Zero

I am very pleased with him. He has everything we want for a midfielder. It's a robbery at 5m.

OK I am coming to defend for this poor guy (and ironically I am also the first who said do not expect too much from him after the first game) He needs time to change his play style, which he learnt during his time at Man Utd. You have to understand he has been "fine-tuned" by Alex Ferguson to be a "squad rotation player" for Man Utd. The first rule for him at that time is DO NOT LOSE POSSESSION CHEAPLY. Pass to others to create spaces for the star players is often preferable than dribbling yourself. If you do not follow this rule, you won't get any play time. For example, Park was a great dribbler during his time at PSV, but he rarely dribble after joining Man Utd. In other words, he is not allowed to take on the opponents when he has an option to pass to the star players. If you can understand this, you would not be surprised by his decision last night. The problem is we expect him to be a star because obviously he has the tools. He has pace, strength and nice touch and skills. I still think he could be the one, but we have to invest lots of playing time because he has to adjust. If you aren't willing to do so or you expect immediate return, give him up then.

I think the problem was in midfield rather than on the left. Even if we played Santon, he would still be forced to defend 1 on 1 against SWP which was probably too much for him to handle. So if you say why don't he change the tactics at HT to nullify SWP's threat, then my response was that should he drop Tiote? He doesn't need to drop Tiote, he needs to drop one of the big plank strikers who only get the ball from 50 yard punts down the pitch in any case. Drop Shola and put Marveaux in there to fill the massive gap between the midfield and the forwards. Get the full backs to carry the ball and support the midfield. Get the goalkeeper to throw the ball to the full backs once in a while. These are all things the manager should be doing as part of his job. Maybe he'll read this and a lightbulb will go on in his head. Agree with most of what you said, but my point is, Tiote was so terrible that his mistakes put a lot more pressure on Raylor and Cabaye, and this could not be eliminated by just adding one more midfielder because ultimately it's his job to mark Taarabt. Dropping Tiote is not an easy decision and I give him that, as well as playing Raylor instead of Santon last night. The other decisions are fucking horrible and I expect changes asap.

Aye, I would much rather he said "3 of the back 4 were brilliant, but one of them, who I won't name was terrible, really really poor game from him." Until he recognises and acknowledges the fact that we are keeping clean sheets in spite of Raylor not because of him, he's not going to lose his place in the side. There are ways to say we defended well, which actually we didn't, we rode our luck and QPR don't have the quality up front required for this divsion, like "We defended well as a team tonight, our defence has been really strong. SWP gave us a tough test tonight but we held firm and kept a clean sheet". If he plays Raylor at LB on Saturday I will quote this and say you were right. IMO, I just think it's another morale boosting comment from Pards, on FM Ryan Taylor would be PR= Delighted with Alan Pardew's post match comments. No way he will be stupid enough not to start Santon, is there..............? Same. He could criticize Raylor during training. Criticize his own player to the media is never an option, unless he is JFK.

I understand your feeling. The decision not to introduce one more midfielder at HT cannot be defended. I was hoping at least Guthrie could come out to help a bit and take Shameobi away. Fucking hell.

I think the problem was in midfield rather than on the left. Even if we played Santon, he would still be forced to defend 1 on 1 against SWP which was probably too much for him to handle. So if you say why don't he change the tactics at HT to nullify SWP's threat, then my response was that should he drop Tiote?

If we see any difference it will be because the players adapt by themselves when more technical players are introduced. I don't see any hint of active coaching to get us to play from the back like Keegan did when he was trying to undo Fat Sam's brainwashing. If what he's doing is a plan which to gradually introduce the new players to English football it's not a very good one. I'm sure Cabaye and the like would prefer to play on the deck. it also disturbs me when i heard pardew speak last season about giving tiote more licence to go foward in the future, for f*** sake! dont f*** up the game of one player that we genuine need to depend upon. tiote's game is solely to be the destroyer thats what he's great at, dont f*** around with him and tell him to go foward when he doesnt need to. we have other players for that. having said all this tiote werent much f***ing good playing deep either last night, i dont know what was wrong with him last night. Given Tiote's current form, we are doing a kamikaze if Cabaye didn't play that deep. If you remember last match (if you have watched it), notice how many fucking times Tiote let Taarabt free to receive and turn to run? Part of the reason why Raylor had a nightmare was because Taarabt was free in the middle and able to make direct pass to SWP. I agree Cabaye should be the player who goes forward instead of Tiote, but at this moment we deadly need Cabaye to play deep there. If we want a player to go forward, we'd better play Vuckic or Guthrie and drop Tiote.

I was extremely disappointed that he settled for just 1 point against QPR. Yea I know it's away and we have a number of key players unfit/not available but if we didn't pick out these points we are wasting our decent start. We are in a very good position for a top 6 finish FFS. That said, credit where it's due, our defense are playing extremely well considering it's Raylor on the left. A particular highlight is that obviously Saylor/Coloccini has formed a great understanding with Krul. There were a few times that Krul comes out very aggressively to block opponent's shots while Saylor was running back to the goal and Coloccini was marking the other opponents. This will only works if they knew what exactly they should do at that moment. I remember there are quotes that Pardew is mainly responsible for the defense while Carver is responsible for the attack. If this is true, then good job Pards. And now, please solve out the attack, which is not difficult - just don't play Ameobi, or play 5 midfielders if we are away.

It sounds ridiculous to me as well but may be he needs a rest on the bench for a few games?

Fair play if he thinks Santon should make his debut at home to ease him in. No more excuse though.

If we are just playing for one point, why start out with two forwards? Terrible decision Pards.

What happen to Tiote btw? He nearly missed all his passes, I mean, all.

Shola must be subbed asap. He offers nothing, absolutely nothing.

I think Obertan played ok as well, just not productive enough as a winger.

Santon for amoebi would work.

Williamson signed a 5 yr contract last season I remember?

Rather than comparing them, I would say they are the ideal striking partnership every team in the world would like to have. Shearer as the main striker and Rooney playing behind him as a supporting cast. That is World-Cup winning quality. Sadly, the last partner Shearer had was Owen, and it's a very bad mix.

Shearer is a better striker, Rooney is an all-round attacker. I would rate them to be the same "level".

Positioning and game reading actually requires both intelligence and experience. Carroll is not well-trained in these aspects and that's why he is unable to contribute much during open play. We get the best out of him by mainly focusing on developing his physique and set-piece tactics, and now his weaknesses are fully exposed at Liverpool. It is our tactics that make him so unbeatable during last season but, is that the tactics we should continue to use or Liverpool and England should follow? A definite no for me. Carroll is in deep trouble because he needs lots of games to iron out his mental aspects but he won't be getting much time in Liverpool, which are targeting a top 4 finish this season. Could Liverpool and the fans be patient enough to train him up like a youth prospect again for 2-3 years? Nah...

Redicilous statement I always have serious doubt towards his injury record. Just think if an injury cause permanent damage to his left foot or reduce his leap, what's left? Carroll is WAY too one-dimensional.

Ashley is willing to accept 35m = Carroll is willing to accept 80k. You have to understand this. I would have him back for a sum lower than 10m. He doesn't worth any higher at this moment.

How many proven strikers will you get for £8m and 40k a week? Nah. I am not against making such a gamble. Just that if it turns out to be a failure, we shouldn't blame the club much for that. Obviously the club has more faith on Gameiro and Gervinho and thus willing to pay more than 10m.

It is a gamble for a player who just did well just 1-2 seasons in France. Remember Gomis, hyped as the new Drogba?

Import from South America is very risky. Take an example, Diego Forlan, completely rubbish and being mocked by everyone in UK during his time at Man Utd. Finally able to prove his talent and value at Spain. Still he is a failure when considering the deal... Javi Hernandez is another good example. I remember I read a story about him, saying while he was already very well-known for his talents at 17 or something, he was unable to keep up his progress and completely lose his confidence and form. This went so bad that he almost quit football, which he finally didn't because of family support. In the end he regained some of his form and able to break into the Maxican squad, before Man Utd bought him. This happened just 1 year before the bid. While he was shining in EPL, in fact he was very close to a drop-out before and you can see how volatile or, in other words, unreliable their attitude and determination are.

Agreed for the most part. I don't think anyone thinks we haven't done good business this summer on the lads we've brought in, but it's frustrating how much stronger we could be with just a little more investment. A lot of our deals this window probably broke down over a couple of million. I understand. But on the other hand, I couldn't deny that, say, paying 12m for Maiga or Ruiz involves huge risk. Remember the Brazilian Ace signed by Middlesbrough?