Cronky

He said top 10 'at least'.

What Pardew needs to do now is impose his own vision of how he wants the team to play. There’s been too much chopping and changing, but that may be partly due to the fact that the priority has been looking for bargains / up and coming young players and the squad has ended up unbalanced. We’ve now got some good young players coming through so I don’t feel we need to worry about the longer-term future. We need to pick up the 2 or 3 players, of whatever age and whether or not on loan, that can bring coherence and confidence to the first team. This does seem to be the general strategy for this transfer window, so let’s wait and see.

A lot of people on here seem incredibly confident in their predictions about what's going to happen in the next few months. I can understand the opinion, but the certainty isn't justified. Majority opinion got things wrong over the last two seasons. Who knows, it might happen a third time.

Agreed. I don't know why people are surprised at this outcome, because they did say that they wanted to get away from sacking managers in reaction to one bad season. Just going from this board, over the last two and a half years there has been a wild swing in the general opinion of Pardew from zero to hero and back again. You can understand Ashley wanting to get away from that.

I've no idea what's happened to Vermaelen this season. Beforehand, he looked like one of the best centre backs in the Premiership. If he returns to his previous form, he'd be a brilliant buy, but they'd need to get to the bottom of why things have gone off the rails.

I don't really understand this line of thinking tbh. What's the point in bringing in new coaches if the manager doesn't understand that type of football? The solution is simple for me: a) Sack the manager and bring one to suit the players being recruited by Carr. b) Sack the scout and buy players suited to Pardew, e.g. Carroll. The current hotch potch solution is exactly the reason we have ended up fighting relegation with players looking baffled and eventually worn down. Ashley has to make a decision now, or he can end up making it at Xmas by which time another season will be down the drain. There's certainly something hotch-potch about our team-building, but I'm not sure that it's down to a lack of co-ordination or communication between Pardew and Carr. I don't believe that anyone gets signed against Pardew's will. What I wonder about is whether Pardew places too much faith in his own coaching and motivational skills, and isn't sufficiently accepting of players' strengths and limitations as he finds them. As an example, I don't think Tiote is ever going to be a great passer of the ball, but a recent statement by Pardew suggested that he was hoping to bring that out in him. Similarly, there were early indications that Cisse - Ba was not going to work as a partnership, which again Pardew seemed to think he could work through. He also ignored the personal tensions that could develop when he publicly favoured Ba as first choice Number 9. A manager has to accept that there are some situations which can't be worked with beyond a certain point. I can't think of a bigger indictment of a manager than he doesn't understand a player's limitations or how they fit into a team alongside other team members. For sure, that’s fundamental. Which makes me wonder what’s gone on, because despite what gets said, Pardew isn’t stupid, he can assess players and he does understand tactics. In fact, the problem may be that he relies too much on tactics and what he sees as his ability to get more out of individuals. I wonder whether he gets bogged down in detail and misses the bigger picture. He over-estimates what he, or indeed any coach, can do. What might help is if he has a coach around him who he will really listen to. It’s a good idea to have local men like Carver and Stone in the team, but we may also need something else.

I'd much rather have a manager who would see us as a step-up, rather than a step-down.

Every player will bring their own package of strengths and weaknesses, but I'd agree that the idea of the specialist ball-winner who can't pass is looking increasingly out of date at Premiership level.

I don't really understand this line of thinking tbh. What's the point in bringing in new coaches if the manager doesn't understand that type of football? The solution is simple for me: a) Sack the manager and bring one to suit the players being recruited by Carr. b) Sack the scout and buy players suited to Pardew, e.g. Carroll. The current hotch potch solution is exactly the reason we have ended up fighting relegation with players looking baffled and eventually worn down. Ashley has to make a decision now, or he can end up making it at Xmas by which time another season will be down the drain. There's certainly something hotch-potch about our team-building, but I'm not sure that it's down to a lack of co-ordination or communication between Pardew and Carr. I don't believe that anyone gets signed against Pardew's will. What I wonder about is whether Pardew places too much faith in his own coaching and motivational skills, and isn't sufficiently accepting of players' strengths and limitations as he finds them. As an example, I don't think Tiote is ever going to be a great passer of the ball, but a recent statement by Pardew suggested that he was hoping to bring that out in him. Similarly, there were early indications that Cisse - Ba was not going to work as a partnership, which again Pardew seemed to think he could work through. He also ignored the personal tensions that could develop when he publicly favoured Ba as first choice Number 9. A manager has to accept that there are some situations which can't be worked with beyond a certain point.

Not a bad idea at all. When he's been paired with Tiote or Bigi or Perch, it's looked like he's struggled to find a role. In your formation, he'd have one.

I hope that's not just PR on Pardew's part, and that this has been a season of acclimatising for Anita. At the moment, I feel we have four players - Tiote, Anita, Bigi and Perch - who should all be competing for one place, so at least one is surplus to requirements. Anita has to show that he's got something additional to offer, because defensively he's struggled and he hasn't shown enough in attack.

Looking at the recent spate of DiCuntio press comments he's really going to take the whip to his players over the summer..Can't see anything remotely as combative coming from Pardew..Finishing practice or otherwise....Cancelling holidays indeed!! Ben Arfa can come back from France a stone overweight and stroll back into the side looking like he hasn't got a care in the world. But then Pardew's probably too sheepish to say anything since it was his decision to play him for 90 mins in sub zero temperatures in Russia following a hamstring injury was the reason he was recuperating in France in the first place. That last bit was one of the most ridiculous gambles since Stanlingrad without winter uniforms. Or Julius Caesar going to the Senate without his stab-proof vest. I'd go as far as that.

Ferguson's incredible trophy haul and ability to keep his team at the top for so many years, must set him apart. And with Aberdeen, he proved he could do it at a club with modest resources. But Cloughie will always have a unique place in the game. Promotion, the League Championship, and two European Cups in successive seasons with that Notts Forest side is just staggering. No-one has achieved anything like it before or since.

That sounds like a case for Hypothetical Player of the Season.

Man City involved in CL group stage: P15 W9 D6 L0 33pts AverPts 2.20 Man City after knocked out of CL: P23 W14 D3 L6 45pts AverPts 1.96 Arsenal also met one top 4 side (Man U at home) during that post-CL run. Argument by analogy rather than logic is a bit dodgy, but I suppose in the end nothing can be proved here. I do seriously wonder though whether Arsenal's chances of a crack at the league would be enhanced if they weren't playing games in Europe, even though obviously I know it's important from the viewpoint of recruiting players, revenue etc At the end of the day though, do people really think these extra games have no relevance at all, especially if they involve long distance travel? For it not to matter, you'd need a seriously big and good squad, and / or be playing in a league that wasn't that competitive, surely.

Not seen it mentioned, but Arsenal put together their unbeaten run directly after being knocked out of the Champions League. They had nothing left but Premiership fixtures. Those who dismiss the Europa League / tiredness idea may wish to consider.

Krul is the only one who's lived up to expectations. So him. Special mention to Sissoko. Although he ran out of steam later on, his contribution when he first came was really vital.

There were two or three times when he managed to get through to their back four and he tried to beat the final man instead of feeding in a team-mate. He needs to be less selfish, but we've said that before. He had an odd game. He had some great moments but at other times it looked like his mind was elsewhere.

Well exactly. It's a way of motivating the players in what would otherwise be a meaningless game for them. If he recoups his money by the club finishing 5 places higher, then so what? Everybody wins.

As an aside, a mate of mine told me this story about Beckham. You can decide for yourselves how credible it is. This mate got into a conversation with someone who worked in computer games. His company had cut a deal with Beckham's agents to feature him in a football game, and the agents then sent him details of the various hairstyles that Beckham was due to sport over the next couple of years or so. They wanted Beckham's image to be periodically updated accordingly on the game. So basically, Beckham's various changes in hairstyle were all being planned as a sequence months in advance, with his agents fully involved.

He basically won you that Champions League final because he was still going full pelt in the last 10 minutes like the game had only just kicked off. He carried the team over the line. Credit the guy, he worked very hard at his game and showed a lot of determination in getting to the top. But the praise and attention that he got always irritated me because there were some significant limitations to his game. Particularly in the second part of his England career, I felt he was holding the team back.

He seems to bat between talking about himself and the team as a whole. He's been poor this season. I think the opposition have sussed him out and are putting him under pressure early, and he then struggles to keep control of the ball. You can't afford to have a DM giving the ball away that often, because he's usually playing with most of the team ahead of him. I'd be looking for an upgrade. Sorry, just realised this is a positivity thread - an upgrade should be very feasible.

Agree with that except for point 5. What we've seen of Cisse in the second half of the season is what we'll get. I also think Ashley will be prepared to spend a fair bit more money than usual. Call it a hunchette.

He worked very hard and got the max out of his talent. But yeah, rather more limited than his reputation suggested.

I think one thing that stats do show and which is backed up by intuition is that we play a lot of long balls. We don't have the confidence or the ability to play the ball through the midfield often enough. For me, the balance in the midfield isn't right. We seem to field too many defensive CMs, and our more skilful players like Cabaye and Ben Arfa tend to prefer to collect the ball deep and feed other players in rather than get forward on to the end of passes themselves. Sissoko seems to be the best bet from the point of view of an attacking midfielder, but I'm not sure if he's best played further forward nearer the striker. That needs addressing.