Could anyone who lives(/have lived/knows someone etc) in France tell me what the general reputation of Newcastle United are? We must have a massive reputation in France! Yohan Cabaye chose to move to Newcastle despite winning the league and cup double and he walked away from champions league football! He is also a full French international and in England his reputation as a player probably surpasses the reputation of our club. After all he should be playing champions league football. Sylvian Marveaux rejected Liverpool to join Newcastle United. Amongst the English media this was seen as a bizarre decision and it begs the question why did he choose Newcastle over Liverpool? Hatem Ben Arfa went on strike to force through a move to Newcastle because he was desperate to join us. He walked away from champions league football to join us and as one of the most high profile players in the game you would of thought he would have went to Manchester United or Real Madrid etc as these clubs showed interest in him in the past. Instead he wanted to come to Newcastle United. Modibo Maiga is refusing to play and train with his club to force through a move to Newcastle United, why would he be that desperate to come to us? I know that Newcastle United have the best/most vocal fans in the UK if not Europe and I know we have a great stadium, city and tradition. We have always been a big club but none of this is thought highly of in England so why would it be in France? (In a very slightly related note is there anyone who has an interest in French (or German, Spanish & Italian) football? If you, visit the European Leagues boards and create/comment on threads etc and recommend it to others, I'm trying to get them to grow!)
I think a lot of it is down to how well we treated Ben Arfa after his leg break. Not sure how we got Ben Arfa in the first place though.
Sorry, most vocal fans award goes to Stoke. Loudest ground I've ever been to as an away fan, other than that Man United but they don't count because Gary Neville's a horrible individual (No logic I know, he just spoiled the club for me).
"I know that Newcastle United have the best/most vocal fans in the UK if not Europe and I know we have a great stadium, city and tradition." Personally, i dont see this having too much weight to it. Otherwise most of the best players would be off to Germany, where the atmosphere, stadiums, noise, etc... is far better than ours. I also, dont see it being too much down to Ben Arfa's leg break (although i do see signing Ben Arfa as being the start of it). To me it (if it actually exists) is down to the fact that we offer premier league football, have a decent stadium/facilities, better wages than most of France and already have a number of French speaking players at the club which makes the transition a hell of a lot more comfortable for the player. Basically, i think its just the usual stuff. I dont think theres anything particularly special about our reputation in France. There's plenty of French born/speaking players who wouldnt come to us. I think its basically just the same as when a manager takes over a new club, he generally signs makes his first few signings that are of his nationality.
Don't they use 'crowd noise' through big speakers at the Brittania, to help beef up the atmosphere in the ground?
If somebody shouts in a small room it will seem louder than if that same person shouts in a big room. I hope that makes sense...
Lived in France for a year and married a french girl with football mad brothers and friends. TBH we dont have a big reputation over there. Its Man U and Arsenal followed by Liverpool for the French from my observations. Only person I have seen in a Newcastle top over there is my son. Dont get me wrong we are well known but its a Premier League thing that makes us attractive and not NUFC itself. I actually have a theory about the recent French invasion which struck me when I got a bit lost driving round Paris in July. Found myself on a brand new retail park with a lovely new Sports Direct shop on it. Sports Direct is very much in its infancy in France and it got me thinking that it may be a cynical ploy by our business minded owner to increase advertising in that infant market. Canal Plus is French and may just be persuaded to show NUFC more this year to satisfy there French audience. All those Sports Direct adverts around the ground would be great advertising for him. Or I am just a cynic?????
I think it depends on how the game is going. Stoke has a great atmosphere but it's not as great when the team is doing poorly. It's the same with us, we pride ourselves on backing the side whatever the scoreline but the atmospehere isn't likely to be as good if we are getting stuffed. Stoke could never compete with the noise and atmosphere in the 4-4 though, I've never heard anything like that at a football match. Old Trafford is admittedly loud but I think we are still louder for a larger part of the game, and they also have a higher capacity. In terms of away fans though, Stoke are miles behind us. Stoke's away support is very poor. It seems to be the stadium just as much as the fans that create an intimidating atmosphere at the Brit.
Its actually a fact now that if you go up to a French girl and say you're a Newcastle United fan she's legally obliged to give you a blowie at a bare minimum. If you're a member its full intercourse (TM Steve Coogan in 24 Hour Party People) and season ticket holders get the option of anal. All absolutely true.
Maybe its because France sees us as what we are. One of the big clubs in the Premier League with recent European football pedigree. Who are also able to pay big wages then what they can get in France. Where as the south of England (ie London) just sees us as a circus and a national joke that everyone is in on because we are 'so far north', we may as well be in the f*cking Hebrides.
Yeah, I only go to 5 or 6 away matches a season and a couple of home games, last season I was lucky enough to pick the Arsenal match. Match of a lifetime, the atmosphere was unreal. But there are very few genuinely loud grounds in the country from my experience. People say Stoke, but until they were 3-0 up last season it was nothing special. Cardiff was pretty noisey when we played them in the Championship (especially at the start of the match), home fans at Goodison were poor last season, as were Chelsea, Villa, Birmingham. West Brom are indifferent. Never been to Old Trafford so can't say, but there's probably no regularly intimidating home grounds now. Yes, on occasion, but not consistently over the season.
We are not considered as one of the big teams but we are known for having a great team spirit dur to interviews coming from Benny and Cabaye. We are featured in football magazines quite with a recent article in FootMag (FourFourTwo) being how well Ben Arfa has adapted to life over here. I saw another one on our youth academy and French scouting. A lot of French chavs from Marseille like us as we have Ben Arfa their former star. One of my best mates is a Bordeaux fan and they know who we are but don't really give a damn really. We're known more than the likes of Everton, Sunderland, Bolton and even Spurs and have a decent reputation since we burst the scene with Benny signing and Gameiro enquiry. But if you asked someone over here to name a full squad they'd struggle. It may even be that we look like total pratts after the Sochaux incident...
I think it's a more down to us wanting players from france than French players wanting to come. Players from the French league are cheap. That is why Ashley wants them. Think of all the people we've been strongly linked with this summer - Gameiro, Gervinho, Sow, Erding, Maiga, Cissokho. So we may have just got lots of French/French based players this summer because it's the only place we're looking.
I went to United-Arsenal last season as my mate had a spare ticket. I wouldn't say the atmosphere was intimidating but it sure was loud! The Arsenal fans were reasonably loud, but the home fans were unbelievable. I couldn't say if it would be the same against a mid-table team on a Saturday afternoon though.
I've lived in Paris for over a year now...and can't say I've seen any shirts other than Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Except that one happy day, that I saw a QPR shirt. Turns out there are a couple us QPR fans in Paris...