Happy Face

Two things, firstly i dont give a monkey's foreskin about other managers and what shit excuses they use, Mourinho is a poor example anyway as he wins things. And secondly, he got stick for using tiredness because of the Europa, rightly so as he changed nearly the whole team. Christmas is different, it's the perfect time to rotate and freshen things up. He even said in his press conference he was going to, then didn't, then blamed the result on tiredness that he knew they had. If you cant see the that, no hope really. I can see that. i just don't have a problem with it, because ALL managers spout shite excuses and protect their players from criticism apart from Paulo Di Canio. Not sure why you've ignored my post and then gone back to what we agree on about Pardew though.

Ive never doubted Pardew is full of shit, i expect nothing other than inconsistent excuses that deflect attention from the failings of himself and his players. That's half of his job (see Mourinho (again) the other day complaining about the diving of Suarez and saying he wouldn't have his players do that...the bloke who managed and defended Drogba!!) It's his harshest critics on the web I'm struggling to follow the logic with. Those who have no reason to change their view. It's probably my mistake and no-one who had a go at his tiredness excuse last year is having a pop at him for playing tired players now. I'll be attributing the contradictory views of separate individuals as a collective anti-Pardew amalgamation. My apologies.

In his dreams he is.

This time last year he was blaming tiredness because of European football and we were using virtually 2 different teams. Our last European game before Christmas had us fielding Elliot, Tavernier, Williamson, Perch, Ferguson, Abeid, Bigirimana, Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Ranger and Shola. The following league game had us fielding Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Anita, Tiote, Gutierrez, Cisse, Ben Arfa and Ba which means 1 played in both games. How does that one work? I'm not following the question. If you reckon he had a dedicated European team then the league team should be no more or less tired now than they were back then. So the concern among posters about tiredness this week compared to the accusations of exuses ayear ago seem more to be about criticising the manager no matter what, rather than on a principal of believing tired players need rest and recuperation or their performances will suffer. Personally I don't think he did have 2 squads and the tiredness excuse was much more appropriate last year than it is now, though I do think some players could do with a rest right now.

As someone on another forum mentioned this morning, having a say on the game when your team don't have possession as well as when they do is why Mourinho likes Oscar but doesn't have much time for Mata. The latter is clearly world class, but i don't think Mourinho should call it a day because his system can't carry him.

Just look at the players who are most visibly tired though. Gouffran and Sissoko IMO. We have two brilliant substitutes that could be paired instead of these in Anita and Ben Arfa Aye The bellend wants to check his self innit blud.

It's not that difficult. he's getting lambasted because he's full of shit That goes without saying. But from our point of view, as observers devoid of shit or any reason to spout it, tiredness is either a factor he could legitimately point to last year in excusing our poor christmas form (in which case he's a dick for not rotating when fit players are sat on the bench the past week) or tiredness isn't a factor for top flight machines of men, then or now (in which case we can't really slag him off for sticking with a team that were performing well, despite it making a mockery of his claims last year). I see it as the former myself, but then I agreed with him when he complained about tiredness this time last year too, so I'm not being inconsistent

It's just struck me how Pardew was lambasted for rolling out the tiredness excuse amidst squad rotation last year and is being lambasting for playing his first choice players without concern for tiredness this year

Almost as if he wants to avoid a run that would take us into the European places.

Clearly.

Never read or spoke to anyone who want him to leave like.

Don't be such an arse Your posts on him are a farce In what sense?

I'd like to say a word in his behalf Ben Arfa makes me laugh

My grandkids will be talking about seeing how ambitious Ashley's grandkids are in January/summer.

Of the 6 in a row he started at the beginning of the season he had maybe 2 good/brilliant games, so it's hit and miss. He's had brilliant games where he's come on as a sub or started without a run of games as well. Palace and Stoke recently. If the whole team is not performing it's unfair to pin everything on him, so against the likes of Hull or Everton he shouldn't be made a scapegoat, even if his performance was one of the most lackluster or especially if he has been targeted effectively by the opposition to be stifled. Dave is spot on. The expectations on him are multiple times higher than any other player in our squad. After 11 years of everyone saying Ameobi is shit, the only time anyone will raise an eyebrow at him is when he puts in a surprisingly energetic and effective performance. These players set their own standards and are judged by those standards. Ben Arfa's are clearly higher. He is without a doubt the most exciting player at the club in a decade (or longer). He warms my cockles whenever he's on the field because I know something could happen, no matter how quiet he might be I anticipate something happening. I desperately crave those moments when he does something to render the moans about tracking back and passing as bunkum. All that being true, Ben Arfa has not been indispensable to Newcastle United at any time he has been at the club. Whether by his own own failings or by Pardew's we have seen a system that the whole team are comfortable with that has put points on the board when he's not involved (uninspiring though performances may be) and we have struggled to find as consistent a system when he has been part of the team. My idea of heaven would be if the pair of them could knock their heads together and integrate him better in a consistent team. Unfortunately, if Pardew is incapable of managing that, whether by his own failings or Ben Arfa's, then there's no doubt who will be out of the door first. To paraphrase The Sound of Music, How do you solve a problem like Ben Arfa? There still seems to be no decision on whether he'll be best deployed left, right, behind the front man, given a free role, with a wing back overlapping or with a solid defender covering his back at all times etc. As it's not been a question Pardew has shown himself able to answer in 3 years, I do think it will be interesting to see which other managers fancy the challenge/pleasure, what they'll be willing to shell out for the opportunity...and whether Ben Arfa will then show the extent to which Pardew failed him (and us).

That's what I was thinking about. Will better managers see Ben Arfa as being in the Tevez/Mascherano position where Pardew is to blame for their wasting them? Players who can play regularly in world class teams without question. Or do the managers at top clubs envisage the same problems Pardew has with playing him week in and week out?

If he is keen to move on it'll be interesting to see if there's any interest in him and what we could fetch for him.

Not as daft as saying excusing players not making runs because they don't get it every single time I never said that they would expect to get the ball every time. If that's what you took from it then I probably worded it incorrectly. I meant the more often he goes alone the less inclined teammates will be to find space when it was a lot of effort and would leave them exposed to the counter. It's not to excuse that sort of decision. But I see it as a similar rationale as saying Ben Arfa won't pass any more because pardew won't play him and he feels he has to prove himself more.

People would argue black was white to avoid saying the lad does anything whatsoever wrong. The notion that players don't get frustrated with making runs and then not getting the ball (especially if the move comes to nothing) is daft.

If you've busted a gut to find space a few times and he's not passed the ball I reckon it would put you off expending so much energy every time he gets the ball.

He's shit man, have you not seen the graph? Jesus wept. When did anyone suggest he's shit?.

Loved Mourinho having a pop at the number of Liverpool pundits talking shite on telly

Most likely. Everyone in football says the 90 minutes fans see at the weekend play a small part in managerial decisions based on a week spent in training.

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport/football/fresh-ben-arfa-in-pardew-s-thoughts-ahead-of-newcastle-s-visit-to-west-brom-1-6343765

It's one of the most pointless graphs yet. His highest score according to that is versus Hull which was his worst starting performance of the season and one of his lowest versus Villa when he ran the show. Am I missing something? It's supposed to be the higher the better, is it? Or the higher the less selfish? Well, so what - he was shite against Hull after a superb performance against Villa and since then he's largely been played out of position or benched. It's not a "score". I've said previously that the Hull game was where he passed most...but was one of his worst performances. I make no link between those 2 whatsoever. I'm used to, and expect, Ben Arfa to pass the ball less than any other player. But he's becoming more frustrating on that front. The graph was only showing that trend. I was interested in his frequency of passing and how it has varied because the Arsenal game seemed to me a particularly greedy day for him. It seems to me his proclivity to hold onto the ball whenever he gets it, rather than to pass, is becoming more and more pronounced. It says nothing whatsoever about his own performance level (incredible versus Stoke), how much he was able to create or how he positively or negatively impacted the team/game. It was posted in response to Wullie who suggested he might only hold onto the ball more if he's frustrated at not getting playing time. But he's passed the ball quite a bit when coming back from spells on the sidelines, and the trend only goes down afterwards.