Theregulars

But by your 'what-if?' logic, we could just as easily have picked up more points. Taking the last few performances as a sample: Mackem game - had Mike Dean been a fit and proper person to referee a game of football, we would have had more than one penalty, Demba hit the Ba (sorry), Mignolet made a good save from Coloccini... Norwich game - Ruddy pulled off a blinding save from Ba, good save from Cisse, and Cisse should have scored another at the start. Wolves game - In the frst 15 minutes, with better finishing, we could have been 4 up. Saying that a better team than X would have scored more/it would have been worse on the day is useless as an analytical tool because it can be very easily flipped on its head theoretically to back up the opposite argument.

Completely disagree. Can think of many victories where we won scrappy games by one goal and then defended for our lives with the majority - Sunderland away, Everton at home and Fulham at home being a few that come to mind at first, as well as the awe-inspiring early season football that we witnessed in (what seemed so at the time) getting a good point away from home at QPR. There was a lot of 'percentage football', last-ditch defending and luck in those games too. That we've showed poorer form since the early season run, in my opinion, is down to: - injuries/absences (particularly to Steven Taylor and Cheik Tiote) - the squad at the beginning of the season overperforming - some truly shit refereeing AS MUCH AS it had to do with Pardew's increasingly negative tactics - I don't disagree with you on this point, we have been more prone to long-ball and stodgy football since 0-3 at home to Chelsea.

Not this s*** again man. Obviously if anyone looks at the league table they say "well toon fans must be delighted". However our fans have actually watched all our matches this season. Huh? Reread. Im asking our fans who should be happier, not what they think. The respective ability of the sides above us to keep possession & dominate games has been highlighted in this thread & used as evidence we underperform under Pardew. Yet many would agree those 2 sides have underperformed in terms of picking up points for the quality of their squad, in comparison to how we have done. So should people be more dissapointed with our attacking play than satisfied with our strengths in other areas? Many seem to be. So true. So many people on here when our fans got/get derided in the media for "demanding an attacking brand of football"/"the Geordies would rather lose 4-3 than win 1-0" claimed that to be the media ganging up on us/not knowing their arse from their elbow/talking shit etc. Now we have a manager under whom for the majority of the season we have ground out scrappy, 1-0 wins with good team defending, as well as good football and some great goals in part, and so many people on here are complaining about it. Yeah, take your point, the football isn't particularly inspiring and with out first XI there's room for improvement and it's frustrating to see that denied us, but at the end of the day you're living up to the stereotypes that David Craig, Louise Taylor et al set for us having bashed them as inaccurate in the first place. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Pardew can have us playing a formation of 10-0-0 for all I care as long as keep winning, because as a fan of Newcastle United I love it when we win. I'm a fan of Newcastle United first, and tasty football involving Newcastle United second.

I've given up listening to him, talks like a politician. So do most managers and players in post-match interviews due to media training and requirements preached to clubs at board level.

He played very narrow but he and Gutierrez were at the hub of most of our attacks. They linked up well as a pair down that side. This. If Ruddy doesn't make that save, Lots of people on here would say Cabaye had a decent game for that beautiful assist. Yes he's had better games for us, but today he was just necessarily solid and did his job. I actually think Guthrie was poor, caught in possession a lot and wasteful.

I meant in terms of getting our first win in 5 games. For me that lifts morale when compared to a draw/loss.

I think the situation is best summarised by just acknowledging that he's, at best, a lower-end-of-the-table Premier League right back or a Championship one. Nowhere near as bad as people on here make out, but at best I'd call him competent. I concur with the sentiment that if we want to kick on as regular European contenders there shouldn't be a place for him in the side, barring a Perch-esque improvement.

I actually think considering how Norwich have done this season it was a pretty good result, and personally I totally expected a performance like that. I don't mind the grittiness or the non-carpet football (provided we win), but what got my goat were all the stupid little mistakes. The dalliances in possession, the misplaced passes, falling over etc. I'd love carpet football all game but sometimes a decent opposition stops you from doing it, as I think partially happened today. Hard-working, morale-lifting and well-fought 3 points against a decent, industrious and praiseworthy mid-table side. I'll take that.

I'm not going to lambast him as we're still in the hunt for Europe, but I certainly will acknowledge that I'd like to see us play better football and not shut up shop when we score in the first ten minutes.

Perch MOTM for me. Otherwise an awful game, but win's a win.

Think we can get a result but I see us conceding at least 2. Don't fancy Danny Simpson or Mike Williamson against their style of football at all. A few weeks ago I would have said we could win but they've been phenomenal of late, and RVP is ridiculous. I know hoofball sucks but anything which keeps the ball away from their midfield for extend periods will be a plus. Also think their midfield three will overrun Tiote and Cabaye if we play 4-4-2 - this happened at home to Wolves, and they're shit.

Yeh must admit I'm normally positive but this has been utter guff.

Don't remember us scoring from a corner all season. Did so in the equivalent of this fixture

What pleasure can you get from moronic posts like this? It's a joke, you burke.

That was good by Hatem the saviour.

Yikes I was wrong.

The issue is that they've had the vast majority of the play and the possession for the last 40 minutes or so, allowing them that chance. We've lacked urgency and quality despite playing a team winless in 9, in the bottom 3, and without a permanent manager. THAT is the problem. I agree that I'd like a bit more urgency. Other teams are alwaysg going to have chances and shots on goal though. We have been poor but there's still time for us to take the reins when Wolves run out of chuff. Are you watching? Yes.

The issue is that they've had the vast majority of the play and the possession for the last 40 minutes or so, allowing them that chance. We've lacked urgency and quality despite playing a team winless in 9, in the bottom 3, and without a permanent manager. THAT is the problem. I agree that I'd like a bit more urgency. Other teams are alwaysg going to have chances and shots on goal though. We have been poor but there's still time for us to take the reins when Wolves run out of chuff.

Christ lads, it was a freak goal. Happens sometimes.

How many deflected goals do we concede

Just think at 2-0 we're happy to sit back and see what they've got - not sayinig I agree but I don't think it's spineless/gutless/shit etc etc. It's definitely boring mind. Think we can score more if we want to.

Forwards who aren't Shola

If it gets to 3-0 we may even see Ben Arfa.

That Jonas has no end product, mind. THUNDERBASTARD

Pardew hired as a way to pay back a gambling debt racked up in one of Dekka's casinos. Porked his (fat) daughter to get her to fall in love with him and propose and have Dekka call it off, plan fell through when he met Shola's sister. Thus he now works off the debt in the form of managing us for free, while Carroll was sold to meet Dekka's short- term cash flow issues. Yup.