Cronky

Very poor, by your standards, Parky.

I did a double take when I read about him not 'getting back' into football management. He scarcely dipped his toe in the water. I always felt that he was reluctant to commit the sacrifices that would be necessary to pursue a career in management. It must have a big impact on your personal life.

To get into the England squad, he'd have to show he's actually better than the current incumbents. Willo lacks pace and in any case, Hodgson will rightfully go for the younger players with potential like Smalling or Jones, all other things being equal. Willo is streetwise and uses his experience well, but he'd be found out at the very top level. And the way the game is played at international level, you really need centre backs who are mobile, rather than simply strong in the air.

That bit of extra security at the heart of our defence has been crucial. When he came on at half-time at Everton, our season turned around.

I wish he'd cut out the silly bookings. They are usually for rather petulant, hot-headed fouls which have no purpose other than to take out his frustration.

Moyes hasn't suddenly become a bad manager. But he's having to replace probably the best of all time, with a squad which doesn't bear comparison, player for player, with their main rivals. They are heavily dependent on Rooney, and in his absence, they look upper mid-table rather than CL. Along with the pressure that goes with playing for Man U, that's quite a set of problems. Personally, I hope Moyes comes through it. I've always liked him.

Immense game today, both in the air and (surprisingly) on the ground too.

A deserved victory, and having been there in 1972, an extra special one for me. Man U looked a very ordinary side without Rooney, and if we'd been able to pass the ball a bit better, we could have got 2 or 3 more goals after the first. Willo was a tower of strength and confidence at the back. I've not seen him play better. Hatem did very well too. Played very sensibly and got us going forward.

Rooney has been carrying that team for a long while now, and his absence gives us a chance.

In practice, I don't think many defenders do attempt to block shots with their arms behind their back. Obviously it's very difficult to move quickly that way. I'd agree with Ian, in that I wouldn't want to see a penalty or free kick every time the ball hits the hand / arm. There really is such thing as accidental handball, though I admit there's a large grey area. I'm not sure what the official referrees' guidance says in this kind of ball-to-hand situation, but my feeling is that if the ref feels that a defender has used his arms to spread himself and make a bigger barrier, then that's a foul. If his arm is in a natural position given his movement, then that's no foul. Obviously if there's a deliberate movement of hand to ball, that's a foul.

Yeah, me too. There was an incident where he was isolated and Dyer had a free run at him. Santon would have stood no chance, but Haidara managed to stay goal side. He made some over-ambitious passes going forward, but otherwise looked decent in attack as well. He looks to have a confident temperament and I'm sure he'll keep improving if given chances.

I thought he made the right decision with a yellow. Many refs would have succumbed to pressure from the crowd and given a red. The two penalty claims were both a bit marginal. Some you get, some you don't. It wasn't much of a push, and those handballs where a shot gets blocked can go either way. The only really poor decision was the Shelvey head-butt. I can only assume he didn't see it. Williams was a blatant handball, arms were all over the place. Both arms above his head, just scandalous it wasn't given. That one was a tough spot, in real time. I don't think anyone noticed it until the TV replays after the game, did they? I didn't see any appeals from the players. The linesman was 10 yards from it. As well as four of our own players. If neither they, nor anyone else, spotted it, is it too much of a surprise that the linesman missed it too? It only seemed to graze his arm. Officials aren't blessed with superhuman powers, or slow-motion replays from a variety of angles. Well an official ten yards directly behind a ball with a clear view of the Swansea CB raising both hands above his head deflecting the ball as it was crossed. Yeah i can see why he didn't spot it. And fwiw the player who crossed it (gouff) appealed immediately. It didn't look like much of an appeal to me, but in any case, you're deliberately avoiding the point. You can only call a decision 'scandalous' or a 'disgrace' if it's blatant and the official has a clear view. That cannot be described as blatant. How can it not be blatant (a blatant pen, a blatant wrong decision), take your pick, if he has a clear view from ten yards away, and the player he is looking at has his hands above his head, and that player deflects the cross with those raised hands. It's blatantly wrong......avoiding what question by the way, wasn't aware you asked one. Are you blind to what you saw ? I'm not sure there's much more I can add here. I can remember getting into similar arguments when Mark Halsey didn't send McManaman off last year. For me, there is a huge difference between making a quick decision, in real time, from an often imperfect viewpoint and with the right degree of certainty (which is what officials have to do) and making a decision made at leisure after the event, based on a slow motion replay, with a camera with a zoom lens at the best possible angle (which is what we can do in our living rooms). If, with that sort of hindsight, a decision is shown to be wrong, it doesn't follow that the official is incompetent. I am far more often surprised at how often Premiership officials get their decisions right, rather than wrong. It really is not an easy job.

I thought he made the right decision with a yellow. Many refs would have succumbed to pressure from the crowd and given a red. The two penalty claims were both a bit marginal. Some you get, some you don't. It wasn't much of a push, and those handballs where a shot gets blocked can go either way. The only really poor decision was the Shelvey head-butt. I can only assume he didn't see it. Williams was a blatant handball, arms were all over the place. Both arms above his head, just scandalous it wasn't given. That one was a tough spot, in real time. I don't think anyone noticed it until the TV replays after the game, did they? I didn't see any appeals from the players. The linesman was 10 yards from it. As well as four of our own players. If neither they, nor anyone else, spotted it, is it too much of a surprise that the linesman missed it too? It only seemed to graze his arm. Officials aren't blessed with superhuman powers, or slow-motion replays from a variety of angles. Well an official ten yards directly behind a ball with a clear view of the Swansea CB raising both hands above his head deflecting the ball as it was crossed. Yeah i can see why he didn't spot it. And fwiw the player who crossed it (gouff) appealed immediately. It didn't look like much of an appeal to me, but in any case, you're deliberately avoiding the point. You can only call a decision 'scandalous' or a 'disgrace' if it's blatant and the official has a clear view. That cannot be described as blatant.

I thought he made the right decision with a yellow. Many refs would have succumbed to pressure from the crowd and given a red. The two penalty claims were both a bit marginal. Some you get, some you don't. It wasn't much of a push, and those handballs where a shot gets blocked can go either way. The only really poor decision was the Shelvey head-butt. I can only assume he didn't see it. Williams was a blatant handball, arms were all over the place. Both arms above his head, just scandalous it wasn't given. That one was a tough spot, in real time. I don't think anyone noticed it until the TV replays after the game, did they? I didn't see any appeals from the players. The linesman was 10 yards from it. As well as four of our own players. If neither they, nor anyone else, spotted it, is it too much of a surprise that the linesman missed it too? It only seemed to graze his arm. Officials aren't blessed with superhuman powers, or slow-motion replays from a variety of angles.

I thought he made the right decision with a yellow. Many refs would have succumbed to pressure from the crowd and given a red. The two penalty claims were both a bit marginal. Some you get, some you don't. It wasn't much of a push, and those handballs where a shot gets blocked can go either way. The only really poor decision was the Shelvey head-butt. I can only assume he didn't see it. Williams was a blatant handball, arms were all over the place. Both arms above his head, just scandalous it wasn't given. That one was a tough spot, in real time. I don't think anyone noticed it until the TV replays after the game, did they? I didn't see any appeals from the players.

I thought he made the right decision with a yellow. Many refs would have succumbed to pressure from the crowd and given a red. The two penalty claims were both a bit marginal. Some you get, some you don't. It wasn't much of a push, and those handballs where a shot gets blocked can go either way. The only really poor decision was the Shelvey head-butt. I can only assume he didn't see it.

I was disappointed he put on Obertan rather than Sammy. Some would say there's not much difference, but with that chance where Obertan was fed in and the ball got caught under his feet, I'd have fancied Sammy to have got a shot away. Putting on Obertan was a very risk-averse decision. Mbiwa for Willo didn't make much sense either unless Willo was injured.

We needed to get the second goal, which could have gone either way. Still, we've ridden our luck in recent weeks and this time it went against us. I thought Remy was poor tonight, wasting one or two good situations. I'd like us to persist with Haidara. Santon is far too easy to nullify going forward down the left, and isn't that great defensively.

Gouffy isn't putting in quite the work rate that we usually expect. Can't blame him, he's been running himself into the ground. But Santon's getting very exposed and their right wing is getting lots of space.

Strange game, because despite Swansea's domination of possession and better passing, we looked the more likely to score. A bit of a rick by Krul. I feel we're a bit stuck now. Anita could add a bit of fresh energy, but the only real game-changer we can add to the attack is Sammy, and obviously he's inexperienced. Next goal is crucial.

I've never heard any other manager say what Martinez has said. Of course, he may be right in saying that it's better in the long term to stick to a philosophy of playing positive football, even if it means a few defeats on the way. I'm not sure it's wise of him to say that, though. I'm inclined to think that the very, very best managers - Ferguson, Clough, Mourinho etc - would do whatever it takes to win.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-boss-alan-pardew-6364075 I've always been one of Pard's defenders, but I do wish he'd shut up every now and then.

This attitude really baffles me.... we were in touching distance of the semi finals, we are not in the situation where we can throw the opportunity of a trophy away. I'm pretty sure we all like seeing us playing in this. But the trouble with Europa is it doesn't pay enough to allow the clubs that qualify to strengthen their squads to go at it properly. Plus (and its been mentioned elsewhere) the CL rejects, who do have the squads to do it, arrive in the latter stages and screw the whole tournament. Its a bollox of a tournament. I think this is a good point. The CL opens up new possibilities for a club in its development, the EL just stretches your existing resources. There's a range of factors, but in addition to the physical and mental demands on the players, it also means the manager and coaching staff losing a bit of the focus that ought to go on the League. If you achieve 5th place, really all your attention should then go on reaching 4th. Instead, you end up in a competition which makes it less likely that you'll achieve 4th.

This attitude really baffles me.... we were in touching distance of the semi finals, we are not in the situation where we can throw the opportunity of a trophy away. We were also in touching distance of getting relegated. It's the slog of those group games against inferior opposition from the far corners of Europe that get me fed up, and which I think are a real drain on a club of our strength. They should make it a straight knockout competition, and dispense with the idea of 8 CL teams joining in half way through.

I'd say, on the current squad strength, our position should in theory be competing with Everton and possibly Southampton for 7th place. Above that, Arsenal have already got their act together, and Chelsea, Man City and Man Utd are too good not to get their act together at some stage. So CL should be beyond us. With Liverpool and Spurs, there's more quality in their squads. On the other hand, there's pressure to succeed but not a recent track record of success to give them real confidence. They could wobble under pressure, so 5th place again isn't out of the question. I don't want the sodding Europa League though, with its midweek trips to Azerbaijan.