TheGuv Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I must admit I do worry about this season. I don't think we'll finish 5th or above and with increased expectation I think this could hurt Pardew if we finish say below 9th which I do think is a possibility. I think certain fans would be out to get him if this were to happen... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BooBoo Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Top 8 and a decent European run and people should be satisfied. It will be very tough to finish top 5 again with such added strains on the squad. We were relatively lucky with injuries last year which may well balance out this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayson Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Oh yeah, its only a matter of time till Pardew is doubted a lot again on here. The 4-4-2 scenario is already well set up to be useable if not everything clicks, the 4-3-3 has set very high expectations & pards will get flack if we dont match it regardless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowlingcrofty Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Obvious aim this season should be to win a cup. After that, qualifying for Europe again by whatever means. The best way to improve your club is regular participation on the continent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Obvious aim this season should be to win a cup. After that, qualifying for Europe again by whatever means. The best way to improve your club is regular participation on the continent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bimpy474 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 "Backstabbing." Welcome to the adult world of employment. There's no indication that Pardew and Hughton were close at anytime, why should Pards have shown any loyalty to Chris? He was offered a job, the biggest one of his career. There's no reason why he shouldn't have took it. Thats life itself, even families do it to each other over money/love/ambition. One of lifes real unpleasantries. Sadly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
David28 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Agree with all those who're saying it's more or less normal what happend Re: Pardew replacing Hughton. Live can be gruesome at times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Flash Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 There's part of me that still doesn't fully trust Pardew, mostly based on his past jobs and a few things that he's said or done here. The chances of it all falling apart like it has for him previously are much less as he has a better first 11 than most teams in the league and that alone should guarantee a top 8 finish. Anything above that will earn him praise. The biggest positive so far for him personally is whatever he has done to make SJP a very difficult place to come to, something which Hughton struggled with in the PL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNUFC Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 One of the best things Pards has done since arriving is edge each member of the squad to further progress, regaining there confidence and improving them as a player in some ways. The ones that stand out notably i would say Perch, Shola, Williamson, Raylor, Guthrie. Not only them but the youngsters coming through having been improving vastly getting more and more game time the likes of Sammy, Vuckic, Abeid. Each player for me has looked like they are full of confidence and improved slightly as a footballer. And if there confidence has dipped due to poor form/injuries i can see Pardew still getting them back to their best (Marveaux, Obertan, Saylor). All that for me is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in Pards. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toon25 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 One of the best things Pards has done since arriving is edge each member of the squad to further progress, regaining there confidence and improving them as a player in some ways. The ones that stand out notably i would say Perch, Shola, Williamson, Raylor, Guthrie. Not only them but the youngsters coming through having been improving vastly getting more and more game time the likes of Sammy, Vuckic, Abeid. Each player for me has looked like they are full of confidence and improved slightly as a footballer. And if there confidence has dipped due to poor form/injuries i can see Pardew still getting them back to their best (Marveaux, Obertan, Saylor). All that for me is one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in Pards. Aye. He's a great man manager, of that there is no doubt. Refreshing to be in a position whereby one keeps faith in some of the shite knowing that the manager stands a good chance of turning it around for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 The worry I have, is that 6-8th for us would be a good season, we have a group of 5-6 players who are way above that and could play at a higher level either here or abroad. It's a fine balancing act and will be interesting to see how Pardew deals with it. Saying that though, he dealt with it well last year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BooBoo Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 One of Pards' greatest attributes is his positivity which must rub off on his gem. You rarely if ever hear him moaning in public. Even after defeats he seeks to take the positives and move forward. I like that in anyone, especially a manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 interesting and challenging times for pardew, it's going to be very, very hard for him to push on further than we did last season, nigh on impossible tbh i hope for a cup win (who doesn't)...pards has grown on me massively like, i'd hate to see it fizzle out for him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 interesting and challenging times for pardew, it's going to be very, very hard for him to push on further than we did last season, nigh on impossible tbh i hope for a cup win (who doesn't)...pards has grown on me massively like, i'd hate to see it fizzle out for him That's why next summer I think it'll be hard keeping a few. We will no doubt be better but could easily do worse. Any other league in Europe and I honestly think this team would be title or top 3 contenders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 interesting and challenging times for pardew, it's going to be very, very hard for him to push on further than we did last season, nigh on impossible tbh i hope for a cup win (who doesn't)...pards has grown on me massively like, i'd hate to see it fizzle out for him That's why next summer I think it'll be hard keeping a few. We will no doubt be better but could easily do worse. Any other league in Europe and I honestly think this team would be title or top 3 contenders. I believe our points total last season would have got us 3rd in most European leagues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Archie Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Going by names on paper we should finish 6th. Our team is better than Liverpools. Upgrade on simpson and CB to keep Williamson off the pitch and tbh there is no excuse. Im not saying this to apply unreasonable pressure, but our first XI is becoming mint. There is a real concern if we dont finish 4-6th this year several players will be looking at new challenges. This is by no means a dig at manager or owners but the likes of Cabaye, Ben arfa, tiote and Cisse will want Champions league sooner or later. They are good enough to demand it and I cant blame them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
madras Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Going by names on paper we should finish 6th. Our team is better than Liverpools. Upgrade on simpson and CB to keep Williamson off the pitch and tbh there is no excuse. Im not saying this to apply unreasonable pressure, but our first XI is becoming mint. There is a real concern if we dont finish 4-6th this year several players will be looking at new challenges. This is by no means a dig at manager or owners but the likes of Cabaye, Ben arfa, tiote and Cisse will want Champions league sooner or later. They are good enough to demand it and I cant blame them. aye, i've been surprised by many people saying liverpool must do better than last season with the squad they have but when I look at that squad i'm not particularly impressed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Archie Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Take suarez away and they are a midtable team, solid at the back but completely lacking any imagination upfront. Ratface needs 10 chances to convert 1 one though so Im not so worried. I feel like the final piece in our puzzle is two pacey fullbacks though allowing our wingers more freedom to roam. Jonas to me is more of a kuyt player but the prospect of marveaux and hatem ben arfa on each flank linking up with santon and Debauchy behind them is dripping with drool.... Our wing play last year was holding us back bigtime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Going by names on paper we should finish 6th. Our team is better than Liverpools. Upgrade on simpson and CB to keep Williamson off the pitch and tbh there is no excuse. Im not saying this to apply unreasonable pressure, but our first XI is becoming mint. There is a real concern if we dont finish 4-6th this year several players will be looking at new challenges. This is by no means a dig at manager or owners but the likes of Cabaye, Ben arfa, tiote and Cisse will want Champions league sooner or later. They are good enough to demand it and I cant blame them. That's what I mean. Collectively, I think the 7-8 quality players we have are capable of around 5th-7th, maybe top 4, but to make the step up you need a couple of world-class players. What may work in our advantage this summer is if RvP leaves Arsenal, and Modric leaves Spurs. For me, those are the difference makers between us and them. They'll obviously replace them, but I think their world class players, will be replaced with players of the quality we have in the likes of Cisse & Cabaye (if we think their replacements are Giroud and Moutinho, then I'm probably right). The danger we have is that individually, we have players who could go in and improve a world-class team. I could see Coloccini slotting in alongside Kompany at Man City, or Cisse in attack at Inter, Cabaye pulling the strings for someone like Bayern, etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I agree on paper we should finish in the top 6, but we shouldn't underestimate the effect on the extra games will have on the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I agree on paper we should finish in the top 6, but we shouldn't underestimate the effect on the extra games will have on the squad. Pretty sure that the young teams we've seen in the friendly games will be playing the Europa/League cup games so unless things are going really tits up in the Europa League I don't see it having an effect really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Archie Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Going by names on paper we should finish 6th. Our team is better than Liverpools. Upgrade on simpson and CB to keep Williamson off the pitch and tbh there is no excuse. Im not saying this to apply unreasonable pressure, but our first XI is becoming mint. There is a real concern if we dont finish 4-6th this year several players will be looking at new challenges. This is by no means a dig at manager or owners but the likes of Cabaye, Ben arfa, tiote and Cisse will want Champions league sooner or later. They are good enough to demand it and I cant blame them. That's what I mean. Collectively, I think the 7-8 quality players we have are capable of around 5th-7th, maybe top 4, but to make the step up you need a couple of world-class players. What may work in our advantage this summer is if RvP leaves Arsenal, and Modric leaves Spurs. For me, those are the difference makers between us and them. They'll obviously replace them, but I think their world class players, will be replaced with players of the quality we have in the likes of Cisse & Cabaye (if we think their replacements are Giroud and Moutinho, then I'm probably right). The danger we have is that individually, we have players who could go in and improve a world-class team. I could see Coloccini slotting in alongside Kompany at Man City, or Cisse in attack at Inter, Cabaye pulling the strings for someone like Bayern, etc. Yep, but imagine a left side and a right side with Santon-Ben arfa and Debauchy-Marveaux linking up and protecting eachother offensively with Colo handling the odd hoofball from the other team, instead of Jonas protecting Ryan Taylor and Obertan protecting Danny Simpson. The latter has zero offensive capability and caused us to be overrun time and time again. The new wing-pairs are going to be a right nightmare allowing Tiote and Cabaye to be moved into more advanced positions. Its two worlds really and I hope Pardew share that vision Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I agree on paper we should finish in the top 6, but we shouldn't underestimate the effect on the extra games will have on the squad. Pretty sure that the young teams we've seen in the friendly games will be playing the Europa/League cup games so unless things are going really tits up in the Europa League I don't see it having an effect really. I would like to see us have a real crack at the Europa League sure blood some youngsters but i want to see a mixture of experience and youth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
themanupstairs Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Post Braga interview Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toontenacity Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I agree on paper we should finish in the top 6, but we shouldn't underestimate the effect on the extra games will have on the squad. Really? I'd say top 8, but i think people on here have distorted views after last season. Liverpool and Tottenham are still stronger, as horrible as it is to admit. We had a season when everyhing clicked, Liverpool had a season when everything went wrong. I think on paper we're more around 7/8- in the same bracket as Everton. Of course, here's hoping we have another superb season and exceed expectations again, but top 8 would be about right IMO Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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