alexthegreat

You're telling us that when Fer made it 2-1 you were sure we were still going to win? I was nervous as I knew they'd score at least one the way the 2nd half was being played, don't really see why they wouldn't be capable of getting another? The way I recall the 2nd half going was Norwich being so totally ineffective that their supporters were actually sarcastically cheering when they got a corner, until they surprisingly scored one of them in the 80th minute. They put bodies forward after that but didn't manage a single shot on target, while Cisse actually had the ball in the net. Didn't like the way we defended set pieces but aside from that I wasn't worried in the slightest.

Krul had nothing to do and Cisse scored a perfectly good goal - was very comfortable imo, just a bit boring.

Shola heading the ball with the back of his head then spinning round to collect it

Fair point, the football is better but the overall style and attacking movement still needs much work, quite sure he hasn't the ability to address that long term. Hence people saying he's not the answer. But result and table position wise, you cant argue, we're where most on here say we should be.(8th) True, we do lack quality in the final 3rd. Back in 1995 and 1996 we were able to spend £6m on Ferdinand in August, £7.5m on Asprilla in March, and then £15m on Shearer the following summer. Nearly 20 years on, Swansea and Southampton are spending in the region of £7-8m on strikers, while the top 6 all have forwards who have cost £20m plus. Meanwhile we will not spend the money we did 15-20 years ago, We won't match the fees we were willing to spend 20 years ago, and have spent only £21m on strikers in the whole time Ashley has been here. Of our attackers only Ben Arfa and Remy can be considered top quality. There is only so much a manager can do, and you can't expect magic and invention around the penalty area when the board will not pay for top quality players. We have players capable of knocking it around quite nicely before we get to the final 3rd, and we look capable of finishing 8th. What more can anyone expect from the manager?

Heres his Premier League record over the last 12 months: LLLLWLLWLLLDL Sign Sissokho, Gouffran, etc in mid Jan WWLWLWLLWLDLDWL Sign Remy pre season LDWWLLWDLWWW If you can't see progress there it's because you don't want to. Lets get behind him and hope he can keep it going.

good stuff again from Pardew, 3 out of 3. He prefers to close games out rather than go for the kill - no complaints here as long as it delivers 3 points. And when he has a selection of attackers that includes Shola Ameobi as a realistic starter, who can blame him for that mentality? 12 months ago we were a long ball team with an incoherent strike force up front, and it was horrible to watch. In the last 8 months or so he has tactically outwitted both Hiddink and Mourinho, and the team has been absolutely transformed - the ball is almost always on the deck, even with Williamson in the team. If he can get a result against West Brom then that will be 4 wins in a row, and will surely guarantee a manager of the month award to go with his manager of the year award. He is doing a very good job and deserves our full support.

I've read two players in the programme say it's between Haidera and Santon when asked who has the hardest shot at the club. (I was very impressed when Haidera poleaxed that Man City player with his free kick the other week). I wouldn't have guessed Santon could hit it as powerfully as that based on what I'd seen on matchdays - he should probably try and have a shot a bit more than he does. He's a talented footballer and still young, so clearly worth persevering with.

can still get 5/1 on them, which is still a decent bet imo.

Disappointed with the derby, and a bit concerned about our striking options - that really needs to be addressed in January. But aside from that I'm happy enough with the season so far. 7 of the 8 teams above us have better squads than us imo, but if the players keep developing as a team then I think 8th is a real possibility based on what I've seen so far. If we were to finish 8th then that would be a league position we have only bettered 10 times in the last 60 years. Its also good to see that the ball is on the floor most of the time, and its reassuring to know that we we're unlikely to suffer any sort of financial meltdown. Given the shit we have had over the last 8 or 9 years, and the position we were in 4 years ago (no manager, owner wanting out, players wanting out, relegated, losing 6-2 at Leyton Orient and looking like we might be the next Leeds) I will happily settle for that for now. It will do me for next season as well, although after that I'd want to see some evidence that Ashley is looking to develop the club into the force we all know it could be, and I suspect I may well be disappointed on that front.

just over 18 months to go on his current deal and he's suddenly not in the team. There was a bit in the papers about him being offered a new contract in January, and then again at the start of this season - looks like nothing has happened yet though.

All of the established top 6 sides have at least one forward who cost £20m+ while we have spent about that amount on strikers in the entire time Ashley has been here. We do not currently have a competant centre forward at the club and Ameobi started again yesterday. Aside from Remy and Ben Arfa our attacking players look rank average to poor, and at the back the likes of Williamson and Dummett get a game. I cannot believe anyone thinks we would be a top 6 side if it wasn't for the manager.

complete outdid Mourinho tactically today, fair play to him.

Last 25 games: WWLWLWLLWLDLDWL LDWWLLWDL 9 wins 4 draws 11 defeats Consistent mid table form for the last 25 matches, only a little short of what's required of him. IMO the only time he's been close was the Reading match immediately before that run, which was the last game in this sequence: LLLLWLLWLLLDL and possibly after the 0-6 v Liverpool. If he plays the next 29 games like the last 25 I think he'll keep his job without too much trouble

Llambias used to say top 8 finish was the aim, the bookies had us to finish between 8th and 12th at the start of the season, and at the moment thats what he's on course to deliver. He's absolutely nowhere near the sack. In fact he felt able to go on national tv and call his boss a big spoilt baby the other week without any apparent consequences.

appears to be one of the worst headers of the ball at the club.

has to go in January

lined us up in an attacking formation with no competent premier league standard centre forward and poor quality centre backs. Always a possibility that we will lose playing the better football in those circumstances - we have conceeded 2 soft goals for the second game in a row and not for the 1st time we looked clueless around the box. I think any team in this league would have a chance of a result against that XI. Coloccini may have defended better for the first and could have put his foot on the ball and helped us exert a bit more control when we were on top.

nervous about this one - Pardew seemed to think some questions about his team's character had been answered, but I still don't really trust them when up against it and away from home. Hopefully it will be the side that was at Villa and Cardiff and not the one at City and Everton. Get a good start and hopefully we should be ok.

Just seen Man United are out at 10/1 for the title. I think they'll still have a real chance if they are still in touch at Christmas - both Moyes and Fergson teams have usually performed much better in the 2nd half of a season than in the first. And they did win it by 11 points last year as well.

His version of their performance in the return fixture they lost (pretty much along with the league) to the Kompany header is an even more warped version of reality. Great manager that he was, his public utterances have been complete bollocks for a few years now (like van Persie almost getting killed by a football), so it was probably asking too much to expect anything else from his book.

5th May: The Manchester United boss, toasting the club’s 20th title at his weekly media gathering, prepared to welcome Lampard to Old Trafford today with a confession. He revealed: “Lampard is fantastic, unbelievable. I don’t think there’s a midfielder who will ever do 200 goals again. It’s phenomenal. We looked at him at West Ham when he was young. I think you now regret not doing it. Where else could I get 200 goals?

No swearing and the spelling was all correct - I was very impressed

I don't think he has the awareness to play through the middle - he runs into traffic and gives the ball away too much. He's much better out wide with the touchline on one side of him and just a full back to worry about.

Terrible post, you've lamely skirted around all the issues I raised with your "point" Here look : http://www.transferleague.co.uk/ on the front page there is a table of premier league squads valued by transfer fees paid. Funnily: Were 8th. So even by your own conditions you are still wrong. In that table the amount separating 12 places from Villa (7th) to Palace (20th) is just £72m. The amount separating the one place from Villa (7th) to Arsenal (6th) is £89m. Clearly the top 6 is a cut above EVERYONE else in the league and the rest are all very much in similar boats. http://i42.tinypic.com/w811yx.jpg There's a valid argument that 7th to 12th should form a group in the middle of the table distinct from the bottom 8, and Newcastle should be in that group. Interesting post. Seeing as we don't seem to have the resources to get in the top 6, and have consistently shown form that would see us finish about 8th since January (if maintained across a season), then what would be the point in sacking the manager?

Debuchy is the man to end this imo. Can actually attack the ball a bit. Evra's headed in about 4 for Man United since we got our last one.