merlin

Yes, I can hear the 'Gordon Lee's B&W Army' song too....reminds me of beating Coventry 4-0, Spurs 3-1 and Derby 4-3 in 75-76...after the LC Semi second leg with Spurs at SJP, I had to travel to London on the train for an interview the next day and even the Restaurant car attendant had a sign with it posted over the bar...! Used to love the 'Toon Army, Toon Army' chant that used to ring around the ground in our promotion season under KK - would start in the Leazes and then they would sing ' Sing in the East stand', and we would all sing it, and so on...great days.

Terrific player when he is in the mood for it - has genuine pace, which always worries defences and this was the main reason we were able to hold off Liverpool with 10 men...they daren't push everyone forward in case he caught them out on the break, which he almost did a couple of times. Will always carry more threat than the likes of Cisse and even HBA - leaves Cisse for dead with his pace and plays the ball quickly and moves for the return around the box, witness that great piece of play yesterday which almost resulted in a goal and had commentators drooling. HBA would still have been trying to beat another defender himself.... Still doubts about his long term commitment and character with the R case still pending but if he isn't spoiled by Pardew he could be a huge asset with his qualities.

Other than the last three matches he's been s*** for pretty much two years. Hard to describe such a lengthy period as poor form. This - but I always thought he had great qualities from his early months at the club and I partly blame Pardew for not sorting him out. He IS a good player.

Wasn't that Ramieres? Yes

That is a characteristic of top Dutch footballers...

Anita is an invaluable member of the squad - it is becoming apparent why he was so highly rated by Ronald De Boer at Ajax because he is a player who, by all accounts, gives no problems to the club off the field and doesn't complain when he isn't selected every week. He has vision and his interceptions are often crucial. His skill on the ball and support of the attack was the main reason we got a second goal yesterday and under a better manager, he would be a mainstay of the side. This is only his second season in the PL and he is adapting really well. He doesn't dwell on the ball when a simple early pass will be better, unlike HBA for example. A very good player and we got a bargain.

As most have said, yesterday's performance is an illustration of what many of us know - there are some quality players in our squad and, with a better manager, we would have a good chance of being top 6 challengers. The problems are that 1) There is no way Ashley would recruit a top manager and no way one would join us under Ashley's terms of employment although Di Matteo is reputedly interested. 2) We lack depth of quality - and numbers - in the squad which would allow a realistic challenge for honours because even a top manager would struggle when we got crucial injuries and Ashley wouldn't spend the necessary money required in order to strengthen the squad sufficiently. Having said all that, I still think that a decent manager could get us into top 8 and, given a run of luck with injuries, challenging for 5th place - we are ridiculously inconsistent and shouldn't be with the quality of players available when most are fit.

A great win after a much better second half performance - looked as if the side had been told to keep it tight and defend in numbers in the first half, but once the players realised that Chelsea weren't in top form they took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second. Some really good performances ; Tiote was excellent at breaking up Chelsea's rhythm and keeping the pressure off - he seems to be relishing the captain's job and this was probably his 3rd good game in succession. When Anita replaced him, he too did really well, playing the simple ball, making interceptions and crucially, supporting the attack which led to him laying on Remy's goal which sealed the game. Storming second half from Remy and he could have had a hat-trick on chances, whilst Cabaye had another great game - back to his best now. Gouffran deserved his goal for all his hard work and Debuchy was probably our best player in the first half...a good game all round and a great block to stop them pulling a goal back in the second half. Cisse was once again a shadow of the player we signed but Sissoko showed flashes of the player he could be...if only we had a manager who could utilize his qualities properly... This probably applies to the whole team as most of us know - however, great result and entertaining second half...we have to enjoy these days as they don't come round very often..!

The sense of anticipation and build up to the game when KK was manager...even from the first game he was in charge against Bristol City culminating in Local Hero being played - which seemed appropriate when KK took over - as the team were coming out. You just KNEW it was going to be a great time in the club's recent history. Oh - and the sense of anything was possible...unlike today when you think mediocrity is all there is...

I agree with you, he gets no stick. What I meant by that was people singing for him to give them a wave. I think in general, managers only get stick after the players. I think Pardew is lucky in that we have a quite likeable squad, so a climate of abuse never really forms. ...or maybe that fans of NUFC are far less discerning than they used to be......likeable squad ...? The only squad people like is one that they can identify with and is successful, i.e. wins more games than it loses and provides entertainment - this lot fall down on both counts.

They don't have to do that - many of the fans, and an increasing number at that - have already banned themselves from SJP and more will do so whilst Ashley remains in charge.

This - well said. Our build up is so slow that most strikers would struggle to score goals and one like Cisse has little chance with it.

Gillespie was far from crap - he was never the same after his 'pal' Phil Neville almost took his ankle off at OT when we played there in 95-96 and was out of the game for weeks...before that, he was one of the best rated young players in the country, rated as the best of Fergie's bright young things which is why KK insisted on him being part of the Andy Cole deal. He started to lose his way after KK left and got involved with heavy gambling etc. The Barcelona game was a flashback to the player he had been and how he should have developed.

You forget a certain Alan Shearer needing to be coached by Bobby Robson when he arrived in 1999? Are you seriously trying to say that Cisse is as good as Shearer..? All that happened with Shearer was that he was doing too much work OUTSIDE the box because his team mates weren't doing it...SBR simply got him to get into scoring positions again but by 1999, Shearer had many years of goal scoring success in the PL behind him. Cisse has had ONE good half-season in the PL during his time at SJP and although some of his decline is undoubtedly down to Pardew's style of play and his team-mates inability to supply him with crosses, the guy's all round play - like getting caught off-side so often and his inability to offer a serious aerial challenge to defenders mean that he's not in the same street as Shearer was..he cannot lead the line like Shearer could so unless he is scoring, he is a luxury player. His time in Germany was decent, but the Germans play a better style of football anyway, with plenty of chances being created, esp from crosses.

And what was your opinion when he was banging all those goals in for fun? The UK once had the world's biggest navy, as big as the next two combined...we now have a navy smaller than Switzerland.....things change, esp in football - he will be 29 soon.

Didn't see the game so can't comment on it - the bean counters at SJP will be delighted with the usual early exit, even though it appears Man C took pity and tried to give us the game....we couldn't even accept that gracefully. Expect plenty more of this sort of thing until Ashley finally decides to buy Rangers....so a couple of years of purgatory lie ahead.

Cannon fodder...

What a horrible approach to look at football. You conceded more goals then they did, so you deserve to lose. If I’m a neutral watching a game of football and I see a team give it their all in trying to break down a team but then other team break away and grab a late winner, am I f*** giving them any credit for a deserved win. I still refuse to believe Chelsea were worthy winners of the Champions League, they couldn’t ride their luck like that if they tried. So, if by some miracle granted by the Gods of football, we managed to get to the final of a major competition where we played Man U and won by Cabaye hitting one of his specials into the top corner in the 89th minute, despite the fact that they spent 80 of the previous minutes battering us, you would be quite happy to hand over the trophy to Man U on the grounds that 'they played better than us'....?? Don't say you would because you will finally destroy any remaining credibility you still have as a poster. Games are won by scoring goals - one Brian Clough, himself a prolific striker, once said 'it only takes a second to score a goal'..he also said that he scored as many with his backside as his head but it didn't matter because they all count as long as they go in..... Course you wouldn't hand the cup over but you would be laughing your tits off that you've just stole the game after being battered You think that's funny..?? I didn't see too many expressions of amusement among the Mackem supporters after the final whistle - they were too busy celebrating SUCCESSIVE wins over NUFC and they didn't give 2 stuffs how they won the game. There weren't too many happy faces among the NUFC fans either...or did you notice that whilst you were feeling smug that we had 'looked the better team'?? Just a reminder - better teams usually win...

No, I didn't like his Chelsea team much, I would prefer someone less well known but who has produced decent football at a lower level. Obviously we won't pay for someone who has done it at a higher level so that's the next best thing. Di Matteo still looks like a decent punt to me. This - Di Matteo, if rumours are to be believed, is interested in the job and is probably the best we could get under Ashley. We could hardly expect better under the current regime, however, get a new ambitious owner and the sky could be the limit - maybe KK as DoF and then we could be looking at some decent continental managers too...he has contacts in Germany....

What a horrible approach to look at football. You conceded more goals then they did, so you deserve to lose. If I’m a neutral watching a game of football and I see a team give it their all in trying to break down a team but then other team break away and grab a late winner, am I f*** giving them any credit for a deserved win. I still refuse to believe Chelsea were worthy winners of the Champions League, they couldn’t ride their luck like that if they tried. So, if by some miracle granted by the Gods of football, we managed to get to the final of a major competition where we played Man U and won by Cabaye hitting one of his specials into the top corner in the 89th minute, despite the fact that they spent 80 of the previous minutes battering us, you would be quite happy to hand over the trophy to Man U on the grounds that 'they played better than us'....?? Don't say you would because you will finally destroy any remaining credibility you still have as a poster. Games are won by scoring goals - one Brian Clough, himself a prolific striker, once said 'it only takes a second to score a goal'..he also said that he scored as many with his backside as his head but it didn't matter because they all count as long as they go in.....

I don't understand how someone can say statistics are not useful in football. They have been fairly effective in basketball, which is also a very fluid game. If you look at managers in the Premiership like Mourinho, Pochettino, Pellegrini, and Lambert, they've all been at their clubs a shorter time than Pardew (in the case of the first two less than six months) and have already given their sides a distinct style and way of playing that is different to what was present before. Even Hughes seems to have imposed himself on Stoke to some degree. The players may not fit their style exactly, but these managers have adjusted and generally made the best out of what they were given. Pardew has managed this team for nearly three years now without an usually high amount of player turnover and still has no idea of how he wants to play, what the best system for the team is, or how to fit players who have been here for quite some time into his systems. What is Pardew's preferred style of play? Listening to his words in the media it seems to be, "fluid attacking football, until something goes wrong and we have to start pumping long ball and sitting back on the 18 yard box because this is the only way to react in such situations". It is thing I dislike most about his tenure here. There is a famous saying, attributed by some to Disraeli, that there are 3 kinds of lies..'Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics'....Politicians of all kinds LOVE the latter most of all because you can prove anything by manipulating the facts in stats.. The only stat I am interested in - apart from the fact we were one game from relegation on the last day of last season - is that Pardew has been sacked by almost every other club he managed....and usually after a similar time span in the job....

Fair enough, Billy Beene of Moneyball fame would say not mind. What he came up with has been hugely influential. Squadron Leader Charles Reep came up with the stats that influenced Hughes and in turn Taylor during the 50s & 60s. I don't know who any of those people are. Did any of them play for Brazil or Barcelona? Moneyball resulted in Liverpool wasting about £100million on absolute s*** that nearly ruined them. "Downing put the 7th most crosses in last year...£20million sounds about right" Really? I always attributed those signings to Dalglish. When he was at Newcastle he had a tendency to buy similar physically imposing, workhorse types with a massive distrust of mavericks like Ginola and Tino. This was only when his budget was restricted...he also bought Hamman, Nobby, Given and Tomasson(who was used badly at NUFC because of Shearer's injury but went on to star for AC Milan)....

Agree, Wullie - I've mostly given up trying to reason with some of the posters on here....almost certain that some of them are Ashley/Pardew trolls because they will do and say anything to justify keeping the status quo...even when its blatantly obvious that the manager and owner/officials are just not up to the job at a club with the support of NUFC. Despite all the possession we had, the ball was mostly played sideways or backwards and the lack of forward running has been a feature of Pardew's sides ever since he arrived and started 'coaching' the team. Build ups are painfully slow and meat and drink to defenders in opposition sides..we rely mostly on long range specials to get results.

His value has declined drastically since his first season - if someone had come along and bid 25m for Cisse after his 2 goals at Chelsea there would still have been many fans going berserk had he been sold... Now, you would be lucky to get 5M for him...he will be 29 next birthday and has been absolutely awful for months, even looking slow and ponderous. Some of this will undoubtedly be Pardew's King Midas in Reverse coaching/management but not all of it. If this is him trying to get himself a move, he may succeed - but only to the Championship...hard to see all this ending well for NUFC.

Beardsley subscribes to Winston Churchill's famous phrase about jaw-jaw being better than war-war.. With a jaw like his, its hardly surprising..! Joking aside, he IS a prat, makes you cringe when he supports the powers that be at NUFC, simply because he wouldn't get a job anywhere else - at least, one that his dear wife would let him accept...