It was to be a year until Senegal appointed a new manager and it was as if 2008 and the past regime had been erased from the memory and most importantly, from the mind-set of the squad.The Senegal Football Federation, still run by the Normalisation Committee, had managed a spell of civil unrest at Senegal’s international performances, which led to rioting in the country’s capital Dakar, well.
The current manager, Amara Traore, was hired for the Teranga Lions and a transition of the old – the likes of Henri Camara, the last Senegalese to score at an Africa Cup of Nations – to the new, was finally complete with the naming of Senegal’s striker saturated 23-man squad for Equatorial Guinea and Gabon’s Africa Cup of Nations: only six remained from the last competition they participated in.
Now, thanks to the patience of Alan Pardew – ultimately Derek Llambias and Lee Charnley, whose refusal to pay £14m in the summer sees Cisse join 9 goals to the better but £4m cheaper, without detrimental effect to The Toon – Newcastle have the strike force of a re-emerging nation, from a continent predicted to win the World Cup soon rather than later.
Between them, they’ve netted 11 goals in 23 appearances for Senegal, with the new arrival responsible for seven of them in 12 games. Internationally, a like-for-like comparison sees the £10m-man more potent with 0.58 goals per game (gpg); furthermore, at the same level of domestic play, the Bundesliga, when they’re not supplementing each other’s performance, the new purchase remains as consistent as he is internationally with a figure of 0.58gpg, as does Demba Ba with a gpg figure of 0.37. Signing Cisse may prove to be a coup bigger than Ba’s: a hard concept to imagine considering Ba’s return this season, of 15 goals in 19. Cisse joins on the back of a half season that has seen him bag 9 times in 15 games.
The capture of Papiss Demba Cisse is an astute one; he is a scorer in his own right, as the stats show, and an apt partner for his countryman, Demba Ba. Furthermore, he is the strike partner Newcastle’s #19 wanted, “I spoke to Demba about Papiss, and he cannot wait to join up with his team-mate in Newcastle,” said Alan Pardew, Newcastle’s manager.
Although Pardew stated that Papiss has been on his wish list for quite some time, “Ever since Andy Carroll left, Papiss was my first choice,” the timing of the acquisition could not have come at a better stage amid the rumours surrounding Demba Ba, his alleged transfer release clause and supposed interest from other Premier League clubs.
Yet, I am willing to hedge my bets: Papiss Demba Cisse is not a replacement for Ba, not even a contingency plan for an irresistible offer; he is a statement of intent. As they grow as the beacon of Senegalese football, they’ll grow as the beacon on Newcastle’s football. The parallels are there: the focus on youth, teamwork & work rate and an emphasis on attack. Now it is for us to watch the pair materialise into something great, for club and country.
Written by Jordan Florit for www.maycauseoffence.com/ For more articles visit my website or my Twitter @JordanFlorit
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