He wore a white coat but he didnt really need to stand out any more than he already did. Rob Gronkowski Womens Jersey . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. There was no YouTube for the fans to watch his videos, no social media to tap into for scouting reports, but the Geordies were already in love. The first ever Brazilian to sign for an English club had picked Newcastle and a fan base that loved their players to show some flair. It was a love affair that lasted four years before Mirandinha headed for warmer shores, where no white coats were needed, but the trailblazer had made his mark and more creative players arrived from foreign soil and went straight into the hearts of the Geordies. Faustino Asprillia and David Ginola would come and go, leaving behind them some wonderful moments in a black and white shirt that live longer in memories than the agonizing moments they caused their managers. Both men were frustrating geniuses. Say their names to anyone in Newcastle, even today, and youll put an instant smile on their face but their charismatic ways led them down a path of inconsistency and that meant the end of the road for their time at St James Park. It is not difficult to think of someone like Ginola and wonder what will become of a similar, creative, yet frustrated, genius currently at Newcastle United. This was supposed to be the season when Hatem Ben Arfa would take another step up, progress to a level where he is more consistent, performing at a high level each week for the Geordies who love him as much as they once loved Asprillia and Ginola. It has been less than two months, featuring just seven Premier League games, but we have already seen the good, the bad and the ugly side of Ben Arfas time in the iconic black and white shirt. Newcastle started the season without a goal in their first 265 minutes and then, with five minutes remaining in their third game, with it still scoreless, Ben Arfa cut in from the right flank, glided past two Fulham defenders, and smashed the ball into the left corner of the goal. The Magpies had secured their first win and afterwards manager Alan Pardew summed up Ben Arfas day: "In the end Hatem scores, frustrating day today, he did some really poor things with his decision making, you are thinking cross it, he cuts in but he comes up with the goal and thats the maverick he is, you have to take the rough with the smooth." Ben Arfa, not used by French boss Didier Deschamps since he took the job in 2012, would spend the international break hearing all about his up-and-down showing against Fulham. Football means everything to the people of Newcastle and with no game for two weeks the press took Pardews comments and ran with them for days. Next up was a match at Aston Villa and the Frenchman was ready to play. His display at Villa Park that day was one of the best hed produced during his time in England as he scored one and set up the other, in a 2-1 win, but he was more than just spectacular on the two goals. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) Ben Arfa was intelligent in his decision making and tormented Villa left back Antonio Luna with his explosive pace and skill on the ball, forcing his manager afterwards to come to his defence regarding his inconsistency against Fulham. "I thought there was an over the top reaction to his performance (in the last match) because I think he was ok. Today he was magnificent, if you want to pay money that is what you want to see, he held on to the ball, burst past two, a third, his concentration was terrific and if he keeps that up not only will we get fifty-two thousand every week, hell be pushing for the French side." Newcastle returned home for match against Hull the following week in front of a crowd of 51,523 who watched the Magpies surrender two leads and lose 3-2. Ben Arfa had been poor defensively on the right flank, standing and watching an unmarked Robbie Brady in front of him score an equalizer, and then not helping his right back out on the games final goal when George Boyd was allowed to cross easily for Sone Alukos stunning winner. (photo: fourfourtwo.com - Click For Larger Image) The loss was not just on Ben Arfa, though, and was a perfect example of a side struggling to find an identity. Pardew has spoken at length this season about his desire to get his team back playing the offensive style they showed on their way to finishing fifth in the 2011/12 campaign, yet with that comes collective issues as a defensive unit. Newcastle are a predominantly 4-2-3-1 side, with the central member of the 3 sitting deeper when opponents have the ball to make it a 4-3-3, but it is in the transition game, when they lose the ball, that has caused problems for their wide attacking players. With Yohan Cabaye fit and happy again, the biggest issue Pardew now has is who to play in the wide attacking positions. Ben Arfa kept his place at Everton, following the loss to Hull, but after 45 minutes Pardew had seen enough. At half-time the manager stood in the visitors dressing room at Goodison Park disgusted with his team, down 3-0. Ben Arfa, playing on the left, was replaced after more goals had been conceded from his flank. "We dont want to see what happened in the first half ever again," said Pardew. It was no surprise then that the team that performed better in the second half at Everton started at Cardiff on Saturday. Without Ben Arfa, Newcastle once again scored two goals in a half and produced some of their best football this season. So where does this leave the maverick? "I think hes one of those players that were looking at for consistency and to get consistency from him," Pardew said. "Weve got a great player, no doubt about that. Consistency is all Im looking for from any player. Hes proved he can perform for this club." Pardews job at St James Park is far from secure and his decision to drop Ben Arfa is a gamble, one that paid off, at least for now, on Saturday. Newcastle does not have a quiet fan base and many were screaming for Ben Arfa to start even after the horror show at Goodison. The managers desire to get the team to be more dangerous going forward is commendable but he may have come to the realization that he cannot play Ben Arfa as well as Papiss Cisse and Loic Remy at the same time. Remy, scorer of both goals at Cardiff, seems comfortably on the left, coming central to help Cisse when he can, providing the player on the right flank doesnt regularly do the same. Ben Arfas best chance to start may come if Remy plays centrally instead of Cisse, who has no goals in his last 13 league games, but thats what happened at Everton and that memory is still far too fresh for Pardew. With big personalities, in the form of owner Mike Ashley and director Joe Kinnear, known as "Joke Innear" in the North East for his outrageous comments, looking closely over Pardew, it will be fascinating to watch if he relies on the supporters idol, who could help him solidify or relinquish his position as Newcastle manager. The next four league games are against giants Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and a fierce derby game versus rivals Sunderland. Clearly, Pardew must pick players who he thinks will give him the best chance to win those matches. Recent evidence suggests that does not include Ben Arfa but Newcastle fans will only tolerate that if the team is good. "Are we really good or are we really bad? I am not really sure," joked Pardew after the win at Cardiff. For large parts on Saturday they looked really good, even without Ben Arfa. If they start to look really bad without him, Pardew could be walking out the same door Ginola and Asprillia did even quicker than the mercurial maverick. Sony Michel Patriots Jersey . The 23-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Germanys Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Sony Open in just 89 minutes. Rob Gronkowski Patriots Jersey .J. -- Tom Coughlin doesnt have many options at halfback for the winless New York Giants. https://www.patriotssportsgoods.com/Womens-Drew-Bledsoe-Inverted-Jersey/ . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries.After falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, the Calgary Flames dive into another daunting matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks having dropped their first three contests of a four-game road trip and four straight in total. The Flames scored 3.11 goals per game - fifth-best in the NHL - during their first 27 games despite the third-lowest shots on goal average (26.6). Lately, theyve been getting plenty of shots but they havent been going in. Calgary has outshot its opponents 140-100 on this four-game skid, but its been outscored 14-7. (We need to) get more guys in front of the net and go to the dirty areas, forward Paul Byron told the Flames official website. It looks like other teams are scoring those goals right in the paint and were not getting enough of those. Third in the Western Conference just 10 days ago, Calgary has started to tumble in the standings. No one feels sorry for us, thats for sure, coach Bob Hartley said. Were in a very competitive business. Its around us, its there. Weve done it before, we just have to go back and keep going. On Sunday, well be against the Hawks. Its important we regroup, refocus and stay on the job in front of us. The Blackhawks and Flames have met twice already this season, with each team recording a win. Calgary edged Chicago 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 15 - one of only four home losses for the Blackhawks, who got revenge with a 4-3 road win Nov. 20. Karri Ramo and Jonas Hiller have alternated starts during the Flames losing streak. Hiller has started both games against the Blackhawks this season, and made 49 saves at the United Center in October. Jonathan Toews played Saturday after exiting Thursdays game with an upper-body injury. Hes been held to just three points in his past nine games against Calgary. One night after their longest winning streak of the season came to an end, the Blackhawks return to a place where theyre quite comfortable - even though theyve rarely seen it of late. Theyre back on the United Center ice Sunday night against the Calgary Flames, who look to end an otherwise dismal four-game road trip on a high note. The Blackhawks (20-9-1) failed to find the defensive effort that had carried them all season Saturday, allowing a season high-tying 41 shots to the New York Islanders in a 3-2 loss. Chicago came in yielding 28.7 shots per game. This was a wakeup call for sure, said Patrick Kane, who scored his 10th gooal in his last 14 games. Andre Tippett Patriots Jersey. We allowed too many chances. We will come back strong (Sunday). Our goalie was great and gave us every chance. Kane should have a good chance to score in a third straight game Sunday. He has 16 goals in 27 career meetings with Calgary - his second-best mark against any opponent - and has seven goals and five assists in the last eight in the series. Scott Darling, who stopped 38 shots Saturday, started all four games on the Blackhawks road trip, but hes never played on back-to-back nights in the NHL. That could mean Joel Quenneville turns to Antti Raanta, who has a .942 save percentage in five starts, as Chicago plays just its third home game since Nov. 17. After falling to Pittsburgh 3-1 on Friday, Calgary (17-12-2) has dropped the first three games of this trip to follow a home loss to San Jose on Dec. 6. The Flames scored 3.11 goals per game - fifth-best in the NHL - during their first 27 games despite the third-lowest shots on goal average (26.6). Lately, theyve been getting plenty of shots but they havent been going in. Calgary has outshot its opponents 140-100 on this four-game skid, but its been outscored 14-7. (We need to) get more guys in front of the net and go to the dirty areas, forward Paul Byron told the Flames official website. It looks like other teams are scoring those goals right in the paint and were not getting enough of those. Third in the Western Conference just 10 days ago, Calgary has started to tumble in the standings. No one feels sorry for us, thats for sure, coach Bob Hartley said. Were in a very competitive business. Its around us, its there. Weve done it before, we just have to go back and keep going. On Sunday, well be against the Hawks. Its important we regroup, refocus and stay on the job in front of us. The Blackhawks and Flames have met twice already this season, with each team recording a win. Calgary edged Chicago 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 15 - one of only four home losses for the Blackhawks, who got revenge with a 4-3 road win Nov. 20. Karri Ramo and Jonas Hiller have alternated starts during the Flames losing streak. Hiller has started both games against the Blackhawks this season, and made 49 saves at the United Center in October. Jonathan Toews played Saturday after exiting Thursdays game with an upper-body injury. Hes been held to just three points in his past nine games against Calgary. ' ' '