Babayaro's exit was for the best
He came with a big reputation as a winner but he left under a cloud.
Celestine Babayaro's stint on Tyneside as a Newcastle United player is well and truly over and Sam Allardyce has done the right thing in doing so - even if he had the rest of this season and the whole of next left on his contract.
Big Sam always said that Baba would get his chance at St James's Park and with the manager being patient with the once mighty Nigerian international, it's fair to say he gave him one.
But with Babayaro clearly lacking fitness, motivation and sheer hunger to pull on a black and white shirt surely Big Sam was right to say enough is enough.
Most Geordies would love to have been in Babayaro's position but his move to Newcastle has turned into a nightmare.
He made a decent impact when he first arrived at the club from Chelsea but since then if it wasn't his groin it was his hamstring.
And if it wasn't his hamstring then one can only presume that he'd lost the will to play for the club - even though he could have played in front of an adoring public and earned astronomical wages.
Fair play, Baba continued to fight for the cause in the game with Liverpool earlier this year just hours after losing his brother David.
And for that he will always be applauded, especially from me.
But Newcastle fans have been waiting a long time to see the best of him since then.
And after Allardyce handed him some kind of window to get himself fit, there was no longer any point in trying to get the best out of a player who once won the FA Cup with Chelsea.
It means that Allardyce has one less body in his squad but also one less unhappy face and with team spirit the name of the game the hope is Newcastle can build on their recent mini patch of form and get on with turning the season into what everybody wants it to be - a success.
Farewell Baba, it's been emotional.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BIG SAM'S DECISION TO AXE BABAYARO?
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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Mini patch of form? One win in how many games???
I just never saw him as a great player- Jose Mourinho doesnâÂÂt get rid of good players or duck eggs, something IâÂÂm rather worried with regards Geremi, who seems to be just in the side to be Charles NâÂÂZogbiaâÂÂs minder.
Babayaro certainly deserves praise for losing a family member and then playing 12 hours afterwards, where football would probably be furthest from anyoneâÂÂs mind, but thatâÂÂs no reflection on his actual ability to play football matches- something by which he never really did.
Also when he did play, his performances were way below standard, the phrase âÂÂBambi on Iceâ springs to mind, always on the floor and as a consequence was an easy target of not only the mindful opposition manager identifying a weak link, but also our âÂÂviciousâ fans.
ItâÂÂs cruel but whilst not an expensive flop, he would have to be thought of as a contender for the left back spot in an All Time Worst Newcastle United XI wouldnâÂÂt he?. . . . .
Paul.
Why pay the man all that money; when he is clearly unfit for purpose. Surely the medical staff can make a case for compensation, in a situation like this.
Although he wasn't expensive, he joins the long and sad list of failed and wasted signings for Newcastle United.
But hey even fit and raring to go, Babayaro wouldn't get a look in. After all, we have such a solid left-back in N'Zogbia don't we Mr Allardyce ???!!!
If Babayaro blatantly did not attempt to get fit there had to be a case for terminating his contract - not paying it up.
If we have fully paid up his contract, regardless of his level of fitness, we should have kept him-taking into consideration the players we are losing to the African Nations cup.
I said it at the start of the season-I cannot understand managers who buy players who are pivotal to the team's performance knowing those players may be missing for up to six weeks.It is absolutely ridiculous and Sam Allardyce and Harry Redknapp are the main culprits.Assessing a manager's capabilities covers a multitude of areas.Unfortunately Allardyce seems to fall short in so many.
Apart from that FA Cup goal against Coventry he hardly did anything. How often does buying the rejects of Chelsea, Manchester United etc. work out well for us? not very often.
The sad thing about Babayaro is that he actually came to 'The Toon' blessed with a certain level of talent. In his formative years at Anderlecht and Chelsea he displayed all the tactical awareness and technique needed to cope in The Premiership and Europe. I even remember a performance in the 1-0 FA Cup win over Chelsea (Patrick Kluivert scored a Sheareresque header) where Baba was probably our Man-of-the-Match. However, that form was fleeting and apparently insurmountable for our not so super Super Eagle.
I believe Celestine Babayaro will go down as one of the victims of the modern game - too much money equals no motivation to play. It is clear that Big Sam appreciated the natural ability of the man but has grown tired of his inability to even make it on the training ground. Add to this Babayaro's lacklustre display in a recently televised reserve game against a bunch of 16 to 18 year olds and it is easy to see why we have decided to cut our loses.
I do feel some sympathy for Baba, not least for the tragic loss of his brother, but having been to the top and steadily fallen to the bottom (via a multitude of trips to the treatment room) he lost an attribute held so dearly to the hearts of 'The Toon Army' - desire to win.
Maybe you could say Babayaro has the talent of a top player but not the character? Discuss!
He was an absolute disgrace throughout his time here. Good riddance, shame about the pay off.
Hey you win some you lose some and that's what happened with him.
I will be amazed if he plays for someone else this season and 10 games in a row as well.
Andrew
I have to agree with the acurate comments on bambi, fair play for the turning out when losing his brother, although he wouldnt be alone in this, just a big surprise that bambi did it? as he clearly had no stomach for the fight. clearly down hill from here, with a pocket full of money and only 29, does he care..i doubt it. This is the modern game im afraid and there is no way around it, we just have to make better character checks than we have done in the past. This obviuosly wasnt one of souness's real men signings. to be fair to Souness nobody expected him to be as bad as he was. Although he was highly overated at chelsea.
Bring Back Oliver Bernard. He was our best left back during Bobby Robson's reign.
Bernard??- Once again he was never fit, here's a revolutionary idea, it may be a bit to complicated for Allardyce- Play Enrique (A left back) at, er- left back.
Wow, that piece of thinking is gonna have to have me lie down- far to complicated for simpletons like me- a left back in a left back spot- nah nevor in the warld!!
Paul
Its ok for you lot , you don't care if he stays or goes. Spare a thought for some of the doorstaff in some of Newcastles most exclusive nightspots, he might not have been upto much as a footballer but give the man his due, he was a good tipper and I for one am distraught at his leaving. Its unbranded baked beans for me till the next Baba comes along!
This is one of the rare times, very rare, that I agree with one of Allardyce's decisions. Babayaro was a waste. There was no point having him hang around, only content to pick up his wages and pose for a few photos. Another awful signing for our club.
Babayaro's exit made me think more about an actual left-back, and highly rated, that we have in our current team! No Allardyce, not Charlie. Have another guess? Come on Sam. It is the guy you bought but keep refusing to play. What? You can't even remember his name? Enrique!!!
Please do not ruin this guy's potential. And please do not ruin Charlie's ability and desire for our club by playing Charlie out of position. The Brum game was a perfect opportunity to give
Enrique some much needed prem experience.
Now that one less-than average left-back has gone, build Enrique into a quality one!
Young Bagamarrows encapsulated that too familiar a story of late. The regularly seen tale where the mercenary arrives in a blaze of glory from one of the so-called 'top four' teams, picking up BIG wages and leaving us nothing but a healthy return on to the Department of Work and Pensions (or whatever it's called thesedays).
Why have we had so many of these mercenaries over the past decade? Indeed, have we had more than any other team? It seems so to me. It has to stop and hopefully, under the new regime, it will. The question is though, excluding SBR and since the KK era, how many managers of this ilk have we had? More than average I bet.
Us Toon fans have had our loyalty and footballing sense questioned throughout the media over the past few weeks. We are told we are far too impatient and that we must allow SA plenty of time to develop a footballing empire. The main basis of this is built upon the foundations of our good start to the season. Indeed, last Friday (before the Birmingham City game), I heard an afternoon presenter on TalkSport asking 'how come it's gone so wrong?'. Well, have a look at the opposition then and now. Once we had played the Premier bilge, it became a tad more tricky, didn't it?.
I don't think we're impatient, I think many of us can see the writing on the wall. The SA revolution will happen, no matter what we think. Only problem is, we can remember how the Robson squad was decimated within weeks of Souey's revolution commencing. I just get that feeling we're going to go through the same transformation.
When you're pinning hopes on the likes of young Mr Barton bringing character, leadership (and that dreadful word) fight to your team, your ability of appropriate selection has to be brought into question.
Ive been in oz for 5years now and watching the toon on foxtel over here -this season has been a joke. Babayaro was another waste of good money. Great to see him go. SA if we are to do anything this season, stop playing players out of position.The great geordie fans are not stupid.SA your living on borrowed time.
Always pray for Baba, he was destined to be a great player, But injury cut off his bright career, He is good if he is fit
Ben from canada