Hughesy

Look who we are up against.

Qualify for the CL? Really? He himself was saying that in August and we've a much better team/squad now. Was he just being an arrogant, smug c*** or did he really mean it? Just boost the players and fans confidence? Unlikely to turn round after coming 5th the year before and tell everyone that we were aiming for 10th, was he? People read far far too much into comments made by managers. Stick a microphone in front of anyone on a daily basis and some crap will come out. I find it baffling that people genuinely believe that we should be qualifying for the CL with this squad.

Qualify for the CL? Really?

That's more what I was getting at really.

In fairness (never thought I would defend Michael Owen), James Talbot sounds like a bit of a tool.

Had Bellamy's pants down. Brilliant to see.

Good to see you putting your sports science degree to good use again.

Might cost him a bit to get to training in Cobham.

I genuinely don't think Ba is as good as some people think. I won't be too surprised if his Chelsea career isn't that big a success.

It was one of Pardew's biggest mistakes. No way should Ba have been prioritised in the way he was.

It's original so I really like it, but the lyrics aren't ideal.

So that's your basis for writing off this season? It's my basis for stating that next season will be the best time to judge him. He had a good half season when he took over, followed up by an exceptionally good season. He has had a poor season to date. That is enough to give him next season to see how he gets on.

How the hell does this season not prove anything at all? Well enough people appear to think that finishing 5th didn't prove anything...

I wasn't suggesting Pards will ever be as good or even close to as good as Ferguson. My point was merely that even the greatest managers had points in their career where they could, justifiably, have been judged to be doing a bad job.

Next season will be the one where Pardew can be truly judged in my opinion. My point is that this season doesn't prove anything at all.

When Ferguson finished 11th and 13th with Man Utd... did that prove he would never be a top manager? I am interested to know what formula you use. He won loads before he went there. These examples never hold up. He'd won a lot in Scotland - yes. Not sure how that makes the example irrelevant. I'm just intrigued to know how a bad season from Pardew 'proves' he won't be a top manager. This season 'proves' nothing. It's a nonsense statement.

When Ferguson finished 11th and 13th with Man Utd... did that prove he would never be a top manager? I am interested to know what formula you use.

Please be true..

brilliant penalty.

This might be regarded as somewhat insensitive, but is there any particular reason why West Ham were commemorating the 20th anniversary of Bobby Moore's death? Do they do it every 10 years? Do any other clubs do the same thing for the deaths of their legends?

He really is brilliant.

Strangely I think he has played a bit better over the last few games. Prepared for no-one to agree with me on this one though.

For some, such is their dislike for Pardew or their belief that he is a bad manager or a combination of the two, that whatever Pardew ends up achieving, they will always state that a 'better' manager would achieved more. It is a very useful argument to be able to fall back on as it can't really be disproved.

You are just showing off that you are sat in first class.

Oh yeah...