How can a manager completely disregard a virtuoso talent on Ben Arfa's level and continue to justify it while his team is starved of creative nourishment? Only Alan Pardew can answer that baffling conundrum after he once again decided that the 27-year-old Frenchman wasn't deserving of a place in his squad. Ben Arfa's latest omission was revealed via his Instagram page on Sunday night and comes amidst accusations from supporters that Pardew is using him as a scapegoat for the collapse of the Magpies' season over the last five games. He was hooked off after 45 minutes of the 4-0 pasting at Southampton, despite rarely seeing the ball and spending much of the first period ensconced in his own half. The pair also had a flare up in the dressing room after the defeats to Manchester United and Stoke, with the Newcastle boss again pointing the finger of blame at Ben Arfa. But, like grown men, they need to put their grievances aside for the greater good of the club. The former Marseille attacker is a supreme talent if nurtured correctly, often earning comparisons with Toon legend Peter Beardsley from supporters, but is often shunted out to the right wing by Pardew despite his yearning for an extended run in the number-10 role. After losing Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint Germain in January to scene looked set for Ben Arfa to take up the reins as Newcastle's creator-in-chief, a responsibility we feel he would have thrived under. Instead he's been a restrained genius forced to watch on from afar as Pardew continues to ponder the creative dearth Ben Arfa could so easily solve. I wonder how he'd fit in at Arsenal?
