Remy Cabella beat Lionel Messi and Diego Costa to the ESPN January Player of the Month and it was a perfect outcome for all connected with the club from boardroom to terraces as everyone played their part.
Owner Mike Ashley bought the France international for £12M, Head Coach John Carver played Cabella, the man in question played out of his skin, local paper The Evening Chronicle – back in the club’s good books after a ban – passed on news of his ESPN nomination to The Toon Army and the best fans in world football did the rest and voted him no. 1 player in the world in January in a landslide victory.
The Magpies’ Magician had scored his first goal for his new club against Hull City in a 3-0 win last weekend and was marked an astonishing 9.3/10 to cap a fine month after a virtuoso display away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge which was described by a leading Chelsea Twitter handle (@ChelseaStats) as
“the best game from any of the opposition players we’ve seen at The Bridge this season”
as he was compared to Eden Hazard.
When news broke Cabella had been nominated alongside Messi and Costa for the US site’s award, Newcastle fans quickly organized an online voting campaign on social media which secured their new hero the award.
It is nothing less than the hard-working 24 year-old deserves for his perseverance in the face of adversity after a slow start to Premier League life.
The Corsican prince, the jewel in the £30M transfer crown placed on Alan Pardew’s head in the summer before his abdication for John Carver, was benched and faced an uncertain future at his new club.
Under Caretaker Carver’s guidance, Cabella has thrived in a more attacking formation with the shackles off. His dribbling stats on WhoScored.com were off the charts and far superior to those of December’s winner of the ESPN award, Lionel Messi. Meanwhile Diego Costa, by his own high standards, had a relatively quiet month apart from his League Cup stamp duty against Liverpool at The Bridge.
Its scant consolation for the fact that Cabella – and Newcastle – had a perfectly good goal wrongly chalked off against Leicester City in The FA Cup earlier in January which denied the team a lead against a Foxes side they’d dispatched 1-0 already in The Premier League and most probably, first goals being as important as they are, a place in the Fourth Round and an FA Cup run.
Assistant Referee Alan Young who wrongly flagged Cabella’s goal offside had previously had his flag ripped up by a Millwall fan at The Den a year earlier after he gave a horrendous decision against the irate fan’s side and for Leicester…
The cream of natural talent has a tendency to rise no matter what the obstacles, however, and a player who was part of the France squad in Brazil for The World Cup is now shining in a Newcastle shirt.
After impressing against Man City on his debut in August, he lost his place as the Magpies slumped to just 3 points from a possible first 18 and was displaced due to the resurgent form of Gabriel Obertan and the emergence of Rolando Aarons.
When a team is struggling for results, its often the most gifted player who takes the blame – look at Steve Bruce’s scape-goating of genius Hatem Ben Arfa when his Tigers side went behind at Old Trafford earlier in the season – and Cabella was seen as a luxury player as a relegation scrap threatened to engulf The Magpies.
After a series of cameos under Pardew, John Carver told Cabella he was instrumental to his plans when he took temporary charge of The Magpies a month ago:
“One of the biggest things is knowing how to manage certain players, because you’ve got to make them feel good and feel wanted. That’s something I’ve done in the last two weeks.
“I’ve made him feel important and made him feel good and all of a sudden he’s got a bit of confidence.
“I’ve done that by saying nice things. And encouraging him to express himself. It’s maybe also the shape of the team. We’ve allowed him a bit more freedom.”
Warming to his new role and responsibility, Cabella repaid his new Head Coach’s faith with the first goal of the game against Hull which sparked a 3-0 win and vital three points.
Next he faces Stoke City and the no-nonsense football of Mark Hughes and the chance to score in front of his own fans at St James’ Park for the first time, with confidence higher knowing he has the backing of 50,000 Geordies and a Newcastle that always performs better when United.
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