Cisse gets lost in translation

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew says Papiss Demba Cisse is having a hard time settling at the club because of his limited grasp of English.

Cisse arrived at Newcastle with a bang, scoring a superb winner on debut against Aston Villa, but the Senegal striker has struggled in recent weeks and Pardew said he is having his trouble getting his message across to the 26-year-old who arrived in January from Freiburg.

“I can’t explain to him in great detail what I want him to do and what he can do for the team,” Pardew told The Telegraph.

“You’re doing it through interpreters and the message can get lost.”

“What I do know is that in training, his finishing is a huge asset. The problem that we’ve got at the moment is that we’re not creating enough chances for him.”

Newcastle have won only one of their last six Premier League games, and Pardew believes Cisse – if he can shrug off the close attention he receives from defenders – could help arrest that slide.

“We’re not getting him in a position (to score),” Pardew said.

“So there’s no point in him being on the pitch if we’re not able to dominate the game and create chances where he can bring out what’s best in him.”

“Plus it’s a tougher league and there are more physical centre-halves here who don’t give him the time he had in the Bundesliga.”

“He’s certainly found the last couple of games tough and this Sunday (against Norwich), hopefully he’ll get the message that we’re trying to get to him about what he needs to do.”

“He’s a good lad and he’s diligent. He can speak four languages already so I don’t think learning another one is going to be a problem.”

“I want to protect him a little bit because he got off to such a flying start, but there was always going to be a period when he’s going to find it difficult and he has — make no bones about that.”