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Coloccini - “I want to stay – and I want to get Newcastle back into Europe.”

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Tooj

Tooj 17

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/newcastle-united/8827958/Fabricio-Coloccini-playing-a-key-role-to-keep-Newcastle-on-song.html

 

Fabricio Coloccini playing a key role to keep Newcastle on song

Newcastle United have failed to keep too many heroes to contemplate Fabricio Coloccini joining the exodus.

 

By Luke Edwards

 

11:00PM BST 14 Oct 2011

 

Kevin Keegan lasted less than a year as manager before he fell out with owner Mike Ashley, Alan Shearer lasted only eight games.

 

Andy Carroll, the Geordie heir to the club’s No 9 dynasty, left for Liverpool, inspirational captain Kevin Nolan and Jose Enrique, the hugely popular left-back, said goodbye in the summer. Even English football’s anti-hero, Joey Barton, brought an end to his loyalty charade when he signed for QPR in August.

 

Every parting has been painful, every departure has sparked debate. Some accused the players of greed, most preferred to point the finger at the club’s hierarchy for a lack of ambition.

 

Not everyone, though, wanted to abandon a ship that looked likely to sink under the weight of all the gloomy pre-season predictions.

 

Coloccini wanted to stay. And the defender, once described as the biggest folly of the Ashley regime, has enjoyed a remarkable season, playing a key part in Newcastle’s unbeaten start to the campaign. Tomorrow, sitting fourth in the table, they play Tottenham.

 

Costing £10.6 million from Deportivo La Coruna three years ago, the Argentina international looked about as suited to the Premier League as a Sunderland shirt on a Saturday night out in his new city.

 

Smaller than most centre-backs (he is only 6ft 1in), Coloccini was knocked off the ball too easily, unable to hold his own in the air and disrupted by four managerial changes in his first season. Most expected him to use Newcastle’s relegation to the Championship in 2009 as an excuse to leave but there he found his feet – and he has dazzled ever since.

 

There is even a song in his honour, which not only pays homage to his curly locks, but also offers the 29 year-old the opportunity to sleep with the wives of every single Newcastle supporter.

 

“I can’t remember the game, but I remember Kevin Nolan came to me in the dressing room afterwards,” said Coloccini. “He told me what they were singing about me, I couldn’t believe it. It’s so funny. It moves me. It makes me feel very special. Thankfully my wife thinks it’s funny.

 

“When I hear it I want to turn and clap, to show them I love them. But I have to stay focused. My way to say thank you is to play well.”

 

That is something he has done regularly and his polished performances persuaded Alan Pardew to make him captain, despite a less than fluent command of English.

 

“There were a lot of players I thought were ahead of me,” says Coloccini. “Steve Harper, Shola Ameobi, Joey Barton, these are all Englishmen, big characters in the dressing room.

 

“I’m foreign, I didn’t think I would be given such an honour but I’m so proud. My dad could not believe it. I think he has told half of Argentina.

 

“To be an Argentinian, playing in the Premier League and to be captain of Newcastle United. It is unusual, no?”

 

There is more to his rehabilitation than performances on the pitch. With two young children, Octavia, 8, and Thiago, 4, it is their happiness in England that has given him stability.

 

“It was a challenge for me to adapt but I never wanted to quit. That first year was difficult. I didn’t speak the language, it was a new culture, new country, new style [of football] and I signed for a club with a lot of problems.

 

“Relegation was hard. I felt like a failure, I was ashamed, but I never thought it was a mistake to come to England. I wanted to prove myself to Newcastle, to English football. If I had left that summer I would have been a failure. It made me more determined.”

 

It is determination that will be rewarded with a new contract, a four-year extension that could mean he ends his career on Tyneside. It is a decision that will go down well at home.

 

He added: “I love Newcastle. I don’t like the winters, they are hard, but I like the way of life. When I was young I loved the English language. I went to an English school, but in the afternoon I played football so I missed my lessons.

 

“It was always in my mind that I would like my children to learn English and my little girl, she is fluent. She teaches me. My son, he has a small problem with language, but he is better than me. They make me a proud father.

 

“They have English friends, my daughter has a Newcastle accent. Sometimes I can’t understand her.

 

“They went to Argentina for three months and they couldn’t wait to come back to Newcastle. They missed their friends.

 

“There is a story I tell all the time in Argentina. My dog Choco ran away and I thought I would never see him again. The next day, a policeman came to our house. He said there was a fine, but my dog was back. Nobody ever believes me when I tell that story: in Argentina there are so many stray dogs, they are killed, disappear.

 

“In England the streets are clean and it is safe for my family. If they are happy I am happy.”

 

For the man himself, meanwhile, there is no doubt about what will deliver the professional satisfaction he craves.

 

“I want to stay – and I want to get Newcastle back into Europe.”

Great news if we can get him to sign up. It seems him and his family are really settled, which judging by what he's said in the article is of huge importance to him.

 

Loved the bit about his daughter having a Geordie accent and him not being able to understand her as well. :thumbup:

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OTF

OTF 7492

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:)

 

Got to love Colo. Great attitude since the relegation. Good to have a central defender with some skill on the ball, glad that he's made home at Newcastle with his family.

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2bias

2bias 3

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He has come on so much since being with us and like Jonas I think he benefited a lot playing in the Championship. I never thought he would stay as long as he has and hope he does get a new deal. Very good captain and player

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ChezGiven

ChezGiven 0

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:wub:

 

Great news that he wants to stay and to hear how settled him and his family are.

 

I guess the question is whether he will be offered a decent contract. He's 29 and his current one finishes in August 2013, so i would assume a 2 year extension might be on the table at the same wages. Seems plausible given whats gone before.

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JawD

JawD 99

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Hope we can sort a deal out like. Too common to hear these words rattle inside and empty can when it comes to the crunch and the players (or his agent) want more money. If we believe what we are told with what he is on now, plus what he has said here, you'd think it a formality unless the club plays funny buggers and tries to drop his wage etc.

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The Fish

The Fish 10971

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Hope we can sort a deal out like. Too common to hear these words rattle inside and empty can when it comes to the crunch and the players (or his agent) want more money. If we believe what we are told with what he is on now, plus what he has said here, you'd think it a formality unless the club plays funny buggers and tries to drop his wage etc.

Yup, rhetoric is nice to hear, but in these times I want names on dotted lines. Even then, I won't be convinced, such is the value of a "contract"

.

 

Bosman is a cunt

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Dolly Potter MD

Dolly Potter MD 0

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Hope we can sort a deal out like. Too common to hear these words rattle inside and empty can when it comes to the crunch and the players (or his agent) want more money. If we believe what we are told with what he is on now, plus what he has said here, you'd think it a formality unless the club plays funny buggers and tries to drop his wage etc.

Yup, rhetoric is nice to hear, but in these times I want names on dotted lines. Even then, I won't be convinced, such is the value of a "contract"

.

 

Bosman is a cunt

 

Arguably the worst thing to have happened to the 'club football' landscape. The 'old' compensation system was fine, and a shame that a 'nothing player' (ability wise) and the actions of a 'nothing club' were the catalysts behind that change.

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PaddockLad

PaddockLad 17661

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5 years?...sounds like he's been offered a small rise and a long contract. He'll likely sign and then be sold should a good offer come in. The it's 'over to you Graham!..find us a cheap world class centre back capable of hitting the ground running and also with good oragnising and leadership skills'

 

Was saying to a mate yesterday who the fuck are Argentina's centre backs if Colo cant even make the squad? Him and Kompany are miles better than anyone else this season.

 

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Andrew

Andrew 4859

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5 years?...sounds like he's been offered a small rise and a long contract. He'll likely sign and then be sold should a good offer come in. The it's 'over to you Graham!..find us a cheap world class centre back capable of hitting the ground running and also with good oragnising and leadership skills'

 

Was saying to a mate yesterday who the fuck are Argentina's centre backs if Colo cant even make the squad? Him and Kompany are miles better than anyone else this season.

 

theyve a fair few playing in the other top european league and euro competitions

 

I dont mind him not being in to be honest, thats some long journeys for games

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Guest CabayeAye

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5 years?...sounds like he's been offered a small rise and a long contract. He'll likely sign and then be sold should a good offer come in. The it's 'over to you Graham!..find us a cheap world class centre back capable of hitting the ground running and also with good oragnising and leadership skills'

 

Was saying to a mate yesterday who the fuck are Argentina's centre backs if Colo cant even make the squad? Him and Kompany are miles better than anyone else this season.

 

theyve a fair few playing in the other top european league and euro competitions

 

I dont mind him not being in to be honest, thats some long journeys for games

 

I've always wondered about this. Argentina must have the two best CBs in the world if Colo can't get a game.

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Happy Face

Happy Face 29

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Is he only on 55k now? I always heard it was 80k. Best paid player and all that.

 

He was on 80k when the club wanted you to think the newowner was an ambitious big spender. Now he's cultivating the image of a frugal genius getting the wage bill down and the position up, its 55k.

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