Such sad news. Probably my favorite player since Shearer retired. No holds bar, all action, take no prisoners type of player. On his day he was up there with the Keane's and Viera's of the EPL era and probably the best DM since those two bar Kante for me. RIP Chiecky, thanks for the memories! x
High praise indeed. I would agree but only for that first season or two. That is as good as I have seen someone perform for Newcastle United. He literally only had one failing, his bookings. Various people gave various reasons for his regression thereafter, from Pards to wanting to leave and so on. Personally I think his knee problem seemed to be the main issue along with losing his main teammates to ill discipline and sales. He never got a good run of games when coupled with his disciplinary record, and he just never progressed. Throughout it all though he was a proper team man. He undoubtedly wanted away at various stages, but he never made any noises and you'd have never have know from his effort level. I will just remember fondly the perfect storm of him, Cabaye, HBA, Ba, Cisse, Jonas. A front 6 that wreaked havoc for a 3 month spell in 2012. None of them ever delivered much when moving on. The grass always seemed greener I suppose. I think the break up of that unit by Ashley and co left Tiote a little disappointed and things were never the same.
One thing that has come out of the tributes that I hadn't been aware of is the contribution and effect he had in the dressing room. I know that tributes will always look to find positives, but these comments appear to be genuine and heartfelt. It sounds like he put a lot of effort into encouraging junior players and that he was a genuinely gracious and humble man who always had a positive effect on morale. In some ways it sounds like his off field persona was totally at odds with the beast that took the field. It reminded me a bit of how Stuart Pearce was described by team mates.
From the BBC Website One of Beijing Enterprises' players has recalled the "horrible" moment when Cheick Tiote fell to the ground in training and later died. The former Newcastle United midfielder, 30, passed away on Monday, about an hour after he collapsed. "He just collapsed right in front of me," Jin Hui said in a post on social media platform WeChat Moments, and seen by BBC Chinese. The 29-year-old said he joined with the first-aid efforts on the pitch. "I still cannot believe this," he added. A club statement confirmed Tiote died at around 19:00 local time (11:00 BST). "Beijing Enterprises Group FC mourn with deep grief over Mr Tiote's death," it read, adding that Tiote made an "outstanding contribution to the club". On Tuesday, members of an official fan club visited the Beijing's home stadium to lay flowers on the pitch in a brief ceremony. "They came this morning in the rain to pay tribute to Mr Tiote," Chen Zhenting, a spokesperson for the fan club, told BBC Chinese. "We are in pain and very, very sad to see him die at such a young age." Chen said there would be further commemoration at Beijing's home game against Harbin Yiteng later this month. "On 24 June, we will pay tribute to the player, as he wore number 24," Chen said. "There would definitely be a silent tribute." The cause of Tiote's death has not been announced, with the club waiting for the Ivorian's family to travel to Beijing. "We must wait until his family is here," club spokesperson Yang Xiaoxiao said. "We need to respect their opinion and not to speak more at this moment." Meanwhile, Beijing head coach Gao Hongbo has revealed the club has seen a request to postpone their next fixture rejected by opponents Meizhou Hakka. "We hope the [Chinese] FA would offer some help to postpone the match on Saturday," Gao added.
Pretty shocking really isn't it - maybe we could all be Beijing supporters for a while (since there's nothing better to do at the moment)
From a Swansea fan to you guys, very very sad at such a great loss. I was actually unaware he had moved to China, for me I will always remember him as a Newcastle player and like many have been in shock at the loss of such a young fit guy. Condolences to you guys and Rest in Peace Cheik.
https://www.change.org/p/newcastle-united-retire-the-number-24-shirt-for-tiote Petition to retire his shirt. Get on it!
