Henri Saivet (now a free agent)

Don't know how anyone can really have formed a meaningful opinion on him, given he has played 147 minutes for us.  Might be a player in there somewhere and I trust Rafa to make a judgment on him after a full pre season.

Or they have also seen him play in the French league...

Don't know how anyone can really have formed a meaningful opinion on him, given he has played 147 minutes for us.  Might be a player in there somewhere and I trust Rafa to make a judgment on him after a full pre season.

 

Just like he did last summer and then farmed the f***er out.  Didn't even have him in mind for the Championship.

Or Rafa could quite easily have thought that he wasn't suited to the Championship?  Hardly a massive stretch to decide he was best suited to a season on loan.

Don't know how anyone can really have formed a meaningful opinion on him, given he has played 147 minutes for us.  Might be a player in there somewhere and I trust Rafa to make a judgment on him after a full pre season.

 

Just like he did last summer and then farmed the f***er out.  Didn't even have him in mind for the Championship.

 

Or Rafa could quite easily have thought that he wasn't suited to the Championship?  Hardly a massive stretch to decide he was best suited to a season on loan.

This has been said about De Jong as well but honestly, any player who can't manage the Championship isn't likely to do much in the Premier either.

We didn't need them last season and saved a few pennies on wages. They'd both have been in and around the team last season.

As has been said before, Rafa likes to keep a compact squad. At that time Krul was coming back from injury, Saivet was probably suffering a crisis of confidence and De Jong was coming back from long-term injuries. It made more sense to loan them out so they could regain fitness/confidence than it did to keep them around, because we had to hit the ground running in the Championship.  It mightn't be a case of Rafa not rating them, more that he felt other players were likely to be first-team ready imminently.  Now that they're back he can take a second look at them in a full pre-season and decide if they warrant being part of his squad.

I'm just speculating though, he might just think they're all s***.

We didn't need them last season and saved a few pennies on wages. They'd both have been in and around the team last season.

We didn't need midfielders last season?

We didn't need them last season and saved a few pennies on wages. They'd both have been in and around the team last season.

We didn't need midfielders last season?

The fact we're champions suggests no. But £80k of players on the bench in the Championship is huge. Got some wages off the books, still came up easily, this season £80k a week for two squad players isn't as big a hit.

Don't know how anyone can really have formed a meaningful opinion on him, given he has played 147 minutes for us.  Might be a player in there somewhere and I trust Rafa to make a judgment on him after a full pre season.

 

Just like he did last summer and then farmed the f***er out.  Didn't even have him in mind for the Championship.

 

Or Rafa could quite easily have thought that he wasn't suited to the Championship?  Hardly a massive stretch to decide he was best suited to a season on loan.

Hhmm, if you can't play in the championship then you are royally f***ed for the premier league. How can a player not be suited for the championship but be fine for the premier league? It's just a much shitter league, that's the only difference.

Don't know how anyone can really have formed a meaningful opinion on him, given he has played 147 minutes for us.  Might be a player in there somewhere and I trust Rafa to make a judgment on him after a full pre season.

 

Just like he did last summer and then farmed the f***er out.  Didn't even have him in mind for the Championship.

 

Or Rafa could quite easily have thought that he wasn't suited to the Championship?  Hardly a massive stretch to decide he was best suited to a season on loan.

 

Hhmm, if you can't play in the championship then you are royally f***ed for the premier league. How can a player not be suited for the championship but be fine for the premier league. It's just a much shitter league, that's the only difference.

Bit of a flippant point that, there'd be lots of examples to be honest if I were to spend some time thinking about it. The Championship is more physical, more is let go by the refs, less is spotted by the refs. It generally makes it harder for more intricate players to prosper. Not making any particular reference to Saivet here mind, just the general point you're making.

The whole Championship is more physical is a total myth. There are extra games to be played which adds to it i suppose, but the league itself is no more physical than any other. that line is normally brought out instead of just saying that the league is s****. Any player who can perform in the premier league is capable of dropping down to that division with no problem. Can't think of any examples nevermind lots. I am sure when Rafa sent those players out on loan last season it wasn't because he thought they are a little too intricate for the championship and he will welcome them back with open arms once we are back up. He was sorting the wheat from the chaff.

The whole Championship is more physical is a total myth. There are extra games to be played which adds to it i suppose, but the league itself is no more physical than any other. that line is normally brought out instead of just saying that the league is s****. Any player who can perform in the premier league is capable of dropping down to that division with no problem. Can't think of any examples nevermind lots. I am sure when Rafa sent those players out on loan last season it wasn't because he thought they are a little too intricate for the championship and he will welcome them back with open arms once we are back up.He was sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Is this why all players are suited to all leagues then?

The whole Championship is more physical is a total myth. There are extra games to be played which adds to it i suppose, but the league itself is no more physical than any other. that line is normally brought out instead of just saying that the league is s****. Any player who can perform in the premier league is capable of dropping down to that division with no problem. Can't think of any examples nevermind lots. I am sure when Rafa sent those players out on loan last season it wasn't because he thought they are a little too intricate for the championship and he will welcome them back with open arms once we are back up. He was sorting the wheat from the chaff.

It is a more physical league. Players don't get the protection from referees that they do in the Premier League. That could be because the standard of officiating is shit or because the refs just don't pander to players hitting the deck at the slightest touch. Either way, it is more physical. That said, any player who has the ability to perform in the Premier League should, in theory, be able to do even better in the Championship. Doesn't always work like that though.

The whole Championship is more physical is a total myth. There are extra games to be played which adds to it i suppose, but the league itself is no more physical than any other. that line is normally brought out instead of just saying that the league is s****. Any player who can perform in the premier league is capable of dropping down to that division with no problem. Can't think of any examples nevermind lots. I am sure when Rafa sent those players out on loan last season it wasn't because he thought they are a little too intricate for the championship and he will welcome them back with open arms once we are back up.He was sorting the wheat from the chaff.

 

Is this why all players are suited to all leagues then?

 

 

Well it would work the other way around. Not all players in the championship could step up, because there is a huge difference in quality, but to say players who can play in the premiership would not be able to play in the championship it utter nonsense.

find the idea that rafa thinks he's not suited to the champo but might be ok in the premo a hard one to accept personally, unless they've scouted him for st. etienne and had a better look at him this last year

most likely rafa doesn't rate him at all

find the idea that rafa thinks he's not suited to the champo but might be ok in the premo a hard one to accept personally, unless they've scouted him for st. etienne and had a better look at him this last year

 

most likely rafa doesn't rate him at all

Aye. The Championship is more physical but also a significant drop in standard. More time on the ball, more limited opponents etc.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/henri-saivet-flopped-newcastle-now-12459360

The St. Ettiene president was having a whinge about him in January, so unless his form dramatically improved in the latter half of the season, its just likely nobody wants him and we're stuck with him. Pointless signing all in all.

Is every French president a total gobshite?

The article mentions 1 goal and 1 assist in 11 games. Stats Jackie dreams of.

He seems like a player who doesn't know where he wants to play, let alone a manager making that call.

I suppose if anything, Benitez will have a week to see this lot up close (Saivet, De Jong, Rivière, Krul, Toney) before making final decisions.

Was never given a real chance, probably less than any player we've recently signed...and who failed.

He was billed as a cheap mans Kante....former winger turned central mid with defensive qualities...not even sure if any of that is true we saw that little of him.

Need to get Kevin Nolan or Patrick Kluivert back to coach him then.

Well that will make it easy to offload him.

A playmaker?  I thought he was more of a CM.

They used him as an attacking midfielder where he kind of was when he first came through. He started off playing out wide initially and then some behind the striker too I believe.