Alan Pardew

[ATB]

He is a lovely man. But he continues with this weird and bad decisions. Hopefully a summer break will make him and the team stronger. Much like City got when they this year go the title.

[Ketsbaia]

It'd be nice to only lose 1-0 sometimes, rather than self-destruct. They need to determine why that happens.

[ATB]

It'd be nice to only lose 1-0 sometimes, rather than self-destruct. They need to determine why that happens.

 

That and it´s not good for the goal difference to capitalize like we do. It could have cost us a CL-place if we wouldn´t have done that today...

[Dr Venkman]

First of all, fantastic season . 4-4-2 was shite today though, swapping Jonas and Ben Arfa was never gonna rescue it.

 

Not gonna waste a post frantically trying to play devil's advocate like so many others in an attempt to appear 'balanced'. He got it wrong today, Everton were good, but we shouldn't have been playing like that and it was obvious after 30 mins.

[Dave]

"I'd like to congratulate Arsenal and Spurs. You finish where you deserve to and they deserve to have finished above us."

 

"I'm proud to be taking the fans back into Europe. They've always represented this country in a brilliant fashion."

 

"We've still made a huge leap this season and next year I hope we're still in the same field in terms of expectation."

 

#classy

[Dinho lad]

[JH]

"I'd like to congratulate Arsenal and Spurs. You finish where you deserve to and they deserve to have finished above us."

 

What a man.

[colinmk]

First of all, fantastic season . 4-4-2 was shite today though, swapping Jonas and Ben Arfa was never gonna rescue it.

 

Not gonna waste a post frantically trying to play devil's advocate like so many others in an attempt to appear 'balanced'. He got it wrong today, Everton were good, but we shouldn't have been playing like that and it was obvious after 30 mins.

 

Agree on all counts.

[Dave]

Only the league champions were able to do the double over us.

 

In games we lost:

Conceded 1: 0

Conceded 2: 2

Conceded 3: 5

Conceded 4: 2

Conceded 5: 2

 

Capitulationtastic.

[Robster]

Our goal difference compared to those above us is impressive

[Jayson]

Just a moment of self praise here, but i understood Pards work before Norwich:

 

FWIW based on how his systems worked so far, we should be looking to win 7 of our next 10 games. Thats if Ba's form continues & we dont concede any silly goals due to pens or whatever else. The everton game at the end of the season could be a big game for us.

 

Well, Cisse replaced Ba's form. Outside of that, im a genius 

[Frazzle]

Don't know why he keeps going back to the 4-4-2, doesn't suit our best players IMO.  Cabaye is clearly better playing ahead of a midfield two and Ben Arfa is much better with the shackles off.  4-4-2 means that Ben Arfa is the last line of defence before the RB so he has much more responsibility than in a 4-3-3.  Ben Arfa will generally play well wherever he's played but I don't think he's a winger in a 4-4-2 despite what some have said.  Let's hope we avoid 4-4-2 more next season, especially in Europe.

 

Still, overall a quality season and I'm glad we've got a manager who can actually move away from 4-4-2 and play the 4-2-3-1 (which is what we've really played IMO, rather than a 4-3-3)

[Dave]

Andy Woodman ‏ @GKGuruWoody

If Carlsberg made coaches!!!!

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9012/aszos4kceaaabat.jpg

 

[Incognito]

Andy Woodman ‏ @GKGuruWoody

If Carlsberg made coaches!!!!

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9012/aszos4kceaaabat.jpg

 

 

Steve Stone could easily be Howard Webb if he didn't assist Manchester United.

[Sifu]

 

Such a great trio. They're also a group of people who deserve a lot of credit for our fantastic season.

[Crumpy Gunt]

We need new tactics for away games. Ba and Cisse just can't play with their back to goal. Yet even though it was plainly obvious they were getting nowt everytime they recieved the ball from long it was back in our half within 5 seconds.

Awful tactics.

[Guest BooBoo]

We need new tactics for away games. Ba and Cisse just can't play with their back to goal. Yet even though it was plainly obvious they were getting nowt everytime they recieved the ball from long it was back in our half within 5 seconds.

Awful tactics.

 

We should have played the more expansive 4-3-3 that has served us well but Pards is loathe to play against more solid sides.

[oldtype]

To be fair we've done well in the 4-4-2. It worked against Man United at home and Chelsea away.

 

It's pretty obvious that his plan (at least later in the season) is to go for a slightly more direct 4-4-2 against the better teams, while going with the more adventurous 4-3-3 against teams we should beat.

 

I don't think the 4-4-2 suits or players, but at the same time, our impression of it is probably biased by the fact that the teams we use the 4-4-2 against are much tougher to play against and (usually) make us look worse.

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

We need new tactics for away games. Ba and Cisse just can't play with their back to goal. Yet even though it was plainly obvious they were getting nowt everytime they recieved the ball from long it was back in our half within 5 seconds.

Awful tactics.

 

We should have played the more expansive 4-3-3 that has served us well but Pards is loathe to play against more solid sides.

 

I think he will when he has more confidence in his defence. He's alluded to the fact we've conceeded too many goals! I think we could see as many as 3 changes in the summer

[Jayson]

Well his entire outlook has been to protect our weaker defence & let the strikers do their magic, he/Carver basically said exactly that just a few days ago in the interview. Finding that balance is whats given us our season. The Chelsea/Man Utd games show why he goes 4-4-2. If we're very hard to score against regardless of possession, we can win the hardest games. City needed a Toure 20 yarder, Everton a big deflection to set them off (which are the key moments).

 

Better quality defence, you can be sure he'd be more positive tactically. Next season should be exciting.

[Elliottman]

ALAN Pardew believes an improved Newcastle United can be challenging for the Champions League again next year.

 

Search for Football Memorabilia on eBay However, he admits that the European Championships will make it difficult for them to get their transfer business done early. United saw their top-four mission come unstuck on a disappointing final day of the season at Everton, where Newcastle delivered a poor performance in a resounding defeat to Everton.

 

Wins for Arsenal and Tottenham meant the result was ultimately academic but it was a downbeat way for a brilliant campaign to end.

 

And while Pardew saluted his players for the performances which have moved them up a level this season, he could not offer an entirely optimistic outlook for the future.

 

Admitting that the added demands of the Europa League would make next season a challenge, he also knows that the transfer targets that United have identified may all want to wait until after Euro 2012 to decide on their future.

 

Right-back Mathieu Debuchy of Lille is one, but he will be France’s first choice at the finals and Pardew knows a string of good performances could send his price rocketing.

 

After congratulating the North London clubs on finishing in the top four, he revealed: “We’re already thinking about two or three players, but I think you’ll find that a lot of the clubs who might want to do early business will have to wait until the European Championships are over.

 

“It’s going to be a bit like a roulette wheel, and I’m hoping that the players we’re looking at all have awful tournaments. But there’s a good chance they’re going to have excellent tournaments, and all of a sudden, their price might look a bit different.

 

“I think all of us will be looking at that closely.”

 

 

Although a downbeat way to end the campaign, Pardew spoke of his delight at the way his players have performed over the season.

 

Search for Football Memorabilia on eBay Praising Everton’s performance and backing them to feature in the top four next year, Pardew is hopeful that Newcastle will be in that bracket too.

 

“You finish where you deserve to in the league and they deserve to have finished above us,” he said.

 

“From our point of view though, we’ve still made a huge leap into that group and next year I hope we’re still in the same field in terms of expectation.

 

“I hope we’re trying to achieve something, even it’s just finishing above the likes of Chelsea and Everton again. You look at the way Everton played next season, and you’d have to think they’re going to feature next season. Their front two caused us a lot of problems.

 

“It’s going to be tough, but we’re looking forward to it. The togetherness of the group has been terrific.”

 

United are planning a final meeting with the players today and will rubber stamp pre-season plans before the end of the week.

 

One European trip is planned while a longer overseas tour will also give them the chance to bond after four weeks off.

 

Sensing a huge challenge ahead of them, Pardew knows there is a lot of work to do and is aware that the Europa League adds a different dimension to things.

 

“I don’t know about moving to the next level, but we’re certainly going to have a more difficult season next year,” he said.

 

“We’ve got the African Cup of Nations again, we’ve got the Olympics during pre-season and we’ve also got the demands of the Europa League. That will affect all of our players.

 

“We’ve had to wait for today’s result because the Champions League obviously would have changed things, but now we’ll sit down next week and try to work out a game plan where we cover all the issues that are going to arise. It’s not going to be easy.”

 

 

[Guest MrSundlofer]

Andy Woodman ‏ @GKGuruWoody

If Carlsberg made coaches!!!!

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9012/aszos4kceaaabat.jpg

 

 

Andy Woodman ‏ @GKGuruWoody

If carlsberg made hangovers!!!

 

[EthiGeordie]

Good luck tonight....

[Dave]

Got it.

[ponsaelius]