Alan Pardew

[Mr Logic]

There's 2 things that prevent a side from challenging at the top of the table, the first is a lack of investment, the 2nd is a shit manager (comparatively).

 

Pretty sure we were all crying out at the lack of investment up until that week in January. 2-3mths isn't a long time

 

We probably were but we were also hunting around for excuses as to why we were so shit.

 

With hindsight it appears not so much a lack of investment but rather a lack of any coherent gameplan.

 

That and a trepidation bordering on abject cowardice when venturing into our opponents half.

 

Seriously, I have just read the last 10 pages or so of this thread, and others have already said it, but the football is abysmal. Players get put under unnecessary pressure when others don't show for the ball, the lack of movement is criminal as it is a basic tenet of training; (or should be.) All too often it leads to forced backpasses to the keeper, and if that's Krul you might as well have kicked it to the opposition as Krul's just about to. Any attack has little chance of success as there are so few options and those available are often quite static (not Cisse). There are few runs, no-one is dragging defenders out of position. Cisse's movement is good but a pass rarely reaches him before he is offside. Never enough bodies up there.

 

Give Pardew the start of next season? Please don't.

[cp40]

I've been relatively supportive of Pardew this season, admittedly based on what we did last season. I have even been p*ssed off many times when seeing this thread shoot to the top of the board as soon as we concede a goal (let alone get beat) when the same didn't happen when we got a good win.

 

Mick (as much as I like you mick!) has driven me mad at times this season (and last at times) with his views, but he's been right all along.

 

For us to be in a relegation battle in April with the squad we have is absolutely indefensible. We cannot keep on basing arguments in support of Pardew on last season (i include myself in that btw). Southampton are a recent example of a team who have binned a manager (who did a superb job for them, far better than Pardew has for us) and replaced him and have improved. Their chairman simply felt they had outgrown Adkins, time will tell, but he seems to have made the correct decision so far (he made the right decision getting rid of our current manager too btw).

 

I feel the same has happened with us, we've got to replace him with someone who takes us to the next level. We are in a very fortunate position in that we have a very good squad of players (imo obviously), we are a back up striker and a winger/fit ben arfa away from having the strongest squad we've had in many years and we are deep in a relegation battle, how can this be ok? he simply has to go.

 

I'm at the point where I believe that it doesn't matter which team we are facing, if their manager has an ounce of tactical awareness Pardew is f***ed and we are beat.

 

We are an attractive proposition now for both players and a manager, far more attractive than when Pardew arrived, he deserves credit for this but that shouldn't mean he is bullet proof, he needs to be replaced, that's for certain. If he doesnt go, we'll face an exodus of our top players (undoing some superb work to get them in the first place) and will go backwards yet again.

 

Get rid.

 

 

 

 

Hadn't realised Southampton were in the champions league- I guess on this revelation sack sack sack.

 

 

 

 

[BONTEMPI]

You better win the next two matches you chump

[Guest neesy111]

I feel pretty conflicted. Part of me likes him, appreciates his tenacity and the way he conducts himself and wants him to get another season - especially when considering a replacement would possibly/probably make things worse. A bigger part of me thinks he's just never going to be up to it tactically. He gets far too much criticism on here, mind, a lot of which is due to the nasty habit we have as NUFC supporters of overrating our players.

 

 

Too many NUFC fans are overrating the team.  Just look at the lack of creativity and goal scorers in it ffs.

[cp40]

I feel pretty conflicted. Part of me likes him, appreciates his tenacity and the way he conducts himself and wants him to get another season - especially when considering a replacement would possibly/probably make things worse. A bigger part of me thinks he's just never going to be up to it tactically. He gets far too much criticism on here, mind, a lot of which is due to the nasty habit we have as NUFC supporters of overrating our players.

 

 

 

Agreed.

[Stu]

Have to say watching Southampton transform so effortlessly with a new manager is very galling

 

Dunno about transform like, they weren't in the bottom three when they binned Adkins and gave us a real footballing lesson in November (after which we should have made the big decision). They had the most ridiculous opening run of fixtures but since then they've been pretty consistently good.

 

Lovejoy

 

Completely agree, Southampton have played great stuff all season the key differences i have noticed are as follows.

 

1. Press much better as a team

 

2. More organised defensively

 

3. Don't choke away loads of chances every game

 

Seriously i have seen Southampton a lot this season and the amount of chances they were creating under Atkins and throwing away followed by stupid defending led to poor results by comparison.

 

Obviously results have improved but i don't believe performances have been totally transformed.

 

Have to disagree, the way they break NOW is scary. Teams s*** it when 5-6 shift up the park as soon as they get posession. Also today Lambert played like a Michu clone. Early signs are that Pochettino is pretty slick.

 

Believe me i know how good Pochettino is as a coach i saw him a lot at Espanyol, but i don't believe in the main he has changed massive amounts.

 

The high pressing being one of the few, as for Lambert he's played like that all season. ( i think there was a stat going around that only Suarez had created more chances for team mates)

 

I think there is more to come from Pochettino in regard to what he wants because as of right now i don't believe he has changed too much.

 

In between watching Ligue 1, La Liga and all of the other Premiership teams....when do you find time to watch and rewatch all of our games?

[Darth Crooks]

I feel pretty conflicted. Part of me likes him, appreciates his tenacity and the way he conducts himself and wants him to get another season - especially when considering a replacement would possibly/probably make things worse. A bigger part of me thinks he's just never going to be up to it tactically. He gets far too much criticism on here, mind, a lot of which is due to the nasty habit we have as NUFC supporters of overrating our players.

 

 

Too many NUFC fans are overrating the team.  Just look at the lack of creativity and goal scorers in it ffs.

 

I might agree if we're talking about pushing for 5th and being comfortably in the top ten each year but we're in a complete mire; largely down to the way we play, so that argument only travels so far imo. We're very fortunate that QPR are a team happy to self-destruct bankrupting themselves on mercenaries, Reading have sacked a manager too soon with a championship squad and that the Mackems have had a manager as dour as ours has been.

[Scoot]

NUFC wins 2011/12

 

Comfortable (dominant, didn't feel in a great deal of danger): Blackburn (h) 3-1; Stoke (a) 3-1; Man Utd (h) 3-0; WBA (h) 3-1; Liverpool (h) 2-0; Stoke (h) 3-0

 

Total: 6

 

 

 

We lost at home to West Brom 3-2 last season!

 

 

[Beren]

Reckon he means the away fixture with the HatemDembaDemba destruction.

[Beren]

I'd probably move the Man Utd home game down a category. We won by three goals, but they looked dangerous at times - and it was only when Jones scored an own goal at the end that I really relaxed. Not to say it wasn't a fantastic performance, it was (Ba's was the best in a black and white shirt I've seen in ages), but I'd move it down a category personally to the 'neither here nor there' on the comfort scale.

 

I'd also move Bolton up one 'comfort class'. Until HBA came on, we looked really short of cutting edge and penetration, but we were in cruise control. They were never going to hurt us. Bolton were absolute turd at that point though, I should add.

 

We were great in the West Brom away fixture, but we looked a bit shaky before our first goal in the opening 15-20. Still, would leave it where it is.

[Alberto2005]

West brom away was the most enjoyable game I watched last season, we looked absolute class.

[Ronaldo]

Hodgson got it so, so wrong in that game.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Can't remember if I've shared this before, but there's an interview (a little old now but I guess interesting in hindsight) with Alan Pardew in the LMA 'The Manager's magazine.

 

http://themanager-magazine.com/issue11/#/32/

 

[Robster]

Interpolic

[TheGuv]

Interpolic :thump:

 

I distinctly remember last season in the pub going through our results in the programme and complaining about how many points/wins we were dead fortunate to pick up.

 

This was when we were 4th/5th and everyone was licking AP's ring piece. Last season really was a huge fluke with some quite frankly unbelievable goals scored that had nothing to do with how we had set up to play.

 

This season is the same but without that luck.

[mrmojorisin75]

This season is the same but without that luck and many more injuries

 

agree completely with the whole post btw

[AlanSkÃrare]

Should we lost today, Thursday and sunday, our season will be so utterly pathetic and the relegation threat so obvious. Does anyone think he won't be sacked should that happen? Are they content with us finishing 17th?

[David28]

Should we lost today, Thursday and sunday, our season will be so utterly pathetic and the relegation threat so obvious. Does anyone think he won't be sacked should that happen? Are they content with us finishing 17th?

 

I can see him being sacked should that happen. I can't see us losing all those 3, though.

[mrmojorisin75]

Should we lost today, Thursday and sunday, our season will be so utterly pathetic and the relegation threat so obvious. Does anyone think he won't be sacked should that happen? Are they content with us finishing 17th?

 

I can see him being sacked should that happen. I can't see us losing all those 3, though.

 

think it'd take wigan to beat QPR and sunderland to get at least something at chelsea for that to be a possibility and probably not even then...it'd hinge on the derby result still

[David28]

Should we lost today, Thursday and sunday, our season will be so utterly pathetic and the relegation threat so obvious. Does anyone think he won't be sacked should that happen? Are they content with us finishing 17th?

 

I can see him being sacked should that happen. I can't see us losing all those 3, though.

 

think it'd take wigan to beat QPR and sunderland to get at least something at chelsea for that to be a possibility and probably not even then...it'd hinge on the derby result still

 

Yeah, as he said, today, Thursday and Sunday.

[mrmojorisin75]

Should we lost today, Thursday and sunday, our season will be so utterly pathetic and the relegation threat so obvious. Does anyone think he won't be sacked should that happen? Are they content with us finishing 17th?

 

I can see him being sacked should that happen. I can't see us losing all those 3, though.

 

think it'd take wigan to beat QPR and sunderland to get at least something at chelsea for that to be a possibility and probably not even then...it'd hinge on the derby result still

 

Yeah, as he said, today, Thursday and Sunday.

 

ah skim read it and missed the sequence, right enough, lose them he's probably gone...should be as well

[Stu]

Are we still able to bring Shearer in for the last few games?

[David28]

Are we still able to bring Shearer in for the last few games?

 

No. 1st April is over.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Are we still able to bring Shearer in for the last few games?

 

Oh, you so Stu.

[Dr Venkman]

We were great at hanging onto a lead last season even if it led to plenty of excruciating games but it was all last ditch stuff by and large. For all the criticism of him, Danny Simpson must have kicked about twenty points off the goalline and Krul was sensational.

 

We didn't have the ability to kill games via possession football so we just hung on. If you're doing that, it only takes a tiny change in the wind to start shelling goals and points and that's exactly what has ultimately happened.

 

Blackburn away, Wolves away, Man United away, QPR away - eight points off the top of my head that frankly were robbed whilst plenty of home games were spent on the edge of our six yard box - Wolves, Norwich, Everton, QPR...

wolves away 2-0 up should have been three, hardly a case of sitting on a lead. (QPR,Blackburn were definite muggings mind)

 

as for the home games we'll have to disagree as  IMO most of our wins were deserved and weren't as scary as many think, just that we seemed to play below what we (the fans) think we can. for all they weren't great performances I struggle to remember games at home where we didn't get what we deserved and a lot of the panic came from us, the fans, when only having a one goal lead, the atmosphere was often a lot edgier than the game imo.

 

Whether those games were comfortable or not, I don't think it can be argued that Pardew has completely failed to move the side on from the nick one and defend style we did well with last season. In fact he took particular measures to ingrain it even deeper into the team identity, by abandoning the formation we looked best in and insisting on the static 4-4-2.

 

Many of us knew this was coming if he didn't make an effort to progress the team over the summer. I've said it before but a good manager would have made the lack of investment over the summer into a positive, by taking what he already had and progressing it. He did the opposite by taking the team backwards.