Newcastle United Loan Watch: Abeid, Good advance to cup finals

Mehdi Abeid, the former fringe first team midfielder for Newcastle United who fell out with Alan Pardew and found himself out on loan for the last two seasons, scored his 8th goal of the season on Wednesday for Panathinaikos. The Greens now find themselves in the finals of the Greek Cup, where they will face PAOK on 26 April.

Abeid has received positive reviews on his play during his time in Athens, and the goal tally obviously speak to some level of success. It's another case of a player going away and doing well, and while nobody will confuse the Greek SuperLeague with the Premier League anytime soon, Alan Pardew will have to consider the 21 year-old's place in the team, especially if transfer activity will be limited as expected. Dan Gosling is likely to depart this summer, so assuming that player and manager can bury the hatchet, Abeid should at least get a look at taking over those occasional substitute appearances. It's something to watch for during the preseason, anyway.

Meanwhile, defender Curtis Good missed Dundee United's Scottish Cup semifinal tie with Rangers last Saturday with a hip injury. The storied Scottish League One champions were unable to escape Mike Ashley's influence, so Good has a chance to feature in the final against St. Johnstone on 17 May in Glasgow. He has been in Newcastle to receive treatment for the injury, suffered during international duty in March, but has not been recalled. Good joined the Tangerines in January and has started every match that he's been available for.