Parky

The bottom line is that he is a defensive manager with one eye on the percentages, this translates over to the players who hesitate to play their natural game. Think the only player who's had something like freedom has been Hatem and he had to earn that over a series of 10 or so 'wonder games'. While Ba was here there was that much indesicision and mucking about to accomodate him Cisse was hamstrung for half a season and is only just coming into his own. However I've been really impressed how Pard is utilising Sissoko as I imagined he'd be played as a 'middle of the park' midfielder. What a lot of people are looking for and still are is a manager who can impose a fluid style on the side that is flexible and readable by all the players...Not sure this will ever happen and we will probably carrry on stuttering through seasons with patches of good play and patches of poor performances while he's here always with one eye on 'not losing games' and happy to nick wins. Under him it has been rare that we dominate games and put sides to the sword (but that isn't as easy these days as it used to be - football has changed). Look how conservative the likes of AVB and Benitez are even with highly competitive squads.

He's decent but not good enough to be leading the Arsenal attack.

Marveux for Guti when we were on top and there was a good chance of picking up the 3.

It's funny how overrated Modric was in the PL. Can't get a game now, sometimes not even the bench.

Playing well enough, no need to take risks with him.

Really shocked he wasn't aware of his title till after the signed the deal. Very fishy. That title translated means scapegoat if anything goes wrong and also that we don't fully support him. I can't imagine it isn't a rock around his neck every day. Still he must be on mad money for this little deal.

They are a million times better than anything Nike make or will ever make.

Graeme le Saux

Still haven't sold all those flats. Pony and trap outfit.

Not as classy historically as Spurs imo and Everton are a far more decent club who had one of the best youth set ups ever...till recently. I'd peg them just above West Ham.

Third most racist fans historically after Millwall and Leeds.

West Ham.

Yup. Roman has spent a billion I read somewhere.

Dembele, Sigurdsson & Dempsey for Modric money was good business. Plus Vertoghnen. With Caulker and the fullback with Prem experience. They are a better side this year imo but are in more or less the same position as last year. Which tbh was a good job. Without the Redknapp media circus they would've finished 3rd last season and they should finish 3rd this season too. I just don't understand how Redknapp is crap and AVB is brilliant that some people think despite similar results. AVB maybe better in the long-term, he likes youth and rotation more but atm he's not shown much in the PL to show he's better than Redknapp. I think the rotation will mean they will be strong in the cups this year and next though. All 3 of them are shite tho. Dempsey is past it. Siggy will go down as a half season wonder and Dembele fiddles around too much on the ball and then passes it to the least dangerous player.

He's had his day. He was quite good about 10 years ago.

"Interim managah" You basically can't recover from that. That was a pr blunder.

I was saying the other day that they'd keep playing him TILL he signed.

Oh, stop it. Yes, we'd have lost if we'd scored one and they'd scored two. Can't argue with that. Look, we made a s***-load of clear chances, and their keeper played a blinder. We didn't play particularly well, yet against a team that have done really well at home, and on a night where - and fair enough - they pulled every possible emotive string to gee up the crowd and players, we had over 60% possession and over three times as many shots - 16 on target. This has happened in most games over the last few weeks. We don't look particularly great, we seem a bit dull, then you look at the stats and we had lots of possession and far more shots/chances than the oppo. I think that's a conscious decision by AVB (keep it tight all over, rather than go gung-ho) and the law of averages suggests that it should work. And yeah, we're third. Anyway, I'm just a bit bored with people saying "take Bale out and we'd fall apart". Well, we'd obviously be struggling to stay where we are, because he's really bloody good. It's a pointless thing to say. AVB has put together the team in such a way as to give Bale as much freedom as possible, and he's responded. Redknapp tried the same last year, off and on, and it didn't work as well. We lost two of our three best players last year (some include King, but he was fading rapidly). We brought in a few, but then lost our best centre-back. Then AVB lost Sandro for the season - disrupting our excellent CM. Then we lost our striker, our top scorer. So, take out Kaboul, Sandro, and Defoe, and we're still third. And you want us to take out Bale too? And you're willing to go out on a limb and say we'd not be as good? Not meaning to pick on you here, Parky, but I must have read dozens and dozens of posts from people over the last month along the same lines, and this is the only time I've thought "f*** it, I'm responding." I don't think we can judge AVB too harshly or too generously - he's had two-thirds of a season. He's done better than I expected. Whoever it was that said he made players like Defoe not just look better, but be better (Tiresias?) is right. Defoe is not alone. As for Pards and Rodgers, well I spent a fair bit of time on the West Ham board this last seven days, and more than one person referred to Pardew as a fraud. I don't watch you guys closely enough to say so for sure, but you really were the fifth best side last year. He must have played some part in that. In the same vein, I see the real improvement in Rodgers' team. Maybe they'll both turn out to be mistakes, but they've both been given markedly improved squads to play with now. Good reply. Stung into action. Think for me the bottom line with AVB is that Spurs aren't playing like I expect a Spurs side to play. You forget at the start of the season there were moments the supporters had started turning on his over organised and steady approach. Then he didn't play Adebayor for ages and played Defoe alone upfront (seems to have destroyed Ade's mind). Spurs would be the ideal club for Laudrup.

Will watch this.Should be good.

Think that's about right.

Both good marketing men who seemed to have lucked into football management.

Spurs have played pretty poorly in many games. Thought WHam fought back and would have won without the two Bale goals.

Take Bale out and they'd be mid-table. Just look at how many points he's got them alone. That is rubbish tbf, Bale hasn't been carrying them until the last 3 or 4 weeks before then it was much more of a team effort with Defoe, Dempsey, Dembele and Lennon all contributing to points. Mid table is a bit strong. Behind Arsenal? I believe so. The past 5 weeks Bale has won them points. Credit to AVB for helping Bale get to this next level but the team as a whole in recent weeks hasn't been great. His strike rate is better than 1 in 2.

AVB is an average manager and will be my next target once I'm done with Blobfish.