Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 People are happy where we are, but it's right that people are looking to what will happen in the next 10 games, next season etc now. Performances are inspiring little confidence that we can get back to form and that we will be equally as successful next season. As Dave has said we are going backwards from where we were from November in terms of results and the direction of the football we are playing. We have only won comfortably on around 3-4 occasions this season (when we weren't hanging on for dear life) as well so when we do win it's not like we are winning comfortably. I've just counted about 8-9 matches where we won relatively comfortably. Name them..... I can count Blackburn, Stoke, Bolton and Man Utd as games we won comfortably by more than 1 goal margin. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 People are happy where we are, but it's right that people are looking to what will happen in the next 10 games, next season etc now. Performances are inspiring little confidence that we can get back to form and that we will be equally as successful next season. As Dave has said we are going backwards from where we were from November in terms of results and the direction of the football we are playing. We have only won comfortably on around 3-4 occasions this season (when we weren't hanging on for dear life) as well so when we do win it's not like we are winning comfortably. I've just counted about 8-9 matches where we won relatively comfortably. Name them..... I can count Blackburn, Stoke, Bolton and Man Utd as games we won comfortably by more than 1 goal margin. Not sure that you have to win by more than 1 goal to make it a comfortable victory. For comfortable victories, I would list: Sunderland, Blackburn, Stoke, Everton, Bolton, Man Utd, Blackburn. Apologies - I had forgotten how close the Fulham game was at home which is why I came up with 8-9. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Everton wasn't comfortable at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Blackburn was comfortable Just look in the match thread for the comments on that game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Blackburn away? We got absolutely battered! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Everton wasn't comfortable at all. I remember Krul making 2-3 good saves at the end of that game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Blackburn was comfortable Just look in the match thread for the comments on that game. I missed that. We were fucking diabolical. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I was at Bolton as well and we were absolute dross until we scored, crowd were very restless about the amount of long balls being pumped at a permanently offside Best. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I was at Bolton as well and we were absolute dross until we scored, crowd were very restless about the amount of long balls being pumped at a permanently offside Best. I seem to remember we only got better when HBA came on. Could had went either way before that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Sunderland away was comfortable? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Sunderland away was comfortable? Was in the end. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Hadn't expected quite such a flurry of replies.. I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding about we are defining 'comfortable' here. I am not suggesting that 'comfortable' means we played well or blitzed the opposition. I am suggesting that 'comfortable' means we looked likely to get three points without too much danger of dropping points. Everton was certainly comfortable - I think we controlled that game quite well and I don't recall many clearcut chances that Everton had to equalise. Sunderland away - I can't remember them creating much all game to be honest. Bolton - I think this is a game where people are confusing scintillating football with comfortable. Blackburn away - yeah, I'll take that one back.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 http://www.nufc.com/2011-12html/2011-11-05everton-h.html An injury-hit Newcastle scrapped their way to their third successive league win some sloppy defending from a corner produced a goal that Everton scarcely deserved but which changed the pattern of the game. Rather than the hoped-for second half goal avalanche kicking into the Leazes End, that set up a second period in which United were forced to battle and scrap for everything we were grateful to another old boy for again misfiring against his former club - Louis Saha striking a post in the first half before lamping one into the crowd. Substitute Dan Gosling meanwhile - appearing to a background of jeers from the away support - escaped a decent-looking second half penalty claim for handball as Saha's goalbound shot hit his arm the Gosling/Guthrie combination seeing United getting overrun in midfield, pressure mounted on the back four and Krul proved to be a rare upfield excursion, with Best and Ba lending a hand (and heads) to clear from Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman at the other end. Krul meanwhile also saved from Tim Cahill (making a rare appearance against us) as we dug out three more precious points Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 http://www.nufc.com/2011-12html/2011-11-05everton-h.html Quote from bbc report - "James McFadden came on for his first appearance for Everton since January 2008 as David Moyes' side had plenty of late pressure but Newcastle comfortably held on for the three points. " Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I was there. We hung on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I was there. We hung on. I was there. We were comfortable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neesy111 Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 I was there. We hung on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 It also says we played some of our most flowing and progressive football. Anyway, I'm sure most of the fans of other teams would say similar stuff about not always being comfortable. I would like us to control the ball on the deck more, but we don't have some sort of right to dominate games. It's a competitive league. Obviously punting the ball away doesn't help, and it becomes more apparent when we aren't getting wins. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Even so, taking Blackburn out as you have that's 6 from 28. Not quite the three or four neesy mentioned, but not quite the eight or nine you did. Fact is we've had to do a hell of a lot of scrapping to be 6th in the league. That's not to say we're not there on merit or that scrapping isn't a good thing, but it's what is leading people to wonder if it's a sustainable way of being up there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hughesy Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Even so, taking Blackburn out as you have that's 6 from 28. Not quite the three or four neesy mentioned, but not quite the eight or nine you did. True - I reckon 6 on reassessing. Without being overly pedantic though - how many games do team really win comfortably? Think about the games we have lost. Have the opposition in all those games won comfortably? How many games have the teams around us won comfortably. I very very much doubt it's a lot more than us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Edited that post slightly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lush Vlad Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Posted a while back about it, but if we fail to play attacking football and keep it on the deck against Norwich, then I think I will have lost all faith in him to ever play good football. There have been some promising signs this season, and I understand he's opting for safety first due to our league position. But it's actually counter-productive, as we don't have the players required for hoof ball and it just isn't working. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 What if Pards has more of a longer-term plan for the team? End of last season: try and find out what he's inherited, start to make the team difficult to beat First full season: work on getting the team working in the right way off the ball and install the defensive ethos that he wants the team to adapt (built around Krul and Colo). Make sure that the team is difficult to beat and are capable of providing a solid platform for season two/three. League position is a bonus if it's above mid-table. Bring the 'flair' players to the fore towards the end of the season. Second season: start to build upon the defensive platform, expand upon the passing, possession-retaining game and make the flair players a key part of the game plan. Third season: by this stage, the core players (Krul - Colo - Cabaye) understand the philosophy and instructions and this is constantly repeated in the dressing room and on the pitch. This is where we win the league I have concerns that are gradually morphing into 'worry' due to our recent form, but i am still clinging onto this general idea. I still think, on the whole, we're a difficult side to beat. The reason why my faith in Pardew has been threatened is that he is setting us up in a way that goes against his spoken philosophy. He talks up the passing game but we're hesitant to use it. But, as i've said before, the side is still at a very early age of development. The glimpses of fluid football that we've seen since the turn of the year bring promise. The potential is obvious. Norwich is a huge game in the context of this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wullie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Even if you take Everton as a comfortable win, which i'm not sure I would, we still created remarkably little, and scored through a ridiculous own goal which Howard was poised to claim and a real wonder goal. We had wonder goals to thank against Wolves and Villa recently too having created very little at home. This is a real worry to me, our lack of genuine chances. Despite Man United, I still have Stoke down as our performance of the season, really thought we might have cracked it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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