Gallowgate Toon

at what point did you see that ? before they scored i could only see us scoring, after they scored I saw it like you did. I thought you looked tired and pretty devoid of ideas from the off. You're right, though, once they'd scored, it got worse. I thought they were worth their win, but the scoreline probably flatters them a tad, as it suggests they were relatively decent, which they weren't. They just had more application. I thought they had more focus and aggression. They had only one player who offered any real threat in Sessegnon, yet despite our work on defence all week under Pardew, he was given the freedom of the park to cause havoc. In contrast, they closed down our attacking threats quite successfully. We seem to have a problem picking up players playing in 'the hole'. We gave Sessegnon acres of space and let him gather momentum time and time again.

It's no coincidence that he's never been the same since those comments about 'doing more'. He's not a defensive midfielder now, he's become a central player, he actually plays ahead of Cabaye most of the time.

I wish he would do a Q&A session. I'd love to know some of the shit that goes through his head. Echoing what others have said, we only play with 2 formations, surely the players know our shape by now, so what is he blithering on about?

Yep. Absolutely infuriating. Our midfield organisation has been terrible all year, Pardew wants some multi-talented middle but doesn't have it, yet continues to persevere with shit that isn't working.

As has been said 1000 times, he needs to be the player he was when he first came. Stick to protecting the space in front of the back 4. I hate what he's been turned into, he was class how he was, as a defensive midfielder.

I can't think of the last time we had a comfortable win. The one that comes to mind was probably the 3-0 win against Wigan at home, when they had 10 men. Seems the majority of our wins have been scraping over the line holding onto the lead or last minute jobs such as Stoke and Fulham. It just wears you down. It's just a game, a form of entertainment and it's infuriating that managers like this are the ones that rise to the top.

Absolutely no positivity for this. You just know how he's going to play it.

This one's going to get worse over time for me. I was pretty apathetic/numb during it, but I can feel myself getting more and more p*ssed off that we lost like that, to such a poor team. Really longing for a side that's exciting, there's nothing worse than this tight margins crap that's being served up.

Agree Midds, I lost a lot of confidence when Shola came on that early. Their defenders are good at the physical battles, sending that useless lump on was never a good idea at all. Perhaps after 70 minutes but at half time, deary me.

Eurgh, we actually lost to this shower. So frustrating. One of the strangest matches I've ever been to.

Still can't believe how much we played into their hands for this. I know things went against us, but they were hardly great.

He needs to be dropped back, but not into a midfield 2.

He seriously needs to freshen it up and make sure we're winning midfield battles. The middle of the park just isn't functioning and our wide men are too deep.

Agreed. Seemed to struggle with the physical elements today. I imagine he'll beef up a little over the summer, a la Colo a few years ago.

It's hard to do that though when he's stuck out on the wing and shunned away from the centre of attention. If we were tactically discipline and organised, had two solid holding midfielder's with quality passing skills (Cabaye, for now) I would play Marveaux in the centre to play behind the striker and do what Sessegnon did today- drift, drop into space between the lines. I think he'll always be in and out of games, no matter what position. I agree with you however, he should be in the middle, not wide. Whether that's in a 4-2-3-1 or straight 4-3-3 is another matter.

It was a ridiculous decision. Substitute pace and intelligence at the first opportunity for an oaf that was never going to win the physical battle over 20 minutes, never mind 45. You could tell at that point that Pardew was panicking then, no clue how to break them down. It's 2013 and Shola Ameobi is genuinely our plan B, that is the fucking truth.

Half time sub Absolute waste of a substitution.

I thought he was great for his first 10 minutes, good passing, looking quick but he was poor after. Clearly not fit.

Mirror image performance to those early O'Neill ones. Set up to counter, break forward and score from range. They played it smart today, we really didn't. It'll go tits up with him like it did the last one, there's an element of unknown in their favour right now.

He's just not aggressive, he doesn't take the game by the scruff of the neck anywhere near enough. Top footballer but his mentality stops him from being a top player.

Today we saw why he's not a full back. I didn't mind him starting for the experience factor but he's pulled the wool over Pardew's eyes with those last couple of performances.

He just played into their hands. I thought the half-time sub was rash and we really lacked protection when playing 4-4-2. They came to break and did, we shot ourselves in the foot.

Got done today. Some rank amateur decisions, unbelievably poor.

Was in stitches at that Properly over-killed it as well.

If Kilgallon and O'Shea are his markers... Howay from Longstanton spice museum!