Tonight Yohan Cabaye will be looking to upset the odds against a far bigger club. It will be business as usual for the Frenchman, writes Stuart Rayner
THE last five days have been a reminder of why the Premier League is so loved around the world – Manchester United humbled by Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland beating Manchester City, Chelsea shocked by Aston Villa, Fulham overcoming Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur held in Swansea.
Anything, it seems, is possible on any given matchday. Over the course of a season, things are rather more predictable.
A glass ceiling separates six clubs – the Manchester giants, Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool – from the rest.
For a while this season, Newcastle United gatecrashed the party. It is at the turn of the year, though, that the Premier League takes shape. An end-of-year slump has seen the Magpies with their faces pressed up against the glass.
For a club run on a shoestring, this week has been a reminder of just what an achievement it is for Newcastle to cling onto the big boys’ coat-tails. Seventh in the table, they are as high as they could realistically expect to be at this stage in their development.
On Friday, Liverpool shrugged off the suspension of £23m Luis Suárez by selecting £35m Andy Carroll. Tonight’s visitors, Manchester United, may have an injury list which makes Old Trafford look more like Holby City, but Sir Alex Ferguson will still be able to choose two from Wayne Rooney, golden boot holder Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernández. Opposite number Alan Pardew is likely to field a front two which cost less then £2m.
Fortunately, Yohan Cabaye is no respecter of reputations, and with good reason.
Last season the cultured midfielder played for a provincial Lille side whose 16,000 average gates made them France’s tenth best-supported side. Yet it was they, not glamourpusses like Marseilles, Lyon or Paris Saint-Germain who walked off with the league and cup double. Cabaye sees similarities between that band of brothers and the Newcastle squad he joined this summer.
“I had a choice of quite a few clubs when I left Lille, but as soon as the contract offer came in from Newcastle, my mind was made up,” he recalls. “Nothing has happened to make me regret my decision. I am delighted with the way things have gone here.
