Lotus

Carroll is very capable of bringing other, more potent players into the game off scraps. He'll also attack the corners that our lot put their heads down for. You never saw that based on his Newcastle performances so you must be referring to his time at Preston and Liverpool. Never watched him there so i'll have to take your work for it.

Agreed, people talk about him being a Pardew type player but we rarely deliver quality balls into the box. Fair enough he can hold the ball up but Shola would be first team regular if that's all we wanted. Both Shola and Carroll are alright at taking the ball on the chest, neither have been that good at flick ons, Carroll's weren't particularly accurate (a lot to do with the other player anticipating though) and Shola rarely gets any height. Neither bring the ball under control quickly so playing hard and low into feet wasn't much use. As you say, getting whipped balls into the box would be the kind of thing Carroll could really exploit. Not something we're any good at. Ironically, Liverpool look to me top have the players who could put the ball just where he'd want it.

He needs the type of service that we don't deliver so don't see the point of signing him tbh.

Think it was the 'loyalty fee' he waived from Toulouse. Ah, ok. Cheers.

Didn't Moussa waive his signing on fee for us to get the deal done? If so surely that would balance out the transfer fee we paid for him. So, one would expect the siginificant expense will be paying him from January instead of July.

Ba did? What did he say/do? (Ba that is) Nothing major actually. Ba said in a post-match interview that some Muslims might find Bigirimana's goal celebrations a bit offensive. The Wigan goal? What's wrong with what he did? He did the Ace, King, Queen Jack and closed his eyes in what i imagine was a 'thank you God' moment. If that's all he's referring to then finding that 'a bit offensive' is a f**king joke tbh. Unless Ba was actually joking of course!

Ultimately, we hold his registration and if he doesn't come back when we ask him too, we stop paying him.

Ba did? What did he say/do? (Ba that is)

Its an 'enclave' isn't it?

Bit of an odd point to make.

BOOM Somewhat amazed that Pardew says anything at all regarding players coming back from injuries. He is SO often wrong is it not just better if he says it's still being assessed until he has actually watched the player train for a few days?

Yes. It has one street full of trannies. Avoid it. Oh great! Any suggestions then? Bairro Alto is full of communists!!!!

Above us. Would they finish above where we finished last season? Will we finish above where we finished last season? No but I'm just trying to establish how good they are. I think in cup games the Portuguese can raise their game. They're all good technically but the league is a lot slower and they roll around on the floor at the slightest touch. They're athletic though and if they need to, they can compete but for me, only in cup or knockout competitions. I think playing a whole season in the EPL, they'd be rushed and they'd get frustrated at not getting fouls for near misses they way they do over there. Porto and Benefica would be in and around the top six imo, sometimes managing a top four.

And Simpson can't fulfill the role adequately. Quite a conundrum!

Above us. Would they finish above where we finished last season? Will we finish above where we finished last season?

Whelan really is an utter c*ck.

He's not facing intense competition for that accolade though is he?

A Above us.

I think he'll become somewhat less effective the more he trains here. Has good instincts but in a team devoid of imagination, daring and movement he'll soon look ordinary.

Tbh, i agree !

Tbh How many players do you think have actually improved under Pardew? The first one that springs to mind is Perch. After that i'm a little stumped tbh. Both Taylors, Coloccini last season, Krul. The rest of the team is pretty much Pardew's team anyway. Colo was as good as he was in the Championship, he did not add to his 'skill set' since Hughton left. Saylor is playing to the standard he showed a few years ago when we all thought he'd be an England regular. Don't think Pardew coaches Krul tbh, think that will be the goalkeeping coach, like at every other club. You're narrowing his options tbf like Krul, Colo, Best, Perch, Raylor and Saylor have all played their best football under Pardew. If you want to attribute that to others then there is no point in asking the question in he first place. Tbh, i don't think he ash any input with Krul, as i said before. Saylor is looking back to his best which was looooong time before Pardew turned up. Colo was just as good under Hughton in the Championship and has been, apart from a bad 1st year with us, a fantastic CB for the whole of his career. Perch i agreed with. Best, maybe, Raylor, you could be right there. But, Tiote? Cisse? Is Cabaye a better player than the one we bought? Has Santon improved through this season? Is Willo and Simmo any better? Jonas? Is HBA a better attacker than he was at Lyon? (He 's defo better at helping the team get the ball back - credit to AP for that), is Obertan any better for being coached by AP? Does Marveaux looked to have improved? I'm sure i'm boring us both with this list ! My point is simply, i don't think he's much of a coach or a good judge of a coach (in the way Ferguson has hired progressive coaches through the years). The players clearly like AP which is great but former players have said that his key problem was that he always got too buddy buddy with his players and perhaps lost his objective view on things. I think it's great the players like him, but if it's at the expense of team success (yet to be proved either way) then AP's employers need to reassess. FWIW, i think the Fat Mash will not indulge AP any further if next season is at best average, he'll want a top 6 challenging side because that's what he's paid for. We all (as fans) want the same thing and people form or change their opinions based on how they interpret what they see/evidence. Some make their minds up sooner, some later. We are all free to change our mind too if things don't go as expected. For me, i don't really rate him and even last season, after wins against Manu and Chelsea, i said i thought we had very lucky periods in both games and although the scoreline was often very good, i didn't think the performances could be maintained because too much luck (imo) was involved. For all that's gone against AP this season, what he couldn't control, he hasn't done well enough (imo) with what he could control. He's never showed himself a good coach/manager in the past, and average one, and he still looks like that to me. But, we can all disagree about it and make valid points on each side.

I do agree on this, like. Anita needs to show the desire, he needs to go looking for the ball and start things off. VA looks like a spare thumb all too often. Tiote just tries to fill the gap, with mixed results.

if wea are to continue with the 3 behind the 1, then we don't need wingers as all the players we have for the 3 are more than capable of drifting out to find space out wide, players who can play across that line or up front through the middle are more suited to what we have. Disagree completely. Our lack of service from wide positions is really stifling us. Our lack of early ball from the left is a real problem.

How many players do you think have actually improved under Pardew? The first one that springs to mind is Perch. After that i'm a little stumped tbh. Both Taylors, Coloccini last season, Krul. The rest of the team is pretty much Pardew's team anyway. Colo was as good as he was in the Championship, he did not add to his 'skill set' since Hughton left. Saylor is playing to the standard he showed a few years ago when we all thought he'd be an England regular. Don't think Pardew coaches Krul tbh, think that will be the goalkeeping coach, like at every other club.

They're going to be a lot better than people think. The Portuguese league is largely rubbish but they'll know how to step up for a big European game.