Shak

If he's getting a meeting to try and talk his way out of how shit he is I'd expect he'll be staying. Think if Ashley was serious about getting rid he wouldn't need a meeting to decide. And if Ashley genuinely is on the fence right now I expect Pardew will be able to talk his way out of getting sacked. Talking a good game has never been his issue.

Completely torn on a possible Carroll return. As has been said, with our current setup we're crying out for a player exactly like him. If we are going to insist on keeping Pardew as manager then we really need a player like Carroll. I'd rather get a new manager and target other kinds of players though, obviously.

The thought of us allowing Jonas to take a corner actually made me laugh out loud. Not that it could get much worse like.

http://i.imgur.com/t9kzu.gif

Aye, teaching is the plan. Proper excited about getting there, everyone says it's class. I'll probably end up with Nacional as my team anyway, a former student who has moved back there is a big fan so good chance I'll head to a game with him.

Cheers Disco. Moving to Colombia next week and hopefully gonna live there for a while, in Medellin most likely. Any suggestions on whether I should be cheering for Nacional or Medellin?

What's the Colombian league like these days?

I liked how this post just got angry right at the end.

I'll honestly be amazed if he's fired, can't understand where the optimism comes from. The only way Ashley will get rid of the clown is if the pressure from the fans become too much, and quite frankly that's a million miles from happening. Apparently the away crowd were chanting his name at times yesterday, and I've read comments from a few of the match going fans on here saying they've given him stick at the game only to get shouted down by other people in the crowd. There was almost no reaction to getting completely outplayed by Sunderland at our own ground, and the absolute embarrassment that was the Liverpool game didn't seem to turn the crowd against him either. Why exactly the crowd seem to like him is a complete mystery to me, but that's a whole other issue. So, if there's no pressure to do so then why exactly would Mike Ashley give him the chop? Pardew's the perfect frontman for the operation he's running here. A smooth talking PR man who'll only remove his tongue from Ashley's arse just long enough to tell the world how great it tastes before delving back in to feast on the goo inside. I've no doubt that next season will go better than this one did. With a full week to prepare the side for most games we'll produce more organised (if no more attractive to watch) displays and I doubt we'll concede anywhere near the amount of goals we did this season. We'll have enough "magic" in the side to supplement that improved defensive record with a few goals that'll win us a sufficient amount of points to achieve the midtable banality that Pardew seems to crave. If things go against us in terms of injuries/fortune then we might get sucked into a relegation battle again, but I doubt it. Conversely, get a few nice breaks and we might have an outside chance of pushing for a spot in Europe again. The problem there of course is that, if this season is anything to go by, qualifying for Europe is about the most terrifying thing that could happen to us with Pardew in charge. So with a bit of luck we'll miss out and finish nicely in the middle of the pack. And, quite frankly, do we really think Ashley's ambition extends beyond that? I don't, and therefore I can't see why he'd cut his puppet loose unless there's enough external pressure to do so, pressure that just isn't there right now unfortunately.

Just online for the first time since FT yesterday...

That was agony. And all I was doing was refreshing this thread.

What happened to "Can't watch " I'm not tbh, my assertment was an educated guess based on this thread/season.

Absolutely need to hang on here.

Can't believe this manager still has the backing of anyone like, we"re so fucking shit to watch and he clearly has no idea how to make us any better.

I reckon he just shows a video montage of starving children with grim music playing over it.

Must have been depressing typing that.

Sounds like I'm missing a thriller.

Just found out I won't be able to watch this.

Just watching the cup final highlights, Paul Scharner hasn't always looked like that has he?

Is it nuts that I'd take a point?

In general I prefer the 3-4 defense. It allows you to disguise your pass rush better by having only 3 down linemen, meaning the 4th rusher can come from anywhere.

Gone into salesman mode already, some will buy it no doubt. He's not going anywhere this summer, I'm convinced of it.

Might be too little too late I'm afraid.

I liked Jon's analogy tbh.