Hughesy

Brilliant news.

I thought he looked pretty decent to be honest. He showed some good touches and didn't hide. Get some games under his belt and I reckon he'll be a decent to good Premiership striker.

I think Martinez (or anyone worth considering) would not take the job with Kinnear as DOF so that question is not really answerable . Also I cannot believe anyone would disagree with your final sentence. Fair enough - I suppose the question isn't all that great. On the basis that there are lots of better managers out there than Pardew, it is reasonable to assume they would be doing better than him. I just can't work out by how much he is underperforming and where we should reasonably expect to be (caveated of course by the fact that we should be aiming to win stuff and shouldn't limit ourselves..). Taking the results in isolation on a spreadsheet, he's not doing a bad job this season. As a supporter, this result coupled with the cup performances/results have been a disgusting slap in the face. Personally I could never ever forgive him for last season's derby, now that he's doubled it up though I don't know how anybody could. Gullitt walked after dropping Shearer and losing a derby match 2-1 at home, and the press called his team sheet the equivalent of a suicide note. Yet Pardew loses two successive home derbies 3-0 on the bounce and yet the fans are still sympathetic. I'm flabbergasted tbh. We just seem to accept derby defeats with a shrug of the shoulders these days. I get your point, but we were doing a hell of a lot worse in terms of league position under Gullit so I am not sure it is comparable?

I think Martinez (or anyone worth considering) would not take the job with Kinnear as DOF so that question is not really answerable . Also I cannot believe anyone would disagree with your final sentence. Fair enough - I suppose the question isn't all that great. On the basis that there are lots of better managers out there than Pardew, it is reasonable to assume they would be doing better than him. I just can't work out by how much he is underperforming and where we should reasonably expect to be (caveated of course by the fact that we should be aiming to win stuff and shouldn't limit ourselves..).

I am slightly fearful of the reaction I will get to this post, but I myself am trying to work out the events of the weekend and make sense of it. If Pardew had been sacked at the end of last season, but Kinnear was still DoF, no permanent signings etc etc, and we had appointed a manager of the quality of a Martinez (or whoever else people would want to replace Pardew), do people think we would be doing markedly better? Don't get me wrong - Pardew is an average manager and if someone offered me a better manager, I would snap their hand off.

Whose fault was it that we didn't play the type of balls to Shola that you think he needed? Well logically - anyone other than Shola?

No, I'm blaming him for being s****, nothing else. In that case - I have absolutely no idea what your previous comment meant.

Those b****** defenders, taking it upon themselves to just hoof it. Eh? Are you blaming Shola for the tactics?

This 100%. Not sure what people expected Shola to do with the diet of long balls hoofed over his head. At least play the ball to him so he can hold it up and bring other players in.

Don't see a problem with Ben Arfa on the left if he was given a run of games to get back up to speed. He just gets lost in the middle though.

Yep.

I don't know to what extent I could ever be regarded as an Ashley sympathiser - I have always thought that, to a certain extent, our transfer policy is vaguely sensible and the model of buying undervalued players with a view to making money on them and exploiting undervalued foreign markets for a club like us makes sense. But quite frankly, the summer transfer window and this window have been an absolute disgrace. The complete lack of ambition and desire to compete in any meaningful way is soul-destroying. Selling your best player and not lining up a replacement is pure negligence and I hope (without much expectation) that the media go to town on this. To be in a situation where we have allegedly agreed to let Cabaye go in January (and I assume had an inkling that he might be leaving soon before the summer of 2013) and have ONE player earmarked as a potential replacement is baffling. To only start negotiations after you have sold Cabaye is the act of a cretin.

Appropriate thread starter...

Not really sure why anyone feels in a position to make far-reaching statements on those who do or don't renew.

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.