LucaAltieri

better than Pep? Not a hope in hell Easily. Had this one won before a ball had been kicked.

Best manager in the world today. It's not even close.

Beautiful.

14.5% ffs. 1 in every 7 matches we get fucking thrashed. That's the risk you take when you're playing all-out attacking, front-foot football for 90 minutes.

In terms of design, organisation, being ad-free, quality of debate and the type of people on it nothing comes close. Great place. I don't post as much as I used to (maybe in numbers I still do, but not length of posts) because of other distractions but I doubt I could stop logging in because it's such a great resource of news and decent craic. Our admins get the trains running on time. Fascist pig dogs.

Does Zaha count?

Agreed. Some of them are horribly edited, mind. The Toronto and Colorado games this week were chopping all over the place. Really awkward.

Finished 4-4. Dempsey hattrick. I'll put up the highlights when they're on youtube.

Are you seriously expecting credit for being a downer on our best league finish since SBR? "I was a negative creep before being a negative creep was cool."

That's largely my approach to it, too. With the kids I coach you always want to get them to try shit, even if it doesn't work out. But I suppose my remit is to make them better players, not to win high stakes premier league matches.

Tevez was definitely a player he should have been playing. But even at Liverpool it took Mascherano quite a while before he looked like a Premier League player. He was right to use him sparingly.

There's a reason other clubs aren't kicking down our down trying to sign a player that Pardew obviously has issues with. That's enough for me to assume that maybe Pardew isn't just being a complete moron over HBA.

Like I've said repeatedly, I'd probably have him in my team most weeks. I'm just acknowledging that there are legitimate reasons to not play him, too. To listen to some on here you'd think he was getting a goal and a couple of assists every time he plays. He's a risk that our squad can't always afford. It's a little easier for good squads to accommodate flair players than it is for a squad with limited ability. We're hoping for some of our players to play above themselves half the time. Should they also have to pick up slack for others? And once again, I don't actually watch Pardew's pressers and the odd few that I have caught I take with a pinch of salt. There's balance to be had in this argument and a lot of you seem to completely lack it.

It's not about misplaced passes. It's about what happens off the ball when we're defending. I also happen to question how effective he is going forward on occasions as his decision making is suspect at times, but I'm in no way arguing he misplaces more passes than anyone else. It's got nothing to do with anything Pardew has said. In the main I rarely listen to any of his press conferences. My opinions are based on actually studying the game rather than gauging popular opinion down the pub.

He creates chances for us and the opposing team because he isn't very disciplined. Sometimes he'll take the extra few touches and do something magical. Other times he's running down dead ends. I understand why some fans like him playing, but I also understand why a coach might be reluctant to play him. When does he create chance for the other team? I mean give me examples beyond the amount of times the likes of Gouffran or Tiote or numerous other players give the ball away and create chances for the other team. Sorry man but its a nonsense, a myth. As for running down dead ends, at his worst he pushes forward and actually threatens the opposition. Against Palace he came on and created more chances in 30 minutes than most had all game, three clear cut chances one of which we won the game from. Against Everton he came on on created our only real chance up till that point and that was 57 minutes in, laid it on a plate for Anita after some great skill and that should have gotten us back into the game. But nah forget that Pardew subbed him during a game again so the scapegoat can't be trusted, unlike that realiable lad Gouffran who in the same game passed the ball right accross our area and gave Southampton a clear run on goal which they should really have scored from, but he stays on the pitch despite giving it away, doing nothing down the other end and generally being shit, because he's one of Pards good tacklers. Pardew - like most modern, successful managers - likes to defend from the front. Our attacking players have defensive responsibilities forcing errors and limiting the opposition's time on the ball. For all he looks great with the ball at his feet, we have players who are stronger when it comes to hassling the opposition. That's part of why Ba was such a success here and why Shola's continued inclusion is baffling. Again, not saying HBA wouldn't be in my team. Just saying that him not playing every week isn't as criminal as some seem to believe. There are some games I'd want him nowhere near the pitch. Any tight games, like the games against the mackems, for example. He played both and offered nowt of note.

I'm not arguing. Personally I'd be playing him too. But I can also see the indiscipline in his playing style and acknowledge that a coach might see him as equally a liability. I'm prepared to give him a skeptical benefit of the doubt over HBA.

He creates chances for us and the opposing team because he isn't very disciplined. Sometimes he'll take the extra few touches and do something magical. Other times he's running down dead ends. I understand why some fans like him playing, but I also understand why a coach might be reluctant to play him.

Last season was shit. On the basis of his 5th place I said Pardew deserved another crack at it this season. I was in two minds about him. I'm still there. I don't care in the slightest about his press conference guff. Yes, he talks shite at times but it doesn't affect anything. I don't think he lacks ambition and I don't think he's had an easy job of it this season with the lack of signings and selling Cabaye. Now that the excuses are out of the way; we've been absolutely shit at points this season. The 3, 4, and 5- nil scorelines are fucking embarrassing. The fact that Cisse still isn't scoring goals is fucking criminal. I've applauded Pardew at times for keeping Colo and Cabaye happy when they wanted to leave and still managing to get good performances out of them, but he deserves slating for the way Cisse still hasn't got his confidence back. I'm happy with us not having a massive turnover of players so long as the players we're hanging on to are playing well. Cisse is a good striker. He has been everywhere he's played. He's a talented player with a good attitude. If we can't somehow get him firing again then Pardew has to answer for that. There are no excuses. Ashley isn't at fault for not signing a couple of new strikers to replace him. Understandably he seems to want to use the players he has already forked out for. The buck stops with Pardew there. Such a waste. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt with Ben Arfa. HBA has always had attitude problems. It worked in our favour when we signed him, but I'm fully prepared to accept that he might not be worthy of a starting spot right now. However, it's Pardew's job to get him to a point where he is a first-team player and utilise the talent he obviously has. If/when HBA leaves, if he starts looking like a magician again then Pardew needs shooting. The embarrassing touchline stuff doesn't help him any. I don't know how anyone is supposed to take him seriously as a professional football manager when he doesn't behave like one. The way the season has fizzled out and our performances declined is somewhat understandable but it's Pardew's job to make sure that doesn't happen. Even if for no other reason that to avoid slipping into a losing mentality. I'm happy with the kids getting a run out for the cups. I wish they were performing better when they get that chance but Pardew can hardly be blamed for that. Not every kid is going to make it, however the club needs to identify which players are gash a lot earlier. We shouldn't have 22 year olds that we're hoping will break through. It's too late at that point. Again, not going to blame Pardew for that directly, just another thing to gripe about. I don't know. Our league finish is respectable. Some of the performances have been respectable. But we're too inconsistent. The circus around his touchline antics, his poor choice of coaching staff, and his inability to motivate some of our quality players mean I'm starting to lean towards the PARDEW OUT side of things. The only problem is, I have absolutely zero confidence that we'll sign a better manager if Pardew goes. It's probably better the devil we know.

Borini, Giaccherini, Johnson, Ki, Mannone Not that Pardew would know what to do with them, but they'd be depth improvements at worst. Pretty sure he'd know to put Mannone in goal, like.

Eddie Johnson probably deserves the pick ahead of him now. Not that he isn't a lazy, worthless player who can't make it in the Premier League, too.

I'm still blaming Dalglish for our demise.

Beautiful man.

8 games left, need to pickup four points more than West Brom (and outscore them by 8 goals), or makeup the 6 point difference to catch Palace. It's beautiful to watch the hope slipping away.