Tiote vows to continue his tough tackling ways.

Cheik Tiote has established himself as one of the key players for NUFC this season, and at a bargain £3.5 million you can't say that he hasn't been value for money.

Not only is Tiote a ball-winner, he is also a very gifted technical midfielder with an eye for a pass and a terrific work ethic. If there is one small gripe with him however, it's linked with his ball-winning style and the fact that simply by doing just that he can rack up the bookings which can lead to suspensions. In fact he has already sat out six games this season through suspension, which isn't ideal.

Alan Pardew has recently said about how many bookings Tiote picks and says that it's something that needs to be looking at, but for me it's kind of a hazard of the job. If you are going to spend your time putting tackles in, then law of averages dictates that you will pick up more bookings as a result. If you change that then you change the player, which is why it's nice to hear that Tiote has no plans to alter his game.

“To have got 11 bookings is maybe too much but I do my job and I have to tackle," Tiote told The Journal.

"Maybe next season I will get less bookings. Maybe I tackle too much. The manager hasn’t said anything to me, because he knows if I don’t tackle, I’m not the same player. The referees are different in England. If you do something wrong they give you a yellow card straight away. I’ve had to learn that.”

The crux of it is that fans love to see a player putting in 100% and they love to see a player getting stuck in and chase a ball down from 30-40 yards away. You can hear the cheers when a tackle goes in and generally speaking it's regarded as a sign of commitment to the cause. Being honest, it's part of the reason why we love him. Tiote continued:

“You can hear the cheer when I get a tackle right. They love this type of player. There’s not too many players who do that but you need to work for the team, and if you do they recognise that. I’ve never played for fans like that.”

Tiote has been outstanding for us for this season. Who would have thought that when we signed the virtual unknown back in August? I know I certainly didn't. His performances have left me feeling slightly annoyed that he hasn't got the recognition I think he deserves.

Take the PFA Player of the Year award for example. Not a mention of Tiote. It was the same today when the Football Writers Association named their Player of the Year, with Scott Parker being the recipient followed by people saying how wonderful it is that the award has gone to a player outside of the top tier of clubs and how great it is to have a 100% effort player getting the reward they deserve.

Utter claptrap of course. Parker may be getting the plaudits at the moment, but is he really any better than Cheik Tiote? Not a chance. We, as Newcastle fans, have seen both of them close up so we are in the ideal position to judge.

Anyway, rant over about that. Hopefully next season Tiote will get the recognition he deserves.

I won't hold my breath on that though!