merlin

That's rubbish, they were virtually out of the CL before he took over, I'm sure they were 3-1 down from the first leg. If anything, I'll give him 'new manager' bounce/influence. A very lucky victory that, ultimately, still didn't even convince the owner that he was capable. So you are prepared to 'give him' a new manager bounce and say things like 'I had as much to do with it as him'... You are wasted on here...go and ask the board at Man U if you can replace Moyes,,,,I'm sure they'll snap your hand off with credentials like this....

depends, some will work under Ashley, considerably less (ie next to none imho and no one of any actual talent) will agree to work with Kinnear in charge of "recruitment" Most teams on the continent use a DOF system though and i doubt many on the continent have ever heard the name Joe Kinnear. I just feel it's overblown that's all. A manager can further both his career and his bank balance at NUFC. they can do some basic research before taking the role and discover what a moron he is and change their mind, or just spend 5 minutes talking to him to find out. And Ashley won't appoint any continental manager. How would you happen to know this? precedent he hasn't before and its hard to see him starting now, it will either be JFK or one of JFK's mates If you are prepared to accept 'precedent' as the rule of thumb in this case, how come you don't do the same when looking at Pardew's performances at previous clubs..?

Ashley doesn't know what a decent standard is.....that's why your mate is in the job in the first place. Ashley obviously doesn't bother to look at prospective employees' CVs either...

Agree with this and neither of them are - both equally bad at defending, with Santon marginally worse at tackling. He compounds this by being unable to cross on the run with his left foot.

How can a large percentage of either fans or media think that ONE 5th place finish is representative of Pardew's real ability when he has demonstrated with 4 clubs that it isn't ? These people must have very little idea about track records and CVs.....

We've had worse runs of form and the c*** is still here. Didn't we go like 12 games without a win last year? Ashley had one near miss with relegation last season - he isn't going to want to see the club down there again, esp so early in the season and with more and more fans' disenchantment. No, if we lose the next 2-3 games, esp if we lose any heavily, I reckon Pardew is on his bike...Ashley can't afford the club to go down now...

Agree totally BG - I also think Pardew has 2 games, 3 at best, to save his skin...not that I want him to because I think he's a disastrous manager, but as always, it is the likely next contender that makes us all nervous because we know Ashley is a loose cannon and could bring in another tosser. The likes of Poyet and RDM are the best we could hope for under this regime and maybe even that is stretching it... Kinnear will have himself lined up should Pardew be binned. He might, but I reckon he's a short-term fill-in at best....health isn't good enough to do PL management now.

I presume you meant that in the Chinese sense, i.e.'May you live in interesting times'.....

Agree totally BG - I also think Pardew has 2 games, 3 at best, to save his skin...not that I want him to because I think he's a disastrous manager, but as always, it is the likely next contender that makes us all nervous because we know Ashley is a loose cannon and could bring in another tosser. The likes of Poyet and RDM are the best we could hope for under this regime and maybe even that is stretching it...

*gulp* At least one's a cup game. If we lose the first 2 he's almost certainly a goner...lose the derby too and I will be shocked if he is still at SJP after that.

If we lose this game Pardew will probably be 90 minutes from the sack...esp if its a comprehensive defeat.

To think there were some that thought he wouldn't be an improvement. There are STILL some that think he wouldn't - unbelievable, but true...read the comments in the Pardew thread.

The summary above from ESPN blog just about covers the game and the situation at NUFC. As the guy said, Everton are hardly world beaters, but NUFC made them look like Brazil 70 in the first half last night. Lukaku had the central defenders in a constant panic and by the time Coloccini was asked to deal with a simple high ball to that player close to the end of the first half, both he and Krul managed to present the striker with a simple tap-in. I am not going to go through the plus(precious few in the 1st half)or minus points of this game - many others have already done that - but the hard fact remains that once again, we looked a shambles in defence, the m/f and defence seem to have just been introduced before the game, and the only real telling possession we had in the 1st half was when Everton backed off our defenders and allowed them to pass the ball either to each other, or, on a rare and joyful occasion, to a team-mate in m/f who was unmarked ; whenever we got anywhere near their area, Everton tacked quickly and won the ball back, usually setting up a swift counter attack which once again had our defenders back-pedalling furiously and Lukaku threatening to score with every foray into our area. The game was effectively over by HT and regardless of the contributions of the subs, notably Cabaye, Everton knew they had the points in the bag and began to coast with their minds on more important fixtures ahead. It might have proved costly, but I reckon they always had another goal in them if we had sneaked a totally undeserved equalizer. Another shambolic display, witnessed first hand by our esteemed owner alongside his footballing genius DoF...it would have been wonderful to be a fly sitting on their HT sandwiches and listening to the pearls of wisdom dropping from their lips....they may even have touched on who would do a better job of being glove puppet in the managerial dug-out(or touch-line, depending on the chosen one's preference..!). In the unlikely event of a serious discussion of this subject, they may even have come to a decision as to how long the current incumbent should be allowed to lead NUFC towards the Championship for the second time in 4 years...whilst one can never speculate as to the complex workings of the Ashley-Kinnear mindset, one can make an educated guess as to the likely deadline...I am going for the weekend after the final whistle against the Scousers at SJP, which, if current form is to be any guide , promises to be another humbling of the Mighty Magpies at their own invincible fortress. Should this follow on from defeat against the likes of Cardiff in the next game and subsequent outings, I reckon Pardew will then be toast. Had his players not decided to turn up in the second half last night and Everton gone on to get 1 or 2 more, I reckon Pardew would now be clutching his P60 and deservedly so although there can be very little optimism as to who will be the considered next choice for the deadly duo running club affairs. Pray heaven that someone like RDM has indeed lost his marbles and is hanging on for the NUFC job - but the loose cannon could well strike again and inflict some other second-rater on us...he has form after all..!

A shambolic, living tragedy. Insoluble is also a good one....

It might not be interesting for you - but it will be for me and probably, quite a few others.. If he lacks the physical qualities you say he does, why was he signed to play in the PL? Do you think he might still grow a bit ....?? And inexperience..? Before you were around, but Aidan McCaffery was playing in our first team in 1976 and winning rave notices at the age of 19. Remind me how old Mbiwa is again..??

The very fact that Williamson is being trumpeted as some sort of defensive saviour by some on here is proof positive of the dire situation we face on squad strength. This guy is NOT a PL defender...just as a Championship player sometimes plays out of his skin when given an outing in a Cup game against a PL team, so Williamson tried hard when he came on last night. Yanga Mbiwa and Colo had BOTH had poor games, one is getting to the slowing down stage and the other has huge question marks over either his ability to adapt to the PL/Pardew's defensive system OR his all round capability as a Central defender. Only when/if a different manager takes over will we know for sure which of these applies to Mbiwa. Williamson has had some shocking games over the past couple of seasons so don't start turning a goose into a swan now because its just delusion. We needed new blood at CD and have done for 2 years - Taylor is prone to stupid mistakes AND play-acting...sometimes needs a brain transplant judging by his comments..Colo should have been gone after last season's fiasco as he won't get better at his age now - probably still wants away if the truth be known. A combination of Ashley, Kinnear and Pardew is toxic for the well-being of the club on the field - the lack of decent CDs is another example of this.

Either Mbiwa is not the player everyone was crowing about when we signed him in January, or he cannot or will not, play for Pardew in the system Pardew uses for the defence. It will be interesting to see which it is.....

If he loses the next 3 games - highly possible if not probable, on last night's showing, he will be on his bike ; the fact that Ashley bothered to turn up at Everton tells you that....

Jobs for the boys...

DOUBLE manager of the year. How many times, before OR since, has he even achieved manager of the month, let alone manager of the year. WHU, Charlton, Southampton, NUFC....and counting...

88 conceded in the last 50 league games. Yep as i've been saying for ages our defending is awful. That season, 5th, 15 clean sheets really is a one off season from Pardew. Amazed some still dont accept it yet, and how come the so called experts in the media haven't picked up on it. I would have thought that kind of long term goals against would set alarms bells ringing. During that season, Colo had probably his best ever season for us and it was mainly down to him that we looked a more secure unit at the back ; since then, he has had well-documented problems off the field, probably wishes he wasn't here and has advanced in age by a couple of years which is crucial for a defender reaching his stage of career. I thought he was responsible for the third goal last night(although Krul was probably almost as guilty)and he isn't going to get any better as he gets older because he is not the quickest of CBs anyway. Pardew just got lucky with Colo in that 5th place season and his style of play is directly responsible for inviting pressure on to our back 4.

Wenger is, IMHO, the best manager in the PL bar none - given that he has had to restrict spending compared to Man U and City because of the Emirates development, I rate him even better than Ferguson although Fergie has had a hard job keeping Man U where they are for so long - look at the problem Moyes may have from now on... Nobody else in the PL has pulled off so many great value transfer deals - look at what he paid for Anelka and then what he got back from Real Madrid when Arsenal had arguably had the best of him and he was beginning to be awkward..... He has had to sell some great players and although Arsenal have not won much in recent years, they are still light years ahead of the likes of us...and most other PL clubs. He is unpopular with many fans around the country because he often refuses to see offences from his own players but his handling of most players that pass through his hands is excellent and he would have been a great manager for NUFC had he joined us after KK left in 1997 but he was already with a great club and we would have had very little chance of getting him to leave Arsenal, more's the pity. Unfortunately, even Wenger couldn't work his magic under the likes of Ashley and with Kinnear looking over his shoulder - Arsenal fans should count themselves lucky to have had him and I hope they can win the PL this year before he eventually decides to call it a day.

Their chairman told Sir John Hall, when we appointed Pardew, that he would do 'OK' for about a year to 18 months, then it would go pear-shaped.... Whether they sacked him for 'football reasons' or not, they had him sussed out......

Sounds like Nolan. A midfield poacher is rare. How on earth anyone can liken Alan Gowling to Nolan is beyond belief. Granted when we signed Gowling from Man U, he was a reserve midfielder, but we converted him to a striker and he scored a phenomenal number of goals in fact only Andy Cole beat his record of scoring more than 40 goals in one season, as I recall Given you would really have to be at least 45 to have seen him regularly and Jack Flash is going off a description someone else gave is it really beyond belief? Sounds like Nolan. A midfield poacher is rare. How on earth anyone can liken Alan Gowling to Nolan is beyond belief. Granted when we signed Gowling from Man U, he was a reserve midfielder, but we converted him to a striker and he scored a phenomenal number of goals in fact only Andy Cole beat his record of scoring more than 40 goals in one season, as I recall Given you would really have to be at least 45 to have seen him regularly and Jack Flash is going off a description someone else gave is it really beyond belief? Nobody should take anyone else's view on a player as correct unless they have also seen the player for themselves...its like me trying to give my opinion on Hughie Gallacher when I was far too young to know what he was like - I wouldn't even though others have said he was brilliant.

People should be grateful that non-Geordies DO support NUFC ; it was easy to see why they did in the 90s because we were a high-profile club playing great football, challenging for Europe and making a world record signing of one of the world's best CFs. We sold over 500,000 pounds worth of shirts overseas IN A WEEK before the 95/96 season started and even before the shirt had been released in the UK - can't see that happening today and half a mill was worth something in those days. Usually people start following a club because they were taken to a great game like the Man C one back in 83 where we won 5-0 and it sticks in their memory. Funnily enough, the first one I saw was a defeat..! I should have been warned......