Nobby loves the Argies!

Former NUFC favourite Nobby Solano has kicked off a South American love in by praising Jonas Gutierrez and Fabricio Coloccini.

Coloccini has been outstanding for the most part and has looked every inch the £10.3 million defender this season, while Gutierrez has been brilliant, indifferent and frustrating in equal measure throughout the season. Although to be fair I believe that we are a better team with Jonas included, even at his frustrating worst, because of the work that he does on the pitch.

Nobby believes that the impact of the Argentine pair has been undervalued though, and credits them for getting stuck into life back in the Premier League.

“They have both been excellent this season," Nobby, who is currently player-coach at Hull City told The Chronicle. “People are quick to open fire on overseas players when they can’t settle in the Premier League or don’t turn up in the cold midweek games. But you can’t say that about Jonas and Colo."

He continued: “This season was always going to be important for Newcastle to avoid going straight back to the Championship. But it’s players like Jonas and Colo who have made sure they have kept the relegation contenders at bay."

“Don’t forget they could have easily walked away when the team was relegated to the Championship two years ago. They could have gone back to Spain and played in the sun! Knowing them, though, they were keen to show the fans that they cared about Newcastle United and wanted to get them out of the second division.”

Coloccini emerged from the second tier as a crowd favourite and has his own terrace song these days. We even got to see Jonas' mask on occasion last season, which I thought we'd probably never see. They stayed and grafted away at places like Doncaster and Scunthorpe - places that they had probably never even heard of.

They stuck to the task of winning promotion and got through the season by using a combination of their skill and work ethic. You can't ask for any more than 100%, and if players give that then the majority of fans will be behind you. That is something that was not lost on Nobby during his time on Tyneside.

“I have played at different clubs. But in Newcastle the team is everything, and the fans are your first priority," Nobby added before concluding: “You can’t win every game in football, but you can sweat blood in every game. That’s what they want to see, and if you offer it up, then they will love you for it.”

There is certainly a lot of love for Nobby on Tyneside. After 314 appearances and 48 goals, he is most definitely one of our most successful foreign imports, although by rights he should have been awful due to the relatively cheap price tag of £2.4 million, which makes him £900,000 cheaper than Silvio Maric.

As we keep getting told though; there is a reason why a Bentley is more expensive than a Ford Escort ;)

Nobby will forever have a place in my Newcastle United heart, and it appears I'm not the only one as I was in the away end at Leicester last season when the whole crowd erupted into the chant of 'Nobby Solano' when he appeared for his Foxes debut.

He was a great servant to us, and having spent nine years over two spells at Gallowgate I think it's fair to say that he knows the score. I'm inclined to agree with his praise of the two Argentinian players as he knows his stuff and, lets be honest, he isn't far wrong is he?

Nobby Solano - coming to an Ex-star spotlight near you sometime soon, perhaps ;)