But the London media - having seen their beloved Chelsea knocked out of the Carling Cup - have to have a dig at the Toon, don't they?
After all, it's tradition isn't it?
And what bigger piece of shite is there than the Daily Mail, who want to tell us our new hero - Hatem Ben Arfa - is a trouble-maker
Author: Barry de Silva:
Last weekend every Newcastle fan will have been celebrating as their side shocked Everton at Goodison Park. The hero of the hour? None other than debutant, Hatem Ben Arfa, who lashed a left-footed strike past the helpless Tim Howard from 25 yards, to seal a 1-0 win.
Many have been raving about the French international for his future potential, however with a history of quarrels blemishing the 23-year-old’s CV, is it only a matter of time before he’s shown the door once again?
A catalogue of bust-ups have plagued his career
Since the start of Ben Arfa’s career, he’s had stints at Lyon, Marseille, and now Newcastle - until the end of the season. That may not look like an unusual amount of new clubs for a 23-year-old. Nevertheless when you look at why the Frenchman’s changed allegiances, it becomes apparent that there’s more to it than just the youngster looking to further his career.
Even at the start of his education as little more than trainee at the Clairefontaine Academy, he fell out with Abou Diaby, with team-mates having to separate the two inside a hotel room. At that point, the rifts were only just starting. Once the player had moved to Lyon and had established himself at the Stade de Gerland, in 2008 he was reported for having a training ground fight with veteran and present Arsenal centre back, Sébastien Squillaci.
The shenanigans didn’t end there as in the summer of 2008, after a move to Marseille, Ben Arfa looked to undermine the authority of his coach, Eric Gerets. After Gerets asked the fiery play-maker to warm up during a game against Paris St.Germain, Ben Arfa’s response was to shrug his shoulders and refuse. Afterwards, the Marseille boss blasted the youngster’s attitude stating “No player has ever done that to me in all my [16] years as a coach and he will get what's coming to him”. On the following Monday after the game, Ben Arfa apologised to his mentor during a press conference.
Later the same season, the starlet’s immaturity surfaced once more as he had yet another training ground row, this time with Djibril Cisse. The former Liverpool striker later joined Sunderland on loan, with the youngster remaining on the south-east coast of France.
Even this summer, when the Frenchman was trying to engineer a move to England he went on strike and refused to train. According to French newspaper, L’Equipe, Ben Arfa even failed to attend a scheduled meeting with present Marseille boss Didier Deschamps.
Given Ben Arfa’s history it’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’ the Frenchman falls out with his new team-mates. I’ll give it until Christmas.
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