Stuy_O

Reactions and passion like that is why I sorta stick with him, despite his faults. Love to see it.

That table is just horrible.

Was at a critical time aswell, I felt they needed a goal around that time or they would start to run out of steam. Mistakes happen and hopefully he'l respond, but his defending in the main has been poor this season. His age notwithstanding.

As harsh as it sounds he's becoming a weak link and teams are picking up on it. Not just the goal. He makes no effort to track back whatsoever - a moment shortly after his mistake when he was lost possession in their half, and he was out of the picture when they attacked, he wasn't even trying to defend. I still love him and hopefully he'll learn, but if we can use him solely as an attacker in the future then so be it.

Pretty much where I stand on this. I quite like him as a character and he's shown far more passion than previous managers, but tactically I don't think he's got it in him.

Fulham game is absolutely crucial. I reckon QPR will beat Wigan and Chelsea will more than likely beat the mackems. If we do beat Fulham then that would have us 4v ahead of them and 6 in front of Wigan, also creating massive pressure for Sunderland ahead of the derby. If we don't beat Fulham then we are in major bother, no doubt about it. I'm worried the team is going into another horrible run like earlier. Anyone can look at Blackburn last season to note that this is the worst possible time to start losing, although that's fairly obvious I suppose.

Quite upsetting this in honesty.

I find it unreal that quite a few are claiming he won the ball. I'v watched it countless time and he simply doesn't. Is it really worth comprehending that some people are defending the tackle as it's on a Newcastle player?

You got a link to this?

Who was that dick who elbowed Shearer for Grimsby? I know Shearer like to used his arms but I remember that being awful. Edit. Seen post above.

Also said it's not worthy of punishment, which imo is a terrible comment. He's being massively hypocritical aswell as dangerous. Any defence of it and his player could do it again one day, with worse results.

He should refrain from saying something so glaringly untrue.

The way Wigan have handled all this is shameful. First Martinez' outrageous comments and now this.

Yeah, with QPR, Reading and Wigan going down. I will gladly accept Sunlun staying up at the expense of Wigan. Steady on now.

He said all he could really. He was certainly very critical of the challenge, so I don't agree he has backed down out of defending his players. You can justifiably question Pardew's tactics, but it's hard to question his man management skills imo. The one thing he's actually good at.

Our goal difference is quite a bit better, thats essentially an extra point on the teams in the bottom 3 and Villa. An avoidance of a pasting at City would be nice aswell. The two home games after are huge. If we can't muster 6 points from a remaining 8 games then we deserve to go down.

Trying hard to remember the opponent. Think it was Sheff Wed or Derby at home in about 97 / 98 (maybe earlier). We won 3-1 after conceding after about a minute or two. Might have to check the history books as I genuinely have forgotten who it was. Despite the scattered memories of who we were playing, wont forget how I was mesmerised looking around the stadium. Just stood there in awe for minutes.

Aye noticed Spurs are 3rd, shite them.

Loved that, first time i'v heard him speak english actually.

Effortless game. Gonna slot in perfectly.

Excluding the Cisse on the right nonsense, much stronger team than I expected.

Key bit for me, would make things incredibly boring.

I'm probably in the minority but i'm not really keen on the idea of it. Maybe a split second thing where the tech would instantly know if it's over the line or not, but not some referral to a 4th official or owt like that. I'm aware of the pro's but I really would find that a tedious solution to it all, however fair it may be. Yes rugby is a good example of how it's used well, but it's been in place for a long time there. Maybe i'm old fashioned but imo football still relies on a bit of controversy.

I agree but also if we limp out the competition in gutless fashion that in itself creates a different pressure for the match Sunday, regardless of who plays. They have to really show some balls out there and not emulate a Bordeaux away style performance.

Hope he puts a decent side out and not be so timid in their attitudes towards the match. We're better ffs and we score and the tie completely changes. Get the feeling we'll go over there feeling sorry for ourselves because of events tonight.