Alan Pardew

[Dave]

People were bringing up observations and criticisms some time ago, and were told it wasn't fair because we were doing well. Now we're not doing well, and it's still not fair. When will it be?

 

When we've slipped out of contention for 7th is a fair shout given that most of the people having a go now didn't give us a cat in hell's chance of finishing top 10 back in August.

 

We could lose the next three games and still be in contention for 7th. That would be a run of 5 points from 33. Still unfair to criticise?

[Optimistic Nut]

People were bringing up observations and criticisms some time ago, and were told it wasn't fair because we were doing well. Now we're not doing well, and it's still not fair. When will it be?

 

When we've slipped out of contention for 7th is a fair shout given that most of the people having a go now didn't give us a cat in hell's chance of finishing top 10 back in August.

 

We could lose the next three games and still be in contention for 7th. That would be a run of 5 points from 33. Still unfair to criticise?

 

Where've I said it's unfair to criticise? Read my post a few up.

[Frazzle]

We never built on our good start by changing the team when the going was good and incorporating our better players.

Blind loyalty to the s*** players and has no idea how to get our better players into the team and playing a better style of football. Also people like Jonas look completely burned out and the injuries are stacking up.

 

I've got certain sympathy because the lack funds means we have far too many limited footballers in the squad and as such he only has so much to work with. However it's inexcusable that he can't get more out of what we do have.

 

Said this at the time, can't remember if I posted on here ( ) but he had opportunities to bed players in.

[Mick]

 

 

Were people really expecting higher than 6th even when we were bang in form? I still think we can challenge it tbh. 7th was the goal (which a lot laughed at in the summer) and 7th should still be the aim.

 

Our current form, since the first week in November is shit, in a weeks time it will be the first week in January and 2 months since we went off the rails.

[Jayson]

Its horrible to say it, but as has been mentioned Sunderland were in 6th last season in February.

 

Hitting a run of poor form is what did them & we're doing it much earlier than they did atm.

[johnnypd]

We never built on our good start by changing the team when the going was good and incorporating our better players.

 

Blind loyalty to the shit players and has no idea how to get our better players into the team and playing a better style of football. Also people like Jonas look completely burned out and the injuries are stacking up.

 

I've got certain sympathy because the lack funds means we have far too many limited footballers in the squad and as such he only has so much to work with. However it's inexcusable that he can't get more out of what we do have.

 

totally agree. Pardew was too fearful and let circumstances dictate his selections, ie the Santon Raylor switch. you have to change when on top, which plenty were calling for. it's easier to smooth players into the side when we are playing well, but more difficult on a slide.

 

i also don't think Pardew's done enough to get us playing good football this season. there were mentions of changing how we approached matches, and the villa game showed potential, but then he basically just ditched the idea. No idea why.

 

about the lack of funds - Pardew has to use his influence to press Ashley on that front. I didn't like his statement about not getting a striker. seems to frame the debate as if it was a question of getting a striker or a centre-back, when in reality we not only need both but plenty of other positions filled as well.

[JH]

Hughton went for less...

[Mick]

Our first substitution was laughable because I think 90% of our fans knew what was going to happen but the manager didn't.  The 2nd substitution was the act of a coward because taking Vuckic off was easier than taking Obertan off and we were actually worse for the 2nd change.  The 3rd was pointless with little or no time left.

[Optimistic Nut]

Its horrible to say it, but as has been mentioned Sunderland were in 6th last season in February.

 

Hitting a run of poor form is what did them & we're doing it much earlier than they did atm.

 

Similarly, you could compare it to Villa 08-09 when they were close to the top 4, had a major dip, and levelled off to finish 6th.

[Andy]

We never built on our good start by changing the team when the going was good and incorporating our better players.

 

Blind loyalty to the shit players and has no idea how to get our better players into the team and playing a better style of football. Also people like Jonas look completely burned out and the injuries are stacking up.

 

I've got certain sympathy because the lack funds means we have far too many limited footballers in the squad and as such he only has so much to work with. However it's inexcusable that he can't get more out of what we do have.

 

Good post.

 

He is Mr Cautious. Literally won't take a risk, both in terms of the football we play and the personnel he selects. The Ben Arfa situation is a perfect example of it... I thought for a while it was a personality clash, but now I think he's just scared to play him in case he loses the ball occasionally when he's trying to win the game -- it's not a personality clash but a philosophy clash. Ben Arfa plays to win games, Pardew picks teams to not get beat.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

The WH fan client of ours said Pardew is basically a confidence trickster who will eventually fuck up and reveal himself as nothing of substance and that's becoming true. This Liverpool side is as average as we are or as good as we are depending how you look at it yet they ran out 3-1 winners in some comfort and ease. Pardew set us up wrong from the off and didn't know what to do to change things. We had about one serious attack and we scored and even then we were fortunate. I'm more livid about our performance and result tonight than I've been in a long time because we could have gotten a result at Anfield but oh know, Pardew decided to fuck about with the lineup, use shit tactics and make the wrong subs, in effect costing us the result. We were doing fine with a settled side and relatively simple tactics but now we are all over the place and that's down to Pardew. You cannot put Vukic into a free role behind the fucking striker and use tactics which simply bypass him. Honestly, how fucking thick.

[TRon]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

[David28]

Post match interview. Looks too tired really....

 

http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,,16497_7402741,00.html

 

 

[Guest Heneage]

I agree with Andy's post, but would also supplement it by saying, we're still going through a period of transition. There are facets of the Championship winning side that have been tested and deemed not fit for the Premier League. Taylor, Simpson, Lovenkrands have all at some point shown their abilities do not match our aspirations. I'd have loved us to replace them all at once, but sadly we haven't. I can see us being much stronger come the start of next season when we've got two ball playing fullbacks and decent wing options.

[Mick]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

[Ronaldo]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

 

Which players isn't he getting the best out of?

[Keefaz]

I agree with Andy's post, but would also supplement it by saying, we're still going through a period of transition. There are facets of the Championship winning side that have been tested and deemed not fit for the Premier League. Taylor, Simpson, Lovenkrands have all at some point shown their abilities do not match our aspirations. I'd have loved us to replace them all at once, but sadly we haven't. I can see us being much stronger come the start of next season when we've got two ball playing fullbacks and decent wing options.

 

Depends on whether or not we can keep our quality players. We struggled and ultimately failed to hold on to Enrique and Carroll. Wouldn't be surprised to see the same happen again.

[Guest Dontooner]

Blind faith is just being naive.

 

Just look at the manager past achievements ( not a cup win )

 

How his team score goals, where they usually score from. Does it have repetitive pattern to it.

 

How they pass in the middle of the park, it is in circles that lead to no good positions or it is progressive.

 

Honestly speaking we have a much lesser Manager as compared to fulham or west brom. We JUST Have Better PLayers than them. We are Winning  games against lesser sides because of individual brilliance.

 

too bad as we can be a great team to watch with Toite,Cabaye,HBA,Ba,Santon, obertan,Guti. Such a shame they are playing below sub standards par toite as we need him all the time anyway!

[Beren]

We never built on our good start by changing the team when the going was good and incorporating our better players.

 

Blind loyalty to the shit players and has no idea how to get our better players into the team and playing a better style of football. Also people like Jonas look completely burned out and the injuries are stacking up.

 

I've got certain sympathy because the lack funds means we have far too many limited footballers in the squad and as such he only has so much to work with. However it's inexcusable that he can't get more out of what we do have.

 

Good post.

 

He is Mr Cautious. Literally won't take a risk, both in terms of the football we play and the personnel he selects. The Ben Arfa situation is a perfect example of it... I thought for a while it was a personality clash, but now I think he's just scared to play him in case he loses the ball occasionally when he's trying to win the game -- it's not a personality clash but a philosophy clash. Ben Arfa plays to win games, Pardew picks teams to not get beat.

 

Interesting post. That Wolves game was the telling one for me. Cruising at 2-0, they're on the ropes - what do we do? Retreat.

 

Lucky (and I mean that) to escape with three points in the end. Glossed over at the time.

[Yorkie]

I agree with Andy's post, but would also supplement it by saying, we're still going through a period of transition. There are facets of the Championship winning side that have been tested and deemed not fit for the Premier League. Taylor, Simpson, Lovenkrands have all at some point shown their abilities do not match our aspirations. I'd have loved us to replace them all at once, but sadly we haven't. I can see us being much stronger come the start of next season when we've got two ball playing fullbacks and decent wing options.

 

Depends on whether or not we can keep our quality players. We struggled and ultimately failed to hold on to Enrique and Carroll. Wouldn't be surprised to see the same happen again.

 

Absolutely. There's the nucleus of an extremely good side, there's no doubt about that. With the outgoings and incomings of the summer, we've improved, but only slightly. We need to build on it as soon as the January window opens.

 

It's all obvious. Everyone knows this - the board included. They're not stupid people; they know that if we keep our good players and sign more of them, we'll get better. We have the capabilities to do this; it's a question of whether or not Ashley and Co care about the football.

[Optimistic Nut]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

 

Simpson, R.Taylor, Obertan & Best are barely Premier League footballers and he's had us top 6 with them for the most part. I'm sure if Pardew had Ginola/Robert, Solano/Gillespie & Bellamy/Beardsley then we probably would be top 4.

[Yorkie]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

 

Simpson, R.Taylor, Obertan & Best are barely Premier League footballers and he's had us top 6 with them for the most part. I'm sure if Pardew had Ginola/Robert, Solano/Gillespie & Bellamy/Beardsley then we probably would be top 4.

 

Agreed. Top 8 is about right for this squad of players.

 

That being said, it's no excuse for tailing off in the way that we have. We should be doing better than we currently are.

[Mr. Snrub]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

 

Simpson, R.Taylor, Obertan & Best are barely Premier League footballers and he's had us top 6 with them for the most part. I'm sure if Pardew had Ginola/Robert, Solano/Gillespie & Bellamy/Beardsley then we probably would be top 4.

 

Pardew would bench Robert and Beardsley for Obertan and Sammy Ameobi.

[Skirge]

Anyone on here would have taken 7th spot going into January so getting on Pardew's case is well harsh, we have had a hicup and they have lost their way a little. I have faith he will get us back on track, lets not forget its the same players week in week out for the most part they must be shattered.

Yes his decision to carry on starting Obertan is annoying as hell when HBA is say on the bench but there is a long way left to go yet and Benny will get his chance to shine.

[Guest Dontooner]

Our buying policy at the moment might not particularly suit Pardew. We like to recruit young talent from abroad, whereas Pardew strikes me as being a fairly typical old school English manager. There's nothing wrong with sitting back and hitting on the break, we used to do it brilliantly under SBR. Then we used to counter with pace and precision, these days we whack it long and hope for the best. It's all about personnel and putting the right players together to execute a plan.

 

I would put my house on Sir Bobby or Keegan having our team fighting for 4th because they would both get the best out of the players that we currently have, Pardew isn't doing that.

 

Simpson, R.Taylor, Obertan & Best are barely Premier League footballers and he's had us top 6 with them for the most part. I'm sure if Pardew had Ginola/Robert, Solano/Gillespie & Bellamy/Beardsley then we probably would be top 4.

No way in hell, what an insult to Keegan and Bobby. I take that as a personal attack on them.