I think it was Felltop or Scout who talked with a French coach who recommended Ba for RB or LB. I remember it because I said I could see him at wingback but not fullback. Don't get me wrong I rate Roberts I just see him as a luxury player meaning that he's superb when we're flying and ineffective when we aren't, whereas Ba is a bit more effective overall, and also has the benefit of potential.
I knew I had read it somewhere about Ba. The one thing thing that really stands out for me is his work rate and the fact he doesn't hide. He needs time and games to grow imo
Been said before but it was impressive how he had a bad run, most of us including me said he should be dropped, then he got brought on against Saudi, was full of confidence and ended up as one of the few of our players to come away with any credit. Bit of depth to the lad it seems.
30 odd years ago I was in Edinburgh with 2 mates and we were staying at one of their Aunties houses on a street called Constitution Street. Any way we had been to get something to eat in the town center and the decided to walk along Leith walk and onto Constitution street to get ready for the evenings festivities. As we walked past a pub called the Alan Breck there were a couple of guys arguing and one of them pulled out a gun and shot the other fella (this was at about 2 in the afternoon). Me and my mates thought it was like a scene from Taggert as STV is on Leith walk, so we just kept on walking straight past this shooting and got to my mates Aunties house and went in. It took a while for the whole thing to sink in and to be honest it was not long until the police turned up at the door wanting to speak to us for statements etc. We really did not want to talk about it as it was quite a harrowing event so they agreed to come to the NE and interview us in Boldon, at my parents house. To be honest the memories don't affect me now but at the time I lost time from work (got sacked for it) then had to go spend another few weeks in Scotland for the trial where I had to stand up in court and give evidence which in itself is quite a nerve wracking thing to do. Just my little story based loosely around Leith.
I mentioned that the best performance ive seen him play was as right wingback for france (was an u19 game i think) and then mentioned a former director of football over there thought he would end up being a rb - not sure he will ever become a rb but you never know Ba starts ahead of roberts, ba was better against boro than roberts was - beale was right to take him off when he did tho. I have a real issue with roberts not getting in to the box n attacking the back post. I see posts on social media about how many sitters Ba misses but at least hes getting into dangerous positions. Roberts is never in those positions to miss them. Most games ba plays for us he has at least 2 shots a game but when i looked at roberts stats there were loads of games where he didnt have any shots Roberts is a wonderful player to watch but we need to see more end product from.him to.justify a start imo
Thats my view 100% Roberts is a genius with the ball tied to his foot, but he will just keep going and disappear up his own arse!
Is everyone forgetting how utterly gash Hemir has been when he has played? Can't even get goals in the U21s never mind the 1st team. Is this a case of a player becoming better solely on his lack of minutes?
People moan that he misses chances, that one against Boro specifically, however Ba has been much more of a goal threat this season. Goals and assists win you games, the lad has to start.
It's obvious Ba needs to become more clinical when those chances are in front of him, Lee Johnson was actually right about that aspect imo. However I've looked at the Boro chance, a few times, and we'd probably have lauded Ballard if he'd made that block. Ba knew he had a split-second and put it in the corner, at least it was on target ... most other days it goes in. Not that I didn't call him a nasty word at the time It's funny how things can turn isn't it ... only a month back Ba was all but written off, now he's one of the first names on the team sheet.
Well apart from scoring on Monday night in a 1-0 win aye. The lad has barely had a look in and Mowbray’s treatment of him before his departure was a disgrace. Not saying he’s been excellent but deserving of more of a chance than a disinterested loanee from Chelsea in my book.
Give the lad a chance - he looked decent in pre-season when he scored a few headers. We haven't given him anywhere near the amount game time as Burstow. His new haircut seems to have made him a bit sharper - hopefully he kicks on from now.
