‘He antagonised staff’ - Alan Pardew names ‘difficult’ player he managed at Newcastle United
Alan Pardew has opened up about his turbulent relationship with Hatem Ben Arfa at Newcastle United.
In December 2011, the former Toon boss replaced Chris Hughton and inherited a crocked Frenchman with a broken leg. Ben Arfa played just four times on loan before Nigel de Jong ended his season early after a reckless challenge two months prior.
Despite the serious injury, the Magpies showed Ben Arfa commitment by securing him permanently in January. This would prove to be Pardew’s first signing as Newcastle manager but he would not be able to field the maverick until the following season.
Pardew eased Ben Arfa back into Premier League life and he became integral to finishing fifth in the second half of the campaign. Forming a strikeforce alongside Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba helped the Magpies stage a European return.
Ben Arfa earned a call-up to the Euro 2012 squad and all was going well, with his performances from the right flank often dragging Newcastle out of trouble. But discipline issues that plagued his career soon erupted - and Pardew snapped.
There were even reports that Ben Arfa threw a fridge at his manager during a dressing room bust-up at half-time. Pardew had enough in 2014, loaning him to Hull City just months before his own exit to Crystal Palace.
The ex-Newcastle manager has now discussed the good, bad and ugly about one of United’s most volatile talents. Pardew told talkSPORT: “I managed Hatem Ben Arfa at Newcastle, a very difficult character. Hatem was an unbelievable talent by the way. If you said to me ‘Give a player the ball who can beat two defenders out of players I had’, I’d probably give it to Hatem.
“But I didn’t play him all the time because he antagonised staff and players. He had this way of upsetting the camp a little bit. His defensive work was zero. But he was a tremendous talent on the ball.”