quayside

I have met Graeme Souness (twice) and was shocked at what a nice bloke he is. In the early 90's, I had a conversation with OJ Simpson on a plane and thought he was a really down-to-earth guy. I wasn't trying to get into a contest - honest. I was genuinely shocked as I'd assumed Souness was an arrogant prick.

I have met Graeme Souness (twice) and was shocked at what a nice bloke he is.

Spot on today.

I don't think so, every team sheet that doesn't include HBA gets slagged. We can get results with some unpopular line ups. Its more down to how we approach the game imo.

Bet he wishes he stuck with Arsenal. In the league as it is now, if RVP was still with Arsenal.....hmmm. As for tomorrow I think we'll know in the first 10 -15 minutes if we have a chance. If we've gone in with a game plan of pressing and challenging them most times they get possession, especially in midfield, we're in with a shout.

It's interesting how people see games differently. I thought we allowed Swansea to settle into the game in the first half by not really closing them down. They didn't look like doing much until the 45th minute but we had allowed them to play it their way. Of course we looked dangerous at times on the counter (the save from Remy's header was awesome tbh). But they've got lots of patience and are quite happy pushing it around. I would much rather we had tried to unsettle them from the start by pressing more. Second half was much more open, we did get at them but the second goal killed us off. That goal was a bit fortunate and tbh we had some decent shouts for a penalty and one in particular looked nailed on. But I didn't particularly think we deserved much from the game, 3-0 seemed a harsh scoreline though.

Shelvey "headbutt" was nothing. We had shouts for penalties of the type that do get given at the right place and the right time. But we deserved to lose, maybe not by 0-3 though.

Look at Kinnear's track record when it comes to talking in public. He can't stop himself, needs the attention.

No way would Chet Baker have disliked the silver fox.

Desperation has really set in. Ashley getting some credit for our improved football....You missed Kinnear off your list btw. Interesting how suddenly, Pardew apologists are quite prepared to sweep his record at previous clubs under the table because they can hide behind a run of decent results which are largely the result of the signing of Remy. Without Remy's goals, just where would the club be now ? Just in case you have forgotten, this player is on LOAN to NUFC and unlikely to sign permanently unless Ashley breaches his wage structure so what will happen to results then...? It is a matter of fact that Ashley DID haul Pardew over the coals about both the football being played AND the poor results from last season - are you trying to say that suddenly Pardew has undergone a Damascene conversion to the world of entertaining football and there is no other reason for the side's improvement in style of play than him ? If so, why did he never do this at his other clubs, esp WHU when he had the likes of Mascherano and Tevez at his disposal and failed to use them properly ? Some of us on this remember that Pardew has NEVER been a long-term success at his previous clubs and want a lot more than a few wins, at least one of which was down to an inspired keeping performance by Krul, before we start classing him in the KK or SBR status. Your quaint little piece about Kinnear isn't even worth a reply....... That post is a classic of its kind. It makes ridiculous assumptions, starting off with the "Pardew apologists" cliche. I've said recently on this thread that I think he's an average manager. The most recent part of Pardews previous record includes a 5th place in the Premiership hotly followed by a pretty abject relegation battle. He did well when we came 5th and poorly when we nearly got relegated. I've criticised him on here when he's allowed us to try and sit back on a lead or even when the scores are level, I think it's his biggest failing. We did it on a number of occasions last season and our second half against Norwich was a typical example. I thought we played it right against Chelsea, were lucky against Spurs and were good against WBA . I try and give crediit and criticism where its due. We have won four games on the spin and it does seem to be generally accepted that we are playing better football this season than last. You are so consumed with being anti Pardew that you had to try and find some possible reason for it that didn't attribute any credit to Pardew. The reference to Ashley being behind it was priceless. Why not Kinnear btw? Its got better since he became director of football.

Desperation has really set in. Ashley getting credit for our improved football? You missed Kinnear off your list btw.

For certain our manager has now been there before and played a quarter final plus some of the squad have been there and done it. But, as it stands, its not worth the effort and I'm really sorry to say that. Look at Swansea this season (an extreme example perhaps), they are trying to do it with no real additional money to strengthen the squad. Bony gets a hamstring injury playing in a 0-1 loss against Valencia. Was it worth it?

This attitude really baffles me.... we were in touching distance of the semi finals, we are not in the situation where we can throw the opportunity of a trophy away. I'm pretty sure we all like seeing us playing in this. But the trouble with Europa is it doesn't pay enough to allow the clubs that qualify to strengthen their squads to go at it properly. Plus (and its been mentioned elsewhere) the CL rejects, who do have the squads to do it, arrive in the latter stages and screw the whole tournament. Its a bollox of a tournament.

Yup - I'm also trying to imagine what it would be like if he'd played under Di Canio.....

Well i thought we played with quite good movement against W.B.A, especially after our 2nd goal. I enjoyed that 20 minutes or so. God i feel dirty. Agree with your first two sentences totally. That final sentence was clearly posted in error and meant for some other forum you belong to.

For us mostly yes, but he was a CM when he signed for us, its where he played at Man City and where he made his name. He used to run the show for them - not that they were a great side in those days.

Barton was a central mid and Owen an out and out striker. Keegan must have got lucky in getting them to play well at left midfield and attacking midfield in a 4-3-3 then.

If what we saw against WBA was a blueprint of how Pardew wants it done then it seems to me that whilst the current formation has a 4-4-2 feel to it, it's a pretty fluid formation. The players seem to move around within that framework e.g both Gouffran and Sissoko did not stick rigidly to the flanks and Cabaye could be found collecting the ball off the back four as well as getting into more attacking positions. The full backs got forward frequently as well. FWIW I think Pardew is an average manager and by that I mean that he is not as crap as some make him out to be nor is he anything approaching a genius. I also don't have the personal hatred of him that seems to exist in some circles I have to say I find it extremely harsh to suggest, for example, that it was luck that has led to playing Sissoko and Gouffran in the roles they occupied so effectively. You might as well say that Keegan's creation of the system that had Michael Owen playing tucked in behind Martins and Viduka was also down to luck - and it really wasn't imo. The main strength that I think Pardew has in his locker is that the players do seem to like and respect him, and that should not be underestimated.

dunno wba are a good side and its only their 2nd loss away from home (which includes trips to old trafford and stamford bridge) so not sure we should just be killing them off. Its a very good win Agree. I was really pissed off with the way we allowed Norwich back into the game last week but thought we kept pressing today and never stopped looking to get at them. No complaints from me.

Who should have been sent off and why? Are you on about when Remy get put through and went down and we didn't get a free kick? Obviously if the ref thought he dived then he should have been booked. I was delighted with the win but thought the game itself could have been better. Was quite surprised to hear a few people on the way back to the car saying it was a good game. Didn't think it was a good game. They are a side that can give any team in this league a game and I thought we handled it well. We didn't retreat and let them just run at us, we carried on pressing and were always a threat in their half. We did alright IMO. First half wasn't great but I thought we were traffic in the 2nd half and held onto the ball really well and had a confident swagger about us.

I was delighted with the win but thought the game itself could have been better. Was quite surprised to hear a few people on the way back to the car saying it was a good game. Didn't think it was a good game. They are a side that can give any team in this league a game and I thought we handled it well. We didn't retreat and let them just run at us, we carried on pressing and were always a threat in their half. We did alright IMO.

The vast majority of his career he has been either shyte or ridiculously inconsistent. The occasional flash of form (often against the mackems) has just made the crap he mostly serves up seem even more annoying. He had a decent and consistent few months under Roeder (scored some goals too) but he nacked his hip so that was game over for a while. Recently I think he has looked like an international striker (no goals for us yet) - and I disagree that he looks out of his depth. Guess he must want to go to Brazil.

C*nts - we had no luck whatsoever today

Iron Mike and Wes Orange = CB dream ticket combo for Brazil.

I was thinking they might scrape it as there are some shocking teams down there. I truly hope i'm wrong like... There is a lot of s*** this year. Fulham, Norwich, Stoke, Palarse, Villa. A lot of dross. The way the table is shaping up it's quite possible that a lot less than 40 points could stay up this season.