Unforgettable moment from man who won Toon hearts
MIDFIELDER’S MAGICAL GOAL WHICH WENT DOWN IN TYNESIDE HISTORY
IT felt like it was written in the stars. The late Cheick Tiote only scored one goal for Newcastle United, but that remarkable equaliser against Arsenal will never be forgotten.
All these years later, some of Tiote’s team-mates admit “shoooooot!” was the last word they shouted when the ball fell to the Ivorian outside the box in the 86thminute.
However, by the same token, they could not think of someone who deserved that moment more as the Magpies produced an unfathomable comeback from 4-0 down.
Alan Pardew can still picture Tiote’s ‘magical goal’ under the lights at St James’ Park and the former Newcastle boss describes Tiote as ‘simply the best midfielder’ he ever managed on his day.
“Kevin Nolan could have won it for us at the end,” Pardew told the Chronicle about that famous 4-4 draw in 2011.
“It would have been the best Premier League comeback ever but, in a way, I’m now glad he didn’t because the goal highlighted Cheick and his personality to a tee.
“I can still see him wheeling away all aggressive before he broke into that enormous smile, which illuminated the whole stadium and became an iconic moment in Newcastle’s recent history.”
Newcastle fans may not have necessarily known a great deal about Tiote when he joined the club the previous summer but, boy, did the £3.5m signing become a firm favourite.
Chris Hughton, Pardew’s predecessor, certainly had an idea of what to expect from the man who had played at the 2010 World Cup and won the Eredivisie title with FC Twente.
“Tiote was a consistent one and even after my time, he went on to be a wonderful player,” Hughton previously told the Chronicle.
“He was a really good addition for us and, from day one, he came in and made an instant impact in training.”
Tiote’s team-mates soon noticed how they were going home with extra ‘souvenirs,’ whether it was a cut on the ankle or a bruised shin, and poor Dan Gosling often bore the brunt of it during those intense sessions at Benton.
Andy Woodman, the club’s former goalkeeping coach, believes the level of training went up by about 25% because of Tiote and the players had to move the ball even more quickly as a result. Otherwise, Tiote ‘was going to nail you.’
“It was the only way he knew how to train,” Woodman said. “I remember the manager once pulling him and saying, ‘Calm down in training. Save yourself for the game and try not to injure people.’
“We tried to put the reins on him and it was like we had taken his soul away. There were about three days where he didn’t make a tackle.
“He looked like he had withdrawn into himself and it was like we had taken the ball away from a kid in the school playground.
“We quickly realised that Cheicky just had to go back to what he was doing because he was happiest when giving everything and that was him. He was an all or nothing player every time he went on the pitch.”
You might be surprised to learn that, away from the training pitches, nothing scared Tiote quite like the sight of Woodman’s harmless boxer dog.
However, on the field, Tiote truly was a ferocious competitor and he even used to do twice as many laps as his team-mates during a warmup.
Duncan French, the club’s head of strength and conditioning at the time, unsurprisingly found the ‘little body builder’ ‘an absolute dream’ to work with. “He was a ball of muscle and could get into the physical stuff,” he said. “He could mix it in the midfield but you knew he would be box to box so it was impressive to see because those two attributes don’t often come together.”
Those first two seasons at Newcastle were arguably the best of Tiote’s career and it was hardly a surprise that the Ivorian earned an improved contract after just six months at the club.
Tiote was so committed to the cause that he even wanted to play on when he was stretchered off with a head wound, which required seven stitches, against Chelsea in 2012.
Former team-mate Mike Williamson regularly uses Tiote’s ‘intensity’ and ‘will to win’ as an example when speaking to his Gateshead players today.
“He was a warrior and the derbies, the battles he had with Lee Cattermole, stand out for me,” the ‘Heed boss told the Chronicle. “If there was one player you didn’t want missing for a derby game, it was Cheick because you knew when he was going out on that pitch, he was just going to fight and battle.
“He really did energise and invigorate. When the games were going down or it was a little bit stale or it was a bit of a checkmate, one tackle, one bit of intensity from him, would light the game up..”
Tiote formed strong partnerships in the middle of the park with Kevin Nolan and Yohan Cabaye, and Newcastle were able to play with a twoman midfield because their ‘warrior’ could cover so much ground.
A case in point was Tiote’s display in the 3-0 win against Manchester United in 2012, which Pardew describes as ‘possibly the best individual performance’ of his time in charge of the club.
James Perch used to sit next to Tiote in the dressing room and the
utility man believes you ‘could ask any midfielder’ in the top-flight at the time and they would all tell you ‘they didn’t like to play against him.’
“You just loved playing with him because he was like [N’Golo] Kante,” Perch said. “He was like one-and-ahalf, two players on the pitch and having him in your side made it a lot easier to play against teams.
“I think that’s why the Newcastle fans loved him so much because he was all-action and loved a tackle. He didn’t score many goals but the one he did score was good enough!”
Tiote went on to captain Newcastle on occasion and ahead of wearing the armband against Spurs in 2013, the stand-in skipper was given one simple message before kick-off at White Hart Lane.
If Tiote won the toss, the captain was to pick the more shaded end because, otherwise, the sun would shine in goalkeeper Tim Krul’s eyes.
Tiote ended up plumping for the kick-off, which left Krul fuming, before the shot-stopper produced a man of the match display in the Magpies’ 1-0 win.
In the away dressing room postmatch, Tiote joked that he knew what he was doing and those around him could not help but laugh.
It summed Tiote up. Even when Tiote was late for a team meeting, staff were melted by his infectious smile - and they knew what sort of a lad he was.
While Tiote loved an eye-catching designer tracksuit, every couple of months, the softly-spoken midfielder walked around the dressing room with a black bag and asked his team-mates if they had any spare boots he could send back to his homeland.
Tiote did not have any boots when he started playing at the age of 12 and that desire to help his extended family thousands of miles away was just one example of how he looked out for others. Tiote even used to phone Jean Musampa, his agent of five years, numerous times a day just to make sure he was OK.
Musampa previously told the Chronicle: “He was somebody who would share everything.
“When Cheick had money, he would share it with people around him. I think that is what I will remember about him.
He was not greedy. He was somebody if he could help you, he would help you.”
As well as relishing the opportunity to play regularly again, taking care of his family was one of the many reasons behind Tiote’s decision to join the Beijing Enterprises in 2017.
Tiote had been enjoying his new life in the Far East and, just a few days before he tragically suffered a cardiac arrest, the 30-year-old caught up with his dear friend and former team-mate, Papiss Cisse, in a hotel in the Chinese capital. The pair vowed they would meet up at a Moroccan restaurant the next time they saw each other. Sadly, that dinner never took place. “Cheicky was my brother, my best friend, my man. I think my power came from this guy,” Cisse previously told the Chronicle.
“I was a strong guy before I met him but he brought a lot of things to my life and my career. This guy helped me a lot. “When I saw this guy, what he was doing, I would say, ‘Bro, calm down!’ He would say, ‘No, Papiss, this a man’s game. You have to be strong. Sometimes, you have to be crazy.’ I miss him.
“I just always pray for him to be in a good place and his family to be in a safe place as well in this world. Even now, speaking about it makes me... it’s very hard.”