Plus ca change

It seemed to be the case that Fraser delayed signing for Newcastle in the hope that another club came in but his antics last season cost him and his club. Amused by comments that he owes Newcastle better performances. He owed us for sure and didn’t deliver.
 
Ironically I think the outstanding season that should have made his career will actually end up ruining it. For a long time the media were banding about laughable comparisons such as “more assists in the last year than De Bruyne” and the like. Of course it got to his head. After all the hype Newcastle fans were expecting to sign a world beater but the harsh reality is that quality wise he isn’t actually very good. He had one incredible season where everything clicked in a team that was virtually set up to play to his strengths, and even then if you look back at his highlights virtually all of his assists came from crosses/set pieces. He lacked the quality on the ball and the intelligence of a top player, even in ‘that’ season you could tell that whenever he was received the ball centrally and was tasked with linking play he looked totally lost. Put simply the guy is a cross merchant, can be effective in a counter attacking team but not even close to being good enough to justify his deluded perception of his own talent.
 
Similarly, I think he had just two things going for him - a) he was fast down the wing while controlling the ball and b) he could cross a good ball. He had no other footballing attributes such as reading the game or positioning etc.
 
Soon he will have to come out and reveal his real problem at Newcastle..they, and their fans will insist..and he will have to find a way to get his career back on track.
Maybe the next move is to somewhere more passive like Brighton or Southampton.
Newcastle is a very macho and demanding place .
 
The question is.

Does Fraser really care?

He got a move and thus a big fat pay rise.

He's lucky that there are no crowds.

I will never forget the reception sissoko got from Toon fans when we played them.

His name was booed when read out and he was booed every time he touched the ball, the only cheer was when he was subbed.


I was mightily impressed by that anger.
 
Steve Bruce is known for his fiery temperament. Perhaps he shouted at the wee t*rd and now RF wants a cuddle to get over it!
 
wellsworld said:
I thought he was a quality player for most of his time here. Made goals, worked hard, scored goals.
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I agree, he was my favourite player for a time. Didn't he also have a few decent games at wingback? Suggests he had more to his game than just speed and crossing.

I do agree with Waz in that his good season may have gone to his head a bit though.
 
From what I saw last year, based on not having much football nous, Fraser, King and Wilson, tried hardest/played their best against the Big 6. That's where prospective employers would judge them and we as fans love giving the big boys a bloody nose. Compare our results and performances against the top teams with the 6 teams that finished around us.
Then compare that attitude with the impeccable Mr Ake's. : )
 
If he is having mental health problems then my heart goes out to him, despite the way he acted when he was here.

You have to ask what kind of advice he's getting though.

You go from a 'family' style club to NUFc and you're hardly likely to find the peace that you need.

I still find it hard to hate someone who was at times superb for us.
 
Agreed that at times he was almost world class. What went wrong, was he misguided by his agent or has he a mental health problem? If it's the latter I wish him well in his recovery.
 
table said:
From what I saw last year, based on not having much football nous, Fraser, King and Wilson, tried hardest/played their best against the Big 6. That's where prospective employers would judge them and we as fans love giving the big boys a bloody nose. Compare our results and performances against the top teams with the 6 teams that finished around us.
Then compare that attitude with the impeccable Mr Ake's. : )
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Apart from the guys who were with Eddie since our league 1 days( and Ake of course) we really are left with a very unlikeable bunch. Oh for the days of players popping into the social club after the game. Our only crime as supporters has been to live through our club going toe to toe with Premier league giants. Meanwhile the Premier league has made monsters of our playing squad, board members and certain members of staff. I find it very hard to like very much about our club anymore.
 
Bitzer said:
Apart from the guys who were with Eddie since our league 1 days( and Ake of course) we really are left with a very unlikeable bunch. Oh for the days of players popping into the social club after the game. Our only crime as supporters has been to live through our club going toe to toe with Premier league giants. Meanwhile the Premier league has made monsters of our playing squad, board members and certain members of staff. I find it very hard to like very much about our club anymore.
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That stopped long before the Prem.
 
Always a brave move by any club taking a player that has proven they have no team spirit or morals. Contrast this with Ake who’s last action for us could have threatened his dream move. Now they understand better. I also agree with Del that he is a complex character and he might not be as straightword a charlatan as we think.
 
Fraser was pilloried by the Aberdeen supporters for choosing to swap starring in Scotland’s top flight for playing in the English League One but it proved to be a shrewd decision.

He said: “I felt like I made the right choice two weeks into the move.

“I got hammered for it and my family got hammered for it. I got tweets and messages, which were quite abusive, but I didn’t really react to it.

“I just do my talking on the pitch. If some people still think I’ve made the wrong decision, fair enough. Everyone’s got their opinion and they’re entitled to it.

“People were asking my parents ‘why has he done that? It’s a stupid decision’.

“It was nothing to do with my mum and dad but they were affected by it.

“I was quite young and hadn’t really played much for Aberdeen. I had played a lot of youth games with them but I didn’t expect to get abused like I did. That’s football isn’t it?

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/f...icated-decision-leave-aberdeen-scotland-call/
 
Seems quite a few high earners in sport and at the high ends of Showbiz....when things get a bit ragged....its suddenly ' mental health issue'...rarely specific...not to say that some haven't a real problem....but its a very convenient excuse, there, ready made, for the taking !
 
thegazzyb said:
I was always of the opinion that the two of them had their minds elsewhere pretty much from the start of last season. It's one thing to say that we gave Cal no service but his body language was lethargic and there was no willingness to bust a gut to reach a ball as there was once before.

I don't know if they had the same agent at the end, but as the season progressed I increasingly got the feeling that they both knew they were set to reunite elsewhere in the summer.

So yes, I think it is possible that Cal was also culpable of not giving his all last season and pretty much got away with it ( if that is indeed what he was doing, hard to prove of course ).
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I was disappointed with Cal last season as he was a favourite of mine , but he definitely dropped off as the season went on .
Remember the Stains game at DC - that beauty of a cross from the left on a plate for him and he withdrew his head from it .....
A genuinely committed Callum would have buried it ...
 
wellsworld said:
I thought he was a quality player for most of his time here. Made goals, worked hard, scored goals.
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Fraser is a talented footballer. He failed to perform for us last season because his mind was on his next club rather than his current one. He told us so.

Fraser was a talented footballer. He has failed to perform this season. We do not know why.
 
OLDSKOOL said:
I was disappointed with Cal last season as he was a favourite of mine , but he definitely dropped off as the season went on .
Remember the Stains game at DC - that beauty of a cross from the left on a plate for him and he withdrew his head from it .....
A genuinely committed Callum would have buried it ...
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Yes, also a lot of smiling and larking about with opposition players as if he really wasn't focused or taking the game as seriously as you'd think he should, especially as our situation in the league was getting more and more precarious.
As I said, hard to prove or to know for sure but the "vibe" I was getting from him was that he was no longer committed to the cause like he needed to be.
 
Old Cherry said:
Seems quite a few high earners in sport and at the high ends of Showbiz....when things get a bit ragged....its suddenly ' mental health issue'...rarely specific...not to say that some haven't a real problem....but its a very convenient excuse, there, ready made, for the taking !
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He's not made that excuse as far as I'm aware. It's us speculating about him.
 
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