Gallowgate Toon

Errr what? I haven't said Pardew's 'shit'. Most of the time? So in the matches he has played you're saying he should have scored and set up in every one, not just some of the time? You mentioned attacking consistency a la Robert, well there it is, cold hard facts, he produced. He's also set up other chances for players in games (Simpson in thh cup, Ba Man City, Best QPR) and hit the post, all in very limited game time and in his wrong position. The latter is a fair comment to make how can you put it all on him to make it work, when we shift round a whole formation? As for Brighton, who did play well?

Aye, he only scored 3 goals and got 2 assists in 6 weeks. He was also our best player against Blackburn in the cup, when played in his best position, right hand side in a 4-4-2. Balanced.

Getting tired of the cryptic way he speaks about him. Infuriating that Obertan waltzed back in despite providing less in 15 more games and all for what? This doesn't really send out the right message does it? Yeah, be the most productive player we have in January but if you have a bad game, you're out. I thought our players got games fairly, through form? Seems it's a different rule for one.

Quickly becoming my favourite football personality, much prefer his ilk to 'banter' lads like Nolan and Barton. Top striker, top bloke.

He would be fine in a 4-4-2 if given more of a chance. The only time we played him in it, he dragged us back into the game and played very well and we won. Yet since then, we've seen a complete formation change to accomodate him, why? It's unfair and very short-termist to expect our striker(s) to perform at such high levels when we don't create a lot for them. We have a midfield that is littered with quality but they don't produce or create enough and that will have to change if we want to stay where we are for more than a season. Ba might score 5 goals less this time next year (if he is here) and where would that leave us? While Cisse looks promising, he's an unknown quantity and might be the type that needs a couple of really clear cut chances to put the ball in the back of the net. Don't be fooled by Freiburg's position, they weren't bad when it came to creating. To put it simply, we're a team of very fine margins right now. Overall it's a frustrating situation to see the likes of Ryan Taylor and Obertan ahead of him, they offer so much less from that position (in my opinion). While I can see the thinking behind it at times, as it is appropriate in certain matches, i'm more from the traditional school of thought, where particularly at home you attack the opposition to win the game, especially if they're not as good a team as you.

I like him in midfield, good bit of DM cover. Done well of late, can't fault his attitude.

yeah i think we're a bit lucky Best got injured. And Raylor to an extent, as though Obertan was mostly crap he did inject a bit of pace into our game. Similar thing happened with Ben Arfa vs QPR. Would like Pardew to be a bit braver in his decisions from now on rather than letting circumstance or luck (good and bad) dictate the difficult decisions. He's certainly not as ballsy as he once was but I think he's simply stumbled onto a formula that's gotten results and has stuck with it. We could definitely still have gotten the results we have, playing some more expansive football and that is frustrating but ultimately hard to argue against. I'd like him to play Ben Arfa in a 4-4-2 to supply the 2 lads up top, I think it would work a treat, especially at home but I doubt we'll ever see that. Dont see how thats definate atall. For all any of us know Pardew has been getting the best out of what he currently has available. Ben Arfa is a class player, but he is up and down at the moment & his replacement today helped us score a goal in a game we won by a single goal. Its all wishful thinking when people argue with Pardews decisions and style of play. Utilised the best they can? We have numerous players in our squad that have been brought up with a specific footballing philosophy, a lot of them have played in teams that were based around pass and move and performed very well indeed (some of them championship winning sides or ones in European competition). You're telling me out of the likes of: Coloccini, Santon, Jonas, Tiote, Cabaye, Guthrie, Ben Arfa and Ba, we couldn't have got some efficient pass and move going? Some proper movement and fluidity between the front 5/6? Successful play built through midfield? It's a bit shit watching these guys who've played in far more technical leagues, for far more technical teams, hoofing the ball around, when they could be so much more. Who's to say that if we'd gone for a more attacking line up today, we might have won by 3 goals, instead of scrapping with just 1?

yeah i think we're a bit lucky Best got injured. And Raylor to an extent, as though Obertan was mostly crap he did inject a bit of pace into our game. Similar thing happened with Ben Arfa vs QPR. Would like Pardew to be a bit braver in his decisions from now on rather than letting circumstance or luck (good and bad) dictate the difficult decisions. He's certainly not as ballsy as he once was but I think he's simply stumbled onto a formula that's gotten results and has stuck with it. We could definitely still have gotten the results we have, playing some more expansive football and that is frustrating but ultimately hard to argue against. I'd like him to play Ben Arfa in a 4-4-2 to supply the 2 lads up top, I think it would work a treat, especially at home but I doubt we'll ever see that.

I don't completely agree with his current footballing philosophy, I don't think he's getting the very best out of the team, I don't like the way he's treated HBA, I find his cautiousness incredibly frustrating at times but I simply have to applaud him in the end, as he's getting fantastic results and has made the season memorable. Well done Pards.

We're a much better footballing side than we let ourselves be but keep on getting the results, we're very fortunate to have such a prolific striker and one that looks potentially just as handy. Some great work today, chuffed with our position.

Delighted to have him With some quicker service from midfield he'll be lethal.

He needs players that can keep the ball for more than 2 minutes and tactics that suit him and allow him a bit of freedom, more than he needs some movement ahead of him. Since Fulham we've played highly tactical football and he's barely got a touch of the ball. His best game was at Blackburn in the cup, that second half he was right midfield in a 4-4-2 and played very well, we don't need to over-complicate things to fit him in.

Hope Alan goes for it and delivers the football he said we'd play. I'd put Perch in CM with Guthrie, as an insurance policy, play 4-4-2 with HBA on the right and Ba and Cisse up top. Expecting Ryan Taylor to start RM and Best and Ba up top though.

Even the way he writes it is boring.

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Hard to argue against Sessegnon this season. He's been very good (albeit in fits and starts), the last 5 games he's looked excellent. He's got the benefit of a system being completely revolved around him mind, a manager that can see the benefits of his creative talent and has rightly put his faith in it. Hatem's not quite had that yet, which is a shame.

He played right midfield in a 4-4-2 against Blackburn in the cup, didn't he? That was his best performance for us this year and not a coincidence in my opinion, it allowed him to be involved in play a lot more and that's the best way to balance him out. He could work in a 4-3-3 for us but the impetus has to be passing (and fluid) football for that formation to be effective, we did try and do that before Fulham but since we were thrashed, the tactics seem to have changed. He's a very simple player to deploy but we seem to be finding the most complex ways to play him. The lad's not a riddle just put him where he can influence attacking play and let him have the ball.

Lovely finish. The perfect impact sub, chuffed to bits for him.

I hope Pardew realises that he can play in a 4-4-2 soon. It seems simple enough to me, stick him wide midfield, let him roam a bit and link attacking play, he doesn't need to be the world's best, defensively. Perhaps the signing of Cisse is a sign of things to come, that we're becoming a bit more of a dynamic team etc. I'm really hoping so, watching constant long ball is a bit of a pain at the minute.

I'm hoping the signing of Cisse means Pardew is thinking of changing the way we play, this is dreadful.

Our shape was our weak link, not necessarily the personnel.

This is terrible.

He could have just switched the formation but kept the same team? I agree the shape needed to change but why is our best attacking footballer going off and Shola Ameobi staying on? He obviously feels he can't trust him in a 4-4-2 which is frustrating.

More attacking Alan? Complete joke.

We might as well have not even moved for the majority of that half. Seriously, more attacking? Fair enough with the formation but if we didn't hoof the bloody thing so much, we might do a bit better.