8 Newcastle Stars Who've Played Their Last Game For The Magpies

6. Gabriel Obertan

Not a tear will be shed if Obertan is jettisoned by Newcastle this summer after proving to be a categorical waste of £3 million during three unfulfilling and downright woeful years on the payroll at St James' Park. Despite the French winger failing to make the grade at Manchester United, an undeniable fact to everyone but an oblivious Pardew who spoke in glowing terms upon Obertan's unveiling as a Magpie in August 2011, remarking: "He has great pace and excellent technique and he has improved his power in the last 12 months." Granted the 25-year-old is lightning quick once he gets into his stride but we often saw him gallop down the blindest of alleys, like a car sans the steering wheel or a break, while we're yet to actually bear witness to the "excellent technique" Pardew ostensibly claimed Obertan was endowed with in the 54 games he played in black and white. But, not before time, it seems that Pardew has finally ran out of patience with Obertan after using him only five times last season and restricting him to an unused substitutes role in the latter stages of the campaign. We suspect, however, that Obertan was actually being used as a pawn by Pardew in a wider revenge plot to stick the knife in deeper to Hatem Ben Arfa.