ponsaelius

Sir Ricky Sbragia is a brilliant wind up merchant.

They need to do a thing on him in the Ramble again.

Play the best team.

6 months.

3 wins in 3 this month, beat Liverpool 4-0.

Felipao is here. He wont be pleased with that comment. Still think he's crying over the fact Aguero has emphatically proven to be the better player already.

Very softly done. Standard Rupert.

I saw Tim Ream at the Gold Cup. He's meant to be promising. He was fucking shite. Nah he's shite. Seen him caught out on countless occasions. Aye certainly looked that way. Proper joker.

I saw Tim Ream at the Gold Cup. He's meant to be promising. He was fucking shite.

June 2, 1989 (age 22) Riighhhtttt.

Soderberg to Darloids for a month.

Elmo guarenteed starter

So you don't think we'll anymore, then?

Aye it's class

I don't think Dave is that negative, is he?

Agreed, mate. There's some posters on here that have gone quiet and are seemingly waiting for us to fuck up so they can lay the boot into Pardew or whoever else is on their agenda. However, I'm very much enjoying this forum at the moment because for the most part people are being positive and upbeat - even Crumpy was happy the other day. Name and shame! Dunno if I fall into this bracket (though I could hardly be described as going quiet ) but from my perspective it's definitely not a case of hoping for us to fuck up, just that given the past I pretty much expect it. Things are looking pretty positive at present and I'd be delighted to get through much more of the season in this vein so that I can start to feel a bit more confident, but knowing what we do it just feels like we're walking on thin ice. I guess I would say I am cautiously optimistic, but the season has barely started. We'll see. Nah not you. I tend to think you're balanced and sensible with everything you post - cautiously optimistic while also cautious that disaster is round the corner. I try to be the same really and just look at things as I see it. I just think there's many on here that are so stuck in their ways in terms of being anti-Pardew and/or anti-Ashley that they won't give credit where it's due and simply refuse to enjoy the positives. Yet these people will be the first to lay the boot in the moment things turn for the worse. At some point this season we WILL lose a few games on the trot as is the case with any club that's not Barcelona or Man United. For me personally, I just think that things could be FAR worse. I look at some of the massive clubs stuck in a rut in the lower divisions and realise we could be a lot worse off. Even in terms of ownership I certainly wouldn't be swapping Ashley for that mob taking Blackburn down. FFS I know it's very early but as it stands we're the 4th best team in the country. We're unbeaten, have one of the best defences in Europe and are still in the cup. Yeah sooner or later we'll slip down the league but generally I think we'll be alright this season. I read other forums of clubs in far worse positions than us and none of them had the negativity levels that we did during pre-season, it's bizarre IMO.

Yeah, that's complete and utter s***. If a player stands out notably in an area of their game, which they are expected to contribute greatly to and that is backed up by statistics then they have done a good job. Good example was Ameobi's cameo a few games back when he got slated by almost everybody. Then a quick check after the game on his passing showed just how well he'd both retained the ball and moved us up the pitch. People are just missing depth and context. Good statistic use is good. But Ameobi's passing statistics from that game didn't reflect anything or prove that he moved us up the pitch at all. It's just data and without being combined with context from the actual game it means fuck all. Like that article I posted explains, not all completed passes are good passes and similarly not all 'completed' tackles are good tackles. Without context, stats in football are meaningless. The game is simply too fluid with too many permutations.

Agreed, mate. There's some posters on here that have gone quiet and are seemingly waiting for us to fuck up so they can lay the boot into Pardew or whoever else is on their agenda. However, I'm very much enjoying this forum at the moment because for the most part people are being positive and upbeat - even Crumpy was happy the other day.

My feelings exactly. For example if I've just watched say Xavi absolutely boss a game and then see his ludicrous stats, it's impressive because it's positively reflecting/supporting the performance I've just seen. However if I've just watched a player spend 90 minutes struggling to influence a game, getting overran, barely noticable etc but then see he has a high passing statistic or something it means absolutely fuck all. Similarly if I haven't seen a game, any statistics shown afterwards mean basically nothing to me. They aren't being combined with anything I've actually seen and as such are just data that isn't relective of anything in particular.

Statistics are generally only any use to support a common view or observation that people have made. When people try to use statistics to argue against what is obvious to anybody that has eyes is irritating as fuck. If I've just watched a player play shite then I don't give a fuck what his tackle/pass/interception percentage is, he's still played shite. Stats in a fluid game like football will never be as much use as in other sports, they're just not suitable for a large amount of the time. And they should always, always fall a long way behind direct viewing of a game/player in terms of relevance. Good article here: http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2011/09/lies-damned-lies-raul-meireles/

lulwut

Excuse #4024583920

Geeeet in.

On your second point I'd say it's almost entirely tongue in cheek.