TRon

I haven't really missed Hughton until now tbh. Not for his decency as such, more because I'm starting to think he's more tactically aware than Pardew. Hughton was over cautious but there was a plan to the way his sides played. Pardew is starting to look like someone talks clever but actually knows fuck all.

How easily does "HOOF IT UP TO SHOLA!" translate into Italian? How do you say our current fullback's cant play football and that is one of the main reasons we play hoof ball? Even Colo and Steve Taylor end up whacking it long, and when you include the keeper, that's 5 out of our 11 who are thumping the ball downfield. If anything Simpson is probably the most likely to try and play it forward. Santon will help, but tactical mastermind Pardew will also need to encourage the players to pass more. Simpson's the most likely to play it forward? Absolutely no chance. I do see Simpson carrying the ball forward occasionally, although he always looks like he wants to get rid of it asap. He's no Enrique though, obviously.

How easily does "HOOF IT UP TO SHOLA!" translate into Italian? How do you say our current fullback's cant play football and that is one of the main reasons we play hoof ball? Even Colo and Steve Taylor end up whacking it long, and when you include the keeper, that's 5 out of our 11 who are thumping the ball downfield. If anything Simpson is probably the most likely to try and play it forward. Santon will help, but tactical mastermind Pardew will also need to encourage the players to pass more.

Yeah, same here. Looks a bit like a natural winger playing at fullback to me, very slight but comfortable on the ball and a canny crosser. It does look like we've got quite a decent scouting team these days. I wouldn't be surprised if Taylor doesn't go on to be worth quite a lot more than the £1m ceiling we put on him. I don't think it would have cost too much more to get him here and then a full back pairing of Santon and Taylor might not have looked too bad at all with relatively small outlay.

I wouldn't be too confident. With him not playing or scoring goals we'll probably try to negotiate a reduced price, which will end with them telling us to fuck off again. Probably on the last day of the window.

For those talking ab I'm a bit worried that opposition managers may have sussed that out and instructed their teams to put him under pressure. teams did that last season too. i remember it happening as early the sunderland 5-1 match. difference was that he had a sharpness and a confidence to cope with being closed down early and could play his way out of trouble. he's always played to within an inch of fucking up, but got away with it most of the time because he was in peak condition. he seems overweight and sluggish at the moment, along with being unfocused. if he's not 100% he's a bit of a liability. He does look sluggish and slightly heavier than last season. A manager like Ferguson or Mourinho would never tolerate it, and that's one of the reasons why Man U always play a high tempo pass and move game, regardless of the team personnel. The problem we have at the moment is that Pardew can't even figure out a formation and style of play, so it's difficult to tell whether it's lack of fitness or just confusion with Tiote. It's a management issue and Pardew should be on top of it.

Wouldn't play him left at all, Jonas is our left winger and a very good outlet he is too. I'd ply him up front with Leon best and send Shola to the glue factory. for f***s sake man, this preoccupation with wingers, 4-4-2, target man flicking on for a little speedster is so totally and utterly s****. It's not as daft as whacking the ball towards two big target men because you think they will dominate the opposition centre backs through size without thinking through where the ball will land in some random area of the pitch. I give you tactics a la Pardew. not last season......this season though i'm at a loss as to what we are playing at. fairly sure he'll play ben arfa behind the forward and with the bog standard middle 4. Last season's players were far more suited to this season's tactics. Pards might hit on a winning combination this season through trial and error so all hope isn't lost.

Wouldn't play him left at all, Jonas is our left winger and a very good outlet he is too. I'd ply him up front with Leon best and send Shola to the glue factory. for fucks sake man, this preoccupation with wingers, 4-4-2, target man flicking on for a little speedster is so totally and utterly shite. It's not as daft as whacking the ball towards two big target men because you think they will dominate the opposition centre backs through size without thinking through where the ball will land in some random area of the pitch. I give you tactics a la Pardew.

I don't think QPR had a system in place, they just threw some decent footballers together and they did their stuff. Pretty much Pardew's system, except he threw some s*** players together and they played s***, unsurprisingly. I thought Taarabt was well used as a pivot in the team, also the wingers were not afraid to stay higher up the pitch near the lines. Midfield trio overran ours with more energy. Is it Strange? that a team with over 4 to 5 new players play better looking football than us? Not really since they had a game plan to win the match by attacking and setup key roles for a couple of their players to make use of their flair and speed. Not a Barcelona , Man u , Arsenal or even Fulham style or system.....but well they had a plan unlike Pardew. We have a improved defensive unit, but going forward we kinda look worst then most teams atm. We dont have bad players, but our movement off the ball and passing seem to be headless, Tbh i dont think we have a width system to switch play to one side field to the other. Most of the time we go down one channel till play is broken up or we send in a hopeful cross... I'm not saying QPR's team didn't work well together, I just don't believe it was part of a gameplan. Warnock threw some decent players in the mix and it worked out ok. On the contrary, Pardew tried to be a tactical mastermind and ended up being Sam Allardyce. Think we both agree that we lack a system or a style in place to let the players express themselves better. Probably why almost everyone put all our eggs in one basket here. Namely Ben Afra.... Maybe Pardew thinks that way but I believe we have players who can play the Ben Arfa role so we can keep the eggs in the basket, rather than switch to a completely different and prehistoric style of play. Marveaux or Sammy Ameobi could provide a temporary solution just to give two examples.

I don't think QPR had a system in place, they just threw some decent footballers together and they did their stuff. Pretty much Pardew's system, except he threw some s*** players together and they played s***, unsurprisingly. I thought Taarabt was well used as a pivot in the team, also the wingers were not afraid to stay higher up the pitch near the lines. Midfield trio overran ours with more energy. Is it Strange? that a team with over 4 to 5 new players play better looking football than us? Not really since they had a game plan to win the match by attacking and setup key roles for a couple of their players to make use of their flair and speed. Not a Barcelona , Man u , Arsenal or even Fulham style or system.....but well they had a plan unlike Pardew. We have a improved defensive unit, but going forward we kinda look worst then most teams atm. We dont have bad players, but our movement off the ball and passing seem to be headless, Tbh i dont think we have a width system to switch play to one side field to the other. Most of the time we go down one channel till play is broken up or we send in a hopeful cross... I'm not saying QPR's team didn't work well together, I just don't believe it was part of a gameplan. Warnock threw some decent players in the mix and it worked out ok. On the contrary, Pardew tried to be a tactical mastermind and ended up being Sam Allardyce.

The best players hold onto the ball in tight areas, it's how you retain possession. Enrique also did this and he cost us the odd goal, but he made us play football. The alternative is hoofing the ball and we've seen what happens with that safety first option.

I don't think they've lost any yet have they? We haven't lost any either it doesn't mean we are unbeatable. It's only been 5 games yet.

Have they lost more or less games than us this season? I don't think they've lost any yet have they?

How apt

Incidentally I think Villa are very beatable. McCleish is too defensive and they haven't looked great this season. It depends how we are set up and who starts whether we get a result. Put Santon and Marveaux in the starting line up instead of Raylor and Shola and I think it could make a big difference.

If he does I will open an official "Pardew Out!" thread.

Good point. I doubt you can get weightwatchers multi-seed wholegrain in Ghana. All is forgiven. Wasn't even being serious... I reckon he'll be back to his best once we start fielding our best players playing in a system that suits the likes of him, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, etc. I know you weren't being serious, neither was I Agree about him looking better once Pardew puts him in a better system. Same goes for Cabaye as well.

I think Marveaux could do that for our team as well. Gosling is another option but he won't be as inventive.

I think that's partly true, in that most teams have sussed his check and turn so opposition players are catching him in that now. But he definitely was still a decent passer last season in tight spaces. I think he'll get better within the next few games.

+ Ben Arfa I think and Mehdi Abeid when he grows up

Good point. I doubt you can get weightwatchers multi-seed wholegrain in Ghana. All is forgiven.

He doesn't look as fit as last season and that's part of the reason for his poor form. I'm hoping once we get a better shape and system we'll see him getting better game by game. It's difficult to judge individuals when the team is playing such terrible long ball stuff.

I don't think QPR had a system in place, they just threw some decent footballers together and they did their stuff. Pretty much Pardew's system, except he threw some shit players together and they played shit, unsurprisingly.

Good post. Possession is the first rule of football and he was one of the few who was keeping the ball well and making constructive passes. I thought it was his best game, and considering how we didn't play through midfield that's an achievement.

I think the problem was in midfield rather than on the left. Even if we played Santon, he would still be forced to defend 1 on 1 against SWP which was probably too much for him to handle. So if you say why don't he change the tactics at HT to nullify SWP's threat, then my response was that should he drop Tiote? He doesn't need to drop Tiote, he needs to drop one of the big plank strikers who only get the ball from 50 yard punts down the pitch in any case. Drop Shola and put Marveaux in there to fill the massive gap between the midfield and the forwards. Get the full backs to carry the ball and support the midfield. Get the goalkeeper to throw the ball to the full backs once in a while. These are all things the manager should be doing as part of his job. Maybe he'll read this and a lightbulb will go on in his head.