alexthegreat

"There was a reason for going on the pitch at the end of the game to see Colo," Pardew said, after Shola Ameobi's first Premier League goal for nine months allowed Newcastle to deliver on their rather ill-advised comment that this was a must-win game. "Colo was a bit upset. It was a very little thing – if it was more serious I would say so. It was important I went on to embrace him in that way." "I said to Colo before the game, we're both winners, we're allowed to fall out," added Pardew, after his animated post-match clinch with the South American. "We fell out this week and we're entitled to do that, as the captain and the manager. It was just a silly little thing and I know he was determined to get the result today. "Before the game, I said to him: 'Be our leader, be a captain and make sure they don't get a sniff of a goal'. When you ask someone to do a job and they do it, it's only right you pay your respects to them. You fall out with players all the time as a manager, because if not you're not doing your job. Sometimes I have to say what I think is right – even your most senior players can disagree with it. I have no problem with that. "He was never off my Christmas card list because it wasn't me who had the problem. In any walk of life you have to be a man sometimes and admit when you're wrong and also pay your respects when someone does something right and I thought Colo was absolutely brilliant." A serious falling out between player and manager?

Looks to me that if he comes off the bench when everyone else has been playing for an hour he can get out of the centre and into the space between the centre half and the full back and do a bit of damage. If he's playing from the start then he will only go out there to trip over the ball or give away a free kick. It was 6 years ago that he had the hip injury that nearly ended his career. He hasn't been able to manage 3 games in a row since then (didn't he fail a medical for WBA?) yet we are still rolling him out to play centre forward in the premier league. He looked absolutely shot after about 25 mins on Wednesday.

.com have put the following translation up: Unconfirmed comments from Osvaldo Coloccini - father of United's Fabricio and youth team director at Argentinean side San Lorenzo - made to a TV station in Argentina and reported on the Goal website: "Fabricio wants to play for San Lorenzo and he is trying his best to find an elegant way to leave Newcastle. We don't know what Newcastle will come up with, but Fabricio is trying to rescind his contract because he wants to be back at San Lorenzo. "His contract is very good and that could complicate things in an attempt for him to leave Newcastle." Colo's current deal at SJP runs to 2016 but the link with Buenos Aires-based San Lorenzo first surfaced last month in a number of English newspapers, along with quotes from the club president to a local radio station: "We know he is a fan and wants to return, so there could be a possibility. It's not impossible, but of course the only thing that can accelerate the situation is Fabricio's intentions."

Some interesting stuff , am I putting that on the wrong topic ? Spoke to someone in my local this evening who knows Steve Harper. Harper basically told him similar to MacDonald's quotes above - French and Spanish speakers not getting on, and Ba just does whatever the f*** he wants. Also reckoned the French in our sqaud were really unhappy that Debuchy didn't arrive. That's from the Jonas article. Kind of goes with what MacDonald was saying. Xisco has never done anything but none of the other 3 are performing well at the moment.

Can't believe there's any way he wouldn't want to go to Chelsea to win some trophies and double his money. I can see that Chelsea wouldn't want to have the piss taken out of them by an agent, but there is still a month for them to resolve whatever's wrong and this is the club that has spent £80m on sacking managers. You would expect that they'd be able to iron out whatever's holding things up.

Far too early to say yet but in a couple of years Gael Bigirimana at less than £1m from an English club could look like one of the best bits of business.

I have often watched his interviews and wondered whether he is starting to lose it. A large percentage of them seem to consist of him slurring something about "great courage", and he is 71 after all. Last week it was "most dangerous thing I have seen on a football pitch, could have been killed", this week he's having another massive over reaction to next to nothing. If he is going to be coming out with this stuff regularly then maybe he is finally getting close to packing it in. I would be delighted if this was his last season.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/lionel-messi-was-the-subject-of-a-205million-bid-1507689?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter £205m Messi bid: Unnamed Russians willing to double world record transfer fee to buy Barca star 27 Dec 2012 17:06 The unidentified club triggered the Argentinian wizard's automatic release clause and would pay him £24m a year after tax, according to a Spanish report Barcelona megastar Lionel Messi is a 250million euro (£205m) target for an unidentified Russian club, according to a report from Spain. The astronomical offer, which would have more than doubled the current world record transfer fee, triggered Messi's automatic release clause - meaning Barca were contractually obliged to accept it. However, the bid, which would also have seen the club paying Messi a salary of £24m a year - £461,000 per week - AFTER tax, obviously did not interest the player. The approach came during negotiations that ended earlier this month with the Argentinian signing a two-year contract extension at the Nou Camp. While the story in El Mundo Deportivo, a Spanish sports daily, does not name the Russian club,billionaire-owned Anzhi Makhachkala are felt to be the likeliest candidates. Anzhi made ex-Barca striker Samuel Eto'o the game's highest paid player when they signed him last year. Didn't realise Anzhi had Eto'o. Would be canny to see him in March if we beat Metalist. I suspect they are going to have a decent team all round if their owner really does have £205m sloshing around in his back pocket.

Think we've been fairly good since Southampton away. At least as good as in the equivalent games last season, if not better: Stoke (a) Last season was one of our best performances, won 3-1. This year we didn't play as well but Stoke hadn't had a shot on target until the last 10 mins. Should have got 3 points, instead got none. Better performance last season. Wigan (h) Took until the last 10 mins for Cabaye to curl it into the corner from outside the box for a 1-0 win. I remember thinking that if Rodallega had been able to hit a barn door we probably wouldn't have got all the points. This year we carved them open inside 10 mins - red card and penalty making the rest of the game very straightforward. Better performance this season Fulham (a) Total capitulation last year. At times it wasn't great this year either, but still an improvement. Although the side we faced probably wasn't as good either. Better performance this season Man City (h) Same margin of defeat. We probably threatened them more this year, however I thought City were imperious last year. I'd say we were better last season. Better performance last season. QPR (h) I'd say both sides actually gave a better account of themselves this year. I remember thinking that you would never know the aim of the game was to score a goal by watching the last half hour last year. Shola got the winner this year with a strike very similar to Best's winner in January. Slightly better this season. Man United (a) 3 goals and hitting the woodwork twice is some effort at Old Trafford. Didn't get a point though, and unlike last year we had 11 men for the duration. You could point to our failure to defend properly this year as well. Hernandez put the ball in the net in stoppage time last year and was ruled offside, this year he did the same and was onside. Could argue it either way but I'd say we were better this year. Bearing in mind we sold Best and Guthrie and only brought in Anita for the 1st team, and we haven't had Cabaye or Taylor available for any of the last 6 games, and have only had HBA for one of them, I'd say I'm happy with what Pardew is getting from the players in terms of performances at the moment. People on here go on as if there is a great deal more to come from the players currently available, but aside from improving at set pieces I just don't see it, and have never seen it. There's very little between what he is producing now and what he produced to win Manager of the season. If he gets 3 points v Everton (which will be tougher game than last season) then I will be satisfied that he has turned it around from the performances v Southampton and West Ham, which obviously weren't acceptable.

Usual stuff from Ferguson. Often forget what a prick he is until I seem him when he's losing

Some interesting stuff , am I putting that on the wrong topic ? Spoke to someone in my local this evening who knows Steve Harper. Harper basically told him similar to MacDonald's quotes above - French and Spanish speakers not getting on, and Ba just does whatever the f*** he wants. Also reckoned the French in our sqaud were really unhappy that Debuchy didn't arrive.

1-1 (Williamson header in the 2nd half)

The match reminded me of Wigan at home and Bolton at home last season - in control of the game, but uninventive attacking meaning we relied on some substitutions and a moment of individual brilliance to go in front. Unlike last season though, there isn't a reason or an excuse to continue selecting Jonas, and this Cisse on the wing thing is daft. Overall, I dont't think we've been too bad in the last 5 games - comparable performances to many of last season's, but without getting the breaks and punished for appalling attacking and defending at set pieces.

He's 27 now and has never been on the really big money. He's also probably not going to be able to play on well into his 30s. He was one of the top scorers in the league last year and is up there again this year. He has come from Africa to play in Europe, and the next contract he signs could well be his last. If he is asking for £80k+ then that is understandable at this stage of his career IMO. He has shown himself to be a proven scorer at the top level, and when someone like Welbeck is on £70k-£80k then he is justified to ask why he shouldn't be as well. Someone will probably give him that, and I wouldn't particularly begrudge him it - for a free transfer you wouldn't be able to say he hadn't done well for us.

I'm fucking sick of this now, beyond a joke. How many times have we chucked the ball in the box from a free kick or a corner since our last goal from one? It must be more than 500 times. You would think that on at least one of those occasions it would end up in the net - the opposition might even do it for you. We actually do appear to have tried a few routines that have allowed Colo a strike on goal, but on the whole its still the chip to Williamson and lose the ball routine. Every time there was a free kick in their half we put both centre halfs up, and I applaud that. But there is absolutely no desire from anyone to get on the end of one of these balls and nod it in. Cahill and Terry at Chelsea want to score from a corner and they often do. Evra has decided hes going to get in the mix and he has a couple of goals to show for it. Not one of our players is straining every sinnow to get a header on goal. The other side of the coin is that we conceeded from a free kick v Fulham, 2 corners v Man U, a free kick v Sunderland, and now a corner v City. And thats just off the top of my head. How many points has our crap approach at set pieces cost us? It's not quite a goal headstart for the other side but it's not a million miles away.

Class today. Can do the sort of one touch pass and move stuff that our midfield hasn't seen in a long time

Massive contrast between watching Santon in a one on one with Zabaleta and watching Jonas. No excuses for his continued selection now like. If you want a skillful winger who appears to be able to cross then pick Marveaux, if theres an issue with Marveaux's work rate or something pick Ferguson. In fact if you want someone who can run like fuck and accomplish nothing then Obertan will be a better option

According to his wikipedia page, his entire career in league matches consists of: 16 appearances for Torquay 144 appearances for Wycombe 21 appearances for Watford. Then, at the age of 26, he signed for Newcastle United. Hes made 79 league appearances - the vast majority of them in the Premier League (and its 92 appearances in all competitions). I think hes done unbelievably well considering hes in no way, shape or form a Premier League player. Hes actually been a man of the match contender on a number of occasions during his time here (although not any time recently and always in our more insipid displays). He should never, ever have been required to play nearly 100 times for us. I think hes shown an awful lot of character and he'd certainly get a clap from me if he came back to the club in future, but I really hope that in January we sign a player that means he never plays again.

The main reason I dislike Pardew is that its very hard to see any intelligent or logical thought behind his tactics, beyond personal preference. Even when we were going direct with Hughton, we had a game plan, i.e. getting Barton to hit long diagonals at our front men to get behind their defensive line, or setting the team up to benefit from Carroll's flick-ons. Our defence had a proper game plan too; remember the high line, which was actually effective at pressuring the other team off the ball quickly? Or our triple-layered defensive line which made us impregnable in some games? When Pardew took over he brought nothing new to the team for a while and we did just fine. That, and he's a smug egoistic prick who will never learn from his mistakes or put any blame on himself ala Souness. Over the course of nearly 2 years he has taken over this side: Harper Simpson Williamson / Taylor Colo Enrique Jonas Nolan Tiote Barton Ameobi Lovenkrands And delivered a mid table finish without having the player the side was built around for half the season (despite being assured that he would have him) He then put out this side and delivered an 11 game unbeaten run. Again he had to do this without the striker and the left back he was promised in the summer: Krul Simpson Willo / Taylor Colo Taylor Obertan Tiote Cabaye Jonas Best Ba Then when that side ran out of steam in the middle third of the season (and a lot of people on here, who have clearly learnt nothing, started absolutely slaughtering him), he made the transition to this side: Krul Simpson Williamson Colo Santon Jonas Tiote Cabaye HBA Cisse Ba And delivered a 5th placed finish, far beyond anyones expectations. Thats not "a fluke", thats consistently good management over nearly 2 years. Compare to the many other managers we've had who don't manage to impose any system of play at all, and have clearly lost the players completely after less than a year. A big part of it has been the faith he has shown in squad players. I never saw any way Perch could play in the Premier League. Since leaving Guthrie has disappeared off the faith of the earth. I remember being incredulous that Best was starting v West Ham. Pardew talked him up in the press, stuck him in the team despite the barracking he would get if we lost, and Best got a hat trick and was very effective for the rest of the year. Hes now properly struggling for the 1st time in 2 years, but we are improving, and I'd back him to deliver a 4th effective starting XI. How about supporters actually show a bit of faith in him? You cannot possibly say he hasn't earned it. I believe the first 6 words of your final sentence reveal a lot about the motives behind your post in this thread, and that of a lot of other posters as well.

I still rate him. As he integrates Anita into the side we are playing better football. Hes an option for the back 4 to play it out to and we've launched it a lot less in the last 2 games as a result. I doubted Anita, but hes starting to prove me wrong. With the ball on the deck more Ba and Cisse are starting to show signs they can play together. There is still a long way to go here though, but credit to Pardew for not giving up on it. The intensity (and ability) of our midfield covered a multitude of deficiencies last year. Cabaye and Tiote consistently covered more ground than anyone on the pitch, and Jonas would run miles too. We would win 2nd balls, put sides under pressure and control the middle against all but the best teams. Consequently a team containing Obertan, Best, Simpson, Taylor went 11 unbeaten. We just haven't had that this season. But I think Tiote is starting to get back to what he was and Anita may be able to forge an effective partnership with him. He is showing too much loyalty to Jonas though, and it is costing us. Hopefully Marveaux can follow Anita into the side and complete an absolute turn around from their horror 1st half at Everton. Get Cabaye back and 1 or 2 players in January without losing anyone, and I'm hopeful we'll look very good for the cups and 2nd half of the season. Improved 2nd half performances make it clear the players are still playing for him, and I see plenty of signs of improvement and reasons to be positive. Really don't understand a lot of the criticism in this thread.

Hope he tries passing it to someone on our team in the 2nd half. Probably isn't fit, in fairness to him.

2 years to the day since he was appointed. That means hes lasted longer than everyone except Keegan and Robson over the past 2 decades and its also fair to say he's done a good job on the whole. I'm still very much a fan of his anyway.

Can't recall one Williamson hoof - what a difference that made. I suspect we will see at least a dozen of them v Fulham. They will put pressure on our back 4 in a way that Wigan weren't able to - Krul won't be able to nudge it 5 yards to Williamson, who can then roll it to Anita, who can take as much time as he likes to find a decent pass. However, it is pleasing that this team can play some decent football when theres some decent passes from the back. I really think today showed that another defender who can play football could make a huge difference. Marveaux also showed he can make things happen and he can also see the runs of other players. Having Ba and Cisse up front together looks a lot more workable in a footballing side with Marveaux and Anita behind them. After watching that I think one or two good signings in January and another couple of players finding form and fitness could see our season take off, unfortunately I suspect normal service will be resumed for the time being against Fulham - I just think some of our players won't be able to play that way if they aren't given the time (some because they're not ready yet, some because they can't).

Always away on boxing day, and nearly always drawn away in the cups. Think we've only been drawn at home in either cup 3 times since we got relegated.

fuck