Gallowgate Toon

Still don't get the rationale of starting with a false 9. They are an absolutely rubbish defence who are susceptible to pace. We shouldn't have set up to play in front of them, we should have had someone up top who was looking to get in behind them, pressuring and stretching them with pace and movement. The changes afterwards were dire. No idea why he felt the need to switch into a midfield 4, even worse than that, he kept HBA up front and put Gouffran out wide but then placed Hatem wide left for the start of the second half. Why not just play your striker as one of the strikers? The man seemingly loves to over-complicate such a simple game.

We could do with a couple more British players but it's the managerial side that are the far bigger problem.

I have sympathy for him as he's shunted about a lot but misplacing easy passes is just poor play from the individual.

Oh dear, Mike's so precious. Brilliant comments from Farrington though.

It is really strange, although, he's a strange character. I miss the enthusiasm he had 6 weeks ago, he was looking so good and fired up. Perhaps he put too much pressure on himself and can't cope? Who knows.

He's here until we're close to being relegated. He's almost doing the job perfectly for Mike right now.

We haven't got anybody better than Ben Arfa on the right, beating a Cardiff team who were poor changes nothing on that score. He is our best right winger, no doubt, his head just doesn't seem to be in the right place and I didn't think we needed the type of performance he's seemingly offering at the minute. It's not all his fault but he's been very strange since Villa, just doesn't seem on his game at all. I think he's been given too much freedom and doesn't have the same work ethic he had a year or so ago. We're not good enough to carry him.

The only true thing you've said. You don't blindly stick with a combination because they played okish and scored 2 individual goals one time against Cardiff. Good managers alter their lineups after far better performances than that all the time. Your point is idiotic. You aren't very mature, are you? You can actually make a point without having to make daft digs. I thought they played well against a similar level team to today, they suited each others' games well in that match and there's no reason that they couldn't have got the better of a poor defence today. Hatem didn't need to be drafted back in, he didn't look particularly good against Liverpool and I'd personally like to see the team ethic he had in 11/12 back in him. Ideally, I'd like to have see Remy, Gouffran/Cisse and Ben Arfa as a front 3 but I don't think Ben Arfa's head is in the right place right now. He's put in some poor showings since Villa.

No we didn't. Cardiff suck, and we needed 2 very good individual goals from Remy to win against them. I don't think i've ever seen a team more reliant on of pieces individual skill to score goals, be it a longshot or run past multiple defenders. There is no teamwork and movement on this team. It is painful to watch. Get out Cardiff are no worse than that shower we played today and we created plenty against them, not just 2 good finishes. An away derby, facing a team with a new manager and 1 point is a much tougher fixture than Cardiff away. If you can't see that you are simply clueless. Their energy levels were off the charts and they overwhelmed us with consistently higher energy levels. It didn't help that we had 2 centre backs completely incapable of holding possession and distributing the ball. We could barely get the ball to Ben Arfa, so i don't know what you were expecting him to do. Hence why we only started to play at all in the 2nd half, once their legs started to go. But yeah, keep telling yourself we would have done better with Cisse playing from the start. What a joker. Righto. What a fool I am for wanting a front 3 that complemented each other well and caused the opposition problems. It's a team game, the point is to get the best combination that works together.

No we didn't. Cardiff suck, and we needed 2 very good individual goals from Remy to win against them. I don't think i've ever seen a team more reliant on of pieces individual skill to score goals, be it a longshot or run past multiple defenders. There is no teamwork and movement on this team. It is painful to watch. Agreed. People praised the Liverpool/Cardiff games because they were above the standard you expect from Pardew and we seemed to playing the ball along the ground more. Attacking strategy, transitional play and movement were all still far below an acceptable level in those games. We created quite a bit against Cardiff, it's not sacrilege to say we played well on the attack then. As for Liverpool, I'd agree that it was more that we had more of the ball than any chances we actually made.

Remy, Cisse and Gouffran had no effect on the game today, Ben Arfa did. Do you think Ben Arfa playing had a negative effect on 3 other players? No, I think them being split up as a front trio after Cardiff for Ben Arfa was stupid, they'd played well together and looked well-suited to away matches as a combination. Pardew just can't keep it right, he's constantly meddling with that area of the team. You don't leave your most dangerous player on the bench because of a one goal win against Cardiff. Remy, Cisse and Gouffran were all on at the same time today, and they were all far more non-existent than Ben Arfa. Gouffran, and Cisse especially were atrocious. Get real man. Ben Arfa had nothing to do with the loss today. Of course he had something do to with the loss, he played the whole match and is meant to be our most creative player. We barely created a thing against the worst side in the league. I'm not saying it's all down to him at all but he's part of it in some capacity, whether you like it or not. For the calls that there's not enough movement around him (which I agree with), he's also not the best at knowing when to simply pass the ball when the option's on.

We just seemed to shoot whenever we fancied, the one time we worked a proper attack and we scored.

No we didn't. Cardiff suck, and we needed 2 very good individual goals from Remy to win against them. I don't think i've ever seen a team more reliant on of pieces individual skill to score goals, be it a longshot or run past multiple defenders. There is no teamwork and movement on this team. It is painful to watch. Get out Cardiff are no worse than that shower we played today and we created plenty against them, not just 2 good finishes.

Remy, Cisse and Gouffran had no effect on the game today, Ben Arfa did. Do you think Ben Arfa playing had a negative effect on 3 other players? No, I think them being split up as a front trio after Cardiff for Ben Arfa was stupid, they'd played well together and looked well-suited to away matches as a combination. Pardew just can't keep it right, he's constantly meddling with that area of the team.

His assist was good, I was glad to see him put a ball in realtively quickly. He was still poor though, crap touch and decision-making, he shouldn't be the main man in this side. He was at his best when he was part of the system, not its driving force. I don't why he was drafted back in after Cardiff, we played very well with Remy, Cisse and Gouffran, that side looked a very good fit for hard-working away performances.

Well played to him, he's been very solid of late. Real battler too.

They were absolutely shit and in no way deserved to win that. Still, a draw isn't good enough against a team as rubbish as that. Pardew's decision-making let us down badly, they contained us well but we played right into their 6-fingered hands. That's 4 belters they've scored against us in the last 2 games. Cunts.

It's like we're playing Russian roulette with his decision-making. Some games, he gets it right but then seems to completely fuck it up the next. He shouldn't have strayed away from the team that was excellent against Cardiff.

He shoots far too often. Just stop it, please.

Rubbish and stupid, needs to grown a brain.

Unbelievably thick from him. Pathetic.

We need some more presence up front, had one or two instances where we've got in good positions but there's been a lack of bodies in the box. The balance looks way off. I'd get Cisse on for HBA or Gouffran.

What a finish.

I don't think MYM is ready to be the defence's organiser, yet. I wouldn't say that's a reflection of his leadership skills either, I just think he needs to get a run for us where he can play his own game and feel confident and comfortable in this league. Basically, just focus on himself. I think if he gets a couple of months doing that, he'll be ready to lead our back line.

One thing's for sure, if this is true, we just can't rely on his fitness anymore. Colo needs to be phased out, MYM needs to come in. I'll probably be in the complete minority here but, for me, Mapou is the best candidate in this squad to take the captaincy, perhaps not right now but in the very near future. He's young but has achieved a lot in his career, leading his side to a Championship, he's a winner. I think if Pardew showed more confidence in MYM, we'd see a more consistent player and generally terrific defender. Oddly enough, I'd partner him with Williamson until January, then buy someone else. Willo can do the basics and is seemingly a good organiser, letting MYM settle in and develop his own style, rather than having to adapt to Colo. Taylor's too stupid to have a defender bedding in alongside him, he's the type that needs his hand holding. It's not ideal but it'd do and would pay huge dividends in the long run, in my opinion.