Punk77

Still he needs to improve his media skills. But I honestly think that Pardew have achieved some results that Chris couldn't have pulled off. Especially the two games against West Ham and Wigan.

Agree.. Ireland must play behind the attacker though. Nolan doesn't have the mobility and is not able to hold the ball..We've experienced a couple of counter attacks because of him because he loses the ball when the rest of the team is racing forward. Sholadinhio has in this respect been excellent this season. Against Arsenal away he was exceptional. And Tdeans this time you're correct

Simpson has had some great days on work but also some bad, but he's developing in the right direction. He had his hands full against Lennon,and made some errors there, one cost us two points. He needs to improve in two particular areas. First he must not be so afraid to apply pressure on the opponent. Sometimes he backs off into his own box, inviting the opponent inside the penalty area. Second, he more gutsy in the offensive part. Sometimes he has room but chose not to use it. That's too bad, because he delivers good crossers almost every time I've seen him wide outside the opponent's box. One thing is sure, nobody can take the work ethic away from him, which bodes well..

Loven is a handy player when we scores first, because then the opponent must attack leaving room behind the defenders which he can run in. In the opposite scenario this is much harder, since most team then will sit low, denying the room Loven needs.

I do understand that he;s an impact player,but who else do we have, I mean are we seriosuly gonna stick with Lovenkrands??? We got to stick with Loven yes. He's a compatible player that needs passes in the room behind the defenders. Sadly our midfield does not function that way right now. Nolan is not contributing outside the box offensively, leaving everything to Barton who plays out wide. As a result Loven does not get the balls he craves after. He's an expert luring the offside trap, but that doesn't do anything good because he receives no passes when the room opens and he starts his run. When Ben Arfa and Ireland is back, they will give him breakthrough passes, which will give him a new dimension. The same also goes for Carroll: The main reason for his success is Bartons fantastic crosses. Interesting to see him in Pool now, they have no wingers capable of hitting it like Barton, except for Gerrard, but he plays in the center now

No..You will be banned

I got to disagree with you. For now Ranger is first and foremost about physical presence. He's able to turnaround games because when he enters, he's fresh and rested, while the opponent defenders start to feel the wear and tear of the game. That's why Ranger become predominant in such situations. If Ranger starts a game, he too will become tired as the second half progresses. Thus he will lose his upper hand, the physique. A more sound strategy is start with Loven and substitute him with Ranger the opponent's defender reaches fatigue. That increases Ranger's effect on the game, as we saw today and against Liverpool

With HBA and Ireland back, we'll play "sexy football" and consequently Enrique signs a new 5 year contract.

What a result and what a moral booster for players and fans. Now we will go against Burn full of confidence. We've met Liverpool. Sland, Tham, Arsenal, City and Fulham. And we had to very important must-win matches against West Ham and Wigan. All are very hard opponents.With only two losses (Fulham the only deserved loss). When we consider all the injuries we have, that's impressing if you ask me.

Exactly! When it's only Tiote who's patrolling the central midfield, the job for the quick and nimble arse-players are so much more easier..

But it's a fact that when we play against fast teams like Arse, Nolan is not able to follow. He's too slow. However, when key players like Taylor, Shola, Ireland and HBA are out, of course that have consequences for our game. More than one third of our first team is our. And Colo is probably semi-injured and Tiote suffers from a month out. We cannot judge Pardew before we have all our players back. And as Domo so importantly points out: we're not playing bad because we don't have the guts or moral, but because the players out on the field simply is not good enough!!

You do have a point, but the truth is that Ireland normally is a better player than Nolan. And Nolan does not make other players better. He's not distributing balls (as an offensive midfielder should do) leaving the offensive passing responsibility to a defensive midfielder and a winger. Nolan is extraordinary inside the box, but on the outside he's pretty mediocre. All this can be ascribed to his diet. The man got to do something with it. He's too fat resulting in him being too slow and not as mobile as he should be. And that irritates the hell out of me.. He's a PROFESSIONAL player for pete's sake. Howver, it's impressive that he's been able to bag 10 goals in that physical state. Imagine how good he could have been if he had lost some pounds. Then the competition between him and Ireland is open.

Totally agree. I think that's a formation that will suit us very well. However, it will require much from our new attacker. He must very industrious and able to keep the ball without losing it. If we buy Marveaux and Ireland, I see the following next year: New attacker HBA Marvenaux - Ireland - Tiote - Barton Enrique - Colo - NEW - Possible new? If we strike gold on the attacker and the defender, this team is more than good enough for Europe, as long as we're not ruined by injuries.

Thanks Andy! If you watch this video on the tube " Ben Arfa - Marseille Lyon - OM-OL! " you can see his incredible touch. It's just like Messi's, but HBA has a better acceleration, seriously The Marseille players were not able to stop him. But the video also shows that he's too fond of the ball sometimes..

Just saw a fantastic video of HBA on the tube..I'll probably wet my pants the day he plays for us again. It's one question regarding videos I'm uncertain about: Is it allowed to post the keywords or the name of the video on the forum, which enables others to search for it when they are on the tube? Eg. "Punk77s goal against Man U." Or will that also result in ban too?Thanks

Seems strange that we've never had any real big injury problems under Hughton. That Chris left is not the cause of all the injuries imo. It's the game frequency that now takes its toll. In other words: injury probability correlates with the number of matches played. To be fair to Pardew, we have achieved some good results with a horrific injury list: Taylor, Ben Arfa, Carroll has been long time injured. And also we've had Enrique and Sholadinhio out for shorter periods and Tiote suspended. And Ireland could have contributed to a better result against Fulham . That's FIVE very good players out and two decent unavailable. That's insanje. As a newly promoted team, such an injury list will of course affect our results. We cannot judge pardew before every player is available. Nobody is able to cope under his circumstances.

This!

Ben Arfa and Ireland are players that need a lot of lovin' and trust which I think our club will provide. Ireland came to a club in pretty bad shape, and he doesn't fit in such situations.

I think Smith will hang his boots up this summer. And Pardew doesn't want to get rid of Tiote. He simply says that if an insane offer comes along they have to consider it. It much better that the administration actually prepares us for such an situation than categorically denying that he will be sold and then selling him when the correct bid comes along. His comments may spike an interest around the player, which may be good because it will create a bidding war. One of the reasons why we got so much for Carroll was Tham failed attempt to acquire him. Redknapp was also kind enough to estimate his value to between £30-40 mill. And we got £40.. I think Titoe only will be sold if we get good money for him. Now we can afford to say no to horrendous offers.

The bids for Tiote will come regardless of Pardew's mouth. But he acutally got a point: We need to stabilize economically, so we're able to fend of interests from key players. The sale of Carroll puts us half way there. It's no secret that MA has repeatedly told us that because of our debt we must buy players and sell them later with profits to be able to turn the ship around. The same strategy was used by Spurs with success. Combined with the salary cap, it was the huge profits on Carrick and Berbatov that enabled them to purchase players like Bale. The loss of Carrick hurt them in the short run, but look a them now. And we must acquire this mentality too. Another important aspect is the fact that we now have the scouting and academy structure in place, which increase the probability of finding a new Tiote or Carroll. This structure was strikingly absent during the days of Fat Fred, resulting in our incapability to replace key players without paying big money.

Why? Our midfield is ok now because Tiote is back, and Ireland returns next week. We need attackers, not midfielders. Routledge has proven again and again with different clubs that Wankership is his level. He does not have the football intelligence, nor the physique or the technique to master PL. One of the most frustrating things with him is that he waits until the defender is close to him before he starts dribbling. The problem is of course that then the defender has body contact, resulting in Routledge being pushed away. And what's the point in having a winger that is not able to cross? This season, he's made only ONE cross successfully, against Shitty where Carroll should have scored. Playing 4-4-2 it's essential that we have people on the wings able to deliver crosses, which Barton is able to. That move was by the way probably the smartest thing Chris has ever done.

We can criticize MA for not getting a winger and an attacker. However, the fact that they did not sign one, does not mean that they didn't try. But unlike before, they were not prepared to pay more than what the player is worth. The price of Carroll proves how ridiculous the January-prices are. Within a month we will have a shitload of players returning: Ben Arfa, Gosling and Ireland. And to be fair, the injury to Sholadinhio was a freak accident that came at an awkward time. I pretty sure that we will stay up. And the fact that we're frugal now, indicates that we're able to spend some cash in the summer, when the market has cooled down. We're actually one of the few mid tables club that has not splashed the cash and have some money to use. Consequently we can be in a very good position before the next season.

Sorry, but a 4-5-1 formation requires much from an attacker. First, the holding play has not been that great from Ranger's side. Second, and he needs to move more without getting the ball. Third, he must constantly be focused. Ranger possesses none of these abilities, yet. Ranger needs to be loaned out for one whole season in a league that doesn't have the same tempo..

A very important factor indeed. When Ireland and Ben Arfa is back we can switch into a 4-5-1 formation. Ireland, Nolan, Barton and Ben Arfa are all able to score goals. All they need is an industrial attacker that runs like and idiot opening up rooms for them. Barton has a hell of a right foot, so we need to create space around the opponent's box. That we have not managed to well.

Would have been hilarious. We got nothing to lose signing him though. He's still fairly young. He will probably be satisfied with a pay as you play contract and no sign on fee. His work ethic suggest that he should fit nicely with Loven..