Stu

This is going to be my sig. But is it cheap champagne though? I'd settle for Lambrini at this point. I'd settle for Tesco's brand OJ Football at the moment tbh. isn't that what we're getting at the moment? Reckon we're supping on Netto value-brand juice right now like. Not sure what kind of juice though. Someone think of a predictable, unadventurous and defensively minded fruit. Edit - It has to be an ineffective fruit too. Bar, the drink is actually somewhat expensive (we splashed out in January dontchaknow!) but it's being served in old skins, which cheapens the taste and keeps it lukewarm.

Oh noes, the SMB has become this thread. All south of the wearyside appear to be infected. First sign: calling out other 'fans' for having an opinion. Second sign: declaring war on each other's letter boxes and jaws. Do you think Pardew enjoys a few after work drinks on a Friday too? A chance to forget about his worries and romance a few unsuspecting females...?

I'm not sure he could spot a good coach, or even if he did wouldn't be threatened by him. He'd much rather have around him people he knows are below him and have no chance of challenging him. What brings you to this conclusion? f*** off muppet. RTGtastic A lot of the stuff I've read on here the past couple of days has been tbh. Depressing. You when lose to the SMB, become you the SMB

Can't believe we've not got any nominations (again). Southern media bias

nope, just has to be on the line

Me dad says he's a stand-up guy Your dad's probably on the wind-up, being your dad as he is and all. He didn't wind anyone up about January

Me dad says he's a stand-up guy

this would have been a good call [/hindsight]

Clueless. Hi Michael

Hauled off, marra.

What did he say? Pardew is a salesman who deceives the supporters.

Missing a bit of his bite in the midfield.

They scored a goal. It's the basic principle behind football.

Thought it was incredibly entertaining

Mignolet winning the battle of the keepers; has been exceptional.

5/6 on B365 for first card before 24mins. Buying money?

Hibernian v Falkirk 0-3 at HT, just been pulled back to 3-3. Scottish Cup semi IIRC

What a crock this was, the cardiff equaliser in the last minute Followed up on Weds night with: Bank = 45pts 1 BTTS Barcelona v PSG @ 8/11 2 BTTS Juventus v Bayern Munich @ 8/13 3 Brentford @ 1/1 4 Rochdale @ 5/4 1pt trebles 1pt 4-fold 5pts staked. Bank = 40pts Shame about Juve but this returned 7.78pts overall. First winning night Skipped Thursday and went straight to the NRL on Friday morning: Bank = 47.78pts 1 Brisbane Broncos @ 18/25 2 Sydney Roosters @ 3/5 5pt double. 5pts staked. Bank = 42.78pts

I don't understand, it's as if he deliberately missed the tl;dr I put on at the end...

Arsenal -1 and Villa to draw looking likely.

That's shite man, you just said "whats your problem" and then didn't explain the was aimed at the bit in bold.

Are you sharing the same bed as Neesy this week? Stu, care to expand on the bits in bold, such as why you think we can't play attacking, passing football with the players we have in the squad (regardless of injuries)? Clearly i'm in the "pardew doesn't know how to coach it" camp but if it's something you yearn for, yet still retain some hope for pardew, you must think something else is holding us back again genuine question, not looking for a bite or anything Stu fancy throwing an answer at this, as i said honestly interested in your viewpoint Regardless of injuries? I think there's evidence from last season that we do try and do that when the gameplan calls for it (IMO, any team outside the top 6 at home and the bottom 8 or so away from home). The reasons why this season has been so stop-start has been well discussed (in this very thread) but suffice to say, with no Europa league to interfere with the weekly routine and a better squad (depth and quality) then a decent start will allow Pardew the confidence to gameplan like he did from March-May last season. I think this season has set him back, mentally, as he's having to deal with some of the 'negativity' that comes with a disappointing season. There was a point, Reading (h), where he was in danger of losing a lot of his support in the home crowd but he was man enough to come out and admit he made some mistakes and that he'd learnt from them. The 'purple' players (i.e. first XI) are all but here now: Krul, Santon, MYM, STaylor, Debuchy, Tiote, Cabaye, Gouffran, Sissoko, HBA, Cisse. He's then got the like of Jonas, Marveaux, Haidaira and Anita to push for places and ensure there's not the same level of complacency that we seemed to experience from September-December. With only one, maybe two, games a week we shouldn't suffer the same list of injuries and be forced into chopping and changing. That said, I think he's going to be trying to keep it very tight early on in the season (not too dissimilar to how we began this season) and make us hard to beat - once the players have the confidence and the new season beneath their feet, he's more likely to loosen up and 'gameplan' as above (rigid and disciplined at home to the Euro sides and away to all of the top half; opening up more against the non Euro teams at home and away to the struggling teams). I don't know if 'coaching' the players to attack and pass is one of Pardew's strong points, or something he considers too much; with the flair players we potentially have to pick from, there's nothing to say we can't win games by defending as a unit and breaking with 3/4 individuals (Sissoko and Gouffran have definitely helped us with this). After a player reaches 20/21, how much development can he actually do in terms of tactics or is it mostly experience which is gained at the top level? tldr; I don't think Pardew needs to necessarily coach the players on how to attack but we'll benefit from having a stronger squad and a more consistent lineup from Aug-Dec which will give Pardew the confidence to allow the flair players more freedom.

On a serious note, wasn't his next job Fulham in division two? What's your problem? It was a question, think Mojorisin answered above

On a serious note, wasn't his next job Fulham in division two?