Mehdi Abeid- The future's bright, the future's orange - Reserves vs Spennymoor Review

As promised, here's the review from the reserve match.

Finished 4-2 to Newcastle with two goals from Ranger and two from Inman.

However that doesn't tell the whole story, as Spennymoor put up a very good fight and the scoreline flattered us a bit. First goal came just before Half-Time for Spennymoor, and they hit the bar soon after that with our defense looking a little shaky. Soderberg had pulled off a string of decent saves to keep us in it and Spenny's wingers were having a field day as our fullbacks seemed to enjoy attacking (notably number 3, who I think was the French guy - Moyo).

Second half started brightly as Inman finished well to equalise then we got awarded a penalty that Ranger struck away calmly to give us the lead for the first time. It didn't last too long as Spenny split the defense with a wonderful lobbed through ball and their on rushing striker finished it despite Soderberg's best efforts.

Action wasn't finished there though and for the first time in the game, Nile Ranger actually sprung to life and got his shot away finding the bottom corner to put us 3-2 ahead with another nice finish from Inman to round off a nice afternoons work.

Positives:
Mehdi Abeid - Think we have an absolute star on our hands here. I know this was only against Spennymoor, but his willingness to fight for the ball and get stuck in as well as his deft flicks and incisive passes he has skills that are on a par with, IMO, Ben Arfa. He seems to enjoy sitting deep and then getting forward with lethal efficiency, linking up well with the wingers. In the first half he had two very good chances, one came after a lovely turn and dragged just wide, the other a curling shot destined for the top corner but for a great save.

Soderberg - Good performance from him, some very impressive saves. Communicates well with the defense and didn't fumble any crosses/shots (to my recollection).

Inman - Two goals, brilliant finishes and overall good passing and tracking back. One to watch in my opinion.


Negatives:

Airey - Sorry but this is like the 7th time I've seen him play and he's still not impressing me. He shows complete unwillingness to shoot, his aerial ability is mediocre at best and he has the first touch of a rapist at times.

Other noticable thing:

Ranger - Unsure where to rate his performance, so think inconsitant will cover this. Frustrated me in the first half as he had a lot of good opportunities in and around the box to shoot or pick out a square ball that would've probably gone on to be an assist but he didn't. He loves dicking about with it and ended up getting tackled or mislaying passes. Most of the time he was lazy, but then just as I was thinking all this he came to life, skinned a few players then scored a pretty decent goal.


Anyway, they're my thoughts. Anyone else at the game agree/disagree/have anything to add?

 

How long do you reckon until Mehdi is ready for frequent PL starts?

 

Looking forward to seeing Abeid. Hope all this hype is genuine and he lives up to it.

 

Judging from the few times I've seen him play, not too long. I think he should be a definite for first team match squad (i.e. start on bench) straight away, but because of the quality of CM in the first team I can't see him starting without suspensions/injuries.

 

Thanks for the review seems to keep in pattern with what a lot of people have said about those certain players, Abeid looks like a real gem, hasnt had a bad game in pre-season and I hope he gets a chance to shine on the big stage next season.

Everyone I've spoke to about Airey dont rate him either, seems to have hit a wall in his development which isn't good, but hes still probably better than Lovenkrands

Ranger will get there IMO IF he manages to grow up and knuckle down, I just hope hes taking notice of the management team and his seniors, and hopefully even us giving him a kick up the arse on twitter aswell, still a great prospect I think and would like to see him loaned out and played regularly for a season before dismissing him.

 

Good review.

Shame Mehdi played against Spennymoor though, I was hoping he may of got a few minutes against Leeds.

 

Tweeted him saying he was still ****, but then removed it as I remembered he was gangster and would probs 'pop a cap in my ass'
Thing is, the club don't really seem to be interested in loaning him out after rejecting loan offers, and since he's not been on the first team for a while I'm thinking he has little to no future with us.

 

Sammy Ameobi has been called up to the senior squad ahead of him, this club just seems to love anyone with the second name Ameobi.

 

Cheik Tiote and Ben Arfa have payed for their transfers by attracting these new players in, what they offer on the pitch will be a bonus. Cheik Tiote <3 Benny <3

 

It's probably because we're not that strong up front, were as our midfield is packed so Abeid will have to work extremely hard.

 

It would be a mistake selling him IMO, for what? Barely a million quid profit? We should be looking to offer him to promoted clubs or clubs in the championship, he could come back a better player, a lot of people were dismissing Carroll until he started banging them in too.

 

This! Was rather hoping we'd be seeing him instead of Smith tomorrow but looks as if that's not the case. Also interesting to note was the absence of: Routledge, Perch, Xisco who were all rumoured to be in the squad unless called up for Leeds. Hope to God I don't have to watch James ****ing Perch tomorrow

 

Fair point but IMO Abeid has earned a senior call up more than anyone else, Sammy has done well though, scored against Darlington and in some of the reserve games

Edit: How Alan Smith is still getting minutes in the senior squad is simply beyond me, he should be in the reserves while Abeid shows his skills.

 

Definitely! Wasn't saying I agree with what the clubs doing, it just seems the way it's going about unfortunately.

 

Yep, Ashley probably just seeing pound signs again unfortunately, also wouldn't have to pay him his 5 year contract, probably save him a couple of million.

 

Did any Spenny players particularly impress you Tom ????

 

Think he gave him the 5 year deal to bump up his price if he failed to develop brightly. Win win for Ashley then.

 

Not another riot!

Shola's on a diet, Sammy caused a riot nananana!

 

Yep, their two wingers, Number 10 and 11 were small and nippy as ****! Gave the defense a right headache. Number 17 when he came on looked class too. And in Midfield, Calvin Smith, Number 7, looked decent and sprayed the ball about well. And I'm not just sayin that cause I know him

 

If it happened again at Leeds it wouldn't be pretty!