Away Toon

I've watched all of our recent games and although we've had some good results the football has been diabolical and entertainment forget it. The Chelsea game was an exception to the rule. We have players who could play in the Barca team, who are comfortable on the ball, and yet Pardew has a playing hoofball most of the time.

Every Manager especially ours should be forced to watch Barca play like this and then go back on the training ground and at least try and get the players to want to keep the ball, pass it around on the ground, constantly move into space, and press hard when the ball is lost. Not everyone can play like Barca, but if Swansea and Wigan can try to emulate aspects of their play I don't see why we have to watch such goddamn awful play every weekend.

If you look at the way Parker plays a similar role, Tiote is nowhere near as effective at the moment. Parker's game has evolved, he still breaks up play and moves the ball on quickly with short passes, but he also gets forward a lot more, and contributes all over the pitch. Tiote should watch and learn.

the good news is how good Cabaye's free kicks are, the bad his corners and the fact he wont stay around if he gets the chance, and play another season of this crap.

clear pen, before anyone complains

Stoke are making us look shit, says everything really.

Maybe Rooney is having fitness issues, being as he's an English pleb, probably with a penchant for everything that's great about our fatty cuisine. He's certainly not a natural athlete like CR7.

Proper old fashioned crowd in Bucharest, great noise and atmosphere.

Our problem in this game and then the return leg is we don't have a lot of goals in the team, and we always look like we might concede. O-0 might not be the best result in the world as our last opponents found out in the last leg. The away goal really is the killer.

Not only is Obertan pretty useless, he adds laziness and a general lack of commitment to everything he does.

After De Jong got away with it in the World Cup Final, I don't think too many referees are not going to give a red card for something similar.

Whatever mitigating circumstances there might be, and excuses that the Pardew supporters on here are so happy to make for him, it's undeniable that he's been in charge of an absolutely diabolical season, taking a better squad than the one that finished 5th to the depths of a relegation struggle, that we are not out of yet. Add in the horrible shapeless tactical mess that we invariably produce, and the fact that we can't win when we go behind, can't produce away from SJP, and that every single player barring Marveaux has gone backwards this season, some of them Colo, Jonas, Santon, Krul, Cisse, Tiote for starters, have been pretty near diabolical most of the time. The players fault or the man in charge, who in any case had no history to show that he was a decent or even competent manager when he arrived. No surprises that we are in the mess that we are, or that we will continue to under perform as long as he remains in charge. Pardew's performance this season is indefensible, so why are people on here continuing to pretend otherwise?

Can I be the first to say that I'd rather have Guzon than Krul. And obviously Benteke than Cisse. Provacateur.

Shit season, Shit Manager and mostly shit players. There's not one player who has either really progressed or improved from last season. Such a waste of an opportunity of building on last season.

We've had tons of luck in this game, so let's make the most of it and close this out.

Santon should be told to stay in his own half and defend. MYM covering for him all the time.

Need to see this out now. The penalty was a bit harsh I reckon, so we've had the luck we needed, now we need to defend much better than we have been and get the three fucking points we desperately need.

Santon just can't fucking defend

The problem with commentating on this subject is trying to define whether a player is genuinely rated or not, and who by. Fans in general, the press, pundits etc. The standard of player that gets picked for England squads and is rated by Roy, is in any case appalling. Selvey, Sterling, and the other Pool right back whose name escapes me (he's that forgettable) give me a brake. Wallcott, Clichy, Lennon and Cole (to a lesser extent) are athletes not football players. We as supporters completely overate Santon whose positional defensive play is terrible. Maybe we just have shit coaches. Maybe we overate Krul whose kicking and distribution is absolutely rank. I think Silva is overrated, he's innocuous as is Nasri.

Simpson playing an excellent defensive game

I'm not sure that was a penalty. Close, maybe .....

Decent play at last

Why does Pardew let Cabaye take the free kicks and corners? Grow some balls you twat.

The only thing that makes this bearable is we have a vested interest in the game. From a neutrals point of view, absolute shite.

After a bright start they are all over us like a rash.