Colo- There HAVE been divisions in the squad

Good of Colo to speak out like this. It ensures there are no hiding places within the squad for the final two games.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...as-David-Ginola-blasts-French-contingent.html

Fabricio Coloccini admits there were divisions in Newcastle squad as David Ginola blasts French contingent
Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini has admitted there have been divisions in the squad during their slide down the Premier League table, but he is adamant they are now all pulling in the same direction.

The Daily Telegraph revealed last week that the dressing room was on the verge of splitting in the aftermath of the 6-0 home defeat by Liverpool, with tension growing behind the scenes between different groups of players.
Much of the animosity surrounded a perception some players, including many of the large French contingent on Tyneside, were more interested in moaning about manager Alan Pardew and pursing personal agendas than helping save the Magpies from relegation.
That has prompted Newcastle's former French winger David Ginola to criticise his countrymen, insisting on Thursday "they were not concerned about it" because they thought "if the club are relegated then we will leave in the summer".
Newcastle delivered a far more united performance to secure a point at West Ham last weekend and skipper Coloccini, whose return at the heart of the defence has been a huge boost to under-fire manager Pardew, is convinced a split has been avoided thanks to a series of player meetings.
When asked if there had been any divisions, Coloccini told the Newcastle Chronicle: "Yes, of course. That is normal when you are where we are now.


"We have meetings like any other team. We had meetings last year when we were playing fantastic. The meetings we have are to improve us, we can speak and see what is going wrong. The manager and the players are together. Nobody wants to go down here, we are all fighting together."
Coloccini commands huge respect in the Newcastle dressing room and his return was always likely to help bring everyone together, although Ginola is not convinced all his fellow Frenchman are as bothered as they should be by Newcastle's predicament.
"I spoke a few weeks ago about the fact there are 10 French players in the squad and whether it would be a good thing for the club," he told TalkSport Radio.
"At the time it seemed that it was positive because they were going to bring something different to the club, but after a few weeks it wasn't good enough and it still isn't now.
"Playing in Europe and then in a Premier League relegation fight are completely different things. You have to have the right sort of players for that task and I'm not sure that the players are concerned about it.
"The players are thinking, 'Well if the club is relegated then we will leave in the summer'.
"Hopefully they're going to find something to help save the club because Newcastle United and the fans need to stay in the Premier League. I hope they are impressing that importance onto them."

 

I'dbe interested to see what he was actually asked.

From his answer, it looks like it ws something more along the lines of "Have the players had meetings to discuss the situation" rather than "Have there been divisions in the dressing room".

It sounds to me a bit like the telegraph trying to say they were right all along, and take a swipe at the club at the same time

 

He probably just means disagreements, which makes more sense in the context of what he's saying. You'd expect and want these in any team in the plight we're in.

 

Same for me because he goes on to suggest they also had meetings last year when going well. I think this is more to do with getting the message out there that the players are not just sitting idol not giving a ****. To be fair though they can get that message on a Saturday afternoon by not turning in performances like Liverpool, which lacked heart and a certain amount of professionalism!

 

So basically our frenchies are pussies that cant be bothered to fight relegation and are happy to jump ship the first chance they get if we are relegated.

Nice.

 

So basically our frenchies are pussies that cant be bothered to fight relegation and are happy to jump ship the first chance they get if we are relegated.

Nice.

 

Ginola has been having a big pop at our Frenchies apparently...

http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-art...layers-dont-care-if-newcastle-are-relegated/?

David Ginola has now jumped on the ‘too many Frenchmen’ bandwagon and claimed that they don’t really care if Newcastle are relegated and would just move elsewhere if it happened.

All very bizarre because while David Ginola is possibly the most talented player I have ever seen at Newcastle and was absolutely electrifying in his first four months.

You have to also say that after his sending off against Arsenal in the League Cup, halfway through his first season, he was never quite the same and much of the time you would have said that he looked as if he…didn’t care.

Speaking on Talksport this is what Daveed had to say;

“Playing in Europe and then in a Premier League relegation fight are completely different things. You have to have the right sort of players for that task and I’m not sure that the (French) players are concerned about it. The players are thinking, ‘well if the club is relegated then we will leave in the summer’.”

Also, I can’t quite work out if this is racist or not or whether it is ok as he is ‘one of them’.

I don’t really understand why the new French signings in particular just wouldn’t care, why would that be? New signings such as Gouffran and Sissoko were the main reason why we were able to pick up the wins that stopped us being relegated already. The team collectively have been rubbish/underperforming,

It isn’t like fans are pointing at the pitch and saying why aren’t Mapou, Debuchy, Gouffran, Sissoko and Haidara playing as well as Jonas, Tiote, Taylor and Shola.

 

This **** always comes out when you are down. I don't buy this "the french don't care" bollocks. It has been all of them! Saylor, Perch, Tiote, Jonas, Cisse, Elliott made up more than half that team against Liverpool. Fair enough Cabaye and Sissoko were particularly bad, but to a man they let the club down. Not one except maybe Cisse (who at least tried) came out with credit for me.

As an aside I do think your club lacks soul and identity when your team is made up of masses of foreign players. We're not alone here though!! Of course it is better to have a big english and preferably local contingent. Of course they'll give more and buy in more. I don't think anybody is kidding themselves about that because you only have to look at the likes of Bayern, Dortmund or Barcelona. Or Villa on a smaller club scale and closer to home. First and foremost though the english clubs and english FA need to invest enough money in the upskilling and updating of coaching methods and approach etc.

The english game is riddled and we are no different to the vast majority of other PL clubs. What we do lack across the board is a bit of grit and leadership. You don't have to be english to provide that, you just have to have it in you! Focusing on nationality and trying to blame the french when it goes wrong is a bit xenophobic. It comes down to their personality not their nationality.

 

This will be lame paper talk at best.

 

This is the same old obvious guff, peddled out by idiot sports journos who have no real concept of what the real world of professional sport is like.

The ONLY guys who know what's really going on are the players, manager and staff first and foremost.

How many people at your workplace are your best friends? How many would you choose to spend time with if you weren't paid to?
Football is an industry and the training pitches and dressing rooms are no different from the factory floor or office kitchen – rife with politics and backstabbing.

Play football at ANY level and you'll have guys that get along and those that would like to kill each other but during the match that all falls away.

Frankly I would be more disturbed to read the squad is as happy as Larry with no one pointing the finger. Lets have some anger and fight please, as long as its constructive.

We don't need to read some lame newspaper stir-up story to know all isn't rosy... Hello! Look at the bloody league table!

 

Alan Hansen ferquently says you don't have to like your team mates, you just have to trust them to do their job on the pitch.

After the Liverpool game, nobody could trust anyone to do their job on the pitch. If there hadn't been a pretty ful and frank excahnge of views following that match, that would be disturbing

 

We do need a little British Steele aswell as some French flair but that can be addressed this summer.

 

Remington ?

 

Wilkinson

 

What British steele? If you mean young British talent we will pay way over the odds for them. Cheap British steel (30 +) will not be coming here.

I can't blame them for shopping abroad because you can get pretty much the finished article for less than that of a 17/18 English starlet.

This 'The French are to blame' is just plain wrong. Stop with these silly historical stereotypes which is just bollocks. Most modern footballers are ****s/mercenaries and there is virtually no loyalty left in the game. All of this talk is getting away from the real source; the manager. His clueless tactics, poor motivational skills, delusions of grandeur and pig headed obstinance in playing people out of position or his favourites has led us into this mess.

We will only progress as a club when Pardew has ****ed off. If we stay up he will be given at least until this October.

 

The idea that there are too many frenchmen is, i think, crap.

the possibility that we have had difficulty integrating 5 new first string players acquired in the middle of the season is possible.

 

just as long as it's not as manager

 

It would be interesting to see what level of ex players coach on the continent. It seems over here a great deal of players retire and get into coaching which, from the point of view that football is all they know, fair enough.
But a skillful footballer does not necessarily have all the right attributes to teach.
The current coaching methods in the UK are perceived to be a bit old school, they teach what they learned in the 70's and 80's, whilst the next generation of coaches have lived in the cosy world of Premier league money so likely lack the life skills and ability to teach, or are too rich to bother with coaching.
I remember stories of Gullit expecting players to match his skills but being unable to teach them how he gained them and suspect that issue is quite wide spread.

 

I think quite a few of us have pointed this out, the powers that be don't seem to want to see it.

It's obvious that to all and sundry that Pardew is taking us nowhere, so it seems MA must be content with just hanging on.