Many thanks to Shak for submitting the latest entry in this series:

With club football having more or less coming to a close throughout Europe, for many teams now is a time that player recruitment will really start to kick into high gear. And with a number of players needed at St. James’ Park before things get going again in August, our very own Newcastle United figure to be chief amongst those looking to make early moves. But before deciding on who to bring in, there are still a number of players at the club with their future up in the air. None more so than our Turkish midfielder Emre, who features in this edition of SHSOSHG.

The Lowdown

Signed from Italian giants Inter Milan for a fee in the region of £4 million pounds in July of 2005, Emre was to be the playmaker for Graeme Souness’ big money, new-look Newcastle side. While the team struggled early on, Emre showed some signs of being a very useful player, and his early partnership in the middle of the field with Scott Parker showed some promise. When he curled a beautiful 25-yard free kick over the wall for the winning goal in a pulsating 3-2 Tyne-Wear derby victory over bitter rivals Sunderland, one sensed that Emre may just be a Toon hero in the making.

However, it was not to be. Injuries have been a constant source of frustration ever since Emre joined the club, and these constant niggles, coupled with a tendency to disappear from games, particularly away from home, prevented the Turk from ever really establishing himself as the heartbeat of the team. When Souness, a long time idol of Emre’s, was sacked in February of 2006, questions were asked about Emre’s commitment to the Newcastle cause. Glenn Roeder saw fit to mostly play Emre as a holding midfielder in his time as manager, a result of his comical attempts to turn Scott Parker into our driving force going forward from the middle of the park, and this didn’t help matters any more.

Since that time he has spent more time on the injured list than off it, and his few fleeting appearances have done little to persuade fans that he could be a key player for us, despite his obvious talent, even if fully fit.

He Should Stay

There’s definitely quite a compelling case to be made for keeping Emre.

Even his strongest detractors will have to admit that his first touch and general technique are among the best at the club. He’s probably the only midfielder we have at the club at the moment who exudes any degree of comfort or confidence when receiving the ball under pressure from the opposition. And while undoubtedly inconsistent, his passing range is impressive and he’s one of the better set-piece takers we have.

One could also make a strong case for the idea that he may indeed be very well suited to the system we saw Keegan play towards the end of last season. Emre has never looked particularly well suited to a traditional 4-4-2, as he doesn’t get forward enough and offer enough goal threat to be considered the attacking midfielder, nor is he defensively responsible enough to be the holding midfielder. His best displays for us have generally been as part of a 3-man midfield where he has had both a holding player and a box-to-box type player alongside him, allowing him to drift and do what he does best, dictate the play. Roeder’s early time in charge alongside Parker and Bowyer spring to mind as some of his better games for us. A 2-0 home win to Everton where Solano scored twice and we played some magnificent give and go football, with Emre at the heart of it in a free role, is the best game I can recall him having for us.

If we’re to persist with the 4-3-1-2 that we saw at the end of last season, then Emre could be a great player to have around. Still aged only 27, he should also have his best years ahead of him you would think. So surely he’s worth keeping?

He Should Go

On the other hand, Emre has some shortcomings that are nigh on impossible to ignore when deciding if he’s worth keeping around on that nice big salary of his.

First off, we have his terrible and, quite frankly, highly suspicious injury record in his time here. Time after time we’ve seen him go down with little knocks and pulls that seem to keep him out for weeks on end, rarely has he ever gone a full month without some sort of problem cropping up. The dubious part is, of course, that these knocks always seem to find a way of clearing up in time for international matches, when he then invariably turns in a very good performance or two for Turkey before reporting back to club duty at Newcastle, where low and behold a fresh injury is never far away.

Perhaps that’s a bit cynical, but there are definitely questions over Emre’s commitment to the cause to be asked. If all these injuries are legitimate, well then do we really want to keep around a player with such an appalling injury record? Even when fit he’s prone to completely disappear from games, which is not a quality you look for in a midfield playmaker.

As tempting as it may be to keep him around, surely there are just too many marks against him to warrant keeping him around. Dodgy injury record, massive salary, inconsistent player on the pitch. Surely getting rid is the best option?

Conclusion

A tough one to call, in all honesty, and I really don’t mind either way what course of action Keegan takes. Odds are he’ll be his same erratic, injury prone self again next season. But that said, I’d rather have someone like Emre in small doses around than wasters like Smith and Duff. Given that Emre is one of the very few in our squad with any sort of class on the ball, I’d say keep him around for one more year. Maybe, just maybe, KK is the man to finally get the best out of him.

Last Chance

UPDATE AT 18:35 GMT
There are reports in Turkey that Emre has signed for Fenerbache. Keep your eyes peeled on our forum at: https://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=53206.25 for more details.

Would you be sorry to see Emre go? Have your say!