Andy

He's one of the harder working players in the team. It's obvious that the defensive side of the game doesn't come naturally to him at times but he can't be accused of not making an effort, contrary to what you hear from a lot of commentators etc.

It's obvious why he does it though. If there's fuck all movement he doesn't want to just blindly whip the ball in, and he ends up just holding on to it too long while he waits for someone to show for it. It's highlighted in the extreme when Shola and Cisse are stood like trees, and it's little wonder that he suddenly looked more direct when Shola came off.

Anita's playing well and is tidy but I wouldn't go that far, Cabaye at his best has a bit more energy to his play and a wider range of passing; the difference in the two was highlighted today I thought.

Made this talented Morcambe outfit look ordinary in the last ten minutes

He doesn't show for them, and when he does he either mistimes it and gets caught offside or doesn't have the sharpness to get on the end of the pass. It's as much the responsibility of the striker to create that kind of scenario as it is the midfielder. He's not playing on the shoulder effectively.

He needed service. He gets fuck all of it. That's only half the problem though. His hold up play has been discussed at length, but his movement isn't great at the moment and he doesn't look sharp at all. It's easy to blame a lack of creativity from other players, but I don't think he's particularly helping them either with his forward-play. His play outside the box is rubbish. We were told that when we signed him and we can't expect him to be something he's not. He's a poacher who shouldn't be starting if we don't plan to create chances for him. He has to actually look for the chances and make runs though, at the same time. He can't expect to just stand in the 18 yard box and have our creative players not only find him with a pass or a cross, but also completely remove any defenders that are marking him on his behalf. He's static as hell at the moment.

He needed service. He gets fuck all of it. That's only half the problem though. His hold up play has been discussed at length, but his movement isn't great at the moment and he doesn't look sharp at all. It's easy to blame a lack of creativity from other players, but I don't think he's particularly helping them either with his forward-play.

Good footballer. Played well. Won't start next week.

Wasn't an easy chance for Gouffran at all that like, an unpredictable bounce off the post like that requires almost fucking bullet-time reactions to guide it precisely. Could've went anywhere.

K

Looks like the fucking work of that fucking fuck Andy, the horrible fuck. [/interpolic]

Don't even know what it is I'm getting the blame for Ah reet. I suspected you were responsible for this debacle: http://i.imgur.com/N94LhDi.jpg Apology accepted.

Don't even know what it is I'm getting the blame for

Bingo. He'd play with the likes of Matuidi, Pastore, Lucas Moura, Motta, and Veratti in that midfield. If he's good enough to get into that team, that is. It's a risk for him in the World Cup year, assuming he has a desire to play and isn't just after the cash.

Pretty flawed article since it doesn't take salaries, signing on fees and whatnot into account.

They're very different midfielders. Cabaye is obviously a better player and on paper a great replacement, but Nolan's direct approach would've suited Pardew's set-up more, and he's never really understood how to use Cabaye.

The simplicity of that set-up was perfect for Pardew. Defenders who were just expected to defend; natural width (none of these fancy wide-forward types); one defensive midfielder and one creative midfielder; and two forwards who could thrive on crosses and direct play. Simple and thus effective for a manager who isn't smart enough to handle the more complex set-ups that he tries to think about these days. Unfortunately I don't think we have the squad to play that kind of thing now, either players have left (and not replaced) or have gone downhill rapidly. This is the problem with keeping Pardew and yet not backing him in the transfer market. He's shite, you've got to allow for that. Yup. The downside to the continental-moulding of the squad is that Pardew has no clue when it comes to the modern continental systems that these players are used to playing. They don't fit into his preferred traditional 4-4-2 system, and he isn't flexible or clever enough to create a system that suits them. The scouting process over the last few windows was designed to bring in bargain-bin players without any real consideration of where they'd fit, and the hope was apparently that Pards would just make it work, but unfortunately he isn't capable of that. Either the bargain-bin approach needs to change, or they need a premium manager to make it work. I have seen some evidence to the contrary in regards to this point, which makes it all the more frustrating. I'd also take more 4-0 away humpings if it gets you posting more. Maybe. Not really. If that's how it works hopefully you won't see much of me. I'm normally quite passive towards football these days, I read a lot, but never get angry enough anymore to be bothered enough to lay into the useless cunts. Tonight tipped the scales though. Far from our worst result recently, but the lack of progression either on the pitch or off it over the summer is infuriating... I can't remember ever coming into a season feeling exactly the same way that I did before the final game of the previous season. But that's how it is here. No optimism or hope, just an internal certainty that everything will remain exactly as it was... In this case: gash. Smelly, fishy, rotten old gash.

The simplicity of that set-up was perfect for Pardew. Defenders who were just expected to defend; natural width (none of these fancy wide-forward types); one defensive midfielder and one creative midfielder; and two forwards who could thrive on crosses and direct play. Simple and thus effective for a manager who isn't smart enough to handle the more complex set-ups that he tries to think about these days. Unfortunately I don't think we have the squad to play that kind of thing now, either players have left (and not replaced) or have gone downhill rapidly. This is the problem with keeping Pardew and yet not backing him in the transfer market. He's shite, you've got to allow for that. Yup. The downside to the continental-moulding of the squad is that Pardew has no clue when it comes to the modern continental systems that these players are used to playing. They don't fit into his preferred traditional 4-4-2 system, and he isn't flexible or clever enough to create a system that suits them. The scouting process over the last few windows was designed to bring in bargain-bin players without any real consideration of where they'd fit, and the hope was apparently that Pards would just make it work, but unfortunately he isn't capable of that. Either the bargain-bin approach needs to change, or they need a premium manager to make it work.

The simplicity of that set-up was perfect for Pardew. Defenders who were just expected to defend; natural width (none of these fancy wide-forward types); one defensive midfielder and one creative midfielder; and two forwards who could thrive on crosses and direct play. Simple and thus effective for a manager who isn't smart enough to handle the more complex set-ups that he tries to think about these days.

He's thick as fuck like, not just the sending off but he has no clue where the defensive line is half the time either. If he's not too deep playing everyone onside, he's doing that ridiculous power-lunge up the pitch leaving a massive gap in behind him... He has absolutely no fucking clue what he's doing if it doesn't involve heading or charging in the way of shots like an utter neanderthal. Second thickest in the team, closely behind Tiote.

The fall from grace that Tiote has gone through is one of Pardew's biggest failings here, he's the absolute epitome of a player that has been ruined by clueless management and coaching. He was never a great player, but he was good ("effective" might be a better word) in his first two seasons at keeping things basic in possession and being a bully and a nuisance when we were in defensive transition. He complimented the players around him well, particularly Nolan who was allowed to break into the box knowing he had cover, and provided a decent layer of protection. The modern Tiote is fucking miles away from that. This evolution into a "dynamic" midfielder has exposed all of his weaknesses and nullified all of his strengths. He will never, ever get back to his old self unless a manager is strong enough to explain to him, in no uncertain terms, that he's basically absolutely fucking wank at pretty much anything that involves being a footballer. He needs to be banned from shooting and making any kind of pass or manoeuvre that has even the slightest risk of danger... Pardew doesn't seem to see it though, unfortunately.

I doubt Cabaye is unprofessional enough that he wouldn't have been willing to play and put in a shift tonight. Seems pretty obvious to me that the club have been desperate to flog either this lad or Cisse throughout the summer (the transfer market "congestion" excuse that Pardew made for a lack of new signings referred to the inability to sell either of them, I would've thought), and now that the bidding war looks set to begin for Cabaye it would make sense that they wouldn't want to risk him picking up an injury, since he's pretty prone to them. Cynical towards the management of the club, perhaps, but not far from the truth I'd imagine.

Genuinely might as well play an extra midfielder and have no forwards at all if we're just going to leave Cisse up top, isolated. He has no attributes whatsoever that make him suitable for it. His hold-up play and link-up play are absolutely dire.

In terms of fan-response, the Kinnear situation is the best thing that could possibly have happened to him. The opinion of the "mainstream" fan (for lack of a better term) seems to be that he's been fucked over and that he isn't to blame.

Can't wait for a decent shot on target, hope this is the match