His international compatriot Papiss Demba Cisse has nicked his central attacking position, and suddenly someone else is making the goal scoring headlines on Tyneside.
Ba did not celebrate on the bench when Cisse scored his second goal at Swansea which became a talking point for Sky TV – who were beaming the match live.
The former West Ham striker was substituted on 59 minutes having failed to find the target in the last eight games, and he looked rather miffed about it.
However, on his Twitter page (as expected) he played down any unrest, and said there was no problem.
He Tweeted: “Nothing at all.
“When you love football like i do you wanna play every minute. End of the day we win. So im glad once again :)”
Personally I don't see a problem.
Obviously he wasn't happy at being substituted ... but who is?
Have you ever seen a player smile when that board goes up on the touchline and his number flashes up?
Ba hasn't scored in recent matches, but his form has been superb.
Alan Pardew wants to keep the system fresh and introduce new legs at the arse-end of a match, and that's what managers get paid for.
It's a storm in a teacup.