Alan Pardew's "Royale with Cheese"
As Britain prepares to send a “sizeable amount of troops” to aid France in Mali; a sizeable contingent of football players have arrived from France to rescue a British club in the north-east of England.
More precisely, five French nationals have arrived at Newcastle United in the winter transfer window to steer this rudderless ship.
With the latest additions to the squad, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has now the option to start 11 French-born players if he wishes to. Even Arsene Wenger never had so many of his fellow countrymen to choose from; the 2006-07 comes a close second to Pardew’s XI, with seven French players playing in Arsenal colours.
Changes in the team setup were made necessary due to the position they find themselves in league.
Newcastle United are the only club in the Premier League without an away win in any of the four competitions they played. With just seven wins in all competitions in 31 games they played so far this season, they have a win percentage of just 22.5%.
They travel to Birmingham to play fellow strugglers Aston Villa in the league today, in a must-win match for both sides. Villa are just a point below Newcastle in 17th place, and have conceded the most number of goals (44) in the league so far this season.
The difference between the two sides is like chalk and cheese; though both are being sucked into the same quicksand.
Christian Benteke
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has placed his faith in young players. The average age of his defence is 23.5 years and it has been nothing more than a leaky cauldron this season. Their attack hinges on a 22-year-old Belgian striker Christian Benteke, who moved to the club last summer.
Lambert consistently fielded a fairly young squad, with the exception of Grant Holt, during his time at Norwich City. In hindsight, Lambert always relied on youngsters, while other managers treat them like shiny figurines, bringing them out of their glass showcases only during cup matches.
He has not made any moves in the transfer market, and there may not be any players arriving at Villa Park in this window. He cannot be found sauntering anymore as there are not many games left to play.
At the same time, Lambert cannot put together an ensemble of players who will pull them out this rut. He already committed himself to using chiefly British players in their twenties and must stick to it.
The last time Villa played Newcastle the match ended in a 1-1 draw at St James Park. Five French players were in the squad that day and there may be six today.
Under the team’s current transfer policy adopted by Pardew, Newcastle may not see another Alan Shearer in the near future. But there are 14 British players in the team roster; it’s just that only seven of them have started in at least one game this season. Either they are not ready to face the daunting task of winning a relegation battle, or Pardew does not have faith in them.
If the new signings fail to stop Newcastle’s free fall then the British press will take a big bite out off Pardew’s “Royale with Cheese”.