alexthegreat

Sometimes he wasnt up the pitch because he simply couldn't be arsed. Debuchy was often making runs well ahead of him when we were attacking, while HBA jogged along in the fullback position. Played when he felt like it today, and is still overweight.

He's going to be up against 2 clubs who can spend bigger and whatever happens they will both have very highly regarded managers in charge. 3rd wouldn't be a bad finish for Moyes but could well get him the sack. Seen some talk about Ferguson's legacy ensuring they'll be at the top for some time, but it can all fall apart in the blink of an eye in football. We have seen good teams turn to shit in next to no time ourselves. They still pay the wages to hang around at the top for some time yet, but I really think they won't be able to take a top 2 finish for granted anymore, even if Moyes does turn out to be a very decent manager for them.

Cheers Deano you useless twat, only thing you've ever done to make me like you. But best of luck with your application for the Man U job

Cabaye, Tiote, and Sissokho have enough to control the midfield against their lot (assuming Tiote is fit enough to start). I'm fairly confident in our back four and goalkeeper as well. You'd really fancy Cisse to get the ball in the net at least once the way he's going at the moment, it's as much a question of whether he's onside when he does it. we've probably been stronger than them in the middle of the pitch ever since we got promoted and that's as big a reason as any why we've had the upper hand. Only thing that really worries me is some incident going against us - been plenty of red cards and penalties in the last few derbies

Think there was a Bulgaria game a few years back where the Bulgaria goalkeeper actually covered more ground than Berbatov. He is class though, it's like he's covered in superglue sometimes

Looks like this is not a popular view but I thought he was poor in the 1st half - just wasn't putting the work in. I thought he was like that for the whole 45 mins, but in particular there was one Sissokho breakaway where he should have made himself available but just didn't want to know. He is a quality footballer though and he was very good in the 2nd half, I thought a few words may have been said to him at half time.

thought he was man of the match today

Think you are probably right. Players whose contract is up this summer: Simpson, Harper Players whose contract is up next summer: Perch, Gosling, Shola Players whose contract is up in 2015: Ben Arfa, Jonas, Ryan Taylor, Sammy, Tavernier He stands out a mile in that list so you would imagine that the club will want to talk about a new deal this summer. HBA is 26 years old and has the talent to play for almost any team. In a short career this is where he is at the top of his earning power. He will probably want to have a look at what else is available before commiting to us (even Keane took his time signing for Man United at about this age). His agent will also be thinking that stirring up some interest won't do any harm when he goes to the negotiating table - they'll be looking to get on to the really big money this time. Likewise the club may be reluctant to hand out a massive deal to someone who has spent so much time injured. They will want to know what sort of price other clubs will want to pay if they can't get him to sign for what they think he is worth. Other clubs are bound to have an interest in him, and they will be aware that he is on the point of entering the stage where he may be available at cut price. It's not hard to imagine that a club like Liverpool would be keeping an eye on him. The board will probably be interested to know what sort of figure clubs would be prepared to pay now, then if they think HBA is asking for too much they can decide whether or not to cash in rather than let his contract start ticking down and let an Enrique situation develop. There is bound to be some manoevering from all sides, and stories like this are going to keep on being fed to the press every so often until he actually signs a new deal. Hopefully he'll do it sooner rather than later.

NOT A FASCIST. Just says that he's a fascist, has a tattoo of the second most infamous fascist in the 20th century, does fascist salutes, hangs around with fascist ultras, and goes to the funeral of a fascist terrorist. Here's one of his "best friend in English football", Chris Powell sticking up for him: "He was a team mate. I got on well with him." It's like one of the interviews Nick Griffin used to give about how he wasn't a racist.

Just seen this bits been added at the bottom: Thought they were doing that already though? Would be great if sponsors started pulling out

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4870918/Paolo-Di-Canio-at-bomb-fascists-funeral.html

Originally Posted by haway View Post Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=771017&page=41#ixzz2PFXGS3I7 Unbelievable.

Ah, Ok then, the National Socialists weren't socialists. Right you are then Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=770550&page=53#ixzz2PEzdx6T7

On that note, The Sun think he's going to get rid of Rooney: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4828461/Wayne-Rooney-can-leav-Manchester-United-for-25million.html If true there will be plenty of speculation about a bust up, but he's done this plenty of times before and it's nearly always helped the team. The Guardian are also carrying a story saying that City arent interested because his wages price them out of a deal - Rooney is supposedly on £300,000 a week including add ons

Ultimately everything they have going for them amounts to a financial advantage when it comes to recruiting new players, and there are 2 sides in this country who can match them in that respect. Anyone can get it wrong appointing a new manager and the Man United board haven't had to make that decision yet. If the Glazers lose their nerve and start hiring and firing the way Chelsea do, or if they get a new manager who spends money like Dalglish and co, then there is no reason why teams with relatively meagre resources can't finish above them, in the same way that we finished ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea last year.

Some snippets from around the internet that show how other supporters at other clubs regard their managers: Moyes: http://www.grandoldteam.com/forum/threads/53593-Norwich-2-1-Everton-23rd-Feb-15-00/page63?highlight=tactics+defensive But the late and negative substitutions, and refusal to play the likes of Oviedo when Pienaar is so out of form can't be overlooked either. I, like everyone else, would hate to see a return to the dark pre-Moyes days but I have a feeling this is his last season here. Either it'll be no top six finish and no trophy (and "I've done as much as I can here.") or sign-off with the FA Cup and leave having won something at last. Whatever, as long as the finances at the club remain as they are, I fear for our future without Davy, I really do. Agree with this but would like to add to it. on jelavic : yes his first touch is off form , but aswell as that i just dont think he is getting the supply from the wings. only baines is putting the ball in. pienaar is constantly cutting inside and balloning the ball into road z rather than getting behind players and cutting a cross. on the other wing theres nothing coming from naismith. miralles or coleman should be our only options here. jelavic is imo also falling foul to the dreaded moyes tactics. happens to every striker we get , asked to run the line and do the dirty work alone in the hope support comes from midfield.time for an orthodox 442 with a decent strike partnership. Wenger: http://arsenal-mania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=293182&p=34410662 And you really have to start questioning his tactics, organisation, and team discipline after a while. I mean our backline has looked amateurish at times, our midfield has looked weak, and our attack has been non-existent in some matches. I can't put all the blame on the ability of our players...it's been clear to me that things have not been working in the current shape, tactics, organisation- really don't understand why Arsène hasn't changed things around more. Looking at the last seven or eight years as a whole, we've been continually undone by a poor defence. Not poor defenders, but a poor defence. I'm all in favour of the board giving Wenger £30m to buy a new striker and further funds to spend on the squad, but until we do some serious training ground work on the back four we're going to carry on going in circles. Yeah we could sell Vermaelen or whatever, but at the moment I could see us signing Chiellini and Kompany and turning them into pub players. The thing that irks me most is the absolute disdain he shows for the defensive side of the game, he really needs help there and if he's too proud to admit it then he really has to go. We are making the same mistakes over and over again, this is a management and training ground issue and is continually being ignored. It is time for a change. He's lost his nous. Seems to only be able to encourage the players for the big games, but is constantly let down by poor tactics and an inability to correct major errors. He's too stubborn for his own good, doesn't listen to outside advice (by the look of things) and wants to do everything his own way with his 'For the Good of Football policy'. I'm sorry, but this season has completely opened my eyes on his inability to manage a top-quality competitive side in the last 3 years. Maybe he's working on a restricted budget, but that doesn't account for his foolish tactics, substitutions and line-ups. I can't help but feel he just has to leave, before he completely wrecks his legacy and turns the fans against him. Mancini: http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=6473466&sid=e49851f66c1a14646a926418f2c7b396 Mancini strikes again with his bullshits tactics Another season of disappointment,bewilderment,frustration but worst of all,boring,predictable football,no thank you Doesn't seem to have the tactical ability to work out parked buses and high pressing mobile teams. The player personnel is part to blame but the structure of the squad is of his choosing, he had a bottomless wallet for several windows and could have bought wingers, fast midfielders, anything he wanted really. Villas Boas: http://www.tottenhamhotspurs.tv/forum/players-lounge/30768-avb-midterm-report-card.html I would have been more impressed if he could have sorted out our tendency to leak late goals which if we had even dropped half the points we already have we'd be up to about 2nd. I also question his subs at times and feel they're a bit negative, which might be the reason why we've conceded so many late goals. But, there have been a few games where we've come from behind where I dont think we would have if Harry was still our manager. Overall, very pleased so far....he needs to be backed next month and if he is I think we'll continue to surprise people given its his first season I expect that there's only Laudrup, Ferguson, and AVB in the Premier League who aren't constantly under fire from posters on internet message boards for either negative tactics or being unable to organize a defence. And while he might escape the "tactically clueless" criticism, Villas Boas isnt immune to that other universal favourite: "negative substitutions" Even Ferguson got stick from man united fans on the internet until a few years ago. He has had to prove them wrong an embarrassing number of times to shut them up. And AVB and Laudrup haven't even been in their jobs a year. Villas Boas got regularly slaughtered for his tactics when he was at Chelsea. It's probably just the way of the internet.

Know what you mean, but it's actually not really anywhere near as an impressive an accolade as it sounds. There's Keegan, Robson, Harvey (well before my time) Who else? I agree, next season will define his managerial career

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. Just to follow on from the above post: After struggling to find any shape or consistency at all until the new signings came in, Pardew seems to have gone straight to this system, although he appears willing to utilise slight variants on it: Krul Debuchy Taylor Coloccini Santon Jonas / HBA? Tiote Cabaye Gouffran Sissokho Cisse There is still HBA to come back in, and there are signs that Haidera and Mbiwa are both going to push very hard for a place in the starting XI. Perhaps Anita will too. I was surprised when I heard Pardew talking about how much he wanted Sissokho. I assumed a striker, right back and centre half were priorities and anything else was a bonus. The way he has instantly slotted him into the number 10 role suggests that even when things were at their worst in January he may have had this system in mind. Which is quite impressive really, if that is the case. It looks like we may finally have a recognizable shape for the 1st time this season, and 3 wins out of 4 plus progress in Europe can give us that 1st bit of momentum, something else that has been completely lacking. Was also interesting to see Llambias acknowledge Pardew's role in bringing players to the club in the programme at the weekend. Amongst other things he said: "We knew before Alan arrived that he was adept at organizing, motivating, and man-managing, and so he has proven. But he also works extremely well with our very experienced chief scout, Grahm, to identify the areas in which we need to strengthen and the skills and characteristics of the players needed to develop the squad". "Once Graham has identified the player, Alan and Graham then work very closely together until our target is acheived, before moving on to their next prospect. Its a continuous process and they both get excited about the type of players they want to bring in." "Scouting never stops ... it's a year round challenge for Alan, Graham, and his team. So naturally we are already planning for the summer and beyond". When you also look at the obvious respect he has from the likes of Coloccini and Ben Arfa, as well as the performances he can get from the likes of Perch and Ryan Taylor, and all the work he has done over the last 2 years and 3 months, it's obviously disingenuous to simply say "last year was a fluke and he is out of his depth". Who was in fashion 2 years ago? O'Neill and Hughes? Who would we get in now? Martinez or someone? He's going to show himself to be one of the best managers we have had and it's embarrassing to read the constant stream of snide comments and over the top criticism in this thread, even after an excellent month.

Been making steady progress when it comes to getting forward but has not progressed at all as a defender this season.

Liverpool and Birmingham both went and lost at home the week after winning the league cup. Season over, Europe secured, they will be on the piss all week. We are building a little bit of momentum for the 1st time this season and I think we will win. Will have to be bit sharper without the ball than we were today though

I wonder if he'll be offered a new contract in the summer? He will be into the last 2 years of his deal at the start of next season. Player with 1 year left at that stage will be Perch, Gosling, and Shola, the players with 2 years remaining will be HBA, Jonas, R Taylor, Sammy, and Tavernier. So you would imagine Ben Arfa's contract will be a priority at the moment, perhaps he's even been offered one already

Will be betting on Wolves to get relegated at 7/1 today. Have been thinking about it since Saunders was appointed, but thought he would probably take until next season to work his magic. However they are now only 2 points clear of the dropzone yet are still priced at 7/1 with William Hill. All the teams below them have started picking up points as well. Losing every week + Dean Sauders as manager must surely equal relegation at some point.

Think the fact that that Spanish doctor Fuentes has been giving evidence in Madrid has led to a few journos sniffing around asking questions about drugs. Wenger has made some comments in the Times today saying that he thinks football needs to do more about doping, although he believes that England is probably clean. Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/doping-revelations-by-eufemiano-fuentes-add-to-spanish-primera-ligas-woes#ixzz2KOYtC42Y I think that the question all this will lead to everyone asking is "Is this Spain / Barca team doped up to the eyeballs?". It's easy to say that with the skills required to play football there isn't enough reward for the risk to be worthwhile, but I expect some people would have said that about baseball a few years ago.

We were terrible v West Ham, Swansea, and Southampton, and we probably rode our luck to get as many points as we had before that stage. Since then we haven't played too badly. Here is a comparison of our last 10 games with the equivalent fixtures last season: 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. Arsenal (a) Threw it away towards the end of the game in both matches, but in very different circumstances. You could actually make a case for it being a better performance this season, but I just can't see past conceeding 7. Better last season. Everton (h) 2-1 win last year, 2-1 defeat this year. Again, very comparable performances though. Got a bit of luck last year with Gosling's handball in the box, and I'd say we were a bit unlucky this year. If we'd played the day before like nearly everyone else we may have had Ba upfront, and perhaps we should have been 2 up at half time. Having said that the total lack of strength on the bench helped Everton to be very comfortable in the end, and they are probably a better side than when we played them last season. Better last year Brighton (a) Two absolutely shocking performances. I recall Pardew had Jonas in the middle of a midfield 3 and Best on the wing. His selection was even worse this year and so was the performance. Better last year. Norwich (a) Shambolic defensive performance last season resulting in 4 goals being conceeded. Although Pardew was forced into a centre back pairing of Simpson and Perch so it wasn't entirely his fault. I actually remember us playing some decent football in that match, however that positive was nullified by the comedy defending and Gosling being senselessly sent off. This year it was a dreadful performance, the only positive was probably the clean sheet. Again could argue either way which was the better performance. Bearing in mind we sold Best and Guthrie and only brought in Anita for the 1st team, and we haven't had Taylor available for any of the last 9 games, and have only had HBA and Cabaye for one game each, I'd say I'm not too disappointed with what Pardew has been getting from the players in terms of performances at the moment. Last year he is the manager of the season, this year the ball bounces in a few different directions and we get a bit less luck, meaning we end up with 6 less points from the same 10 games, and he is worse than s***. It is exactly that sort of hysterical rubbish which has made our fans a laughing stock up and down the country in the past, and fortunately its almost entirely confined to the internet. But now we have all but 2 of the hardest away games out of the way, players coming back from injury, and hopefully some new players coming in. He must start winning now or he will find that he will start to get some stick on matchdays. I rate him and I think he will.

"His father, Osvaldo, has expressed a wish for his son to be allowed to return home for what his agent called "personal matters". Possibly a heavy hint at the end of the Independent article? Seems strange to drag up a quote like this from years ago: "But he has spoken of the difficulty his wife and family had in settling in England when he arrived four and a half years ago. He said: "I came [to England] with my wife and my children. It was difficult for me but more difficult for my wife. She was at home, she didn't have friends. She is one of the people who made a lot of things for me and sometimes I think, when I play well or I give 100 per cent on the pitch, it is because I am well at home." Maybe it's just a case that his wife has had enough and wants to go home? Why else would he engineer a move to Argentina? Most players only cause a fuss like this to better their careers and pay packets, and he is good enough for a Champions League club if that was what he wanted.