Should Newcastle United Fans Back Cabaye?

Yohan Cabaye’s future at Newcastle United has been of much speculation throughout the last few months. Even though Cabaye remains a Newcastle United player, should we be cheering or jeering his name during the games?

Cabaye was seen kissing the badge as he left the field in the pre-season friendly against Blackpool, and at this point fans thought he didn’t look like a man who wanted to leave the club. How wrong we were.

Arsenal’s controversial bid on the day of our opening fixture against Manchester City resulted in Cabaye missing the game. In some respects this was a wicked ploy by Arsenal, who clearly wanted to cause unrest in the club on match day. Despite this, I feel it is utterly ridiculous that Cabaye refused to play. That’s like not turning up to work in the morning. Its absurd, especially when we remind ourselves that we effectively pay his £40,000 a week wages!

I’m proud that our club was strong in enforcing the £20 million price tag, and I believe this is a fair valuation.  If Arsenal had snagged the centre-midfielder for £12 million, that would have been the bargain of the century.

So why would Cabaye want to leave Newcastle for Arsenal? Well there’s going to be more money, a guarantee of European football and an enhanced status, all of which are legitimate reasons. However, surely game time would have been an issue? I mean, the greatest thing you can achieve as a footballer is representing your country, so surely you would want to be at a club where you are going to shine and have plenty of opportunities to showcase your talents. Or perhaps the potential of a fatter wallet was more enticing. Who knows?

All I know is that Cabaye isn’t completely forgiven, despite apologising. There are still pockets of the Newcastle faithful that boo him, but I think this will wear off after a while. At the end of the day, he’s a Newcastle United player for the foreseeable future, and in my opinion, we should treat him like one. This doesn’t mean I have forgiven him, far from it. All I’m saying is that there is no need to bring negativity to the games, especially when our crowds can create some of the best atmospheres around.

Furthermore, he’s a brilliant footballer. Why would we boo one of the best players on our team? No matter what people say, we should respect any man wearing the black and white shirt. Yes, he might eventually leave us in the summer, but lets be glad that we’ve got him for another season. After all, our lack of activity in the transfer window means that we really need him.

Henry G Winter