10 Talented Newcastle Players Who Were Well And Truly Pardewed

2. Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

If you believe Alan Pardew's assessment that Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is not good enough for the Premier League, you should probably have your right to form opinions revoked. The defender is not "too lightweight" for English football - he is the same height as Coloccini and weighs more - and nor is he the wrong style of player: he is a cultured ball-playing stopper who can tackle firmly and has the vision not to just hoof the ball out of play. In fact, he's a little like Fabricio Coloccini, who was given far more of a chance after a ropey start to his Newcastle career than the Frenchman ever was under Pardew. While Pardew was happy to send the defender out on loan - and scrap him as a transfer error - he's playing in the Champions League with Roma and being selected for France. So who is wrong? If the right sort of centre-half is Mike Williamson, I'm not sure I want to like football any more.