Is Cheik Tiote’s indiscipline a problem we need to work around?

toonsy

Tiote sees red against Sunderland
I always get the feeling with Cheik Tiote that he is just mere seconds away from disaster, and the Tyne-Wear derby with Sunderland yesterday only highlighted that fact.

His sending off will be debated amongst fans for some time yet. Some say it wasn’t that bad and was a yellow at best, some will cite other incidents within the match (namely Seb Larsson’s clavicle kick on Shola Ameobi) that went unpunished whilst others will suggest that the referee pandered to the him crowd and failed to apply any common sense. There is also a portion of fans who believe the right decision was made at the time and that Tiote has nobody but himself to blame.

For me it was probably a harsh card but I can see why he was given it. I understand fully that the whistle had blown for a free-kick to us just prior to the incident and that Tiote was being pulled back after that, but then it just becomes an off the ball incident or, as has been indicated by the FA, violent conduct which carries with it a three game suspension.

None of what happened yesterday matters now It’s been and gone and it seems as though Alan Pardew and his coaching team, none of whom have questioned the red card, seem unlikely to appeal Tiote’s dismissal. Perhaps that is the biggest clue as to whether or not the red card was a worth punishment for the infringement?

However it can’t continue to happen. Cheik Tiote is getting himself a reputation and will be treat accordingly by officials. He will be targeted by opposing teams so if he wants to continue being an important part of our team then he needs to wise up and realise that he can’t go charging round like a bull in a china shop.

The problem is that aggression is part of Cheik Tiote’s game and if you take that out then you may well lose a bit of what Cheik Tiote is all about. All the same it is something that needs curbing as it is going to end up costing us more and more. People will mention Roy Keane, who Manchester United tried to calm down but soon gave up when they realised that by trying to calm him they took away a part of the player, and there are similarities, but for me they end there. Remember Roy Keane had world-class players able to fill the void his madness left behind. We don’t.

It’s not just about red cards though. Tiote has racked up the suspension since he has been at Newcastle United. He averages a yellow card every other game which equates to 19 in the Premier League alone and would be enough to see him miss six games through yellow card suspensions without any further through red card infringements.

Is that acceptable? Is that enough discounting any injuries or participation in mid-season competitions such as the African Cup of Nations,for us to paper over with our squad? Probably now we have Gael Bigirimana, James Perch and Vurnon Anita, but we need all of our purples on the pitch at one time if we want to push on, and Tiote is that category.

He just needs to chill a bit I reckon. Anyone 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.

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213 thoughts on “Is Cheik Tiote’s indiscipline a problem we need to work around?”

  1. That was not a red in my eyes. **** decision by ref. people are harsh on Tiote. He is s combative player and we need him. Take away his aggression and he will lose his mojo. We just have to work out how to deal with the times when he is mot around. That is where Perch and Bigi come in. He’s not a nasty player, just combative and cards are part and parcel of such a role.

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  2. Dave-Sometimes I think he does do it and it is sort of brushed under the table because he’s gotten away with it which isn’t the best policy but meh. He seems to have done it his whole career.

    Fair enough I guess we’ll have to disagree (as usual 😆 ) on Tiote, I know what you’re getting at with the “calm down” stuff but I genuinely don’t feel he’s a dirty player, nor one who thinks of himself as a “hardman” his intensity might be a bit much for some but he’s certainly not got the same “red mist” as Barton for example.

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  3. BB-Yeah, and they were confused because they couldn’t counter attack I think, seems to be the only way the scum have fluked goals this season….There’s not been much said about our own tactics really, straight out of the blocks and scoring a goal in 4-4-2, in the words of ray wilkins, my word! 😆

    Look what can happen when the players get into shape. Hopefully that isn’t just a derby one off and Pards can get them going again from now on 😕

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  4. Big Dave – that Leeds fan got a 4 mnth prison sentence, a fine and a 5 yr banning order – plus Leeds have banned him for life.

    Re Tiote – I can see where you’re coming from, and made my points earlier. I do defo think he has more to his game than what he’s offering at the mo, and with his absence through injury and ACoNs duties – when he can play for us, we need him doing better.

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  6. I thought the red was harsh too.

    Tiote is immense, but the epic fouling is his one major flaw. I don’t know how to rectify that without changing the player he is, as I’m sure others have said too.

    His reckless streak has been there for all to see for a very long time–long before he signed with us. I seem to recall an World Cup appearance for Ivory Coast against Brazil in which I thought he deserved red lo those many years ago.

    It’s a calculated risk having him in the team and in my view he helps us more than he harms us.

    I can’t think of a better DM in the league. Anybody? Maybe Fellaini, who can also score some?

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  7. On that Leeds fan, I just heard on the Football Weekly podcast that he’s already been banned and banned from all train travel on match days… so the ban’s working great for him! Must be a blazing psycho, that kid.

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  8. Sharpy @ 79 yeah I seen the ban on FB but wass reading the news page there and seen the proper story 😉

    Newkie my last words on him 😆 are that over the 3 seasons he has 27 yellows and 1 red,
    De Jong over the same time has 14 yellows and no reds,
    Karl Henry has 18 yellows and 2 reds now you mightn’t think Tiote is dirty but he has a worse card tally than 2 of the dirtest players and the dirtest of them all Lee cattermole has 20 yellows and 3 reds 2 of the reds was for getting 2 yellows in the one game ❓

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  9. Kim 😆

    He’s just misunderstood! I don’t think you’ve heard his side of the story! Xabi Alonso was really mean to him as a kid one day, he’s fighting the good fight….

    :mrgreen:

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  10. Look, if we keep selling are best players we will never move forward, Tiote is a class player who would get into a Chelsea, Manure or an Arsenal team right now. He does keep my heart in a place of worry when he goes in for tackle, but how many times do we watch other players pull out of tackle and we then question there commitment. If he plays 20 to 25 games a season that suits me fine, remember the greats in that key position where games are lost and won (with always a chance of getting a yellow, Veira, Keane, Batty, ****, Alonso) need I say more, ASHLEY DO NOT SELL. I also agree that Colo is class he just lacks pace, I am so glad we kept hold, as I thought we wasted another 10 mill

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  11. Dave 😆

    Okay so there’s the card count. It’s high, I’m not debating that, but you have to think of the circumstances. Wolves were a physical and fairly dirty side anyway,until Mick left, they shared the cards aplenty, it takes the pressure off their one symbolic hatchet man. I’d say similar things about the scum as they always have players sent off against us, dirty bastards 😉

    Now the next bit, in our sides, who else apart from Tiote has had steel. Barton? And Cabs a bit, although he’s prone to some of the, ahem, “gallic flair” or rather, being a ***** from time to time. With Nolan Tiote had to dominate the midfield on his own, Routledge was a lightweight, Barton was slow, Jonas didn’t have the defensive side down, it was all about Tiote shielding the defence. I do think people might miss out on the fact that if Tiote doesn’t take a man down then someone else will have to-we saw it with Willo having to take one for the team after Tiote was off. At the same time, Nolan and Barton got their cards for general petulence/pointless fouls compared to what Tiote did for the defense.

    It was the same last time, Benny and Obertan getting stuck in? Give over. Tiote’s job is to protect the defense to the best of his ability, and whilst he didn’t play every match we still went on to have a record breaking defensive season…

    Finally, the mere fact you are comparing him to Cattermole and Henry is harsh imo. Have you seen them play? Have you compared what they bring to the side? Tiote covers so much more ground, hassles far more effectively and has some serious drive, compared to Henry/Catts who for all intents and purposes are basically bigger and dirtier versions of what Perch is in the midfield.

    And considering there’s been so much controversy over both of Tiote’s reds, whereas Catts usually knows it and so does everyone else, I’d say that says a fair amount about their playing styles…

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  13. And City, well, they tend to play about three DMs anyway, and they are an utterly class side full of quality players who generally dominate possession and play in all their games, it stands to reason that De Jong would get less cards really…

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  14. Newkie 😀 you have really went out of your way there to defend Tiote’s card count 😆 so really what your saying is that it’s the players that he’s playing with’s fault that he get’s so many yellows 😉
    Did you ever think of training as a defence lawyer 😀

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  17. Dave 😉

    I feel it’s worth a bit of effort as stats rarely tell a whole story. I’m not so much saying it’s their fault-every player in the team has a role and should fulfill that role to the best of their ability. Tiote’s happens to be very defensive and aggressive which allows freedom for our other players. Other sides have different approaches and it stands to reason why other players, who I would say are dirty, get less cards (although the fact that Catts gets more reds with no real controversy tells its own story for me)

    I think he does his job well generally, sometimes he does need to chill, but he’s not dirty or out of control for the majority of our matches. Anyway, that’s the last time I repeat myself… 😆

    And Dave-in the not too distant past I did, I worked for a bit in a solicitors office but it turns out most of them are twats. So too nice for me 😀

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  18. Kim-Sorry missed that, I think he’s actually already been in a “confrontation” with opposition players in a friendly, I don’t think he can play for Marseille because the domestic ban is still the same? I think? 😕

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  19. Sharpy-Not a chance in hell 😆

    If we weren’t going to pay the extra price for him to play for us during relegation, or when in the CC, or when promoted and after selling our star striker, why we would do so now is beyond me. Shame really, unless it was a ludicrous amount we should have played him more a long time ago imo 😕 at least given him a chance ffs, he’s looked decent whenever I saw him.

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  21. Sharpy I think Xisco has 3 hope’s some hope, bob hope and no fuking hope 😆 to be honest I sort of feel sorry for the guy as we never really gave him a chance and he has always been labeled as the final nail in KK’s coffin.

    Newkie 😉 i’m saying no more 😀

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  22. just a up-date joey was involed in a bust up in training last wk but has made up i read in a french paper so no change there then 😀

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  28. Ice he was working on a crazy st johnston the other night, it would tear anyone apart if they went near when it was eating even it’s owner, when he was finished with it he could go and lift it’s food away 😯 the man’s a genius and no fear what so ever

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  29. Never mind Xiscos hat trick more importantly Abied got 2 goals for the u21’s tonight . That lad seems to of been off the radar for a while .

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  30. Axel-Indeed, it’s weird. Wasn’t he supposed to take Tiote’s place last Jan and be a serious challenger? Really don’t get what’s happened there. We brought in Anita and Bigi, will he ever get a game 😕

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  32. DAVE aye he seems good would like to see it with own eyes before i would take it on board,dont trust yankie progs,he has done a show in uk a while back,mine i work by command have for yrs had nee bother 😉

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  34. Newkie thats him Caesar 😉 I forgot what you called him, yeah maybe the club could hire him to train Tiote 😆

    Ice I know what you mean about the yankies, and im the same with training most crazy dogs have crazy owners.
    Reet thats me outta here catch you’s sometime tomorrow

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  36. Would be so annoying if we find out on the last season of his contract after we’ve been loaning him out all the time that Xisco is mint and start scoring loads in the PL. 😕

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  37. 🙄 Wow, there is a lot of excuses being made for Tiote on here 😯

    The simple fact of the matter is that he has to temper the style of his game. He is picking up too many cards and is becoming a liability to the team. It’s all very well being the combative hard man because that’s your style, but it is hard tackling opposition players and helping your team out while seated on the bench…. 😉

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  42. Tiote doesn’t need to cut out his aggression, it’s the stupid tackles he does when he’s riled up that he needs to cut out, same goes for Cabaye at times too. Someone mentioned earlier that it wouldn’t surprise them if MoN hadn’t told his players to target Tiote….to bloody he right he would have, he wouldn’t have been doing his job if he hadn’t. Tiote’s problem is that every manager will be telling his players the same thing, he needs to be able to deal with that.

    I’d love Xisco to start banging in the goals but one good show in the reserves means absolutely **** all(other thanit may give him a chance thurs), I saw him a bit playing for Deportivo, he was **** more often than not and injury prone….bare in mind the Spanish 2nd div is a worse standard than the championship imo and Deportivo didn’t want to sign him after promotion….but hey stranger things have happened, but new contract?….nae chance 😉

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  45. Cuda is a Noongar (an Aboriginal tribe based in the S/W of Western Australia) word that basically means “mate or friend” 😎

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  47. 😆 I’m chasing nothing mate, I used the word Cuda in the loosest sense of the term 😉 :mrgreen:

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  49. (in the looser than the loosest sense)
    I hate to think how loose that is 😯 😆

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  54. Just back to Tiote…. Between the **** ref and him get sent off… it really spoiled what was looking to be a very enjoyable game. It was very disappointing from that perspective, I have to admit that I went to bed in a **** mood after the final whistle….. 😕
    Not even a Mackem lass with loose “morals” could have cheered me up 😆

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  55. Even if you’d had one to cheer you up, the associated diseases would have put a downer on it 😯
    The ref was shocking like… ref’s in general are ****, even the ones reffing the Euro games.

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  56. Re your post at 117 – in the AFL here in OZ, it is a well known tactic to go out and “rough up” a player that can’t handle the attention. You see it on the park all the time. Even before the first bounce players will be wrestling on the ground or bumping into each other. Like you said, teams will be targeting Tiote now, knowing that he will lose his rag at some point.. It’s good coaching if you ask me…

    This is how it was done back in the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8X_O4ajyzE

    The guy that got hit had broken ribs but played the rest of the game and ended up kicking 5 goals….. tough son of a ***** 😎

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  57. “it really spoiled what was looking to be a very enjoyable game.”

    It spoiled what was going to be a very enjoyable hour long **** take. They are ***** and i think the penny finally dropped on sunday. Shame that yet again their are even ******* sides who will finish below them… 👿

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  59. (THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)

    I’ve got to support Newkie on this one.
    Tiotes style makes him the target of refs.
    However, he’s not dirty, out of control, or looking to be a deliberate hardman in the sense of Roy Keane.

    He doesn’t get involved in off the ball incidents or harass the ref.

    His style, which is to get right up the arses of the opposition players ( not literally) assists the team no end.

    Take that away then we allow the opposition a moments peace and time to pick out a pass.

    For me, on his day, there’s nobody better in the league and when he’s on form then he provides the flair players a bit of time to play their game.

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  60. Troy is right. Last January/February we were losing a lot of games and we were saying “oh we wouldn’t have lost/conceded if Tiote had been in the team”. This shows how important he is to the team and like when we remove colo from the team we suffer.

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  62. Troy, you are right but it’s not working for him at the moment because players are going down in a heap when touched and the refs are onto him… He needs to adapt his game mate…..

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  63. With Richie on this one.

    Its not really his playing style that gets Tiote in trouble. Its all the niggly **** and blatant insolence after something sparks him off.

    He’s not like Barton who will throw a punch and he doesn’t go in to break legs but there are so many unnessessary little things that he gets yellow cards for and that has given him a reputation that only makes things worse for him.

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  66. wow 😯
    pretty bad when your agent drops you too.
    Looks like the clock is ticking for Ranger now.
    Lamearse will be looking for some way to terminate his contract for sure.
    Ha Ha he even turned up late for his disciplinary hearing.
    The lad beggars belief. 😈

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  67. very strange stat on sky 😯

    Mike Williamson currently averages over 16 clearances per game. Not only is that more than double the number that Coloccini manages, no other footballer in the top four leagues in Europe averages more than 12. Williamson also has the stats on his side in terms of tackles and blocks.

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  69. Ice- 😯 The clearances don’t surprise me that much, but tackles and blocks too? Interesting..He was superb on Sunday I thought.

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  70. (THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)

    I thought the whole team, apart from Tiote, put a whole shift in and Cabaye worked tirelessly.

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  71. Andymag

    The difference Colo and to some degree Simpson made to our defense was enormous.
    Krul is an outstanding keeper and shot stopper, but he desperately needs to work on distribution. Far far too many long kicks.

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  72. Thought Cabaye’s passing and Ba’s workrate were excellent.

    I also think Ben Arfa is four times the player he was when he first joined us. Its scary to think he can get better. He wouldn’t look out of place in a Barcelona team.

    We have such a good team when they put in the effort and are all fit.

    Krul, Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye and Ba are so key…

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  73. Troy-agreed, Ba did plenty of chasing down to quieten down his critics, just a shame every good performance increases the chances he’ll be away 😕

    JJ-Yeah, I can’t wait until we can start playing it short a lot more often, problem is we have only Colo and Santon who can bring it out with real comfort, Staylor isn’t so bad but Willo and Simpson, or Perch don’t really have that part of the game down, makes us predictable.

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  74. JJ – Krul is a good shot stopper, but he spills the ball often too, and nearly always to an oppo player. He did on sunday, but willo was alert to it and saved the day.
    Both Willo and Perch are playing beyond what we expect of them.
    In turn this should raise the bar for Saylor and the young ones.
    Colo is the key tho. His calmness and reading of the game rubs off onto others and instills an air of confidence in the defence.

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  75. Newkie.
    That has been my only problem with Simpson.
    Think he is more than adequate as a defender unlike some who think he backs off to much I think he is rock solid.
    But in possession he is completely lost. He hasn’t got a clue what to do with the ball at his feet. If he worked on that he would be an England international.

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