but as Newkie said they may have to pay contracts of or at least pay some of the wages to players who go out on loan ….. I believe Johnson is on less than £80k tho 😉

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  73. Richie I think they could let some almost walk away for very little just to get them to move on, just out of interest what do you think he would be on

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  74. Dave…I’m sure at the time I read he was moving to them on about £60k a week…..obviously that was papertalk at the time.
    I think Bellamy is on about £80k(again papertalk)…so if that’s right I’d guess the £60k for Johnson moving from the smoggies where he was on 5 shillings and sixpence would be about right 😀

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