Makoun Watch

[PaulTheVillan]

I'd rather have Herd in the team than Makoun.

[jonzy85]

To think he was the signing that was to herald a new era under Houllier, where each addition to the squad would be more exotic than the next. A departure from the 'boring' signings under MON, which proved so calamitous. "You only finish 6th with domestic signings" shouted the masses, "nothing beats Premier League experience" nodded the reserved minority...

[QBVILLA]

From what i saw of Makoun I wasn't ever impressed.There is credibilty to the argument that seven games isn't enough to be deemed a fair chance but he struggled to complete simple passes and his tackling was clumsy bordering on reckless.

[Clampy]

he struggled to complete simple passes and his tackling was clumsy bordering on reckless.

You must have missed the game up at Old Trafford then, i think he gave the ball away once. His tackling was'nt the best  granted, but it may have been that he was getting used to the pace of the Premiership.

[eamonn]

To think he was the signing that was to herald a new era under Houllier, where each addition to the squad would be more exotic than the next. A departure from the 'boring' signings under MON, which proved so calamitous. "You only finish 6th with domestic signings" shouted the masses, "nothing beats Premier League experience" nodded the reserved minority...

Houllier would have brought in Cabaye in the summer who is one of the main reasons Newcastle are sitting in third place.
Still, as you say, MON knew best. Nothing beats Heskey in midfield I suppose.

[PaulTheVillan]

Makoun was very good at passing to the nearest man first time, his short passing was good. Not sure everyone else was upto speed with the speed of his passing.

For a 'defensive' midfielder, his takling was poor, most of the time he'd just run straight into players

[paulcomben]

Yeah, sparingly, as in not used much.

Maybe his goal will get him a start. Was it ever confirmed the price we paid for him? I seem to remember Houllier making a point of saying that it wasn't even close to the reported figure (£6.2m I think). I hope not if the sell-on is less than half of that.

I recall Houllier saying in a televised press conference that Makoun cost in Euros €5 million.

[garyshawsknee]

I'd rather have Herd in the team than Makoun.

Rather have Makoun on the bench than Ireland,or in midfield than Heskey.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I liked him, I think he would have been a good player given time to settle

[PaulWinch again]

To think he was the signing that was to herald a new era under Houllier, where each addition to the squad would be more exotic than the next. A departure from the 'boring' signings under MON, which proved so calamitous. "You only finish 6th with domestic signings" shouted the masses, "nothing beats Premier League experience" nodded the reserved minority...

Houllier would have brought in Cabaye in the summer who is one of the main reasons Newcastle are sitting in third place.
Still, as you say, MON knew best. Nothing beats Heskey in midfield I suppose.

Exactly, Cabaye is exactly what we need so those sort of signings would have been brilliant. It also didn't work out too badly for Wenger back in the day.

[jonzy85]

To think he was the signing that was to herald a new era under Houllier, where each addition to the squad would be more exotic than the next. A departure from the 'boring' signings under MON, which proved so calamitous. "You only finish 6th with domestic signings" shouted the masses, "nothing beats Premier League experience" nodded the reserved minority...

Houllier would have brought in Cabaye in the summer who is one of the main reasons Newcastle are sitting in third place.
Still, as you say, MON knew best. Nothing beats Heskey in midfield I suppose.

Is that a fact? Why didnt he sign him in January?

No one wants to see Heskey in midfield and it would be great if we had signed Cabaye. But I think it would have been just as likely we would have got some other dud who would have to have been packed off back to Europe on loan.

Pointing to Cabaye (who has only played 10 games) is not sufficient evidence that buting foreign players is, or ever was, the answer to our problems. In fact if you look at the very top clubs, they tend to buy the better players from clubs like us rather than gamble on an unproven PL player (not including clear superstars like Aguero, Suarez etc.)

It is exciting signing somebody we know nothing about and waiting to see if he is the next Balaban or the next.....have we ever actually signed someone relatively unknown from abroad that has gone on to be a star...Yorke, maybe?

[PaulWinch again]

To think he was the signing that was to herald a new era under Houllier, where each addition to the squad would be more exotic than the next. A departure from the 'boring' signings under MON, which proved so calamitous. "You only finish 6th with domestic signings" shouted the masses, "nothing beats Premier League experience" nodded the reserved minority...

Houllier would have brought in Cabaye in the summer who is one of the main reasons Newcastle are sitting in third place.
Still, as you say, MON knew best. Nothing beats Heskey in midfield I suppose.

Is that a fact? Why didnt he sign him in January?

No one wants to see Heskey in midfield and it would be great if we had signed Cabaye. But I think it would have been just as likely we would have got some other dud who would have to have been packed off back to Europe on loan.

Pointing to Cabaye (who has only played 10 games) is not sufficient evidence that buting foreign players is, or ever was, the answer to our problems. In fact if you look at the very top clubs, they tend to buy the better players from clubs like us rather than gamble on an unproven PL player (not including clear superstars like Aguero, Suarez etc.)

It is exciting signing somebody we know nothing about and waiting to see if he is the next Balaban or the next.....have we ever actually signed someone relatively unknown from abroad that has gone on to be a star...Yorke, maybe?

The Cabaye bit is a fact, he's said as much. We haven't had wild success with foreign imports in general. However there are lots of players who weren't established megastars when they were signed, who have proved very very good. To list a few Van Persie, Vidic, Jose Enrique, Sagna, Modric(was a lot of money, but not proven), Tiote, Fabregas. That's a few but there are many more.

[SoccerHQ]

I agree, Makoun had potential and I wouldn't have shipped him out before xmas.

He showed glimpses in the games he played, he played a superb ball through in his home debut against Fulham which lead to the own goal, set up Gabby's goal at Blackpool and he set up Young for a shot that hit the post at home to Wolves. That suggested he had a bit of creativity in his game which was a positive compared to his mistimed tackles. But then again Tiote at Newcastle picked up 14 bookings for Newcastle and still had a good season.

I think he probably didn't fancy playing for McLeish in all honesty and wanted to go. That said given how badly Delph has deteriorated as the season has gone on and that Saturday was the first we've seen of Jenas, I'd have kept hold of him.

[eamonn]

I don't think Delph has deteriorated, he just hasn't really improved and is yet to make a big impression.
He really should be in Petrov's role, getting forward when possible, with Petrov sitting.
It's still too early to write him off as he's had terrible injuries with us. A run of eight games or so isn't enough, though the next time he gets a chance he has to start making more of an impact.

[PaulTheVillan]

I agree, Makoun had potential and I wouldn't have shipped him out before xmas.

He showed glimpses in the games he played, he played a superb ball through in his home debut against Fulham which lead to the own goal, set up Gabby's goal at Blackpool and he set up Young for a shot that hit the post at home to Wolves. That suggested he had a bit of creativity in his game which was a positive compared to his mistimed tackles. But then again Tiote at Newcastle picked up 14 bookings for Newcastle and still had a good season.

I think he probably didn't fancy playing for McLeish in all honesty and wanted to go. That said given how badly Delph has deteriorated as the season has gone on and that Saturday was the first we've seen of Jenas, I'd have kept hold of him.

I thought it was NRC & Bent who set up Gabbys goal at Blackpool.