Abdoulaye Faye spent much of January on international duty with Senegal at the African Cup of nations, but since he has come back he has impressed Keegan greatly and ended up cementing the center-back position at the club.
Abdoulaye Faye - has been solid at the back under Keegan
Abdoulaye, who is so powerful in the air, talked to the Evening Chronicle today:
“We have shown what we can do and we played very well in some periods.†“I think the turning point of the season may have been at Birmingham in the second half.â€
“If we played like that every week we would be much higher in the Premier League.†“If we win the next few games I will be very happy to finish the season, because I feel there are some big improvements.â€
Abdoulaye Faye is contracted to Newcastle until 2010, but the Senegal International knows that no player can take his place for granted in Kevin’s side, and they are all still playing for their Newcastle careers.
Kevin Keegan is expected to do a bit of transfer business in the summer, and we think he’ll do more than most people think, and players will be moving out as well as new players coming into the club.
Faye added:
“It’s all about how much hard work we put in the last few games and what we do as a team.†“If we all stick together, at least we can finish on a high.â€
“Maybe Lamine could play some part for us this season.†“The manager makes these decisions and nobody else.â€
“But he’s a good player and a very good friend of mine who wouldn’t let anybody down. He’s very strong in the air and a big character – but we’ll have to wait and see.â€
Of course Faye can play defensive midfield too, and that may still be where he ends up playing eventually under Keegan. But he is also a no nonsense center-back who gives his all in every single game. That’s just one of the things we like about the player, who was a great acquisition by Big Sam.
We’d like to see Lamine Diatta at some point get a run out in the first team so we can see what he can do and Newcastle can then make a decision on whether to extend his contract past the summer.
Diatta can also play at right back of course and from all reports he has looked the real deal in training and while playing three full games for the Newcastle Reserves side.
He certainly has a lot of experience and if he’s anything like our other two Senegal players (Faye and Beye) - he’ll do just fine. 
Comments welcome.
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21 responses so far ↓
1 scott9 // Apr 3, 2008 at 15:12
apart from the birmingham game faye has played very well in the summer we do need at least one centre back though and i would let cacapa go as he is injured to much so then we will have 4 centre backs in faye taylor edgar and another one dunne would be exellent but i doubt we hav a chance i think cueller or van buyten would be our best realistic bets
i alos think we need
lb/bridge/shorey
creative mid/tiago/arshevin
winger /reyes/mcgeady
cf/gomis/fabiano
2 Geordie Gerrard7 // Apr 3, 2008 at 15:13
i think big abdoulaye is doing alright these days, apart from mcfadden made him look shite at times. second half and the past two game he has been a different class
3 kenneth // Apr 3, 2008 at 15:41
Is it just me ? or is it something wrong with the pickture ??? ( shorts )
4 toonarmyapg // Apr 3, 2008 at 15:53
no it just that theyre being pulled back its the undershorts that you can see hope we win on saturday and get the 3 points howay the toon !!!!
5 Obafan // Apr 3, 2008 at 17:20
Just saw Arshavin score a fantastic goal at Leverkusen. He really is a very good player. Let us hope we will try to catch this guy.
6 Tom_Toon // Apr 3, 2008 at 17:23
Same, lovely goal.
7 Obafan // Apr 3, 2008 at 17:29
My thoughts:
Harper; STAY
Given: let us hope he fully recovers and find his old form back, otherwise sell him
Krul: upcoming talent => defo stay!!!
Beye: stay
Cacapa: stay
Taylor: good offer then sell him
Faye: stay
Diatta: don’t know why they gave him a contract??
Enrique; stay
Ramage: SELL
Carr; SELL
Edgar: stay
Milner: good offer then sell him
Emre: stay
Butt: stay (but we need defo cover for him!!!)
Barton: stay (if he keeps out of troubles if not sell him)
N’Zogbia: sell
Duff: stay (let him focus on next season)
Geremi: stay
LuaLua: stay
Smith: SELL SELL SELL SELL
Martins: NEW OFFER ASAP
Owen: NEW OFFER ASAP
Viduka: sell if we find a good replacement for him
Carrol: stay (maybe loan to gain experience)
Ameobi: sell
Our squad is quite small, so we defo need to buy some quality players. Who, we shall see
!!!
8 Obafan // Apr 3, 2008 at 17:39
Arshavin just gaave an assist. Zenit is leading 1-2 at Leverkusen and Arshavin has had a foot in both goals. He would really strengthen our squad!!!
9 Punk Skunk // Apr 3, 2008 at 19:28
Yea Obafan, Arshavin & Pandev please!..
…Also, Faye & Beye have been excellent for us…
…So has Enrique, now he’s getting some games, looking forward to seeing him develope further under KK!..Would keep Viduka, he’s great when fit!..& reserve judgement on Diatta, ’til i see him play!..No doubt he was given a contract for some reason?..Wouldn’t sell Taylor either!..
10 CRAIGG // Apr 3, 2008 at 20:17
Harper = Keep
Given = Keep
Beye = Keep
Faye = Keep
Taylor = Keep
Enrique = Keep
Cacapa = Release
Ramage = Love his passion but maybe lacks it
Diatta = Cant judge him yet
Carr = Release
Edgar = Keep
Butt = Keep
Barton = Keep
Geremi = Release
Emre = Keep
Milner = Keep
Lua Lua = Keep
N’Zogbia = Keep
Duff = Sell
Martins = Keep
Owen = Keep
Viduka = Keep
Smith = Sell
Ameobi = Sell
Carroll = Keep
Bring in:
Gonzalo Rodriguez
Aaron Hughes
Wayne Bridge
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Michael Carrick
Stephen Hunt
Djibril Cisse
11 Kevin // Apr 3, 2008 at 22:09
I know I may get slapped for this - but what if Owen can knock in three more goals this season - and increase his value a good amount…He still remains injury prone and a year older, we can throw more cash to keep Oba here for 5 more years and pick up a newer, younger version of Owen with our first rate scouting team….it’s an idea. I realize you can’t replace Michael Owen, but it’s an idea.
12 Bill F // Apr 4, 2008 at 0:08
Why the sudden support for Hughes, I don’t he is any better now than he was when we sold him.
13 Spyro // Apr 4, 2008 at 0:25
prefer your list obafan
14 ScottyT // Apr 4, 2008 at 0:34
what is with the sudden dislike of milner and taylor? some of you say taylor gets it easy cos hes a geordie but he seems to get criticised all tha time on here.
people forget how well taylor and milner have been in recent seasons compared to others in the squad. taylor has had a dodgy season yes but he had had a gd couple of seasons before that. milner has still had a consistent season and was good the last few seasons so i find it strange how he gets criticised a lot also.
infact the same could be said with butt .. this season poor, last season was brilliant yet he got criticised heavily earlier in the season. then theres scotty parker had a brilliant 1st season 2nd season poor and was chucked out makes no sense.
15 Tom_Toon // Apr 4, 2008 at 0:37
Blaszczykowski of Dortmund is looking a neat little player, better option than Lennon if we are looking for a speedy winger.
16 Leo // Apr 4, 2008 at 1:06
see andrei arshavin scored a good goal for zenit the other night, he is looking like a great player
17 clinta // Apr 4, 2008 at 3:00
Some good words there ed, all players should be playing week in and week out for their careers at newcastle especially because of how most have performed for the majority of the season.
obafan your not going to find a better man to replace viduka in doing what he does, even if he is injured at times, and think of the transfer funds you’d have to lay out first?
it would be a mistake to sell taylor too, you said yourself we have a small squad so why sell a player on who is young, good on his day, experienced in the pl, has a lot of further potential and play regularly in a position we need to strengthen???
i think milners case is also very similar, he’s been great for us most games even when there’s been no one doing the business around him, he’s been criticised at times for choking on the final ball etc.. but alot of the time he’s been left stranded by out of form players around him in the past few seasons, he will shine in a new look KK side even if only off the bench.
Keep the 3 players at the club and I’m sure KK will.
18 Greg // Apr 4, 2008 at 4:39
Birng in aaron hughes, your having a laugh, hes gash.
I agree with craigs sold and keeps though
19 Jimmie // Apr 4, 2008 at 7:07
Dont think we should sell to many players as the squad is small already. Get rid of Carr, Ameobi and maybe Ramage. Add Diego, Elmander, Carrick, Van der Vaart and a couple of defenders and were good.
20 hanzemre // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:59
we must keep as many players as selling could affect the way we’re still building things up. KK’d add more quality & stability in the squad next summer & might just let a few leave. Maybe only Ameobi & Carr. Smith too if there is real offer. 1 top CB, 2 CM-CAM-DM (versatile),1 RM/CM ,1 CF would do.
21 Obafan // Apr 4, 2008 at 10:12
CLinta - OK ou’re right, Viduka is indeed pure quality by holding and protecting the ball so he allows the others to come forward to support him. His finishing is also fantastic!!!
The only thing that concerns me is that he is injured during half of the season.
I will change my thoughts, so keep Viduka and bring in someone who can replace Vid when injured
.
Aaron Hughes, come on are you serious; I think we only should watch players who can strenghten the team. Hughes is not on that list IMO. So plaease no.
Taylor: He played a good season mast year, but he is too sure of himself. He needs to learn that much more (normal cause he is still very young), but he wants to be the leader and he ain’t a leader ATM.
Milner: I never was a fan of Milner. He can do fantastic dribbles but he doesn’t do anything with it. He also is still young, but I’m afraid that his football brain is not big enough to become a classy RW. He doesn’t see the simple passes, dribbles too much with his head down, his shots can be very good (mostly not); the same with his crosses. His support to Beye to defend is not always that good, wrong position, …
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