ameobi

Cabaye? Or Is that lust more than love

 

as much as Shola pisses me off, I cant stay mad at him

 

We've backed him for years and he has never delivered, we have every damn right to be a bit sick of him by now. Still love the guy though, when he's not on the pitch.

 

Disagree with some of the vitriol on here. Yes Shola isnt the greatest striker to ever grace this club but he has some good attributes. As Speedo points out he is extremely good at bringing others into the game with his back to goal. He is also a pretty good finisher and the best penalty taker Ive ever seen.

There are several negatives yes, but when people berate his lack of assists Id very much like to know how many assists for other people's assists he gets. People get on his back because he doesn't have hussle - unfortunately thats not the kind of striker he is. It would be nice if he also had that as then he'd pretty much have everything you want in a striker (strength, finishing prowess etc.) but as it is he makes a pretty squad member.

 

The fact he's willing to sit on the bench pretty much every week and still declare his undying love for the club (even on low wages) he's alright with me.

We could do a lot worse than having a Shola on the bench every week.

 

But he's a STRIKER though. He's there to score goals, and he simply doesn't do it. It's a bit like praising a defender because he can 'bring others into the game', despite being an absolutely ****E defender. Would you like him in your XI?

Goalkeeper = stop goals getting in net
Defenders = stop ball getting through
Midfielders = move the ball forwards and control the game
Strikers = score goals

Ameobi does not score goals. Well he does, but they're once in a ****ing blue moon.

 

Actually, that's not correct.

It is a rare team that has two prolific strikers. Most have a scoring striker and the other one, the assistant, the one who helps the scorer score. Shearer and Bellamy were a good example. Shearer scored, Bellamy helped and tried to pick up one or two himself. It was a good combination, one we all liked.

Bellamy generally got about 7 - 10 a season. Shola's 1 in 5 is poor by his standards (he's been about 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 throughout his career) but it equated to between 7 and 8 in the course of a season. That's perfectly respectable ofr a supporting striker.

Continue to slag Ameobi by all means. Nothing I can say or he could do will stop you, but the stats don't particularly help your argument.

 

Ameobi is gash. He really is one of the laziest men on the planet. But the fact remains we're gonna need him over the next few weeks and he does have the odd game where he's up for it and plays well. Pardew is just cleverly trying to get him a bit of extra backing from the stands for an important period. Personally whatever my feelings on Sholas lack of ability my policy on support is always the same. If they're in a Newcastle shirt then you cheer regardless.

 

I have a huge difficulty understanding this statement. Why would we ever need a player who is bad at his job ?

 

Simply because we have an extremely thin squad and whatever anyone thinks of Ameobi, me included, he will be one of our main striking options over the next few weeks while Demba is away. Its just about wanting whats best for Newcastle, and if Ameobi is the 2nd best of a bad bunch then we'll need him and the more we support him the better. After Best what are the other options? Play Lover who's worse, Sammy whos hit and miss and still learning, Ranger who's not even here and couldn't score, or stick Alan Smith up front with Benni in the vain hope he recaptures his Leeds form?

Beggars can't be choosers basically. He's ****e but he's our ****e.

 

The only way I could show Shola anymore love would be if I took him for a nice dinner, went home and shared a bottle of wine, gave him a backrub and then walked him home.

 

That's ridiculous, absolute nonsense I'm afraid. Firstly, without Ba, we only hold the ball high up the pitch with Ameobi playing. Secondly, he changed the game when he came on against Blackburn. He has to be marked, by at least one, all the time. Further, he plays the Heskey Role, which, despite the childish response of people on the internet ('LOL Heskey, what a donkey LMFAOIMSEXYANDIKNOWIT'), is actually a very useful role, bringing others into play, so others score goals. We score more goals with Shola in the team. Alright, so he's never going to be European class, but he's an excellent option to have, particularly against physical teams like Wolves (or Blackburn!), or 'ball playing defences' like Swansea or Wigan.

 

Which is to say that he's better than the hard working journeyman Best, the quickish poacherish Lover or speedy but raw Sammi (of Smith I will say nothing). Unless they are all something which is even less appealing and wholsesome than ****e, then Shola can't be quite as bad as we make him out, can he ?

I don't know how many times in the last decade we've found ourselves needing Shola - - more or less everytime our current boy wonder blows a fuse. We need him now even though we have a boy wonder. That wouldn't happen if he was really not good

 

He's talking ****e, we all love Shola - we just wish we hadn't suffered 10 years of watching him trying to play football. His brother is the same, everyone loves him despite a clear lack of ability

 

I think Best is better, I make no bones about that. That lad has changed my opinion of him and I still have faith in him to link well with Benni and get goals. Sammy I don't consider, just too raw and too young and it'll do him more harm than good. But Lover and Smithy are ****e. They are slightly more ****e than Ameobi.

As for the fact he keeps popping up, I think that has more to do with how poorly our club has been run through the years he's been here. the fact is we should have got rid a long time ago and we should have a better option right now. But there is no point dwelling on the past, its always about the here and now. And regardless how poor and lazy I think he is, we need him because we have set of ****e striking options outside Ba, Benni and Best.

 

What about Phil Airey?

Hitting 20 years old and I've always heard good things about him?

 

Gone quiet on him, hasn't it?

 

Just not as good as people thought. Will probably get released. Martin Britain was supposed to be the next Nobby Solano lol.

 

I like Best as well. On their day they can both be very good. On their off days, Best looks like he is trying harder

 

We are a better team by having Ameobi in the squad.

simple as that. He's better than many "squad" strikers in the premiership - plus he is loyal at a (relatively) low wage, never sulks when benched, and good on the training ground & dressing room (which is more important than many make out)

excellent hold-up play, excellent target man. he draws in defenders allowing other team mates into the game - that's where his ASSISTS come from. Much like Gutierrez - who is also a lot better than his stats would indicate.

he has a weird looking run that makes him look lazy, but he's not. for years he played through huge injuries and pain (to his overall healths detriment) when we had no other fit strikers. any player willing to put their body on the line continuously like he did deserves the respect of the fans.

if only he was onside a bit more he'd be deadly.