Andy

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

No. He's a complete block-head. Thick as fuck, at all times... He'll occasionally do something encouraging where you think "Tiote is back!" then he'll shoot thirty yards over the bar from a throw in. In our own half.

I'm personally judging us on what I've watched over the last 12 months... I'm judging us on an array of increasingly more concerning performances as last season progressed, where we not only looked tactically inept, but also lacking in raw ability, discipline and effort in several areas of the pitch. I'm judging us on a manager who is unable to motivate the players, unable to pick a tactically coherent side, unable to make substitutions or effective changes to fix his shit-storm of increasingly-concerning initial mistakes... A manager who is unable to show a single ounce of positivity in his general outlook towards approaching a game, and, more pressingly, is unable to actually learn from any of the aforementioned issues and repeats them week-in, week-out. And, tonight, I'm judging us on our complete lack of progression over the summer; every single problem that was there when the final ball was kicked last season, remains. Yes, we were playing Man City, but no that doesn't excuse ill-discipline, a lack of effort, poor organisation and an all-round gutless and spectacularly uninspiring performance from pretty much every player on the pitch. This was the first game of a new season and they should have went into the game looking to send a message to the fans; "we're as pissed off as you about last season, we're going to fight to improve it this year". Instead, they turned up, put in the same 90 minute "shift" that they put in consistently last season, and went down with a whimper. If you're not at least semi-concerned about that you need to open your eyes. As much as I can, I'm trying to ignore last season and make judgements based on this season alone. Perhaps it's just my expectations of this game were for us to get trounced so I am not in the least bit surprised. Maybe i've just lowered my expectations in general. Anyway if we serve up the same type of performance next week I will be very concerned, yes. I just don't think it's fair to go over the top when it was a half with 10 men against a top side. I don't see much point in judging on this season alone, nothing has changed off the field so there's no clean slate.

I've yet to see anything to suggest that he's a better defender than Simpson like; he has a better first touch and passes the ball better, and in that sense is a better "footballer", but defensively Simpson didn't concern me half as much as this lad does. I don't think you can put it down to adjusting to the league either, it's mainly his positional awareness that is his weakest attribute (other than clumsiness), and that general instinct of where you should be standing isn't something that really changes across the top leagues...

Think we've had enough time to judge him now, and he doesn't look a good defender to me at all. He's positionally poor and wreckless, has the acceleration of a wheely bin, and doesn't offer half as much going forward as some would have you believe. When wingers run at him I expect him to give away a free kick or a penalty every single time; his tackling is clumsy as fuck and leaves a lot to be desired for an international full back... Probably the most disappointed I've been by a new signing, expected a lot more from him.

I'm personally judging us on what I've watched over the last 12 months... I'm judging us on an array of increasingly more concerning performances as last season progressed, where we not only looked tactically inept, but also lacking in raw ability, discipline and effort in several areas of the pitch. I'm judging us on a manager who is unable to motivate the players, unable to pick a tactically coherent side, unable to make substitutions or effective changes to fix his shit-storm of increasingly-concerning initial mistakes... A manager who is unable to show a single ounce of positivity in his general outlook towards approaching a game, and, more pressingly, is unable to actually learn from any of the aforementioned issues and repeats them week-in, week-out. And, tonight, I'm judging us on our complete lack of progression over the summer; every single problem that was there when the final ball was kicked last season, remains. Yes, we were playing Man City, but no that doesn't excuse ill-discipline, a lack of effort, poor organisation and an all-round gutless and spectacularly uninspiring performance from pretty much every player on the pitch. This was the first game of a new season and they should have went into the game looking to send a message to the fans; "we're as pissed off as you about last season, we're going to fight to improve it this year". Instead, they turned up, put in the same 90 minute "shift" that they put in consistently last season, and went down with a whimper. If you're not at least semi-concerned about that you need to open your eyes.

Sissoko and Tiote are clumsy as fuck.

Brazil will murder Spain if they're allowed to create half as many chances as Nigeria and Italy did like.

I'd let him go but I'd squeeze as much out of them as we can. Sissoko and Tiote in the middle with Marveaux pushed on might work better for us anyway. If we can get enough to invest in a good striker and a natural left winger and we'll probably have done well from this.