Ishmael

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Poor guy, played so well only to be dropped to the bench.

Wouldn't go that far Toon's Taylor...

I don't disagree, I just think we have bigger problems than him and until the bigger problems are removed I'll concentrate on them unless he's costing us goals or points. He is our biggest problem. Well no, a lack of a quality right back is the actual problem. It shackles our possession play in that we can only really effectively go down one side of the field with short controlled passing. It was horrific to watch the first 5/6 games of the season without Santon where neither fullback was able to play a simple possession game when the need arose. With Santon half the problem is solved, but we cannot go back to that lopsided approach that we had last season with Enrique and Jonas. We must sign a footballing right back in the summer and I would expect a significant improvement in our overall play if we did.

Don't care about that tbqh Mick. His general play is appalling; like school boy bad. Needs replacing asap.

You can be both very grateful for the job Pardew has done thus far and very annoyed that he isn't improving... It's easy.

Losing 1-5 would be an improvement. Not enough Alan, not enough.

Reckon I could do a better job in possession. Not in defence though; I'd get schooled. 100% serious post.

Simply put, Robert was direct and lethal, whereas Ben Arfa is more flamboyant and anarchistic. Both are/were extremely talented footballers with generally contrasting approaches. If I had to pick one out of the two, I would firstly ask, what role am I selecting the player for? If I was pressed without clear parameters I would go with Robert. However, that isn't set in stone and I just wish Ben Arfa was given more time to prove himself.

I thought it was a brilliant way to protest.

uh hu, ain't heard that one before. no sir... xxxyawn

Icon ffs. Pardew :lol:

Can I just point out that Aston Villa should read Sunderland. duur

Pardew takes the blame here. If anything, he should be actively looking to take it in order to protect the squad and fans that he has royally fucked over.

Any more negativity in here and I might be forced to get the thread closed, deleted and restarted with a strict moderation on can and cannot post in it.

Shut up everyone who is saying that we should take a draw. We play to win every game, especially the derby. I think Pardew's default 4-4-2 contain and hoof tactic can get us a result against Sunderland, but I'd rather we got Ben Arfa into the mix and tried to give them something extra to think about. 2-1.

Sick and tired of watching him in possession. Just has absolutely nothing about him with the ball at his feet. Long balls down the line the second he is confronted by an opponent. Every time he receives the ball wide in the final third he just lofts it to the back post, even when there is nobody there to even attempt in vain to get onto the end of it. Him and Wilo are handcuffing our possession game and we must take action in the summer. We need a replacement and I wouldn't mind seeing young James being given a go.

From what i heard last night Pardew's issues with him have nothing to do with on the pitch in games. What did you hear last night exactly? That its his lazy attitude and determination to do the bare minimum in training that infuriates Pardew and some of the other players. Pardew actually massively rates him on the pitch. Seems the 'workrate' issues arent tracking back but in actually proving he wants to play each day. Cue pointless reply bleating over Raylor/Obertan from someone. Pardew needs to learn from Fergie, who doesn't give a s*** about how his best players train. Yep, this.

So many of Pardew's faults were on display today. The conservative flat 4-4-2 with absolutely no attacking outlet from midfield constricted our play and forced a defensive mentality on the players in a game that we should be looking to control. Using Ryan Taylor on the ride side of midfield caused similar issues. He is a defensive option that should not be used in games that we are expected to win. He offers no outlet from the middle third. He does not have the capacity to beat a man, hug the touch line or cause any uncertainty in the opponents defense. All of which are exactly what is needed when you are playing at home against a weak, relegation threatened club, who has gone through a week of turmoil. Then there were the baffling substitution and formation change combinations. Did he honestly think that adding Guthrie into a midfield 3 would give us a foothold in possession? Did he seriously assume that dropping a forward was the best course of action whilst continuing to hump balls into the box. The main culprit of this being Danny 'loft wedge' Simpson, who I actually pity, spraying comically bad, slow looping balls towards Wolves' defence, who inevitably gobbled them up. Oh and let's not forget his decision to drop Guthrie from the first team, despite the player having been in the form of his life for the last month and a half. It just does not good for the player, at all. How he expected him to come off the bench and not be affected is anyone's guess. Talk about sticking with your favorites. So where does he go now? I don't expect much will change to be honest. We'll see a flat 4-4-2 with no changes to the personnel for the next game. We will see a direct game, regardless of opposition. I actually think it would be beneficial if Aston Villa bossed the first 30 minutes or so. At least that way would instil a mentality in the players that suites the football they are expected to play. What we really need to see is this man growing some balls. Accepting that playing an extra attacking option from midfield may put more pressure on the defence on occasion, but at least we will have the personnel on the pitch capable of stretching teams and making them worry about our players. At least that way, our players might take a winning mentality onto the pitch, whereby they look to control a game and actually beat an opponent outright as opposed to letting them make the first move and trying to react. Case in point, see the first 5 minutes of our match today again. What he is doing is good enough to get us to here. Now he needs to evolve and take note of the criticisms, because they're going to be, at the very least, partially right. Good luck Alan, I will be backing you.

Both players screwed by Pardew.

Needs to start from now on. If not, then I don't see any future for him at the club.

Glorious.

This

nope

unlucky Ben Arfa, good effort