Consortium of one

Judging by look on Ashley's face after the game he's decided he's happy to see Pardew twist in the wind for another week.

He's back. Poor timing, though.

Tiote is playing better. He'll be sold in January.

Inevitably, Willo heads the ball barely out of the box and right to an opponent's attacking player.

His defensive work was absolutely shocking today. I'd say drop him but we have no one behind him.

I'm usually as positive as they come but watching Cisse bang two home was like a kick in the nuts. I have sympathy for anyone whos is frustrated with this club.

Ashley is like pancreatic cancer. Pardew is the cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes. One will be the primary cause of death but both are killing us.

cum receptacle

I remember a play the kid made in his first game against City. He ran down the penalty box, beat a defender to the ball just before it crossed the endline, holds the defender off, turns and and looks to send the ball back into the box and there wasn't a single Newcastle player in the penalty box. I was like WTF? He busts his ass to get the ball and all our other attacking players are staying back in defensive positions?

If they are old enough to walk they are old enough to forage for their own damn food. Kids, that is.

Still need the kind of striker that put a team on his back and carry them for periods of the season. Remy did it. Ba did it. Cisse did it but I doubt he can do it again.

Sidwell's goal is refreshing because instead of having the instinct of immediately going down upon contact in the box he stayed on his feet and found the back of the net.

I was just happy to see the players keeping the pressure on. I half expected to see shoulders slump after Remy hit the post but they kept pressing on and they persevered. I think our midfielders will work hard but without a conductor like Cabaye and a complete lack tactical savvy from Pardew our offensive efforts going forward will be dire. At this point, I'd be happy with 50 points. I shudder to think what would happen if we somehow qualified for the Euro Cup

It was fascinating to watch him get Anita in a headlock and then walk with him as they both smiled and chatted. I don't recall ever seeing Pardew as completely at ease as he appeared to be in that moment.

Pardew is an enigma, imo. He alternates between quiet confidence and looking like he's just shit his pants. It appears that he requires stability and if he has a set lineup at his fingers he can get the most out of it. However, when instability strikes he loses complete control.

A very satisfying point. Krul was fantastic. And, while Liverpool looked hung over, I thought the team played very well. Mbiwa was disappointing in giving away the pen and getting the red card. However, Tiote looks to be getting back to his old self. I'm hoping that Cisse's game off helps him get refocused and confident. I look forward to helping Sunderland going down.

Shep Messing came and spoke at my high school's soccer club post season dinner in 1977. He had done a photo shoot earlier that day in Manhattan with Christie Brinkley. After the dinner we all went up and talked to him. He was going on and on about what a great rack she had...

dead man walking

He criticized the players he inherited because they stumbled down the stretch. He questioned their desire and their professionalism. He proclaimed he was going to bring in his type of player. Then he questioned their desire and professionalism. PDC is not a manager and he's not a leader.

WTF is going on with him? Has he had a botched lobotomy recently?

Maybe not. Well, at least I hope not. I liked that he subbed Tiote for Anita as at that point we needed a more physical presence in front of the back four. Then he subbed Gouffran for Remy and Sammy for Cabaye. To me, he made the choice to stay with pace on attack and not play too negatively. He could have gone with Jonas and Marveaux (?) and invited Villa on to us. Instead he chose to stay with attacking pace out wide which meant that the Villa FBs couldn't completely commit to attack knowing that Sammy, Gouf or HBA could easily get behind them.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching that game. What a pleasant surprise. Krul distributed well to the back line, the club was patient and played the ball on the carpet until they felt there was a good chance to strike. When Cisse gets his confidence back, this can be a very incisive offensive club. HBA was fabulous but Remy's pace on the other side was important, too. Speed kills and I think Pardew demonstrated that he understood that when he subbed Gouffran and Sammy in. I also thought Tiote's subbing added a more physical presence when it was needed. The back four played very well as a unit and individually and, if not for Krul's bad read, we would have had another clean sheet. That was fun to watch.

you can do well with Ashley's philosophy if you run the club intelligently. However, signing Pards to an 8 year contract, bringing back JFK and allowing Carr to get so angry he wants to leave can't be classified as "intelligent". The smart move, after finishing 5th, was to strengthen the club last summer and see if Pardew can handle the rigors of euro football before offering him an extension. Bringing back Kinnear is perhaps the daftest move Ashley could have possibly made and I really believe it's Mike's way of giving us all the finger.

It would seem to me that he can't just provide free advertising to SD without accounting for it in some way. IOW, he has to state a fair valuation for the SD advertising and record it as income to the club. Of course, then he could take that income and use it to reduce the debt owed to him personally. At least that is how I would look at it here in the states.

It's a sad day when an Allardyce club outshines your own offensively. The club looked much better when Cisse went off and Sammy and Gouffran came on. There was a bit more pace and at least there were some chances to be had. Shame we couldn't have stolen the win. We'll need the points.