Is Newcastle’s midfield dynamo guilty of hypocrisy?

Yohan Cabayehas been a revelation since he joined Newcastle United in the summer from Lille. The French international has everything you look for from a central midfielder. He can get from box-to-box, score spectacular goals and isn’t afraid to get stuck in either. That’s why I’m even more surprised by the Frenchman’s reaction to Shaun Derry’s tackle in Newcastle’s 1-0 win against QPR at St James’ Park on Sunday.

I’m not going to stand here and defend Derry. Yes, it was a bad tackle, but you usually see at least one of those types of challenges in every Premier League match. You could argue that Cabaye’s tackle on Liverpool’s Jay Spearing at Anfield just a few weeks ago was far worse and the 26-year-old has left his boot in one more than one occasion this season. That’s why I was so surprised by Yohan’s reaction to the tackle below…

As soon as the tackle was made Cabaye jumped to his feet to remonstrate with Derry and then consequently left the field on a stretcher, throwing his gloves away in disgust (at who I’m not sure) as he was carried down the tunnel. He was clearly riled, as Alan Pardew confirmed saying “Yohan was upset. He felt it was probably a little bit over-exuberant”. But is that reason to lose his rag, just because he doesn’t like the taste of his own medicine.

Thankfully for Newcastle this incident has become a non-issue. The Magpies won the game and it doesn’t look like Cabaye’s injury is a serious one, so the Frenchman should be back in the middle of the park for Newcastle against Fulham on Saturday. I will defend Newcastle players to the hilt, but on this occasion I think Cabaye let himself down, so hopefully he can make up for it with a stunning performance at Craven Cottage this weekend!

Written by Tom Jones for NothingButNewcastle.com

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