tom1988

Marcelo Bielsa, We should have gone for him when he was free after leaving Bilbao - doing well at Marseilles now too. Get Carr down there and lets get another bargain from France!

Love the way he's visibly celebrating scoring free kicks while kicking around with his mates (who could easily have saved some of those shots by the way) The celebration at 1.15 - How many different pairs of boots does that lad have???

tadic out, downing in

D.O.A

do you think that if we had a whip around we might be able to come up with enough money to hire someone to off pards, jfk and ashley?

The attitude on the pitch tonight speaks volumes of the attitude at the club in general. No ambition, no desire and no heart. Worst part is, it doesn't look like it's gonna change anytime soon.

I've changed mine a few times so far - took bale out today as I reckon its dead set that he'll leave. De Gea Boruc Ivanovic Baines Shaw Koscielny Mapou Bellamy Schurrle Coutinho Cazorla Britton Rooney Anelka Lukaku Will probably change it a few more times yet like

We could always hope that Dortmunds DOF makes up as much shite as ours does?

You've got to think that last season was exceptionally bad in terms of injuries. We now have (probably) less games and (probably) less injuries as well. Oh definitely, I think it was an extreme case but one that really highlighted the limitations of an over stretched squad. If I was asked to make a prediction for this coming season I would say that we probably won't have as many injuries but still higher than the average as well as finishing mid table but no higher which is by no means a reflection of the ability or inability of the playing staff more an indictment of the coaching staff. DOF included.

We had the more injuries last season than any other team, a lot more. Our squad wasn't big enough or good enough to cover these, using Europe as an excuse for the fact that the squad wasn't big enough/good enough/fit enough is ridiculous. Look at Chelsea for example, played more games than we did, had fitter players than we did. Won a trophy. Now obviously we're not Chelsea and don't have the resources that they do but surely it would make sense to keep hold of players that are capable of slotting in now and again when needed so that we dont end up playing half fit players that will then be out for longer as a result (see HBA at fulham).

Despite the fact that he was no more than a willing back up his attitude and work rate for the team after such an atrocious start speaks volumes. A really decent bloke that deserves to be at Newcastle a lot more than some others. I really think it's a mistake to let him go, just as it was a mistake to let Guthrie go and a mistake to let Routledge go and a mistake to let Best go. Yes they weren't setting the world alight but they would have been damn useful at points last season as well as being good guys to have around the place. All the best Perchinho. On a side note, why is Ashley not demanding that that cunt Whelan pay through the nose for Perch, it's well known that they hate each other and after what happened last season Wigan are the last team that I'd want to be doing any favours for in helping them get out of the championship, here's hoping those inbreds crash and burn and we never have to go to that mostly empty rugby ground again.

Hmm.. reasons for positivity.. Pardew will be one year closer to the end of his contract I suppose.

He seemed really sluggish and was out muscled and run off the ball far too often today, I really hope the injuries haven't diminished his powers. I really hope he manages to stay fit for the majority of next season.

'Flacid'

Drop Jonas

I think there needs to be a lot of work done on the behind the scenes stuff at the club, it can't just be down to bad luck that we suffer almost constant bouts of niggling injuries to players, whether it is poor management of their rehabilitation or inferior treatment something needs to be done about it. For as long as I can remember we've had players out for far longer than they should have been with injuries that at first appeared minor and then just lingered on or developed into new injuries. I'm no expert in this field but just a thought

Fixed. I did say it was a vent, grammar and punctuation weren't high on the list of my priorities

Every day I read this thread and all the arguments and counter arguments about Pardew and whether or not he should be given more time, more support, more chances or whatever and all are ridiculous! How sane and reasoned people can argue that this man is anything other than a yes man that comes across well in press conferences and satiates the media with interviews and soundbites is beyond me, he has the persona of wanting to be every ones best mate whether it's them in the boardroom, the media or just a normal guy on the street - Pardew wants to be liked. The fact of the matter is that he's completely useless at this level and with this amount of responsibility, despite all the vitriol (a lot of it justified) the Ashley regime has had directed towards them they have managed to assemble a very talented and potentially exciting squad which has had all flair, confidence and coherence drilled out of it by Pardew and his anti-tactics. These players for the most part have been sourced by Carr and his support staff and they have rightly received widespread praise, however think about those that Pardew has signed and Obertan springs to mind, someone that was recommended to him by Manure, because I'm sure they'd want to do us (just a small club from the north east) a favour in giving us a good player, if Pardew had any sense he could see that the lad wasn't cut out for the Premier League. Yes Pardew won both manager awards last season but that was more through default than any other reason and surely more of a reflection of his contemporaries surprise at our performance in the league. We were still abysmal in the cups. Last season we were playing with confidence and getting lucky a lot of the time, winning bred more confidence and this spurred the players on to ride the crest of the wave with the chance of getting into the top 4 going into the last day of the season. I would argue that very little of this was down to Pardew's coaching methods. Despite this success last year there were still glaring signs and examples that Pardew is tactically inept and incapable of putting a team out that can play with any form of identity and style, winning those awards just masked over the cracks. He's never been a good manager and never will be and those that bought into his pally approach and supposed motivational abilities based on last season are finally seeing him for what he is. I've never liked him as a manager or a person and the sooner we are rid of this goon the better. Regardless of whether or not we get relegated this season Pardew must go and we must move forward with a manager that has some tactical nous and the ability to manage a talented squad. Apologies for the length of the post but just had to vent.

The most enjoyable lost bet I've ever had but fuck me it was too close like. Now do I deposit more to go for qpr?

I've stuck a tenner on wigan for tomorrow night, I haven't won a bet since I predicted the new pope so no worries for tomorrow night now, we can all relax.

We should try and get Marcelo 'Madman' Bielsa from Bilbao, he has done wonders with them on a shoestring budget especially in cup competitions. Given that Bilbao have a habit of selling or losing their best players could see him wanting to move somewhere with a bit more stability....

Should have been the same for de jong too (and nolan in fairness)

Palace plus 2 others, really want Ian Holloway back on match of the day!

had a £1 on Bergoglio at 25-1