Pardew's natural mentality doesn't work for Derbies. You can't go in scared, sitting back and hoping to nick a goal by a bit of magic. You have to be confident, take the game to Sunderland and let our natural superiority do the rest. Nothing will change.
They've said before that the preparation for derbies is John Carver showing them old DVDs. Last time, people said "WU NEEDED MOAR PASHUNN!", which I thought was complete bollocks, and actually the main problem.
Anita and Santon both started charging round and kicking people from the first minute, which I've never seen them do before, making ridiculous tackles and ultimately giving away an early penalty. The mackems on the other hand did what we always used to - stayed calm, composed and passed it round us whilst we tried to kick shadows like Cattermole had in the 5-1.
"Form goes out the window in derbies" is one of the most misguided cliches in football. The team with the underdog mentality loses derbies far more often than your average game.
I think it's also his desperation that will do us in. He'll hear about his 3 losses in a row and terrible derby record and want a win so he can do some fist pumping in front of the Gallowgate. In reality all the usual problems will just be exacerbated to the nth degree and I wouldn't be surprised if the next derby ends up being a 5 (or worse) nil defeat.