Jayson

Why shouldnt Cisse play off Ba? Theyve been equally efficient as the lead striker.

Pretty good article on the difference made by having Tiote/Cabaye compared to their other partnerships http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/statszone/archive/2012/10/05/tiote-and-cabaye-find-the-perfect-balance-as-newcastle-look-to-repeat-history.aspx

Well its not nuts to try to communicate your pov if you think you know better, so generally the first one.

This might be the thing though. If we think companies dont see sponsoring the stadium as a viable option, i wonder if they might be willing to accept less short term if they think it'll open up more via future competiton. A company like Wonga is already used to public opinion being against them, the type of company needed. Perhaps theyve said theyll only do it if they get on the kits aswell & we've seen it as one step back for two steps forward kind of thing. Hope not anyway.

Seems so, Mancini said he needs to use some fresh players & he was one of the rested

You didnt look up negativity bias did you. There is pretty obvious substance to us improving once we have our best midfielders in the side, which we havent had for much of this season. If you choose to ignore any positive indication from that in favor holding a negative pov regardless enjoy yourself. You're the one trying to avoid being let down instead of taking the clear positives where you can.

Look up negativity bias instead Fair enough if you're saying you dont mind us playing poorly to get points. Lets give the side time to work though before judging, people get to far ahead of themselves.

That cross he has on him is exciting. Certainly a solid sub option now at the very least, welldone to the lad.

Result like tonight & your reaction is we're going to play turgid football for the majority of the season?

Jayson 10 Dave 0 littlelunchbox -4*

Aye definately. Useless manager trying to hold us back and that.

I bet you dont disagree though huh

Because i suggested it worked due to Tiote's influence? Not the biggest logical jump when everyones praising Cabayes attacking performance is it really. I would've thought it regardless, seeing as ive been stating it for the last week or so while everyone moaned.

Whats your point?

It worked because we had Cabaye+Tiote, the same two we had the last time he used it v spurs. All this was ignored for the masses of intellectual debate over negative management. He may use it again, its likely that he'll try to get Ba + Cisse clicking as a pair id imagine. They havent yet had Cabaye playing freely due to Tiote's influence to create for them.

Missed the game, sounds like a great result really. Need to keep Tiote & Cabaye fit.

Rooney coming on & dropping deep pretty much changed that game for them.

There was that period last year (fluid 433, counterattacking football with midfield movement) where i think Pards went against his cautious long-ball philosophy (based on field position, no possession retention/build-up play in 2/3rds of the pitch) in a bid to turn around what was a stale run-of-form mid-season. I think the Wigan result, where they aggressively pressed our short passing game (coming out of our own half) and hit us hard in quick transition, has seen Pards return to type. The first twenty minutes at Wigan has emerged as something of a deal-breaker, for a manager who looked to be evolving in accordance with the players available. How often have we we committed midfield numbers forward (particularly through the middle, & early) on the counter, in the wake of Wigan. Our incohesive footy, with the calibre of attacking talent available, is no different to Allardyce's as per his best years at Bolton, which placed a heavy reliance snatching results thanks to individual moments of brilliance (from the likes of Okocha, and Youri D) in the final third of the pitch. Just a point about last year, and the aformentioned hot-spell of results last year which turned out to be difference maker between '8th & thereabouts - but still good enough for the board' and a surprise run at the CL spots. Off-the-ball, with Cabaye playing slightly more advanced in an attacking sense, he frequently snuck into the danger areas around the box. Looked a different player, dangerous & motivated - looked as though he was enjoying himself. Whereas there's disinterested look about him, as the game passes him by, when used in that deep midfield line of two with The Hump Ball Corner (of Willo, Simpson & GK) bypassing him for the most of the game. My final comment is better suited to Dropout's football philosophy thread. But from the appropriation of training time allocated to each aspect of the game (ie. most of the preparation devoted to defensive schemes) to what is clearly a long-ball strategy come matchday, the weekly routine must be demotivating workplace environement for the team's pure ball-players. Too many ball-players on our books, and Pards' 'up and, at 'em' long-ball philosophy will wear thin. We have played 4-3-3 this season, 2nd half v Spurs so that would indicate Pardew is aware of its merits if 4-4-2 isnt working. We did have both Cabaye & Tiote that day though, which we havent had since (which is a huge factor i think people are underplaying in favor of discussing tactics). So perhaps he doesnt trust using it without those two. Certainly though both strikers seem to be at their best through the middle & you dont advance their understanding or ability to play there together by not giving it time to click. If Cabaye has Tiote behind him, he might be able to help them. Again, we havent seen this properly yet.

Surely last seasons stats are more representative of our likely general style of play under Pardew & those placed us 1% ahead of Man Utd for long balls.

The figures come from every single game played in the league over a season, you can't exclude results just because they don't fit with what you're trying to say. Well no, thats exactly what you do if your point is that they dont represent our general form. Singular results are not representitive of your average ability are they, if they are we're better than Man Utd. All teams will have weaknesses exposed on occasion.

Name them. Losing Taylor meant Perch moved to CB & both goals were conceded in his position. Not having Cabaye limited our creativity massively, Jonas didnt even reach his generally already average attacking game & Barfa underperformed in comparison to previous standards. The fact we even tried Fergie at LB would suggest to me Pardew is aware of what he can bring to the table & is a positive.

Last season we let in 6 goals less than the season before and we scored exactly the same number. We've gone from a goal difference of -1 to +5. Personally, I'd rather have a balanced approach and not one where our MANAGER spends his time on one area of the team. We had these exact discussions last season, you're going in circles. We obviously had several games that make the total number unrepresentative of our general form, you could argue that point with yourself before even typing. A balanced approach also doesnt necessarily work if the quality of our players is not balanced across the side, this was also talked about enough last season.

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager. Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life. How's that negative, he's stating a fact. Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" "His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training." There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out. It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat. On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking. Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop. I didnt suggest there wasnt more to his role for that to need to be pointed out, i was replying to someone questioning what he gave us. What other options did he have? You'll find you're left with Anita & an out of form Marveaux who'd played 90 minutes midweek. I didnt see anyone asking for Fergie to start in the prematch thread either. Im fairly sure he was also manager during our best attacking play last season also btw. Why's he abandoned the idea of going out to attack teams then? That is the root of most of the frustration. If it's down to lack of options then I'm surprised you can say that with a straight face. Because we didn't need any more players, did we? It won't be an issue - a small, unbalanced squad with poor backup options won't get found out. We've never lost points because of this and we never will. Ba is obviously unhappy playing wide left, its fine saying force him to play there but hes clearly affected by his motivation levels & he apparently isnt motivated to play there. So your option is to pot lose one of your best players for the good of the team or try untested alternatives to get them all performing. Ive already said to you if Anita's not seen as an option to fill in for Cabaye over an 18 year old then yes we should have had someone else. I am also able to question his ideas, i personally thought he could have moved Barfa more central to increase his influence. Im largely just arguing with people who i feel go completely OTT in their assessment. There were much bigger influences at play than anything Pardew did wrong to me.

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager. Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life. How's that negative, he's stating a fact. Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" "His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training." There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out. It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat. On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking. Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop. I didnt suggest there wasnt more to his role for that to need to be pointed out, i was replying to someone questioning what he gave us. What other options did he have? You'll find you're left with Anita & an out of form Marveaux who'd played 90 minutes midweek. I didnt see anyone asking for Fergie to start in the prematch thread either. Im fairly sure he was also manager during our best attacking play last season also btw.

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager. Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life. How's that negative, he's stating a fact. Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then fuck knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative"