Benwell Lad

Absolutely. False or frivolous racist allegations are counter productive to the work being done to eradicate racism and should be severely dealt with.

It's just another puzzling piece of "mackem logic" that when a they appoint a new manager he is entitled to clear out the entire playing staff and replace it with new players, otherwise it's not his team. It's got nothing to do with formations, tactics or motivation. Obviously doesn't apply to Di Matteo, Steve Clarke, AVB etc, or indeed our own dear Alan Pardew who got us to fifth with what was still largely an inherited squad.

Aye thats it. Amazingly accurate and it looks like it's ten to three for Marty.

Whoever designed that circle diagram thing which illustrates the macum cycle of life dererves an award. They really got it spot on. Time it was flashed up again just to remind us how accurate/funny it really is.

O'Neill is turning them into a laughing stock (again).

who was second ?

How can anyone look at that list of players and think they are 1-3 players away from a top quality team? I know we all see our teams through rose tinted specs at times but apart from a couple of players that team is complete garbage. Out of that XI I'd have Mignolet and Fletcher as back up. Most of the rest would need to drop a division to have any impact.

Thats like a six minute video on why not to touch Martin O'Neill with a bargepole. To think it was recorded so early in the season too before the record low shots, confused tactics etc, etc, really transpired.

Majority of macums continue to bury their heads in the sand despite a 1 win in 16, worse than Bruce record and the turgid negative anti-football they play, but analysing last night's sides Sunderland's team looked like their strongest (apart from GK) while Boro seemed to rest a few. Quite scary for them really but they'll most likely continue to live in denial until it's too late.

So how many pre-booked Wembley coaches have the macums had to cancel this time ? Partywith marty

Very much doubt it on a November evening which could be wet and windy. More a summer tournament kind of thing.

They've got nowt to worry about. 3 main reasons for that are :- 1. They'd have beaten Reading easily and that would have them in the top four. 2. All their "flair" players will click in the next game. 3. They've got a world class manager who just needs time. FTM. STHT.

Yes, they're in a very difficult position. Not one shred of evidence that he's any better than Bruce but mackem spin doctors still trying to convince the masses he's some kind of messiah, and of course most of the mugs are swallowing it as usual. Another year or so of Marty mis-management and they could be in deep shit.

Any truth in the rumours that Johnson is a better boozer than trainer ?

Johnson got booed when he was hauled off tonight. Could be Marty's worst signing ever.

Said that recently. He's going through the motions but you can tell his heart's not in it.

Yes, in the aftermath of Clattenburg-gate the divers will be getting their own way for a while.

A very eloquent, but hardly plausible, blog written by one of the increasingly desperate O'Neill spin doctors on RTG attempts to justify his record of 1 win in 16 and the turgid football he sets his team up to play, by comparing them to the great Leeds United team of the 60s/70s who were renowned as a tough, uncompromising hard to beat side. One of their more sane posters replied as follows. http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showpost.php?p=13713854&postcount=13

Thread jumps from Ranger to Colo. Can there be two more extreme examples of professional footballers?

Because it's not in Pardew's nature to play a pass and move game. He's come from low profile teams where the long ball is used effectively to punch above their weight similar to Sam Allardyce. He does try and incorporate some passing, but it's mostly just impressive talk. It doesn't look like we practice it on the pitch at all, and under the slightest bit of pressure it's Shola up front and long balls to the big lads. He doesn't really believe in the passing game IMO, and looks unsure how to implement it. It looks to me that players like Cisse and Marveaux are getting stick on here when more than likely the style of football is more suited to the Sholas and Martin O Neill type of players. Agree with all of that. Pardew sticks to what he knows which is percentages. Players moving around or going forward too much and losing position in a passing movement worries him. Our players try as much as possible to hold thier zone and their core position and then reboot. This keeps the team profile solid and hard to score against (that's the theory anyway -MON - Allardyce and Moyes - but he's changed the last couple of seasons). I suspect he's been pawing at statistics too much which often don't tell the full picture. Often 3/4 touches may lead to a goal (like the kick from Krul goal on Sunday) and nobody has to have deserted their positon (Shola just moved in a bit). He looks at mistakes (goals conceded when there is a corner up the other end and the breakaway). Ironically these kinds of stats are the surface of the game but now with prozone and so on they have become the new gloss. Tbf to Pards he's a bit like an unpolished Mourinho who has had his fair shair of very static and defensive formations (remember how Chelsea used to lob it to Drogba a lot?) Just that a lot of Mou's overfocused research (see all his assistants and their number crunching - Clarke etc) is gilded with teams full of stars. P like Mourinho is only interested in winning football. Even now two sprinters wait on the half way line (Benzema and one other) while the whole team defends. P still really wants Carroll as the focus, that should tell you everything. What a bunch of tripe, Pards consistently produced attacking, creative football teams with much lesser sides. How on earth do you compare this to Allardyce? Is this the chalk and cheese thread? Well said Stu. There's been some utter gargage spouted in this thread recently but to compare the current Premier League manager of the season to big Sam is laughable.

Never understood it, particularly in "premium" areas where a ticket can cost almost a pound a minute. Perhaps it's claustrophobia or chronic alcoholism.

Anyone owning up to leaving early and missing the winning goal yet ?

Doesn't add up mate. No correlation whatsoever between class/education and swearing nowadays.

The bloke behind me had spent the entire game berating him for hanging onto it too long. Rubbish match and we certainly didn't deserve to win. I fully expected them to grab the late goal. I was over the moon when they took Lukaku off, he was getting right on my nerves. The prospect of seeing us perform like that an Anfield does not excite me. Aye, their significant height advantage had me fearing the worst as they had a few corners and free kicks in dangerous positions towards the end. Made the eventual victory even sweeter though

Just watched the 60 minute highlights, and I think this is a good point. It didn't look to me like it was just a matter of us playing badly. They're a good side whose position in the league isn't a false one. Yes, convincing wins against Liverpool and Everton, a draw at Spurs and a very unlucky defeat to Man City prove they are no mugs. They certainly gave us a very difficult time yesterday. So far this season they are arguably the best side in the league outside of the so called "big clubs".