alexthegreat

I think he absolutely loves a wind up more than any other player I've seen and thoroughly enjoys the reaction he provokes.

As stated above, there were 5 players in the starting line up who wouldn't attract any attention from a side hoping to get in the top half. Add a poor performance from Cabaye and an ineffective 2nd half from Ben Arfa and we aren't going to resemble a top 4 side in any way shape or form. One slight criticism I would make towards Pardew is that I think he is showing a bit too much loyalty towards squad players who delivered for him before. I'm sure Anita has more to offer than Perch. I like Perch but theres a limit to what he can do (certainly in an attacking sense). Maybe Anita isn't ready yet, but hes been here a few months now - not playing isnt going to help him. Meanwhile Perch has made more appearances than anyone else in the squad. Likewise Jonas has done a good job for Pardew, but there now appears to be other options who could offer more going forward in his position than him. But yet again he plays the full 90. And Shola on the wing? He wouldn't be the first manager to place too much loyalty in certain players, but I think it has to be worth taking a bit of a chance on the likes of Anita, Ferguson, and Sammy rather than players you have faith in but also know can never be spectacular. If HBA and Cabaye weren't at the top of their games there was no way that side today could have produced a good performance, a different team selection may have helped.

Doesnt amount to much in itself, but in the 10 mins they were on the pitch together Ba seemed to be dropping very deep looking for the ball (probably a bit too deep imo) while Cisse stayed up top. Ba also tried to play Cisse in with a 1st touch through ball (which was probably on) but failed to weight it properly. Thought both of them had a good game when they were on, wouldnt have minded seeing a bit more of them together as in that 10 mins I thought I'd seen some very small signs that they were trying to develop some sort of an understanding. On the other hand its possible that Ba was dropping off so much because the players behind him were playing so dreadfully, and I'm still very sceptical about this working as a partnership.

2nd half was the most negative atmosphere in the stadium for a long, long time imo

Looked very good in the first half, gave the ball away far too much in the second.

Didn't think the 1st half was too bad. It was good to see us playing with so much width. Probably the main negative for me was Cabaye's sloppiness in possession. Second half was absolutely dreadful.

15th December 2011: Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/12/15/alan-pardew-given-green-light-in-nufc-transfer-quest-72703-29959962/#ixzz2AA17OnQe Had a year to think about it, so hopefully we have now made our mind up. Be surprised if they've decided on Djourou though. We've done significant business every January Ashley has been here so I think we actually will get a defender in this time.

Think hes in the last year of his ridiculous contract and it may have dawned on him that if anyone anywhere is going to be persuaded to give him any money next season then he will actually have to get his head down and give this football lark a go for a few months.

Agree with Dave. We were on the defensive for 70 mins but he still showed his silky skills, carried the ball miles at times - recall him dribbling from the edge of his own box to deep into their half at one point. Worked very hard defensively but isn't a defender by any stretch of the imagination and I think Rose had sussed out that he had the beating of him by the middle of the second half - perhaps why Pardew took him off.

Think he probably would have stayed on if he hadn't got that booking.

Thought all he did was hang his leg out at a bouncing ball. He had his eyes on the ball the whole time, and possibly won't even have seen the player he kicked. I did think it was a red card on 1st viewing though.

Tiote did a canny impression of somebody who could play an incisive pass against Reading when he set Ba up for the first, so maybe Pardew only has to say "do it again." Well that one pass proves me wrong then, Tiote's the next Iniesta.

I was having a go at Williamson and Simpson earlier on in this thread. I do agree with you though. It's more down to the instructions than the players. However, I think we could find a right-back more comfortable in possession than Simpson. The general mentality and style is not down to these particular individuals. Pardew is pretty much hinting that their lack of ability on the ball is the reason behind our long-ball game, which is another way of trying to explain our s*** football from a man doing more talking than walking at the minute. I do get the impression that some people have forgotten what watching truly shit football every week is actually like. We haven't played it regularly for ages, and the football we play is still better than most teams in the division. He doesn't have to explain away anything either, he has consistently delivered for nearly 2 years and has the support of just about everyone aside from a tiny tiny minority on the internet. The idea hes backpeddling in some way is ridiculous. Hes just making a statement which he believes to be true and almost certainly is. And do you really think he stands in the dressing room and says "I want you to hoof it", so they go out and hoof it? And if he said "play beautiful passing football" they would go out and do that instead? We were quite a direct side for all of last season. I doubt there were more than 3 games where we won by playing effective passing football from start to finish, but when you look at the table at the end of the season it would be absolutely stupid to argue with his methods. This team has never shown any indication that they could regularly win by outpassing teams, either in a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2.

What's wrong with what he's said there? Nothing, apart from us having players who can do both when allowed to. We have some, yes, but he's right in that we do need better players in order to help achieve it too. 9/11 should be enough really. More than that we've seen it be enough previously. He's talking balls IMO. There are teams with far fewer decent players who play a passing game. Simpson/Williamson's alleged inability to operate within a team playing passing football doesn't explain why Cabaye is playing early balls to the Dembas from just outside our area, or why Krul will hoof it long from a goal kick when Colo and Santon are ready to receive balls, or why there is often a massive gap between midfield and attack. Pardew prefers a percentage game. He likes squeezing up the pitch, and the Dembas magnificiently capitalising on scrap balls that fall our way, howsoever they occur. He just wants the ball away from our goal I've virtually no doubt we'll see the same from the first whistle this Sunday. Priority will be to play the percentages, keep a clean sheet, and keep the ball away from our penalty area by hoofing it long and far - which is why Shola should play, but that's a different kettle of fish. Its not 9 out of 11 though. Harper and Krul both have poor distribution - far worse than all the other 1st choice keepers in the top 6. Williamson and Simpson are limited players all round. Williamson is incredibly uncomfortable with the ball at his feet for a Premier League player. Jonas always has his head down when he has the ball. Tiote can't play incisive passes to save his life. Nothing Pardew said to either of them would change that. Thats more than half the players on the pitch who have to get the ball up to Ba and Cisse, and neither of those 2 have shown a huge amount in terms of link up play. I'm not saying all those players are shit btw. They can all be effective to varying degrees, but as a side passing is certainly not a strength, and that wouldn't change with a different manager. If Pardew told them to spray it around Swansea I don't think we'd have been as effective as a team last year. He gets the maximum out of the players we have, which is why we finished 5th last year, and as usual he is spot on with his comments.

We haven't played too well so far, but if Krul, Colo, and Taylor really are all back then we should hopefully have our strongest side out for the 1st time this season. I'd really fancy our midfield against theirs, and Ben Arfa is capable of murdering whoever is at fullback. Only real concern for me is Fletcher. He genuinely does look sharp. Seem to remember Sessegnon getting into dangerous positions the last time we played them away but then blowing it with atrocious finishing, not uncharacteristically from what I can gather. They have apparently had the least number of shots in all of the main leagues in Europe (27) the next lowest being Siena (with 45). They have only won 1 in 13, and have only won this fixture at home twice since 1969. Plenty of reasons to be confident, if we play anything like we can then we should win.

Ba has the ability to play on the left for the good of the team but he doesn't like doing it the question isn't really is Ba capable of it it's whether Ba will actually do it. I get the feeling that sooner or later one of them will make way the question is who. The one with the dodgy knee

I think he prefers 4-4-2 and whacking long balls to the front man. If he was really a 4-3-3 man there's no way he'd have spent so long last season and tried to start this season playing that type of football. He wouldn't be much of a manager if he changed his formation and entire football philosophy to keep one player happy. First time I recall us going 433 was in January v QPR, midway through the 1st half, when he surprised everyone by putting Ben Arfa on for the injured Cabaye. It had been an abysmal performance up to that point. It picked up slightly and we won the game. Don't think 433 had ever been mentioned as a possibility on here up until that game, it was entirely his own doing, and I reckon it was the best way of fitting Ben Arfa into the team at that stage of his development. Alot of posters on here at that time actually wanted him to get back to the tactics that got us unbeaten in 11 games. He then tried it in a few other games that month, but it didn't look great with Best out wide and Jonas sometimes used as an attacking central midfielder. So I wouldn't say hes opposed to it particularly. I just think that at the moment he wants to get 2 quality strikers near the goal as much as possible, but is finding it very difficult to make it work. Personally I was very impressed with the way he evolved the team last season: Started with a 442 with a front 4 of Jonas-Ba-Best-Obertan, and Simpson and Taylor at fullback, (that went 11 unbeaten). By the end of March he had successfully got Ben Arfa and Cisse into the side, both playing incredibly effectively (I thought HBA was quite poor this time last year) and he'd started to get Santon going as well. Got 7 wins in 8 with some decent football at times, sometimes in a 442 and sometimes a 433. So I'd say hes been extremely impressive as far as tactics go. We are struggling a little bit at the moment, but theres more than enough evidence from last season to suggest he will take steps to sort it out.

I don't recall that many games where we played fluid attacking football last season. We looked very good away at West Brom last year, but I remember that as a counter attacking performance more than anything else. Maybe Stoke at home? I'd say we were quite a direct team overall last year, and you have to say it was effective. Possibly the best performance of last year was Man U at home. We were very direct, our centre forwards battered their centre halfs, our midfielders overpowered theirs. As far as I can see, everything is centred around the problem of getting Ba and Cisse to play together. Long term having one of them out on the wing in a 4-3-3 isn't a satisfactory answer. It would be far better to have them playing together in a 442, so it is understandable that Pardew should continue to try getting them to click. On the other hand, I don't think either can play as a target man. When it goes long the ball often doesn't stick to the frontmen (this is particularly true of Cisse at the moment), they also dont seem to have any understanding and are very similar players. The only options then are a) buy a target man and play one or the other. Its too late for that. Or b) start playing the ball on the deck. Man U could stick 2 of Welbeck, Hernandez and Rooney up front without any bother at all. The problem with that option is that I dont think our players have the ability to play that way. Man U behind their strikers they have a goalkeeper with excellent distribution, At the weekend they had 2 fullbacks who are very skilful, in Ferdinand they have a centre half who is very comfortable on the ball, and I think Evans is as well. Most importantly, all their midfield players can get the ball, turn, and find their man quickly with a pass. Fletcher and Carrick are maligned but they excel at this, and everyone knows how good Scholes is at passing. Consequently the ball pings about the pitch extremely accurately when they are in possession, and they don't really need a target man. If a striker makes a run it will be spotted. Compare to our starting XI: Santon can get his head up and see whats going on when he has the ball, Colo is very comfortable, HBA can do everything, and Cabaye is some way short of someone like Modric but I'd still say hes shown himself a decent passer. On the otherhand, the distribution from our goalkeeper is usually extremely poor compared to the keepers at top clubs, Simpson and Jonas always have their heads down when in possession. I don't think theres many players in the league less comfortable in possession than Williamson, and Tiote struggles to make any incisive passes. When around half the players are (relatively) poor at passing and seeing the play the ball will inevitably end up in the air sometimes, whatever Pardew's instructions are. We have a decent side but imo as it is at the moment we really need to either play on the counter attack or for one of the forwards to be a target man. Perhaps this could be addressed by integrating Anita and Marveaux into the team more frequently, but they both look some way off yet. If Pardew had got the players we were linked with maybe there would be more of a chance of decent football on the floor. Unfortunately at the moment we look like a team caught halfway between 2 styles of play, and I fear we will continue to muddle our way through until the next chance to change things in the transfer market.

Its been a slightly underwhelming start but overall I'd say that last season's general air of positivity is still about. Think that could change pretty quickly if we lose this game though.

Jeff Winter on Ferguson:

Has started 9 games out of 11 this season and made a further appearance as a substitute - more appearances than any other player in the squad. Cisse has started 8 and made 1 sub appearance, Williamson has also started 8 games. Key player.

Pardew took the time to say this in his programme notes: "Danny Simpson is also back in contention after a spell on the sidelines with injury and, as is often the case with good players, their importance to the side is only fully appreciated in their absence. Dangerous wingers on the opposition team tend to have a quiet game when Danny is at his best, so it will be good to get him back on board"

They used to sing: "Theres only one Johnny Oster, One Johnny Oster, He used to be shite, But now hes alright, Walking in an Oster wonderland"

From what I remember both Shearer and Ferdinand were excellent at holding the ball up and bringing others into play, whereas I don't think either Ba or Cisse could really call that a strength.

classy club: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=733595 Re: The Bramble song -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- its a horrific song, south stand chavs need to cut it out, unfortunately it was one of the only songs you could actually hear from the "singing" section at the other end of the ground Its only ever 15 year old m0ngs who sing it anyway, he looked at the south stand yesterday when they were singing it and he looked embarrassed by it