Mick

I hope we see Ben Arfa tonight as he would give the crowd a massive lift.

As if we needed a table to prove we play long ball.

I've just seen what he's been up to, he must have a chemical imbalance.

They weren't a great partnership but as a side we created tons of chances and they filled their boots. In terms of partnerships, nothing I've seen has topped Cole and Beardsley. They were a good partnership but you're right about the chances we created for them.

Yesterday was just the worst of what we have more often than not and the team we put out should have been good enough to beat Reading. Our problem isn't only the personnel, it's as much to do with the way we try to play as a team and that doesn’t come from the players. I don’t believe that our players can’t string a series of passes together against Reading. I don’t believe that our players can’t find or create space in which to accept a pass against Reading. I don’t believe that our players just decide for themselves that they are going to tell Williamson to go up top for every free-kick and attempt to find him every time. That must come from the coaching and that’s what is to blame, I don’t believe that our coaches do that without some input from the manager, in fact I don’t believe that our coaches do that without the guidance of the manager because Carver has been here a long time and that hasn’t been a tactic we’ve used so often before. Our coaching can't be good enough and that’s being reflected in our performances. I’m not even sure that we are set up not to get beat, I think we’re set up to play a style of play that we don’t have the players to execute. I don’t have a problem with 4-4-2 when you have pace on the wings, we don’t have that so 4-4-2 fails before it starts. If we are going to play 4-4-2 then we need to bring two pacey wingers in who can get to the line and put a ball into the box on a regular basis. Blaming our poor performance against Reading on our recruitment isn’t getting at the problem, it’s hiding it because we had enough on the field or not picked, to play better than we did. So you think that our players are capable of passing to each other and finding space, but don't do so because they are told not to do so by Pardew? No I don't think that, I think the way we we are setup doesn't allow us to play that way.

You deserved to win, how much credit do you want?

The figures come from every single game played in the league over a season, you can't exclude results just because they don't fit with what you're trying to say.

Name them.

Last season we let in 6 goals less than the season before and we scored exactly the same number. We've gone from a goal difference of -1 to +5. Personally, I'd rather have a balanced approach and not one where our MANAGER spends his time on one area of the team.

The transfer policy isn't the reason that we play Ba and Cisse through the middle when we all know we are a better team with Cisse in the middle with Ba and Ben Arfa either side of him. The transfer policy isn't to blame for Perch starting at right back ahead of Anita when it looks like Anita is better in that position. Obertan played right wing ahead of Ben Arfa, Ryan Taylor started ahead of Santon last season and that has nothing to do with the transfer policy. You can blame our transfer policy for not having Douglas to cover for Taylor or Debuchy to cover or replace Simpson but even then, would they have been given games? Our transfer policy has it's problems, I'm not sure our current style of play (or lack of it) is one of them.

We all know what worked and what didn't work for us last season, we've still got the players that played our best football so why attempt to re-invent the wheel? We've even got at least one player who could upgrade what was our best team last season, it's not rocket science.

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

Reading aren't a decent side.

Expecting to beat the worst team in the league has nothing to do with finishing 5th last season. I would think most teams in the league will expect to beat them.

Yesterday was just the worst of what we have more often than not and the team we put out should have been good enough to beat Reading. Our problem isn't only the personnel, it's as much to do with the way we try to play as a team and that doesn’t come from the players. I don’t believe that our players can’t string a series of passes together against Reading. I don’t believe that our players can’t find or create space in which to accept a pass against Reading. I don’t believe that our players just decide for themselves that they are going to tell Williamson to go up top for every free-kick and attempt to find him every time. That must come from the coaching and that’s what is to blame, I don’t believe that our coaches do that without some input from the manager, in fact I don’t believe that our coaches do that without the guidance of the manager because Carver has been here a long time and that hasn’t been a tactic we’ve used so often before. Our coaching can't be good enough and that’s being reflected in our performances. I’m not even sure that we are set up not to get beat, I think we’re set up to play a style of play that we don’t have the players to execute. I don’t have a problem with 4-4-2 when you have pace on the wings, we don’t have that so 4-4-2 fails before it starts. If we are going to play 4-4-2 then we need to bring two pacey wingers in who can get to the line and put a ball into the box on a regular basis. Blaming our poor performance against Reading on our recruitment isn’t getting at the problem, it’s hiding it because we had enough on the field or not picked, to play better than we did.

He'll be on antibiotics.

Giovinco, is he the smallest fully grown professional footballer?

He wasn't involved much and was marked out of the game, the lack of movement around him and the number of defenders on him isn't his fault. I only remember 1 shot which made the keeper work and I don't give a shit about his defending, especially when the problem was in the centre of defence.

How was he abysmal?

We probably practice it all week with Marveaux defending it.

The players aren't at fault so dropping them will make little difference. We've got Man u next in the league and I think we'll raise our game without wholesale changes.

I meant it, I wish I could brush off repeated shit performances as easily as you seem to.

Lucky you.

My expectations are the same as they have been since I started watching Newcastle and that is we'll always screw up, what's yours?

What are our expectations?