Alan Pardew

[BottledDog]

Had Pardew continued to put out teams set up to perform like Wolves at home he'd be under extreme pressure, but he changed it and we've performed much better. You can only talking about what you see, Pardew was getting it wrong and showed no sign of changing things then boom, he did. Its great news and its give us a great end to the season, but to say HTT was wrong is nonsense, plenty of people on here were very worried where we were heading, whether they said owt or not is a different matter. I personally thought he was blowing it and was fuming.

 

One concern i have left is that he reverts back to old at the start of the season, trying to protect points etc...if that doesnt happen and we see what were seeing now its only going to get better with better players coming in.

 

This right here, gentlemen.

 

I did not see it coming at all, I can't think of any logical reason that suggested it would come, nor was one suggested by any poster on this board. Negative tactics were accompanied by cries of "you idiot, how can you pass it from the back with simpson, willo and Krul in the team/ Cabaye is in terrible form" ect.

 

Pardew's change of mentality also exactly coincides with Ben Arfa forcing himself into the team. Now try to remember objectively, Ben Arfa was not eased into the team or anything like that, he was thrown on as a wildcard, an "oh-s***!" button. And he preformed so well in those cameos that he simple could not be dropped from the team (fan pressure being a factor too).

 

I'm not taking anything away from Pardew he's done unbelievably well. And I almost regret typing this already as this can of worms is in the past. But people gloating ' i woz right bout somethin' , 'will you admit you was wrong' is really irritating.

 

But you're wrong. There were people that took in past form and what Pardew had said through his time here, his general interviews, his use of players, his explanations when we played badly and his admittances when things didn't go to plan and came to a different conclusion. Buy into what we felt he was aiming for, and the way he ideally would have us play. Sometime that faith looked shaky at best, but I thought that there was very little to suggest he was a negative manager, or married to the concept of 'hoofball' that some here kept banging on about.

 

There will be many many more games where we f*** up, set up wrongly, or end up lumping it forward. I just hope the current form makes the likes of HTT hesitate from jumping off the deep end again when we hit a bad patch.

 

I fear it wont.

 

/Christ, it wasn't that many weeks ago he was still calling for Pardew to be replaced sooner rather than later.

/But then, it wasn't many moons ago, he was fighting Allardyces corner, or siding with Souness over Bellamy and Robert iirc...

 

Revisionist to the extreme, did you watch ANY of the games where he was accused of this? There was open conflict on the pitch as Demba Ba was arguing with Coloccini for Krul to stop punting it up the pitch every time he got it in at least 1 game that I saw. Krul, and Colo, to their credit, kept on doing what they were told to do by their manager.

 

Open conflict on the pitch? Bollocks. There have been plenty games, possibly the majority of games where there have been players having a go at each other.

 

Having  go at each other for following the managers instructions on those occasions? Seriously? You really think that? Absolute bullshit.

 

So you decide to not watch the game and call people who have seen it 'talking bollocks', internet-revisionist idiocy at its finest.

 

You what? I've watched every game in full this season, none away in person, but a good deal at SJP.

 

I'll ask again, when did you see the players have a go at each other for following the managers instructions?

[HawK]

Had Pardew continued to put out teams set up to perform like Wolves at home he'd be under extreme pressure, but he changed it and we've performed much better. You can only talking about what you see, Pardew was getting it wrong and showed no sign of changing things then boom, he did. Its great news and its give us a great end to the season, but to say HTT was wrong is nonsense, plenty of people on here were very worried where we were heading, whether they said owt or not is a different matter. I personally thought he was blowing it and was fuming.

 

One concern i have left is that he reverts back to old at the start of the season, trying to protect points etc...if that doesnt happen and we see what were seeing now its only going to get better with better players coming in.

 

This right here, gentlemen.

 

I did not see it coming at all, I can't think of any logical reason that suggested it would come, nor was one suggested by any poster on this board. Negative tactics were accompanied by cries of "you idiot, how can you pass it from the back with simpson, willo and Krul in the team/ Cabaye is in terrible form" ect.

 

Pardew's change of mentality also exactly coincides with Ben Arfa forcing himself into the team. Now try to remember objectively, Ben Arfa was not eased into the team or anything like that, he was thrown on as a wildcard, an "oh-s***!" button. And he preformed so well in those cameos that he simple could not be dropped from the team (fan pressure being a factor too).

 

I'm not taking anything away from Pardew he's done unbelievably well. And I almost regret typing this already as this can of worms is in the past. But people gloating ' i woz right bout somethin' , 'will you admit you was wrong' is really irritating.

 

But you're wrong. There were people that took in past form and what Pardew had said through his time here, his general interviews, his use of players, his explanations when we played badly and his admittances when things didn't go to plan and came to a different conclusion. Buy into what we felt he was aiming for, and the way he ideally would have us play. Sometime that faith looked shaky at best, but I thought that there was very little to suggest he was a negative manager, or married to the concept of 'hoofball' that some here kept banging on about.

 

There will be many many more games where we f*** up, set up wrongly, or end up lumping it forward. I just hope the current form makes the likes of HTT hesitate from jumping off the deep end again when we hit a bad patch.

 

I fear it wont.

 

/Christ, it wasn't that many weeks ago he was still calling for Pardew to be replaced sooner rather than later.

/But then, it wasn't many moons ago, he was fighting Allardyces corner, or siding with Souness over Bellamy and Robert iirc...

 

Revisionist to the extreme, did you watch ANY of the games where he was accused of this? There was open conflict on the pitch as Demba Ba was arguing with Coloccini for Krul to stop punting it up the pitch every time he got it in at least 1 game that I saw. Krul, and Colo, to their credit, kept on doing what they were told to do by their manager.

 

Open conflict on the pitch? Bollocks. There have been plenty games, possibly the majority of games where there have been players having a go at each other.

 

Having  go at each other for following the managers instructions on those occasions? Seriously? You really think that? Absolute bullshit.

 

So you decide to not watch the game and call people who have seen it 'talking bollocks', internet-revisionist idiocy at its finest.

 

You what? I've watched every game in full this season, none away in person, but a good deal at SJP.

 

I'll ask again, when did you see the players have a go at each other for following the managers instructions?

 

How can you ask 'again' if you didn't ask anything already? It's 1am and I'm not going to trawl topics for your benefit. Continue in your

hazy bubble of revisionism for all I care lol.

[BottledDog]

Had Pardew continued to put out teams set up to perform like Wolves at home he'd be under extreme pressure, but he changed it and we've performed much better. You can only talking about what you see, Pardew was getting it wrong and showed no sign of changing things then boom, he did. Its great news and its give us a great end to the season, but to say HTT was wrong is nonsense, plenty of people on here were very worried where we were heading, whether they said owt or not is a different matter. I personally thought he was blowing it and was fuming.

 

One concern i have left is that he reverts back to old at the start of the season, trying to protect points etc...if that doesnt happen and we see what were seeing now its only going to get better with better players coming in.

 

This right here, gentlemen.

 

I did not see it coming at all, I can't think of any logical reason that suggested it would come, nor was one suggested by any poster on this board. Negative tactics were accompanied by cries of "you idiot, how can you pass it from the back with simpson, willo and Krul in the team/ Cabaye is in terrible form" ect.

 

Pardew's change of mentality also exactly coincides with Ben Arfa forcing himself into the team. Now try to remember objectively, Ben Arfa was not eased into the team or anything like that, he was thrown on as a wildcard, an "oh-s***!" button. And he preformed so well in those cameos that he simple could not be dropped from the team (fan pressure being a factor too).

 

I'm not taking anything away from Pardew he's done unbelievably well. And I almost regret typing this already as this can of worms is in the past. But people gloating ' i woz right bout somethin' , 'will you admit you was wrong' is really irritating.

 

But you're wrong. There were people that took in past form and what Pardew had said through his time here, his general interviews, his use of players, his explanations when we played badly and his admittances when things didn't go to plan and came to a different conclusion. Buy into what we felt he was aiming for, and the way he ideally would have us play. Sometime that faith looked shaky at best, but I thought that there was very little to suggest he was a negative manager, or married to the concept of 'hoofball' that some here kept banging on about.

 

There will be many many more games where we f*** up, set up wrongly, or end up lumping it forward. I just hope the current form makes the likes of HTT hesitate from jumping off the deep end again when we hit a bad patch.

 

I fear it wont.

 

/Christ, it wasn't that many weeks ago he was still calling for Pardew to be replaced sooner rather than later.

/But then, it wasn't many moons ago, he was fighting Allardyces corner, or siding with Souness over Bellamy and Robert iirc...

 

Revisionist to the extreme, did you watch ANY of the games where he was accused of this? There was open conflict on the pitch as Demba Ba was arguing with Coloccini for Krul to stop punting it up the pitch every time he got it in at least 1 game that I saw. Krul, and Colo, to their credit, kept on doing what they were told to do by their manager.

 

Open conflict on the pitch? Bollocks. There have been plenty games, possibly the majority of games where there have been players having a go at each other.

 

Having  go at each other for following the managers instructions on those occasions? Seriously? You really think that? Absolute bullshit.

 

So you decide to not watch the game and call people who have seen it 'talking bollocks', internet-revisionist idiocy at its finest.

 

You what? I've watched every game in full this season, none away in person, but a good deal at SJP.

 

I'll ask again, when did you see the players have a go at each other for following the managers instructions?

 

How can you ask 'again' if you didn't ask anything already? It's 1am and I'm not going to trawl topics for your benefit. Continue in your

hazy bubble of revisionism for all I care lol.

 

Question marks denote a question. lol.

[HawK]

Look, we are both Newcastle United fans (supposedly), Pardew is doing a great job now. Pardew wasn't doing a great job  in January/February. We played longball in a 4-4-2 to Ba and Cisse. It wasn't working. Many of us said this on the forum. Fewer said that most of our players were worthy of a top4 club. It's not about being proven right or wrong. If you really want me to try and find out which game Ba was arguing with Colo and gesturing to Krul to keep it on the deck, I can do it tomorrow when I'm bored in a hotel after 8pm.

[Dave]

Might have been Norwich. It certainly happened.

[BottledDog]

Look, we are both Newcastle United fans (supposedly), Pardew is doing a great job now. Pardew wasn't doing a great job  in January/February. We played longball in a 4-4-2 to Ba and Cisse. It wasn't working. Many of us said this on the forum. Fewer said that most of our players were worthy of a top4 club. It's not about being proven right or wrong. If you really want me to try and find out which game Ba was arguing with Colo and gesturing to Krul to keep it on the deck, I can do it tomorrow when I'm bored in a hotel after 8pm.

 

Supposedly? Fuck off.

 

You highlighted in my post  "Sometime that faith looked shaky at best, but I thought that there was very little to suggest he was a negative manager, or married to the concept of 'hoofball' that some here kept banging on about.", then suggest i'd not seen any of the games in question.

 

But that's what I've said all along, not just this season but the last as well. I didn't believe he was tied to or had any desire for that kind of football, and I'm delighted he is now able to let the players off the leash to a certain extent. There is no revisionism on my part.

 

As you say though, it's not about being right or wrong. But I think the case does repeatedly have to be made, for no other reason than the vain hope of slightly stemming the inevitable round of rants and bullshit the next time we hit a slump.

[Beren]

Has this rather strange piece been posted already?

 

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/1052445/alan-pardew-risks-wrath-of-newcastle-fans-with-praise-for-ashley?cc=5739

 

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has risked the wrath of the fans by hailing the impact and investment of unpopular owner Mike Ashley as the club close in on Champions League qualification.

 

Ashley was widely criticised for his decision to sack Chris Hughton and appoint Pardew in December 2010, and for allowing star striker Andy Carroll to leave the club on January transfer deadline day, albeit for a whopping £35 million, the following month.

 

However, Newcastle 3-0 win over Stoke on Saturday lifted them to fourth in the Premier League as Pardew's team - built around shrewd acquisitions such as Papiss Cisse, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa - continue to exceed expectations.

 

Pardew and his team have scoured Europe to sign relatively cut-price players, who have all come good at St James Park, but the manager believes Ashley must also take some of the credit.

 

"Mike's put something like £273 million into the club and he's not taken anything back,'' Pardew told the Sunday Times.

 

"Since I've been here I have not really shouted his corner. Politically for me it's a minefield. I want to keep the fans in a good place but I would say to them, before they get emotional about it, that Mike has invested something like 25% of his personal wealth in this football club.

 

"Ask me for 25% of my money and you've got no chance. I don't care how good your idea is.''

[rocksammy]

Honestly i don't care if he gets it wrong or right with tactics the fact he is thinking and trying things means that he will eventually develop as a manager too as long as he learns from his mistakes. Hope his current managerial form continues  too compare him to MON setting up a defensive team to counter attack every game. Pardew is doing the right things.

[A.C]

There was that blip after the Man United game where our only tactic was to reenact that Ba goal from the Krul goal kick everytime we got the ball. But he changed that, got Ben Arfa in the team playing well, and the past five games have been an absolute pleasure. Long may it continue.

[johnnypd]

pardew's done a great job this season, and i don't think there was ever a time this season where he was doing poorly at all. but every manager has their decisions scrutinised, including alex ferguson and his team is sitting atop the premiership table at the minute. the forum may as well shut down if we ever reach the day where we do not approve of discussing the ins and outs of what a manager is doing.

 

the thing is there's a difference between pointed criticism, tactical suggestions and analysis, and blind dislike or wanting someone sacked.

 

95% of the critical discussion this season - whether it's been about playing obertan, hoofing it up to best, utlising cisse as a targetman vs the mackems, not getting cabaye and tiote to gel etc have fitted the former category. as have the opposite opinions when he does something special that deserves praise, whether it be grinding out results when we're not playing well, shifting to a 4-3-3, making colo captain, or bringing in great players. some excellent debates have been had in this very thread on the above subjects this season.

 

it's a tiny minority in the 5% who went too far and acted like idiots - and i include HTT in that.

 

the past few games have turned our season from a good one where we've formed a great squad and overachieved slightly, to a superb one with a great squad that has overachieved massively. if we maintain this position he deserves to be up there with robson and keegan imo. unlike keegan he might not have a set philosophy in terms of playing style, but he's perhaps a bit more like robson, a pragmatist who takes each game as it comes.

[HawK]

I for one never called for him to be sacked, on the contrary, I said I'm happy for him to continue. At the time when as a team we were playing poorly, and quite a few of us thought it was the end of the honeymoon where we were seemingly getting by on the quality of players alone rather than Pardew's management, I simply said that at, quite literally, he was a very limited manager without any nuance at all, who was very lucky given his past to have any job in the premier league, let alone Newcastle.

 

We discussed a change of system, how we thought a change of lineup and formation could be beneficial, whether it was 4-3-3 or or 8-1-1, but I wanted to see him trying, like Keegan did. Ronaldo explicitly shot me down on this.  I said his management style was a square pegs in round holes methodology, and until he adapted his tactics to the players we had then he would continue to be a limited manage who would limit our development as a club. I heavily criticized him for leaving Ben Arfa on the bench for as long as he did.  I always left it open in all my posts that if he did change, then that would be a marked improvement and I would be happy.

 

He has changed as a manager in my honest opinion and I even said that I think he or some advisors of his read this forum, because a lot of what we were saying seemed to take effect a few weeks later I am happy with him and happy for him to continue. Maybe the posts on anti-Pardew rants were not aimed at me, but it felt like many are criticizing posters for pointing out obvious mistakes in tactics during a period where it was make or break time for him and the players.

 

I am not looking for someone to quote me and go 'Oh look at Hawk he was right', and in saying this I am not tarring you all with a different brush when I say I am not a knee-jerker, but I do expect to be given the respect to air my views and opinions and not be retrospectively pigeon-holed as part of a group of people who wanted him sacked when I never said anything remotely close to that - and then treat in such a manner on my future posts as if I have no right to be happy about what Pardew is doing now.

 

Posted from my phone so please bear with the weird autocorrects if there are any.

[Noisewater]

But the switch to 433 didn't come as a shock. Pards had clearly experimented with it earlier in the season, and half the forum seemed to think that this would be the preferred formation when we were linked with Gervinho.

 

Pards clearly felt that at the beginning of the season, the players we had purchased were more suited to start the season in a 442.

 

Once the season started well, he appeared reluctant to change a winning formula, but he has always shown willingness to experiment with formations and player positions.

 

Admittedly, he maybe should have made changes quicker, but we have overachieved most of our expectations all season long, so I'm certainly not complaining.

 

 

[Dave]

pardew's done a great job this season, and i don't think there was ever a time this season where he was doing poorly at all. but every manager has their decisions scrutinised, including alex ferguson and his team is sitting atop the premiership table at the minute. the forum may as well shut down if we ever reach the day where we do not approve of discussing the ins and outs of what a manager is doing.

 

the thing is there's a difference between pointed criticism, tactical suggestions and analysis, and blind dislike or wanting someone sacked.

 

95% of the critical discussion this season - whether it's been about playing obertan, hoofing it up to best, utlising cisse as a targetman vs the mackems, not getting cabaye and tiote to gel etc have fitted the former category. as have the opposite opinions when he does something special that deserves praise, whether it be grinding out results when we're not playing well, shifting to a 4-3-3, making colo captain, or bringing in great players. some excellent debates have been had in this very thread on the above subjects this season.

 

it's a tiny minority in the 5% who went too far and acted like idiots - and i include HTT in that.

 

the past few games have turned our season from a good one where we've formed a great squad and overachieved slightly, to a superb one with a great squad that has overachieved massively. if we maintain this position he deserves to be up there with robson and keegan imo. unlike keegan he might not have a set philosophy in terms of playing style, but he's perhaps a bit more like robson, a pragmatist who takes each game as it comes.

 

Spot on as usual. There have been a lot of valid criticisms and discussion points, it never got daft barring a very few exceptions. In fact I actually think this has been one of the best threads this season because nearly all of the content was well balanced and argued. Despite our results and position, Pardew had questions asked about his selections, tactics and style of play (some of which were prompted by his own comments in the media) and he has answered them emphatically in the run-in. Dunno why some are so preoccupied with point-scoring.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Dave

[BottledDog]

pardew's done a great job this season, and i don't think there was ever a time this season where he was doing poorly at all. but every manager has their decisions scrutinised, including alex ferguson and his team is sitting atop the premiership table at the minute. the forum may as well shut down if we ever reach the day where we do not approve of discussing the ins and outs of what a manager is doing.

 

the thing is there's a difference between pointed criticism, tactical suggestions and analysis, and blind dislike or wanting someone sacked.

 

95% of the critical discussion this season - whether it's been about playing obertan, hoofing it up to best, utlising cisse as a targetman vs the mackems, not getting cabaye and tiote to gel etc have fitted the former category. as have the opposite opinions when he does something special that deserves praise, whether it be grinding out results when we're not playing well, shifting to a 4-3-3, making colo captain, or bringing in great players. some excellent debates have been had in this very thread on the above subjects this season.

 

it's a tiny minority in the 5% who went too far and acted like idiots - and i include HTT in that.

 

the past few games have turned our season from a good one where we've formed a great squad and overachieved slightly, to a superb one with a great squad that has overachieved massively. if we maintain this position he deserves to be up there with robson and keegan imo. unlike keegan he might not have a set philosophy in terms of playing style, but he's perhaps a bit more like robson, a pragmatist who takes each game as it comes.

 

Spot on as usual. There have been a lot of valid criticisms and discussion points, it never got daft barring a very few exceptions. In fact I actually think this has been one of the best threads this season because nearly all of the content was well balanced and argued. Despite our results and position, Pardew had questions asked about his selections, tactics and style of play (some of which were prompted by his own comments in the media) and he has answered them emphatically in the run-in. Dunno why some are so preoccupied with point-scoring.

 

Not point scoring as such, just a pretty unbridgeable difference of opinion. When people say that Pardew has actually had a fundamental shift in his style or philosophy (possibly even to the extent of taking pointers from this forum) it's difficult not to at least have a go arguing against that. Whether he could have got the team playing like this much earlier in the season is a bit of a mute point without knowing what was going on at the training ground, but as Noisewater and others have said, there was plenty of evidence in his past or at the time to suggest that he had as little joy in seeing us resort to clunky defensive football as the rest of us.

[Dave]

Well yeah, it's absolutely laughable to even imply that he took pointers from here, or indeed anywhere outside his own team, staff or perhaps peers. You'd have to be mental to think otherwise.

[BottledDog]

Well yeah, it's absolutely laughable to even imply that he took pointers from here, or indeed anywhere outside his own team and/or staff.

 

No doubt some of them have a neb at the forums, but yeah, (despite it cropping up in more than one post) I'm presuming that was toungue in cheek to be fair.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

 

it's a tiny minority in the 5% who went too far and acted like idiots - and i include HTT in that.

 

Hooo....

 

Nah, some of the things I have said about Pardew were idiotic. Although to be fair, I never demanded his sacking or said he should be sacked, I just offered that I myself would replace him after the season ended if we were still putting in poor performances/hoof ball/dodgey tactics/not playing the likes of Ben Arfa.

 

As for the whole point scoring/who is right/who is wrong thing, sadly when debating on here it can lead to that kind of crap and I've been guilty of it myself once or twice.

 

In general, me, I'm absolutely delighted to see my team playing like we are and Pardew has helped that happen massively so all credit to him, long may it continue. And yes, he is winning me over and yes I was wrong to say some of the things I did about him in a personal sense and regarding replacing him.

 

Oh and Bottled Dog, no I will not start getting stuck back into him if a few results go against us. I will criticise abject performances, bad decisions and poor team selections etc. though where I see fit just as I will praise good performances and good decisions whether we win or lose, and that has always been my way.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

The only thing I would criticise people for is the belief that Pardew was wedded to a negative approach and has recently "seen the light". That would be to underestimate him massively IMO.

 

Other than that, criticising the poor performances at the time was fair enough, even if I did think it was going way too far in the light of the good results. 

[BottledDog]

 

it's a tiny minority in the 5% who went too far and acted like idiots - and i include HTT in that.

 

Hooo....

 

Nah, some of the things I have said about Pardew were idiotic. Although to be fair, I never demanded his sacking or said he should be sacked, I just offered that I myself would replace him after the season ended if we were still putting in poor performances/hoof ball/dodgey tactics/not playing the likes of Ben Arfa.

 

As for the whole point scoring/who is right/who is wrong thing, sadly when debating on here it can lead to that kind of crap and I've been guilty of it myself once or twice.

 

In general, me, I'm absolutely delighted to see my team playing like we are and Pardew has helped that happen massively so all credit to him, long may it continue. And yes, he is winning me over and yes I was wrong to say some of the things I did about him in a personal sense and regarding replacing him.

 

Oh and Bottled Dog, no I will not start getting stuck back into him if a few results go against us. I will criticise abject performances, bad decisions and poor team selections etc. though where I see fit just as I will praise good performances and good decisions whether we win or lose, and that has always been my way.

 

Fair play.

[Tiresias]

I said some pretty stupid stuff about considering replacing him at end of season with qualifier that there was a better manager available...yeah dumb think it was wolves game that drove me over the edge of fury at how rigid and boring we were playing.

 

Sorry Pards, if we start playing like we did at stoke game in game out next season it will be amazing.

[madras]

i'm not even so sure it's him as much as it is  the whole set up, including carver, carr etc. in the way that we are saying our succesful season is down to being a team on the pitch i'd say that for the entire club at the minute.

[Spudil]

F365 Winners and Losers:

 

Alan Pardew

Now this is what you call management. What do you do when you have two out-and-out strikers and a natural No. 10 who likes to play with freedom and hasn't got the discipline to play on the wing? Harry Redknapp's solution would probably be to tell them to play wherever they fancy, but thankfully for Newcastle fans, they've got currently the best English manager in charge. Ditching the 4-4-2 and occasional 4-4-1-1 that had served them well this season, Pardew has opted in recent weeks for a 4-2-3-1 formation that has brought six straight victories and a place in the top four.

 

The team spirit at Newcastle means that sacrifices have been willingly made - Jonas Gutierrez has surrendered the wing to drop deep as a defensive midfielder alongside Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba has been shifted wide and asked to fulfil some defensive duties. The result is more freedom for the brilliant and inventive Yohan Cabaye, whose through ball for Papiss Cisse's goal against Stoke was simply sublime. This is the kind of re-shuffle that can only work if the players have total trust in their manager and their teammates. Hats off, Mr Pardew. You're getting the support of most neutrals for a reason. 

[Interpolic]

Just remembered Redknapp's mockery when Pardew counted himself out of the running for the England job, would make it even sweeter if we finished above Spurs.  Well tbf it's just fantastic that we've got Redknapp scared to death regardless of whether we finish 4th or not.

[ponsaelius]

Never actually realised just how good our form has been this season. Apart from the two games in a row against Chelsea and WBA where we had massive problems in central defence (I'm still convinced Colo played injured/unfit against West Brom) we've been pretty formidable. It is great to feel like SJP is a fortress again.

 

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1341/homeform.png