Hughesy

French journalist reckons 25 to 30 million EUR.

And home game where you dont travel at all, and when you change 9 starting line up players. So Pardew and his staff couldn't prepare for two games in a week, something virtually every team in the leagues below us do year in year out. I am guessing that the same sort of analysis isn't put in by teams in the leagues below. I am not sure that is relevant point. The point is that there are plenty of teams in the PL who don't have to play the extra games and those that do might have the squads and backroom staff to cope with the demands.

It never did for a positive manager like Sir Bobby. Aye. Didn't loose a single game after returning from Europe in all of 2002/03. That's because Robson was a class act and Pardew isn't. It does, however, remain a valid point and one that many managers who aren't Pardew have suffered with.

Do you know where in Kent?

I thought the biggest point about the Europa League is the preparation time it takes away. Instead of training all week for a Premier League match, you have to prepare for a Europa League match. So you fly on a Wednesday, play on a Thursday, fly back after the game or on a Friday, and play a PL game on a Sunday. Your 5 day match preparation for a PL match is reduced to perhaps 2 days. That surely makes a difference.

A global salary cap is a complete non-starter. It just wouldn't work.

I think that was just because he was getting so much love from the fans with the nonstop singing of his name. True - just thought that it might have some last significance as it was the last game before the end of the window.

Without lapsing into 'body language' I did wonder if him giving his shirt to the fans at the end meant anything.

They show an aggregation of specific events that occurred during a pre defined scenario. They don't show you anything more than that. That is probably why anyone with a grasp of the subtleties of football choose to debate the things their eyes witnessed. Personally, my eyes saw a manager bring Shola on to eschew genuine ball retention in favour of "containing" a team that had no midfield or defence. Having seen the whole game I would choose to use what i saw to form the basis of my summary. However, if I knew nowt about a sport, stats would be all I had. Were that the case, I'd probably think we had a really good manager.

I am confused. What do the stats show?

No it didn't. By taking Anita off we started losing all the second balls in midfield. It helped defend set pieces, which i think was the point of it. Positive it wasn't but helpful it actually was tbf. Pardew in a nutshell. It helped us not concede instead of making a substitute to help us score. I can't wait for the day he finally leaves. Wanting Pardew to leave I understand - but it really isn't that odd that a manager might look to protect a 2-1 lead when the impetus has shifted rather than go looking for a third. Maybe he should try and regain the impetus by controlling possession, rather than hoping he can get away with twatting the ball away for a full f***ing third of the game. I agree - that is a much better option, but I think it is a bit simplistic just to assume that we (or indeed any team) can do that whenever we want to (I agree that occasionally would be nice though). The opposition is more than likely going to come out and raise their game and play at a higher tempo and put us under pressure. It's not like it only happens to us. It happens to teams with better players and better managers.

No it didn't. By taking Anita off we started losing all the second balls in midfield. It helped defend set pieces, which i think was the point of it. Positive it wasn't but helpful it actually was tbf. Pardew in a nutshell. It helped us not concede instead of making a substitute to help us score. I can't wait for the day he finally leaves. Wanting Pardew to leave I understand - but it really isn't that odd that a manager might look to protect a 2-1 lead when the impetus has shifted rather than go looking for a third.

In my opinion we had actually lost our grip of the game before that Anita was taken off. We had lost our passing game and were looking for an outlet and for someone to hold the ball up for a bit. Shola did a decent job of that and allowed us to clear our lines.

Yep - I would suggest that this 'middle ground' re Pardew is pretty sparsely populated.

Bony looks pretty handy.

Saying he has the ability to score around 1 in 2 is such a vague statement. I imagine lots of strikers have the ability to score around 1 in 2. It basically means nothing.

Carroll a 1 in 2 goalscorer? Haha.

I don't think Taylor's been that bad since he came back. A bit rusty maybe. I agree that he needs to accept he doesn't have a right to a starting place.

Don't massively disagree with the overall sentiments, but had we taken our chances yesterday, we'd have been 5 up by half time and out of sight. Both teams missed chances.

That's just f***ing stupid. Rewatch the Aston Villa game where we beat them 6-0. That game was as complete a centre forward display as I've ever seen. On his day Carroll can be absolutely unplayable. He's just been ravaged by injury, he'll never find any kind of form again until he can play consistently for a 6 months or so. The only reason I wouldn't have him back at SJP is because of his injury record, nothing to do with his ability at all. Caveat caveat caveat. On his day, Kenwyn Jones is unplayable. Carroll was good against a poor Villa side. Any more examples of Carroll being 'absolutely unplayable'? Any against good defences? Really we doing this ? Off the top of my head, Arsenal away Liverpool at home that season. There was a reason why Liverpool paid 35 mill, others were prepared to go in 20 million plus territory, they guy was tearing up the league that year. We sold him at the perfect time from a financial point of view. Saying he's limited or not very good to use your words, is just plain stupid man. We can agree to disagree. If you genuinely think Carroll is not a limited player, no point continuing. I'll be absolutely amazed if he manages to score more than 60 league goals in the rest of his career.

That's just f***ing stupid. Rewatch the Aston Villa game where we beat them 6-0. That game was as complete a centre forward display as I've ever seen. On his day Carroll can be absolutely unplayable. He's just been ravaged by injury, he'll never find any kind of form again until he can play consistently for a 6 months or so. The only reason I wouldn't have him back at SJP is because of his injury record, nothing to do with his ability at all. Caveat caveat caveat. On his day, Kenwyn Jones is unplayable. Carroll was good against a poor Villa side. Any more examples of Carroll being 'absolutely unplayable'? Any against good defences?

Bias against who? I don't even dislike the bloke - I was surprised people booed him today as I see no reason to hold a grudge against him. I was actually saying to my brother at the game that I feel a little sorry for him. He just isn't very good.

Of course he's better than Shola - but he is just incredibly limited.

Shame that he can't control a ball, is immobile and isn't very good at finishing.

He can sometimes look unplayable in the air. Occasionally. That's it.