Archive for tag: Newcastle United recruitment policy.

Is Newcastle right to be prioritise strengthening defence over attack?

January 6th, 2012 | 25 Comments |

Demba Ba due a leave of absence from Newcastle United for ACoN. — Is another Ba the highest priority?

Newcastle United are set lose Demba Ba to the Africa Cup of Nations soon, yet it seems the club is concentrating more on strengthening the team in defence rather than attack. Is this the right decision?

Much was rumoured recently about us not being in for a striker this January after the Maiga deal fell through but, with Demba Ba due to leave for the African Cup of Nations very soon, how will we cope?

When Pardew was asked recently if we can cope without Ba and Tiote, he said:

“Obviously, I am hoping so, but they are two massive players. You take a huge figure out of one of the other teams and it’s significant. If you took Rooney out of Manchester United, probably they wouldn’t look the same for seven games, so you have to accept that.

“Having said that, we have got players who are champing at the bit. Hatem Ben Arfa wants a chance, Leon Best wants to show what he showed last year, Peter Lovenkrands will be eager to throw his hat in the ring, so we have still got great players in the club and we hope that we can keep the momentum and the form going.

“We have just approached one game at a time, but we have got to the halfway stage in seventh place and that’s significant. It can only arm us with confidence to go forward.“

So how will Pardew line things up at the front?

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