BrettNUFC

Pardew has shown excellent man management skills with Ben Arfa imo. Ben Arfa has caused disruptions everywhere he's been yet here, him and Pardew seem to have a good understanding with each other. Ben Arfa will be back in the side before too long, you can even see in his cameo's the effort he is putting in. Ben Arfa throughout his career has had spells on the bench as well spells of brilliance, it's no different here and it won't be any different at any other club. It's just who he is. Genius talent with a flawed attitude.

My mate started shortish prices around evens or 1/2 but as the winnings were becoming increasinlgy high he was getting more and more inclined to bet on 1/4's or 1/5's.

Yeah pretty much. Lad i know basically just started with a 10 pound bet, then he picked one single a day but mainly odds on shots around 1/2 then worked his way up. Just put all the winnings on another single the next day. Was up to about 320 when he lost by some dodgy italian result in which Inter/Juve were like 1/5 or summit.

Why him?

Areet then.

The universally accepted flop of an 18 year old? Never. He scored 3 goals in 4 starts for them. As a left back at that. It took him plenty of starts before they managed to win a match he was involved in but a massive flop never good enough for Spurs? Get to f***. They tried to flog him to Birmingham but they pulled out last minute due to funds. Was definitely looking at one point like his days could be numbered for Spurs.

It's alright expecting a win, but if we do lose don't go overboard on the reaction because it is a tough fixture and it’s foolish to think otherwise.

No, I mean relative to their opponents. Hughton's team was stronger compared to the rest of the Championship than Pardew's current team is compared to the rest of the PL. f***ing Christ Almighty. What's up mate? You're stating the obvious to the extent it's pointless even posting it. If it were anything else, people would be saying Pardew should be challenging for the title. Have you just popped up to have a go for no reason? It followed on from a discussion about how Hughton should have been expected to do very well with the squad he had. Then I was asked to explain, so I explained. You really need to give up on the idea that every post I make has some sort of agenda to praise Pardew.

Southampton fans also weren't happy when Adkins got sacked by the way, that was a surprise sacking giving what he had done for the club, but they sensed an upgrade and took it. Was a gamble and so far it's paying off. Must admit i still wasn't convinced with him last season but this season i can see a big improvement and it's looking good for them, can they sustain early form? Like us, it remains to be seen. Both clubs will just be happy with how things are going following their dismal runs back end of last season, the season can still go either way though for us both.

The season we finished 5th apparently

Starting to think it's Leon who is dropping his arse, no tweet for 20 minutes

Seems like this is kid might be turning up after all

Love shit like this, no way will this lad be there though

It's the fact on the results he had a good excuse to sack him, but he kept faith in him and Pardew is repaying the faith shown with positive results again. He could have easily put Kinnear in charge in the summer or looked for another cheap option to carry out his pretty un-ambitious objective goals instead of Pardew but he was given another chance and there isn't anything wrong with that, if anything it's good to see. One good season, followed by a poor season and he's been given another for the judgement call. At least we aren't chopping and changing soon as things turn sour at the club and have got stability here, something a lot of other clubs lack.

Are you inviting us to 'admire' Ashley...?? Boardrooms that standby their appointments i admire. Obviously i'm not saying every chairman should give their appointment 3/4 years, sometimes you might realise pretty quickly you've made a bad decision and hold your hands up, or you sense a chance to upgrade and take the club higher so you get rid. Certain sackings can be justified but the majoirty imo are kneejerk and unjust. In terms of admiring Ashley, certainly not but i'll give him credit for not binning Pardew at the first period of trouble after a good season. He could have easily got rid in the summer or even prior to that and found some other bargain bucket manager who would accept his ways but he stuck by his appointment. People still hold hope Ashley will splash the cash on a top European manager for an upgrade, I however think there isn’t a single hope in hell he would take that much of a gamble. Had the chance when he sacked Hughton and blew it, don’t see why he would suddenly change his ways now.

He's a midfielder on the Telegraph fantasy and i think Ian is confusing his teams

But you were all for Hughton getting binned? Hmm. I didn't want him here from day 1 and was never on side with him and felt we should have upgraded after Championship season. Was happy when we decided to get rid but couldn't believe we failed to upgrade and lost belief in the regime to do so. I think Hughton should be binned at Norwich now but it's their appointment and i respect the board for given him time even though i don't think he's taking them anywhere but down.

I'm not just talking just about here. I think other chairmen should take a long hard look at themselves when firing the person they appointed. I wasn't a fan of Steve Clarke and thought it was a poor choice but he got them to 8th, has started slowly this season and is now sacked. Think it's just harsh an wrong. Don't know what the stats are but it seems to be getting worse, like clubs just sacking managers to try and get rid of poor form and get a sudden uplift in the club without giving their appointment time to pull things around.

If a manager has a bad season, i think he should be given another shot at the following season to turn it around. Don't think one bad season should effectively get you the sack. Admire chairmen who have faith in their appointments and give them time in the job to succeed. Far too often these days they want instant success, or if instant success comes along as surprise but not sustained they are fired, i think it’s just wrong.

Blame Pardew creeping in already ffs

It's not fear, it's just avoiding complacency and thinking we should just turn up and win because they are 18th and it's Crystal Palace who have lesser players than us. Pulis has instilled belief in the side and they are looking very organised now under him, make no mistake about this is a tough fixture and I think it will be a very tightly fought out game.

Why do people think games are this easy in the PL? It's like showing no respect because they are a promoted side. They've just been to Stamford Bridge and gave them a real go and could have nicked a point, that was on the back of two wins. Only Fulham have tore them a new one like you say but that match was a bit of weird one with those stunning goals. There's no reason why we shouldn't be going there lookinjg for the win but to say we should be tearing them a new one is a bit far fetched imo and slightly naïve. A bit far fetched? They're 18th man Yes they've been playing somewhat better as of late, but really? Come on. We should be putting teams like this to the sword. We have far superior players in every position. I can't believe people aren't confident. Just looking at the league table and deciding we should put them to the sword based on their position. They've played top teams and havent' been beat by more than two home or away by them, Everton got 0-0 against them. There's confidence then there's sheer arrogance. It's a tough fixture which shouldn't be taken lightly, draw at the very least is what we should expect but would come as no shock to see us lose here. This season has proved how unpredictable the PL is and nobody should be taking lightly, especially thinking you should go away from home and tear a team a new one.

Why do people think games are this easy in the PL? It's like showing no respect because they are a promoted side. They've just been to Stamford Bridge and gave them a real go and could have nicked a point, that was on the back of two wins. Only Fulham have tore them a new one like you say but that match was a bit of weird one with those stunning goals. There's no reason why we shouldn't be going there lookinjg for the win but to say we should be tearing them a new one is a bit far fetched imo and slightly naïve.

Big fan of Zaha but i just can't see where he can fit in here really. Gouff/Sissoko have positions nailed down in a 4-4-2 at the moment, Zaha's workrate isn't one to match any of them two. We've already got Ben Arfa pushing for a start and we are never going to have Ben Arfa/Zaha starting with Pardew in charge. Developing talent for clubs below you in the league seems a strange method anyways

No i think this season a lot of what he has been done has been spot on, just felt on Saturday he kind of let the two points slip away. Might be being slightly harsh i don't know but i think that game was there for the taking. Southampton were nice and pretty in possession but didn't really do a lot with it or create, when we had the ball there was more urgency in our game to get a goal and i felt had HBA had longer on the pitch he would have came up with the goods.