oldtype

That's... sensible. I feel my sanity returning after reading that.

You wouldn't know with the commentator constantly raving about the "magnificent Stoke fans"

Some of the most shameless backpedalling from you of late after the way you've spent the last eighteen months up the man's arse. No backpeddling whatsoever. He's done a good job and I like him and don't want him sacked. Doesn't mean I can't criticise because he's done a dreadful job of late. Thing is, neither of us wanted him appointed and only one of us was truly prepared to get behind him as NUFC manager. Why would anyone get behind someone who clearly wasn't good enough? It is to NUFC supporters' eternal shame that we didn't give this plum the reception that Benitez got at Chelsea. We clapped along and beat Liverpool and enough mugs convinced themselves that he was up to it. That's ridiculous. You'd rather we barracked him off the pitch and ruin the already low chance of any decent manager wanting to work with us for all eternity? Not to mention negating the entirety of last season.

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/nejournal/mar2011/5/9/steve-bruce-image-3-49349881.jpg It's fate

Honestly, the fact that Pardew went back on his principles on this bothers me almost as much as the match result.

Come to think of it, I actually wouldn't mind Di Matteo at all.

this Depends. Maybe he has a 5 game loss automatic release clause as this board love zany clauses. I don't think he'll see out this season. On the other hand. If he's sacked, we're probably not going to appoint anyone other than Mark Hughes.

The sad thing is that today probably would've been a turnaround game if we lucked out and got the three points. As it is, I don't think there's any way back now.

We're going to be a trivia question in ten years. Which manager won both Manager of the Year Awards and was sacked/got his team relegated the next season?

I'm normally cautious to the point of fault, but yeah, it's time that we had this discussion.

What's the fucking point. We're not going to get relegated but we're finishing something like 13th at best.

I feel like sobbing.

No skill and no luck either. Signs of a relegation team.

Commentator sounds like his heart's been broken by that goal

Nah, He seems to be having fun

Who is this disgusting commentator and why is he in love with Stoke so much?

Thinking about transfers is a lot more fun at this point than thinking about the actual games.

I can't even begin to imagine who we'd replace him with. Yes, were utter, utter shit but we're still more likely to get out of this with him rather than rolling the die on someone new. We're NUFC fans. We should know this by now. He shouldn't be sacked unless he's irrevocably lost the dressing room. (Granted, that may or may not have happened already.) This should be a principle that applies to almost all managers, not just Pardew.

You see all these managers wax lyrical about Alex Ferguson, but they seemingyl pay no real attention to what he actually does, or try to emulate him. This guy always plays two attacking full backs, two attacking widemen, has no defensive midfielder, regularly forces three strikers into his team, and still whips everyone. How about you try at least some of these ideas sometime? How about not being so gutless? How about not worrying about being tight defensively all the bloody time. Negative B.S. sick of it. To be fair, most other managers don't have the luxury of having the best players in the world in their squads. When you have limited players, it's easier to play limited football.

Our problem is everything really. Can't defend, can't attack, can't string two passes together. It's baffling.

QPR

I wish he could make it work but there's probably no way back for him if we lose at Southampton. He's already just about lost the fans and the dressing room will probably soon follow. This is crazy, given that we're only in November of a season after finishing fifth.

Utter shambles. Wish I knew what was wrong and what could be done to fix it

I just think it's better if we're able to look for reasons why things have changed for the worse from last year rather than just saying "I hate him and he's always been shit." The former at least gives us some sort of clue as to how to begin to improve things while the latter just leads to morbid negativity. Obviously it's his fault if the players aren't playing as well since he's the manager. Nobody's trying to deflect responsibility here. I just think the causes for his failure are a bit more complex as opposed to him just being a complete imbecile. Given that we're basically stuck with him, I don't think it would be good for my mental health to start believing in the latter. This is a tough spot for him and he's definitely feeling the pressure. The last time he was under pressure at this club (his arrival) he came out with flying colors. Hoping the same can happen here.

It's really hard to make any sort of meaningful statistical argument about football. Too many moving parts.