Alan Pardew

[Interpolic]

I have to hold my hands up and give Pardew massive respect for the 4-4 result versus Arsenal and the 2nd half performance but even then you're ignoring the 1st half shambles and the fact that that wouldn't have happened at any other ground in the country imo, the result owed a lot to our fans being massively radged up at a perfect time in the game.  But I do feel harsh saying that because Pardew definitely deserves a great deal of credit for whatever he said at half time, there's no doubt about it.

[cannybagoftudor]

wtf  - perhaps he's just trying to do a professioanal job with the tools at his disposal -too much being read into what is essentially a game.

 

fwiw - He's doing ok 

[Interpolic]

Yeah, too much talking about this football lark like, does more harm than good.

[Jayson]

Just read a stat that we've only won just over 50% of headers inside our own box, the lowest in the league. So theres still room for improvement defensively, Krul/opp strikers missing probably is coming into it a bit.

[ponsaelius]

From both managers PL evidence at NUFC I don't think there's much between Pardew and Hughton. Both average.

 

Hughton gave me some very good memories as an NUFC fan, the 6-0, the 5-1, the away win at Arsenal. However for those games there was also the absolute abortion that was WBA away, the disgraceful Bolton game, Blackpool at home, Bolton away, Blackburn at home. I know you expect inconsistencies as a newly promoted team, but some of those displays were beyond turgid. Pardew so far has been pretty much the same in terms of return, just a little bit less of the rollercoaster. Steady but not spectacular, but he did decent enough considering he was minus a £35 million striker for the end of last season.

 

I loved Hughton the man and was disgusted to see him sacked, but I'm not entirely convinced on his long term managerial capabilities. I'm not convinced with Pardew either, but I'm willing to see what happens over the course of this season. Many would argue that all good sides are built from the back and so far we seem solid defensively, which is something to build on. I love seeing us playing attacking football but similarly it's a breath of fresh air to see us secure at the back for once. We've got ourselves a good position in the league, still in the cup and still unbeaten. With Ben Arfa back, Marveaux being eased in and hopefully the introduction of Santon we might get more of an idea whether Pardew has more of a plan than just 'keep it tight and grind out the result' which has typified us so far. It's a test for him and the players and I'm interested to see how we do without getting carried away on Pardew's virtues as a manager.

[Ronaldo]

Chelsea at home was the most negative performance I've seen in years at SJP. We had no intention of going for a 2nd goal, and Hughton paid the price.

 

Getting thrashed 3-1 by West Brom helped, of course.

[Ikon]

From both managers PL evidence at NUFC I don't think there's much between Pardew and Hughton. Both average.

 

Hughton gave me some very good memories as an NUFC fan, the 6-0, the 5-1, the away win at Arsenal. However for those games there was also the absolute abortion that was WBA away, the disgraceful Bolton game, Blackpool at home, Bolton away, Blackburn at home. I know you expect inconsistencies as a newly promoted team, but some of those displays were beyond turgid. Pardew so far has been pretty much the same in terms of return, just a little bit less of the rollercoaster. Steady but not spectacular, but he did decent enough considering he was minus a £35 million striker for the end of last season.

 

I loved Hughton the man and was disgusted to see him sacked, but I'm not entirely convinced on his long term managerial capabilities. I'm not convinced with Pardew either, but I'm willing to see what happens over the course of this season. Many would argue that all good sides are built from the back and so far we seem solid defensively, which is something to build on. I love seeing us playing attacking football but similarly it's a breath of fresh air to see us secure at the back for once. We've got ourselves a good position in the league, still in the cup and still unbeaten. With Ben Arfa back, Marveaux being eased in and hopefully the introduction of Santon we might get more of an idea whether Pardew has more of a plan than just 'keep it tight and grind out the result' which has typified us so far. It's a test for him and the players and I'm interested to see how we do without getting carried away on Pardew's virtues as a manager.

 

Agree 100%

[Guest BlacknWhiteArmy]

Chelsea at home was the most negative performance I've seen in years at SJP. We had no intention of going for a 2nd goal, and Hughton paid the price.

 

Getting thrashed 3-1 by West Brom helped, of course.

 

Despite what was a good point in that game, it did feel quite a cold performance. Not like our effort at home to Man United or the other fights we put up against the bigger teams.

[Interpolic]

Stoke and Stevenage were just as bad as Bolton and West Brom, if not worse.

[Guest BooBoo]

The West Brom game was the most inept performance by us in a few years.

[Guest BlacknWhiteArmy]

The West Brom game was the most inept performance by us in a few years.

 

I don't even think we had the ball for more than ten seconds at a time in that first half.

[Guest TheSummerOf69]

Points per game, Premier League only:

 

Kevin Keegan          1.73    (120 PL games)          1.85 from 101  +  1.11 from 19

Bobby Robson        1.60    (188 PL games)

Glenn Roeder          1.42    (52 PL games)

Kenny Dalglish        1.36    (56 PL games)              (inherited a 2nd place team though)

Alan Pardew            1.35    (26 PL games) 

 

Graeme Souness      1.19    (57 PL games)              (spent £50m)

Chris Hughton          1.19    (16 PL games in 2010)

Ruud Gullit                1.10    (41 PL games)

Sam Allardyce          1.06    (17 PL games)   

Joe Kinnear              1.05    (19 PL games)

[ponsaelius]

Stoke and Stevenage were just as bad as Bolton and West Brom, if not worse.

 

Aye, fair point.

 

Second half of the season we were missing the key player that had been responsible for the first half success. Barton and Nolan's form was linked and possibly even reliant on the success of Carroll. The team, from back to front, was basically built around his strengths.

 

Take him out and we were a well-oiled machine missing the most important component. Not to mention the psychological blow of that sale (remember the Fulham game? first half vs Arsenal? the hangover was evident). The results weren't great but they weren't terrible in the circumstances. Even when we managed to stumble across a semi-replacement for Carroll in Best he ended up getting injured before the season was out. This is why I'm willing to give Pardew a bit of time to see how he wants to set up with the new players. Hughton built the side and had us playing a certain way, it's going to need doing all over again with the changes. We're still 1 or 2 players short of having a functioning side, mind, but lets see how we go.

[Ikon]

Too bad we didn't give Kinnear a more fair chance, i think he would of have done well, good motivator and always tried to play decent football.

[ponsaelius]

Too bad we didn't give Kinnear a more fair chance, i think he would of have done well, good motivator and always tried to play decent football.

 

[Guest BooBoo]

That performance at Blackburn under Kinnear was when I began bracing myself for relegation.

[ponsaelius]

That performance at Blackburn under Kinnear when I began bracing myself for relegation.

 

We made Roberts look like Drogba that day.

[AliGupter]

That performance at Blackburn under Kinnear was when I began bracing myself for relegation.

 

I was there, we made Jason Roberts look better than Drogba that day, and Michael Owen gave one of the worst performances I've ever seen by any footballer at any level.

[AliGupter]

That performance at Blackburn under Kinnear when I began bracing myself for relegation.

 

We made Roberts look like Drogba that day.

 

[Guest BlacknWhiteArmy]

I really do try to forget some of that shit that happened

[ponsaelius]

Amazing.

[Benwell Lad]

Pardew is a natural No.1 and has put a good backroom staff in place.

Hughton, though highly admirable when thrust into the manager's job and a great fella too, is much more comfortable as a number 2.

Ashley thought Hughton had been found out and made a hard decision. That like it or not is the way successful business people operate.

[Interpolic]

Stoke and Stevenage were just as bad as Bolton and West Brom, if not worse.

 

Aye, fair point.

 

Second half of the season we were missing the key player that had been responsible for the first half success. Barton and Nolan's form was linked and possibly even reliant on the success of Carroll. The team, from back to front, was basically built around his strengths.

 

Take him out and we were a well-oiled machine missing the most important component. Not to mention the psychological blow of that sale (remember the Fulham game? first half vs Arsenal? the hangover was evident). The results weren't great but they weren't terrible in the circumstances. Even when we managed to stumble across a semi-replacement for Carroll in Best he ended up getting injured before the season was out. This is why I'm willing to give Pardew a bit of time to see how he wants to set up with the new players. Hughton built the side and had us playing a certain way, it's going to need doing all over again with the changes. We're still 1 or 2 players short of having a functioning side, mind, but lets see how we go.

 

This is the kind of reasoning I was after tbh and you make a few decent points.  Doesn't change my view much but it's better than this "Pardew is clearly a big upgrade on Hughton" rubbish.

[Guest BlacknWhiteArmy]

I know it's one of the overdone points but I do think we're a lot better prepared to face and get points from the teams around us under Pardew. Really interested in seeing how he lines us up with everyone fit too, we really should be able to control a few games this year start to finish.

[ponsaelius]

Stoke and Stevenage were just as bad as Bolton and West Brom, if not worse.

 

Aye, fair point.

 

Second half of the season we were missing the key player that had been responsible for the first half success. Barton and Nolan's form was linked and possibly even reliant on the success of Carroll. The team, from back to front, was basically built around his strengths.

 

Take him out and we were a well-oiled machine missing the most important component. Not to mention the psychological blow of that sale (remember the Fulham game? first half vs Arsenal? the hangover was evident). The results weren't great but they weren't terrible in the circumstances. Even when we managed to stumble across a semi-replacement for Carroll in Best he ended up getting injured before the season was out. This is why I'm willing to give Pardew a bit of time to see how he wants to set up with the new players. Hughton built the side and had us playing a certain way, it's going to need doing all over again with the changes. We're still 1 or 2 players short of having a functioning side, mind, but lets see how we go.

 

This is the kind of reasoning I was after tbh and you make a few decent points.  Doesn't change my view much but it's better than this "Pardew is clearly a big upgrade on Hughton" rubbish.

 

I don't think Pardew is a massive upgrade on Hughton, basically. Atleast certainly not yet. I think Pardew has done a very good job in the circumstances over the last 6 months, though. Better than I ever thought he would, which isn't hard mind because I thought he'd be an unmitigated disaster.

 

As unconvinced as I am, from what I've seen from him I rate him higher than say Bruce or McLeish, who have bigger reputations as managers. QPR the other week had me worried, because I thought the performance looked devoid of any gameplan and Pardew's inability to fix it made him look completely clueless. However when I hear him speak about his plans for Ben Arfa as a #10, and the way he's spoken in detail about Cabaye's virtues (the nufcTV interview in particular) it consoles me and makes me thing that maybe he does have a bit more about him.

 

Still a lot of time and games for me to formulate a conclusive opinion on him, ultimately.