CaliMag

I am a fan of Pardew but this season has been puzzling - I am not annoyed or angry just mystified. He is clearly trying new things and tweaking our formation every week - this is not entirely a bad thiing, but it isn't good either. I see that there is a lot of criticism about the players in this thread but I think we have a pretty good set of players right now and it's down to Pardew how inconsistant and poor most of them have been this season. Shola had a crap game today and it was entirely Pardew's fault for putting him out on the wing and trying something different well beyond his capabilities. Simpson had a poor game and was at fault for the goal but he had it all to do on the right as Shola did little to help him as an outlet and instead spent most of the time on a quiet stroll with WBA's LB. HBA was inconsistant today and this was because he was constantly adating to changes clearly made by Pardew. Play left wing, now start cutting inside more, now play on the right... meanwhile the rest of the team also has to adjust. As I mentioned in the match thread the changes he made in subs and formation were better but caused all sorts of chaos and it took time for the team to adapt. During that time they were running into eachother and trying to anticipate everyone's new roles but getting it wrong half the time and giving away possession. It was a mess. I would say the players coped well to what was clearly a confusing day at the office thanks to the boss.

I have not had a proper look around the site this evening, but I was totally bewildered and confused by what Pardew was trying to accomplish with our formation and I imagine this has already been done to death but here is my take: We were playing a 4-5-1 with HBA and Shola (WTF) playing on the extreme wings in the first half. Okay with HBA on the left finally we saw a couple of good crosses with his left foot... but what was Shola expected to do? He is not a winger and he left Simpson with everything to do on the right which is a foolish gamble. In the start of the second half I believe we all caught a glimpse of what that formation was supposed to do and that was have Shola knock the ball into the middle of the pitch for onrushing Ba or a midfielder... but why? And how about that midfield? We had Perch and Jonas playing DCM and yet Cabaye was behind them 90% of the time in the first half. I think we had a better formation out in the latter stages of the second half (jonas did well when slotted back to fullback) but the subs and the radical formation change totally unsettled our players and had them literally running into each other when attempting to maintain possession. I did not like whatever that was that Pardew had the players attempting in the first half and hopefully we will never see that type of formation and set of tactics again (especially at home FFS). We got lucky.

I also agree with Wullie, but think Neesy and Mick are big softies. It wasn't that cold (I say pissed and warm in bed).

Really looking forward to this. This will be my first game in ages.

Players can be easily booked if they're clearly wasting time. The clock is stopped for various reasons in Rugby and it works just fine there. It will quickly become apparent if there are issues with ball boys, and it could be dealt with very easily (in the same way they dealt with Stoke giving their ball boys team-specific instructions). The "opening doors to x" argument is nonsense and holds back the game. Theoretically players can be booked for dissent (as mentioned), but do they? No. Refs have limited power as it is. Rugby isn't football - differnet ruling bodies, enforcement culture, etc. The only real action I have seen against SToke (like pitch size) were made by UEFA and FIFA with the FA rolling over like the subserviant bitch that it is. If there are to be real changes I would start with enforcing the rules that already exist.

I think it is a terrible idea. Opens the doors to Time Outs - because essentially that is what you would have everytime the ball went out of play. The Manager could just pull a player aside with a clipboard and headset as soon as the ball was out of play. It would be American Football mk II. I doubt carding the players would help. The ball boys could be given instruction (like at the Brittania with hand towels) to waste time to give the manager more face time with the players. I see all sorts of abuse with this type of system that would essentially add an endless amount of time to the game and kill the very nature of football.

Probably Giggs, but I am *very* jealous of the Star Trek (the Original Series) lettering that Maritimo has on thier kits.

At DisneyLAND it's everynight.

... here we go. The second goal was well taken with power. Harper was well beaten as he was favoring the near post (not a mistake, but a decision). If he had acrobatically dove to the left after the shot was taken (a la Given last year) he would have looked stylish and still missed the shot ... as would Krul or just about any other keeper.

LOL a point that I will easily take. AND Harper was not that bad FFS. Both of the goals that counted were good ones and would have been very difficult to save. Not that anyone will listen because there will be more senseless Harper bashing for the next couple of days.

... but why was Nobby having a go at him? I am sure the gulf in effort/love/training in football was obvious for Nobby during the brief time they played together but still.

Too close for me. Brek Shea did nothing when he came on. Zusi should get another invite.

I do not like that back line. Bocanegra and Cherundolo will get done for pace and Cameron is not playing in his strongest position - although I guess Stoke will be playing him there. I am thinking this could be a 3-2 or 3-3 game. Nervous.

Any line up announced yet? Random comment - Pachuca (the team Jose Torres plays for) also play in Black and White.

Absolutely YES. Also please no Carlos Bocanegra. Torres in the middle won Pachuca 2 titles in Mexico - he is an excellent player and would be playing regularly for Mexico had he chose to do so.

I am with Mike - the dreds are difficult to forgive. Never liekd Lalas either.... probably similar bias.

And just as we say this Beckerman gives away the foul and then gives the ball a little deflection for the equalizer.

White guy with dreds, playing in Jamaica...

wut just happened?

Good luck passing a medical when injured.

This game could be the highest total goal tally of the weekend. We play though their soft middle and they hit us on the wings. My prediction 4-3... not sure who wins.

Again I disagree. Liverpool lost Torres and replaced him with Carroll and 15M (which you could argue they spent on Suarez). Chelsea overpaid, Liverpool broke even at worst IMHO, and we got a huge sack of cash. Its just ego holding the Liverpool Board back. Fletcher is in fact more valuable than Carroll due to the last couple of years. They won't get more than 15M and they are foolish for thinking so.

The Liverpool board need to get over that imaginary 20M loan loss thing. THey didn't lose a dime. They sold Torres and replaced him with Carroll AND Suarez. At the time the deal seemed canny. We benefitted from Chelsea and their Torres obsession, we (Newcastle) forced CHelsea to hand over a silly fee for Torres by being obstanant with Carroll. Liverpool didn't lose anything (other than pride). I think that as long as they are willing to buy a non-british player they could easily replace Carroll for 12m... with a player better suited to Rogers' preferences. As far as recouping the supposedly 35M? GTFOH.

So... did he get an official squad number? 49?

The ref may say no to that. Atromitos wears Blue & WHite stripes with blue shorts. I think the burgundy kit may be required.