DJ_NUFC

We don't have a McLaren gif / face smiley yet?

Pardiola concurs.

Aye, because transfers in the Serie A have always made total sense. The league has always had serious issues with recycling and longevity. Their managerial rigmarole makes our very own look like a weekend circle jerk.

Since we're talking about Jack in the Anita thread and Anita in the Jack thread, I personally think Anita would have (and still could) succeed under McLaren's plans if McLaren hadn't bottled things elsewhere on the pitch. Giving Colo a new contract, not signing more defenders, and playing Obertan, Colback and Cisse alone up top making things ludicrously stretched in the middle of the park.

Hey pal he's just joined a Champion's League club. Probably wanted out of Italy because the fans were showing up to games "blacked up". It's a backwards move which ever way you look at it. Gone to an inferior league, to an inferior side. A convenient, Ashley-esque narative which glosses over the fact that he did pretty freaking well in his time at Roma.

That's stomach-churningly disgusting, so I'm pretty sure it's true. These fucking wankers.

We need to try this guy at CB. Has scored a few headers in his time here, surely he can win a couple.

Yeah, many of these, or similar themes, have been popular this year.

Provence apparently is the word of God when it comes to these things.

Balowheresmytelli

That Brewce anecdote further solidifies HBA's God status

If McLaren wastes the talents of Aarons and Perez he would've fashioned some noose to hang himself with.

I nominate this conversation for the Most Tedious Argument Award come end of year. Fuckin' hell.

As someone mentioned before, the stench of Pardewism lingers on. Incredibly lowered expectations and this blinding need to support McLaren in every decision he makes in a bid to seem fair is resulting in a collective that seems anything but. Any decent manager would've watched all our games last year during the summer off and realized that half the team needs an overhaul, with 6-7 players needed, especially with a healthy competition of places at the back. That McLaren failed to do this or, if he did and then failed to convince the hierarchy, is something he should be held accountable for. Nobody's bringing out the pitchforks, but to persist with the same dross from last season and expecting them to work miracles is not what a new manager makes. Anyways, bring on the next two games. Fuck's sake. What a fucking ridiculously shitty start to the season, having to contend with Obertan, Colo and Colback starting week in, week out.

Ambition. Never said those things under his mate Carver.

This whole "McLaren needs to make the same mistakes Pardew and Carver made to realize who is shit" is baffling. Did SBR persevere with Ruud Gullit's tactics and selections just to see what wasn't working? Heck, even Big Sam forced Ashley into a bunch of signings just so he could put his own stamp on things right at the beginning. Clean slate for Colo, Colback and Obertan = a relegation battle. Which means had the club not released Jonas and Raylor they would be starting as well? He should've spent the summer watching games of our last campaign and realizing we need a full squad with 2 players competing for each position, starting at the very least in defence. And he's failed at convincing his own bosses about that, there is no way around this fact.

Putting on a striker for McLaren's golden child with only a few mins to go. Sigh.

Gary Monk said he wanted 2 players for every position and that's what they got. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how a real club is run. How McLaren has not realized we needed an entirely new defence when he walked in and demanded it, I'll never know.

Even commentators saying everyone in the ground knew Janmaat was gonna get sent off and that the manager essentially bottled a big decision.

I'm kicking myself right now. Dropped Cazorla for Depay a few hours ago Fuck me.

And instead he plays one of the most hated. That's the major issue, really. Aye. Nobody would've minded Ayoze being benched for someone substantially better. Get real, man. I think many of us are just sick and tired of seeing our best players continually left on the bench for utter dross, as this was a constant under the Pardew and Carver eras. Can't blame us for bringing up the point that this lad deserves to start, along with Aarons, based solely on last season and pre-season showings. Too early to get daggers out for McLaren, but nothing wrong with stating an opinion.

I was under the impression that he wanted to peg the full backs back by offering our own threat down the wings (albeit only in the form of pace in Obertan's case). His plan was clearly to try and push Southampton into their own half due to the potential speed we had on the transition. That isn't a Pardewesque mentality at all. Which I'd, of course, be happy with. In that case, the sooner he realises that Aarons is the better option for all of the above, the better.

N'Zogbia vs. Duff, HBA vs. Gosling/Raylor/Pardew's Mom all over again, tbh.

The quotes call into question McLaren's mentality. Speaking about nullifying not only the threat of Soton's RM, but their fucking RB as well? That's what's dictating the call for picking Obertan over Aarons, because Obertan can somehow DEFEND better against Cedric? A strong whiff of the Pardewesque, defeatest mentality if that's what he actually means. And whatever the fuck he actually meant with those quotes, there is simply no reason at all for starting Obertan over Aarons or even a poodle.