midds

I realise people are pissed off, but lets not get silly. Stoke spent the entire second half launching the ball aimlessly into the area at every single opportunity, even from throws. Ermmm...

I don't hate him but I hope he never plays for us again.

Struggling to imagine how utterly shit a spectacle this is going to be. Don't fancy us to beat any other team in the league the way we're playing and Stoke will be rubbing their hands at the prospect. Another defeat without scoring I reckon.

Mixture of both for me. I do think Pardew can be tactically naive but sometimes players need to step up on the field. They don't believe it it any more. Remember when we scored a goal last year? The whole team came together and it was a proper 'team' celebration. We played for each other and chased, supported and encouraged each other for 90 mins a game. It was fantastic to see how close the players were and how united the whole team was on the park. I've seen none of that this season. The players have seen through him and they know he's a bullshitter. He's lost them.

It's a possibility. The performances and results are hideous and I can't see them improving whilst Pardew is in charge. He's lost the dressing room in my opinion and it's only a matter of time until he walks or is binned. The longer he stays the more likely it is and it's fucking too close right now. 5

Heartily sick of his bluster. Reading between the lines it sounds like he doesn't trust the player and it wouldn't surprise me if the feeling was mutual. He really, really needs a result soon or this pressure is going to grow and grow.

Martins

Aye, but they had nothing to play for though.

The last 20 minutes was like being back at school and waiting for the bell to go so you could go home. Getting virtually no enjoyment from watching us atm, it's fucking tedious.

Going backwards rapidly. All of the good work built up last season has been undone. Got zero faith in him to turn it around.

Getting to the stage where I don't even want to hear him speak any more. I know he's got interviews to do and he's being asked questions which he's got to answer but I'm sick of his bullshit. Not fucking interested in what you say pal, just sort the fucking team out. Stop talking about it and fucking do something about it.

If that is the case then it's still down to the manager because it happens so often that he should do something about it. Haven't we had quotes from Stone only this week about us hitting it long? Anybody reading some posts on here would think a manager has no responsibilities because you can find an excuse for everything. He’s the manager, he’s responsible for choosing incoming signings and he’s gone out of his way to tell us that he plays a part in this. It’s tough if that’s not the case because he’s tied himself into our transfer activity through the claims that he’s made on the subject. He’s responsible for coaching the players on a daily basis, the same players who hoof the ball as if it was a bomb ready to go off. He decides to concentrate on defence for 4 out of 5 days so is it any wonder that we aren’t very good at playing the ball and opening up the opposition when we rarely practice it? He’s responsible for picking the team, the same team that has looked like a middle to lower league side. The same team that changes twice a week when we play in Europe so it’s no wonder we’re disjointed if we practice for part of the week with one team for one game then another team for another game a couple of days later. Pardew is responsible for team morale, it’s up to him to get his players performing to the best of their ability, if he can’t then he’s not doing his job. He chooses the tactics, it his responsibility to pick the best players available to play against the opposition using the most likely tactics to get the most from each game, it’s not working yet he still goes with the same shit time after time. He could have changed things around against Swansea because of Cisse not being available, it was the easy option but he didn’t make the most of it even though it had been recognised that we were being outnumbered in midfield. Something has been said to him even though he thinks our two can outnumber 3, how does that work? Why does it become a surprise that 3 people can walk the ball around 2? Pardew is responsible for our substitutions and more often than not he leaves me scratching my head. 2 out of 3 changes on Saturday made no sense at all and he's lost the plot if he thinks taking one player off needs another 3 players to move to allow that 1 player to come on. Pardew is the manager of the football club, he is responsible for managing the team and should be held to account when we are playing poorly and/or losing games. We’ve got some very good players who are proven quality and have been used to winning, I refuse to believe that what we see now is the limit of the ability of the players that Pardew has at his disposal. If people want to happily go along with thinking that what we have now is good enough, or as good as it can get with our current squad then that's up to them. Personally, I think we're well below par and the reason for that is fairly easy to see. It's coaching, tactics and players being unable to play a style of football which is both alien to them and shambolic. I doubt for one minute that any professional footballer would want to play the way we play on a regular basis. As a fan, I don’t want to have to see it. The players are not blameless in all this but I don't see them as the major problem. Bang on. All of it.

Good fucking night.

He looks and sounds clueless. I'm all for giving the chance to put things right but I'm not sure he's able/willing to do so. We'll have to see how it pans out but I've got serious doubts about him.

That's exactly the type of goal we give away.

He needs to find a solution pronto because he's building his own gallows with this 4-4-2 shite.

Sounds like they did tbh: "Immediately following the Premier League fixture against West Ham United on Sunday the Club went through the normal communication channels to advise the Senegalese Federation that both Papiss and Demba Ba would not be available for the international friendly match between Niger and Senegal scheduled for Wednesday, 14th November 2012, due to injury." No idea what 'normal communication channels' are in this case but we're claiming we got in touch. I'm not convinced - weren't most people of the impression Cisse would be off on international duty? I don't know the facts either of course, but even if Senegal did have a grudge against us, they'd need something to work with in order to lodge this claim, some failure/incompetence in procedure. Not sure of the exact regulations tbh, I'd need to have a little dig for them. They've obviously got FIFA on their side though so there's not much we can do in all honesty. From a completely selfish point of view I hope he tells them to fuck off and retires from International football.

Sounds like they did tbh: "Immediately following the Premier League fixture against West Ham United on Sunday the Club went through the normal communication channels to advise the Senegalese Federation that both Papiss and Demba Ba would not be available for the international friendly match between Niger and Senegal scheduled for Wednesday, 14th November 2012, due to injury." No idea what 'normal communication channels' are in this case but we're claiming we got in touch.

There's a pub right next to South Kensington tube station that will definitely have it on. They usually have 3 or 4 games on. Can't recall the name but if you come out of the station and turn right, its the first pub you see on. Opposite a chicken cottage! Famous three kings.

Pretty much this. It's shit for Gutierrez but it gives someone else an extended run in the team. It's not like we're going to be playing with ten men because he's out, someone will come in and we'll have to get on with it. No point whinging about it.

I don't want him sacked but I d want him to be pro-active and do something to solve the problems we've clearly got atm. The team is not functioning and that's his responsibility. Manage the players at his disposal and if that means dropping under-performing players then do it. If that means changing formation then do it. If that means upsetting Ba and/or Cisse then do it. The team comes first.

I sometimes wonder (only half-joking to myself) if pissing off some players is part of the plan.

Arrested? Fucker should be given a medal.

He needs to find some answers pretty quickly if he's going to turn this around. The situation baffles me. There is no logic to consistently picking players and forcing them into a formation that doesn't suit them. ESPECIALLY when a different system has already proved very successful with the same group of players. Why persist with it. It doesn't work. Only a fucking idiot attempts the same thing repeatedly and expects different results. Just fucking sort it Pardew, or at least have a go at changing it ffs.

They haven't lost yet.