Cronky

Sherwood isn't exactly a classic example of a classy individual I think he over-played his hand when he gave that public bollocking to his players and started talking about them playing for their futures. As a caretaker, he needed to be a bit more circumspect.

My understanding was that Llambias got to know Pardew during his days at West Ham, and was the chief advocate for him getting the job here. I reckon the gambling debt story stems from a photo of Pardew, Llambias and Ashley together at Llambias's casino. Not much to build on, and I can't see Pardew being a heavy gambler anyway.

God its only been two years and Pep's Barca have been forgotten already.... I've not forgotten Barca. But Bayern look, at the least, just as effective.

It was very difficult for Arsenal to get any passing game going. I'm not sure I've seen a better side than Bayern at closing down the opposition all over the pitch.

What is he supposed to do like? There is very few keeping the ball for Arsenal and when he gets it he keeps it. They're all under pressure, but he looks beaten before he's started.

Ozil looks a very sorry figure out there. Like he'd much rather be somewhere else.

Yeah, having not won an FA cup in ever, Stevenage, Brighton and Cardiff were all able to rise above that all pervading pressure and knock us out. Well my original point was that we are under more pressure than other clubs because of a) our comparative size, which leads to expectations of success and b) our history of failure, which creates tension.

I’d say there was pressure, and it’s all pervading. It doesn’t suddenly kick in when the players are about to play a particular cup tie. It’s there in the media and amongst the supporters, and it finds its way to the manager and those running the club. There is then a knock-on effect to the players. It’s a fairly common occurrence in the sporting field, isn’t it? The longer these barren spells go on, the more difficult it becomes to break the duck.

Your mate said so: Your other mate keeps on saying we treat the cups exactly the same as every other club, despite recent results suggesting the contrary. You haven't read my post properly, I've made it clear that I realise it's not as straightforward as team selection. Our top 4 or 5 players do seem to repeatedly miss cup ties though, which can't help. I must have dreamt 2 FA Cup finals, an FA Cup semi final, a UEFA cup semi final, and a few other quarter finals in the 10 years before Ashley bought the club. 19 Premier League teams that have done better than us in the cups, and various Football League clubs. Why? Many on here are arguing that it's because we in fact do not treat the cups the same as every other club, we treat them with less respect (in terms of team selection, tactics, mentality, effort, etc) than any other club and this is reflected in our results. The only alternative reason I've seen from any of you is "the pressure that comes our way through being by far the biggest club not to have won any trophies for such a long period" which, although a novel one, is laughable. As if any of our players give a fuck about that when they're getting smashed by Brighton or Stevenage. So, on my point about the pressure that comes from not having won anything in such a long time - which the media harp on about all the time - are you saying that doesn't exist?

Since this post we beat Leeds at home, so it's gone up to 12 wins in 7 seasons, 10 of those against lower league sides. Our record against premier league sides (who are all resting players to the same level as we are of course) is: P12 W2 D1 L9 Translated to league form over a season = 22 pts Yeah. We try just as hard as everyone else. Also I'm not sure how people can say we rest exactly the same amount of key players as every other club. There's no actual proof for this, it's simply finger-in-the-air stuff. Well it’s all ‘finger in the wind’ in that case, isn’t it? Unless someone has got a formula which compares exactly how different teams are weakened by the omission of particular players, then it’s all going to be vague. And I haven't read anyone claiming that we field 'exactly' the same number of key players. The idea that because we’ve not done very well means we must have weakened the team ‘more’ is naïve. Other factors come into play, including the pressure that comes our way through being by far the biggest club not to have won any trophies for such a long period. We’ve consistently under-achieved in the Cups over the last 50 years – it predates Ashley by a long way. The financial cost of getting relegated, and the gains of being promoted, mean that Premiership and Championship clubs regularly prioritise their league against the cup. At the top end, the risk of losing a CL place means that the biggest clubs do the same thing. That's all I've seen people point out.

I'm a bit like that. I could go on and on about how we should put the money forward for better players. But then, on the odd occasion we break the mould and do so, I'm like... oh yeah... now Pards. If we're stupid/unambitious/'whatever you want to call it' enough to put our trust in Pardew - we should be signing players that are tailored to him, so he can get the best out of them. But then I suppose: quality flair players + a shite manager = 8th. So it works for em. Ashley's got it perfect atm. It's why I can't, for the life of me, understand it when people reckon the guy might get sacked. He is doing the perfect job. Are you seriously saying that Ashley has deliberately appointed a bad manager so that we don't finish higher than 8th?

What do you think he's thinking? I don't know. Sometimes he acts on sentiment and impulse, sometimes he's hard-headed and calculating. What a safe answer. What do you think Ashley's vision for the club is? When you say 'people know what he's thinking', I'm assuming you're referring to those who are convinced that he has no ambition beyond survival/advertising SD... don't you agree with that? Not trying to be an arse, btw. I'd say his plan was to be as successful as possible within the discipline of balancing the books, through a productive youth system, keeping a rein on wages, and a discriminating transfer policy of buying players whose value is likely to increase rather than decrease. He said that right at the start. The club and Pardew have come out with various statements which have been interpreted very negatively. Aiming to finish in the top eight every season is seen as not interested in finishing above 8th, whereas it actually means 8th is the minimum. Prioritising the league against the cups is seen as not interested in winning a cup, whereas every single club in the Premiership prioritises the league in the same way and for similar reasons. The mixed feelings about the Europa Cup - which I think come as much from Pardew as the Board - have some validity. But because Ashley is hated and distrusted, it all becomes part of some evil masterplan to keep us in exactly the same position that we are now.

Excuse the pun , there really shouldn't be a "but" in this post. Behind closed doors is a completely different kettle of fish n'est ce pas? I thought my post made it clear that there was a difference between the two types of incident. The second part of my comment is in response to this statement by Rob Lee - 'I’ve seen managers throw things and make some serious threats in a dressing room. They don’t tend to go through with them. I have been thinking about this. I honestly can’t remember any manager actually grabbing hold of a player. Managers back in the day, when things were different, could turn the air blue with their language. They could talk of hitting someone in the middle of a massive argument, but they have all managed to reign themselves back in before things got silly.'

What do you think he's thinking? I don't know. Sometimes he acts on sentiment and impulse, sometimes he's hard-headed and calculating.

On Rob Lee's article - I agree that it's an unusual and serious incident, because Pardew failed to restrain himself in public, and a head butt is a rather yobbo-ish gesture. But there are examples of things getting physical in the dressing room. Sir Bob himself was involved in a fist fight with a couple of players in his early days as Ipswich manager.

I'd love him here, but the fact that we would be interested and the possibility of him being interested in us is just laughable. Yep, agreed. In the unlikely event of Man U wanting to part with him, he'd go to a CL club.

It's hard to compare eras, because the club changed completely during the course of the Keegan - Hall era, and of course at the same time English football changed with the Premier league. Previously, we'd been left behind by other clubs, and ended up as a yo-yo club with an under-developed stadium, despite the strong local support. Unfortunately, by the time we'd caught up, it was an era when it was far more difficult to win trophies, and certain clubs were beginning to monopolise the top places and the trophies. Expectations have changed. The nineties opened up the possibility of actually winning the league, whereas before - although that dream was there - we were more content with minor successes. Previously, we never came close to winning the league and only appeared in two cup finals, but we cherished those good moments like Supermac's hat-trick against Liverpool. Personally, I wouldn't want to go back to the old times. Basically, the standard of football is so much better now. I don't mean us in particular, I mean generally. There's a relentless pessimism about this board at the moment, which I don't share. I'm not filled with joyous optimism either, but it's not as though previous regimes - even the one where we were spending big money - have brought us trophies. And lots of people on here seem to know exactly what Ashley is thinking and exactly what's going to happen in the future. Let's just see.

FFP - RIP.

He certainly looks like he could, but he doesn't get used in that way for club or country. I'd say there are better midfield players ahead of him. He looks a good all-rounder, but not one to make an impact at the very highest level.

There's a problem here, because in the current squad we don't have anyone who is naturally good at protecting the back four. If anyone gets past our midfield, then they stay past. The best available candidate is Barry IMO, but if he stood any chance of making the squad, he'd have done so by now. Personally, I'd pick him, but there's no chance of it happening. In his absence, I'd have Wishere, Ox and Gerrard as my midfield three, but other options like Lallana and Barkley run them very close.

Fully agree with this. Rooney and Gerrard are too similar in that they both need to operate in space and be on the ball constantly. I think Rooney is at his best as a withdrawn striker in a 4-4-2, but he can still be effective in any of the forward positions in a 4-3-3. Basically, he's too good to leave out.

I thought Rooney had a poor game, by his standards. Maybe Fergie was right to worry about his fitness. He didn't look 100%.

MP in attention-seeking gesture shock.

We created a lot going forward and were unlucky to only get one, I thought. The defence still looks very shaky. No leadership there and not much cover from the midfield. I just fear that a good side will go right through us.

It should be Man City, but I just think the Special One will find a way of doing it.