Lush Vlad

Yeah, the crosses, set pieces and long balls that were lofted straight to Hangeland were superb. Tactical masterclass there from Pards

I thought the second half was arguably our best of the season. Yet we still didn't look like we knew how to create a chance. Most of our shots were scuffs from outside the area. Our best attacker was Colo and our most creative player was Danny Simpson and his shit crosses. It's worrying as fuck.

I thought he actually looked a bit better last night? Perhaps I'm so used to his usual shit, that a few fancy bits of footwork and the odd half decent cross has warped my opinion!

This. Pards saying he wants to see him more central and that was the idea against Maritimo. Next game, sitck him as wide as possible on the left touchline Right of a three, or playing behind the striker(s). He always looks worse on the left, doesn't seem to get down the line and is always checking inside on his weaker foot. Didn't think he played that well. But it was typical of us that we relied on a bit of magic from him. If Cisse, Ba or HBA don't do something world class, we don't seem to score. We're depressing to watch TBH.

They seemed happy to leave the right hand side of the pitch wide open for Simpson. He's so ineffective going forward and we wasted so much of the ball down that side. The 4-3-3 was terrible and was set up all wrong, we struggle to create any genuine chances and the subs were baffling. I thought Fulham were pretty poor, but we made Duff look like Lionel Messi FFS and they could have scored a lot more.

Same problems as always. Can't add anything really. It's all been said thousands of times this season. Can't see Pardew ever learning. Couldn't give a fuck of he left now TBH.

HBA is ineffective on the left. Long ball shite as per usual.

Jonas really needs to perform. Not sure there is pressure on him mind, his terrible form seems irrelevant and he seems to play regardless. Interesting to see HBA central. Think he might get crowded out. Would consider playing Ba behind Cisse, as he likes to drop deep any way.

My comments in the post match thread. Surprised he didn't burn out more. Looked rusty at times, but kept his workrate up for the whole game. Even showed signs of awareness by bringing others into play or trying a bit of skill to nothing and winning corners. If Pardew is happy he's turned the corner. Then whilst he is turning up on time and staying out of trouble, I'm all for him being considered for selection. Can guarantee that'll all change soon enough though sadly. Clearly has talent, but it's going to be wasted.

Not much between the seeded and unseeded teams really. Some horrible trips for anyone fancying another away day though and I suppose playing the away leg second might have an effect. No holiday left for me to book off until April, so hoping we last until then........ yeah right. The ones in bold will be tough. Obviously know sod all about a lot of these teams, but I can't see us going through if we draw any of the teams highlighted.

Perhaps the most disappointing for me was Ferguson. He can look easily good enough for the first team in short spells and cameos. But whenever he's started, I think he's failed to impress, apart from maybe Bordeaux at home. Sammy beats players for fun in this competition, but his final ball is awful. He doesn't even look where he's passing and never crosses it. It usually just pea rolls to the first defender and then we get hit on the counter. Quite impressed with Ranger. Good with his back to goal, I forgot that his hold up play is half decent. Looked fairly quick, showed the odd bit of skill and nearly got in behind a few times. Long way to go obviously, but if he can stay fit, he offers as much of an impact off the bench as Shola IMO and he's a different type of player. Perch and Willo were horrendous. Considering they were the some of the senior players in the team, they really should have put more in. Looked half arsed and were caught out time and again.

Back to 4-4-2, clueless hoof ball then? Hard to take much from this I guess. Bit of a nothing game and both teams making shit loads of changes. Seems as if normal service is resumed though. After a fairly promising 25 minutes or so, we've reverted to type and it's depressing and boring to watch. Elliot has been the only positive really. Let's hope we don't go back to the negative shit on Monday.

This guy is useless. Him playing every week until Feb is worrying. Gambling on Taylor and Colo's fitness with a clogger like this as back up was always asking for trouble. Regardless of Pardew's tactics. Even if we had Guardiola as manager, this clown would still lump it 70 yards time and again.

Williamson playing every week until February.

Good shout. That or a power bomb.

It's going to happen isn't it? If that lineup that Dave posted is correct, I wouldn't mind seeing Ranger in a wider role. He has a bit of pace about him and I can't see how that team would work as a 4-4-2? Really? Elliot Tavernier - Perch - Willo - Fergie Sammy - Anita - Bigi - Marveaux Ranger - Shola Despite Ranger not being a wide forward as such, that midfield 4 wouldn't work IMO. You'd have Sammy losing the ball in all the wrong areas and being caught out of position when he should be defending Tav. Both young and inexperienced as well. Anita and Bigi are both holding players. Zero creativity and Bigi still gets caught out positionally as well like Sammy does. Marveaux likes to drift in field with the ball, Sammy would be doing the same. We'll constantly surrender possession and rarely threaten if we plump for that midfield 4. I would have thought some of our recent performances with this formation and no Cabaye have highlighted this. So yeah, I don't see it working as a 4-4-2.

It's going to happen isn't it? If that lineup that Dave posted is correct, I wouldn't mind seeing Ranger in a wider role. He has a bit of pace about him and I can't see how that team would work as a 4-4-2?

Training on Saturday and playing on Monday according to Pards.

4-3-3 Neuer Lahm Kompany Hummels Alba Iniesta Pirlo Xavi Messi Falcao Ronaldo

No matter how bad he is at times with taking chances, when he is not in that middle we look much more open, 2nd half Wigan had a fair bit of space at times in there. That rarely happens when Tiote is around The lad is dominant. He has presence. Wigan got a hold of the game more early in the second half because they had more time to breathe. Partly down to tactics as you can't press like we did for 90 minutes but also because we missed Tiote's presence. Anita + Cabaye are hard workers and put a foot in but Tiote is the one who provides real steel and power. Any midfield 3 with Tiote will not be out powered. Agree with this. For all his faults, our midfield is powder puff without him.

Can't agree with Poz on that one. He's having a tough start to the season, as have the team. We create fuck all and when we do, he looks so depserate to score, he rushes and looks like he's trying too hard. His record speaks for itself and there is no way we should think about selling him IMO.

Blackpool home for his debut. Then Everton away for the full debut Yeah, you're in for a treat Silvor. You absolute lunch

Can't agree there mate. Cisse is a real predator and can score all types of goals. We just don't utilise him properly and that's been further magnified by a poor run of form. Michu doesn't always play up top for them anyway does he? Plays in behind that Schicter (sp) I thought? I think if Ba isn't going to be used wide left and we want to persist with the 4-2-3-1. It should be a straight shootout between Ba and Cisse for the lone strikers role. Bit hard to argue against Ba playing there ATM. Cisse's done ok out wide, but it feels a bit like square pegs/round holes.

Good post. We almost exclusively look to sit back and defend a lead. We just lack the players for it to work effectively and it's horrible to watch. Wigan looked dangerous for a spell at the start of the second half. We were all over the shop and invited too much pressure. We end up looking nervy, the crowd get edgy and it's just a vicious circle. The game against Maritimo was a perfect example and we were guilty of it to a point against Stoke. I'm not saying we should be gung ho, but we certainly need to be more positive. The 2 or 3 hammerings we had last season didn't help the goal dif, but neither did the negative, sit back on a slender lead mentality. There have been lots of games where the opposition are there for the taking, we have a chance to boost the goals for column, pass the ball about nicely and get a bit of confidence up. We just plonk everyone behind the ball! Would be foolish to get too carried away, bit hard to judge the performance really. But there were a lot of positives to take at least. Did we actually sit back, or did Wigan not come out for the second half in desperate need for an early goal? We contained them fairly well and then got back into our stride. Bit of both clearly, but I think we sat back for quite a lot of the second half. We were comfortable for the majority, but if Kone didn't play in blind alleys like Martins and Di Santo looked to pass instead of shank it from 30 yards, they might have posed more problems. We lack any composure at the back. Even Colo seems to have caught the Williamson bug. We looked a bit rushed for 5-10 minutes and kept giving the ball back to them to start another attack. But once Bigi settled, we started playing well again in fairness. I'm not basing this just on last night, as for the most part, it was enjoyable to watch and we were much improved. But it's been a feature of Pardew's time in charge. Sorry to bring it up again, but the 4 days defensive work, 1 day attacking quote might be a factor!?