BottledDog

Aye much better man management and cost effective to just state we need 5 players to come in.... "We are shite all over the pitch, we need at least five signings or we're getting relegated". Cheers Alan. If a manager says he's bringing in a number of players it might just give some of our current team a kick up the arse that their place might be under threat. Possibly, true. Different players will respond in different ways I suppose. Pardew never seems to use negative motivation though, not sure whether that's good or bad. He might not hammer players in public that often (after Bordauex would be one occasion though ottomh, or maybe Hatems and Rangers darker periods), and rightly so. But I think it's nonsense to suggest he's restricted to motivation through praise alone.

Does he? The main gripe seems to have stemmed from the perceived contradiction that where he states how he'd like us to play but we get shitball on the pitch, or when he took positives out of a window but now calls on more investment in the next window. Fair enough, make him look a bit of a twat, but I have sympathy with how changes in circumstance can have an effect. The rest of it seems to be spiralling off into simply examining to death every off the cuff and often out of context quote, and looking to trip him up as far as I can tell.

And this is why i'm beginning to really dislike Pardew, i'm sure he mentioned recently that we need to sign 3 or so. I could be wrong but it always seems to go, we need 3, then we are working on definitely 2, then we hope to get 1 through the door. Its always bullshit and by now to keep trying it, he must think we're thick. When did he say the '3 or so players' thing? Struggling to remember that one.

Guessing this means big club interest in Tiote has waned then.

shola on the the last 25 mintues and go even longer when we have not won one single header in their penalty area all match. That is how clueless he is. It really nails it for me! We barely hoofed it all game and the hoofing didn't really increase when Shola came on. Some people just make their mind up before the game and with each substitution without even watching the game properly. This is how I saw it TBH. I was disappointed to see HBA go off, but that seems to be down to his return from injury, which it's sensible to manage. I would have probably gone for Marveaux rather than Shola like, but in the game overall we didn't hoof it excessively at all. Bang on. I'm sure this 'seeing what you want to see' works both ways, but in last few games the players have stopped panicking and resorting to hoofing, and I'm actually positive and getting close to enjoying elements of or performances again (if not the results bar Wigan). The Shola sub was really disappointing at the time though as we were doing ok and could have gone with a like for like, I think we can all agree on that.

Cracking sentiment and, you'd hope, bang on the money. He has hasn't been on this forum much though has he. A fair few I suspect would take umbrance with the following bits... "Newcastle were excellent last term, but they exist in a different world to the really big boys. Newcastle fans knew this. Outside of the crazies and the arch-optimists that you’ll find at every club, they knew that this season would be ‘The Second Coming’ to their eponymous debut album. They knew that the Europa League would drain the stamina of a small squad and leave them ill-prepared for the grind of the domestic game. They knew that key players would have their heads turned by agents. Of the Newcastle fans I spoke to, most agreed that a top ten finish would be absolutely acceptable, all things considered. Well, they’re now just four points away. ...These days, however, Ashley is a little more astute. A good manager has been tied down to a long term contract and a decent squad has been assembled. It’s not a big enough squad, that much is obvious, but it’s a start. Money has been allocated for an overhaul of the youth system, the stadium has its name back and the future looks as bright as it can for a club without a sugar daddy."

Good post. We almost exclusively look to sit back and defend a lead. We just lack the players for it to work effectively and it's horrible to watch. Wigan looked dangerous for a spell at the start of the second half. We were all over the shop and invited too much pressure. We end up looking nervy, the crowd get edgy and it's just a vicious circle. The game against Maritimo was a perfect example and we were guilty of it to a point against Stoke. I'm not saying we should be gung ho, but we certainly need to be more positive. The 2 or 3 hammerings we had last season didn't help the goal dif, but neither did the negative, sit back on a slender lead mentality. There have been lots of games where the opposition are there for the taking, we have a chance to boost the goals for column, pass the ball about nicely and get a bit of confidence up. We just plonk everyone behind the ball! Would be foolish to get too carried away, bit hard to judge the performance really. But there were a lot of positives to take at least. Did we actually sit back, or did Wigan not come out for the second half in desperate need for an early goal? We contained them fairly well and then got back into our stride. Bit of both clearly, but I think we sat back for quite a lot of the second half. We were comfortable for the majority, but if Kone didn't play in blind alleys like Martins and Di Santo looked to pass instead of shank it from 30 yards, they might have posed more problems. We lack any composure at the back. Even Colo seems to have caught the Williamson bug. We looked a bit rushed for 5-10 minutes and kept giving the ball back to them to start another attack. But once Bigi settled, we started playing well again in fairness. I'm not basing this just on last night, as for the most part, it was enjoyable to watch and we were much improved. But it's been a feature of Pardew's time in charge. Sorry to bring it up again, but the 4 days defensive work, 1 day attacking quote might be a factor!? You're right, we have really struggled to get a grip defensively this season which I think has a fair bit to do with the lack of a settled side through injuries etc, Tiote's loss of form, and a lack of decent movement in front of them. We just can't take much pressure without panicking and lumping it forward which is driving us all nuts. I would love to know though whether this 4 days defensive work one day attacking was as rigid as people hold it. I think when Pardew first arrived, like most managers, he focused primarily on getting the defensive side right. I t may still be the case, but I doubt it. Besides we struggle to get even two days of intensive training in these days what with our European jaunt.

Good post. We almost exclusively look to sit back and defend a lead. We just lack the players for it to work effectively and it's horrible to watch. Wigan looked dangerous for a spell at the start of the second half. We were all over the shop and invited too much pressure. We end up looking nervy, the crowd get edgy and it's just a vicious circle. The game against Maritimo was a perfect example and we were guilty of it to a point against Stoke. I'm not saying we should be gung ho, but we certainly need to be more positive. The 2 or 3 hammerings we had last season didn't help the goal dif, but neither did the negative, sit back on a slender lead mentality. There have been lots of games where the opposition are there for the taking, we have a chance to boost the goals for column, pass the ball about nicely and get a bit of confidence up. We just plonk everyone behind the ball! Would be foolish to get too carried away, bit hard to judge the performance really. But there were a lot of positives to take at least. Did we actually sit back, or did Wigan not come out for the second half in desperate need for an early goal? We contained them fairly well and then got back into our stride.

I don't think there was any major sea change change in our philosophy last night, it is how Pardew and the team ideally want to play. We resort to lumping it when we are put under more pressure, and we will go back to doing it again in the coming games. We all hate it, but I'll still have a certain degree of sympathy with it as long as we struggle to put out a fairly consistent side (whether that is due to injuries or the fatigue of a squad lacking depth in Europe).

bottling challenges and sauntering about isn't going to endear him either. This x 100. I have a great deal of time for Marveaux but that pisses me of no end and I'd be reluctant to start him full stop, never mind sticking him in centre mid.

Playing at the centre of a back three if I'm hearing right.

Getting a lot of touches, which as a defender is not good. Just given away another corner which is not good. Overall though he's playing flipping cheeky decent (based on't commentary).

Fill yer boots. 5 mins to go. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football-20539351

No wait, 1-1. This kid's good.

Get rid. 1-0 down.

Good to hear. Well said. Well said even though it apportions almost all blame for our current predicament on something you consistently defend? Yup! I'm not sure why you're trying to point score on this, but there is a considerable gap between taking positives from keeping the core together while having sympathy with the notion of sticking to our guns on valuations, and being actually happy at where our ambition left us at the end of the window. I could see us being ok, even justifiably better than the previous season (barring a run of injuries or loss of form obviously ), but we had all hoped for more. I have a good deal more sympathy for Pardew than Ashley currently for that very reason.

Good to hear. Well said.

Geordie boys, taking the piss... :-)

That side and bench. Bare bones doesn't really do it justice. Come on you fuckers, surprise me.

I know i was generalising what Pardew said in an interview once. I guess i just want the opposition to worry about us. Obviously when you play Man Utd, City, Chelsea you have to be set up properly. Just not to extent where you hope to nick a goal and hold on for dear life. Thats very Martin O'nil Did he? I'd be interested to see the quote as I'd got it into my head that it was a jokey comment that came from JC. Not sure i'm remembering this right but i thought it was from the Radio Newcastle interview with him and JC, Pardew said he concentrates on the shape and defensive side Monday to Thursday and JC looks at the attacking side Friday's. Last season and before the Europa League disrupting. Not an excuse that by the way, piss poor one for me. You're probably right like. I'd be surprised if that has remained the training regime to this day though, things change and I'd guess that was at a point when we were just trying to get the basics sorted. /fuck only knows if they are even doing any training at the moment. It certainly doesn't show. Maybe thats Pardew flaw, he doesn't adapt, change and evolve the way say Sir Alex has or Sir Bobby didn't when he managed abroad. You are right though, if they are spending that much time on defending i'd want my money back The amount of time he has spent studying other managers (for the most part, abroad), I'd like to think one of Pardews strengths is that he is open to change or other ideas. None of us really have a clue what goes on on the training pitch though, so we'll just have to sit back, support, and see what direction the team takes once we climb out of this interminable rut.

Sure, but you also need some people with a different point of view to make it worthwhile. FWIW you're basically right, that's why I stopped coming on here for a couple of months. Totally agree. I think the reason why the place is so downbeat is because of the season as a whole and not just the performances/results from the last 4 games. The performances before that were a big concern any case, not magnified against because of the results against 4 teams we should be beating and seeing nothing in those 4 games that we can go forward with. Aye, I totally understand why it's downbeat, I'm far from happy myself. I'm not ready to think about Pardew's job yet though. I'm hoping he can turn it round, and I know Ashley probably won't sack him anyway. That's probably the most certain thing from the whole situation. Though in true NUFC fashion we'll probably sack Pardew right at the end of the transfer window. It really isn't.

I know i was generalising what Pardew said in an interview once. I guess i just want the opposition to worry about us. Obviously when you play Man Utd, City, Chelsea you have to be set up properly. Just not to extent where you hope to nick a goal and hold on for dear life. Thats very Martin O'nil Did he? I'd be interested to see the quote as I'd got it into my head that it was a jokey comment that came from JC. Not sure i'm remembering this right but i thought it was from the Radio Newcastle interview with him and JC, Pardew said he concentrates on the shape and defensive side Monday to Thursday and JC looks at the attacking side Friday's. Last season and before the Europa League disrupting. Not an excuse that by the way, piss poor one for me. You could be right. I'd be surprised if that has remained the training regime to this day though. Things change, and I'd guess that was at a point when we were just trying to get the basics sorted. /fuck only knows if they are even doing any training at the moment. It certainly doesn't show.

I know i was generalising what Pardew said in an interview once. I guess i just want the opposition to worry about us. Obviously when you play Man Utd, City, Chelsea you have to be set up properly. Just not to extent where you hope to nick a goal and hold on for dear life. Thats very Martin O'nil Did he? I'd be interested to see the quote as I'd got it into my head that it was a jokey comment that came from JC.