Alan Pardew

[Tachikoma]

                               

The main reason I dislike Pardew is that its very hard to see any intelligent or logical thought behind his tactics, beyond personal preference. Even when we were going direct with Hughton, we had a game plan, i.e. getting Barton to hit long diagonals at our front men to get behind their defensive line, or setting the team up to benefit from Carroll's flick-ons. Our defence had a proper game plan too; remember the high line, which was actually effective at pressuring the other team off the ball quickly? Or our triple-layered defensive line which made us impregnable in some games? When Pardew took over he brought nothing new to the team for a while and we did just fine.

 

That, and he's a smug egoistic prick who will never learn from his mistakes or put any blame on himself ala Souness.

           

 

Over the course of nearly 2 years he has taken over this side:

 

                                            Harper

 

Simpson  Williamson / Taylor Colo  Enrique

 

          Jonas            Nolan      Tiote          Barton

 

                Ameobi  Lovenkrands

 

And delivered a mid table finish without having the player the side was built around for half the season (despite being assured that he would have him)

 

 

He then put out this side and delivered an 11 game unbeaten run. Again he had to do this without the striker and the left back he was promised in the summer:

 

                                  Krul

 

Simpson  Willo / Taylor  Colo      Taylor

 

Obertan        Tiote          Cabaye        Jonas

 

                  Best                Ba

 

 

Then when that side ran out of steam in the middle third of the season (and a lot of people on here, who have clearly learnt nothing, started absolutely slaughtering him), he made the transition to this side:

 

                                      Krul

 

        Simpson        Williamson  Colo        Santon

 

                    Jonas        Tiote  Cabaye

 

                      HBA        Cisse        Ba

 

And delivered a 5th placed finish, far beyond anyones expectations.

 

Thats not "a fluke", thats consistently good management over nearly 2 years. Compare to the many other managers we've had who don't manage to impose any system of play at all, and have clearly lost the players completely after less than a year.

 

A big part of it has been the faith he has shown in squad players. I never saw any way Perch could play in the Premier League. Since leaving Guthrie has disappeared off the faith of the earth. I remember being incredulous that Best was starting v West Ham. Pardew talked him up in the press, stuck him in the team despite the barracking he would get if we lost, and Best got a hat trick and was very effective for the rest of the year.

 

Hes now properly struggling for the 1st time in 2 years, but we are improving, and I'd back him to deliver a 4th effective starting XI. How about supporters actually show a bit of faith in him? You cannot possibly say he hasn't earned it.

 

I believe the first 6 words of your final sentence reveal a lot about the motives behind your post in this thread, and that of a lot of other posters as well.

 

The first side was what I was talking about. It was essentially Hughton's side without any tactical changes - we played EXACTLY the same as we had before. Also, we'd have finished higher if Pardew hadn't made that Alan Smith substitution in the second half against WBA.

 

Yes, Pardew did well to get the best out of Perch and Best, and he did extremely well last season no doubt about that. Starting Obertan over HBA consistently is not something that I'd give him credit for however. What that proves is that he is a good man manager, as someone had already pointed out. Not getting the players he was "promised" is something that every manager works with unless you're Roberto Mancini.

 

My criticism was aimed at Pardew's inability to come up with an actual game plan, besides those games against sides like Man City et al where we try our best to cut off all playing space in our half, then countering either through a long ball to Shola or getting the ball out to Ben Arfa, which obviously isn't a sensible thing to be doing against teams who are at our own level or worse.

 

When our players have the ball in the opposing half, you can see that the players are just winging it out there - there's no one making decoy runs, no quick interchanges between the midfield and the forwards, Ba and HBA simply trying to do everything on their own, etc. Every time a player gets the ball you can see them pausing for a second to think about what they're meant to do next (especially Tiote and Jonas), and you never see that in teams like Wigan/WBA/Fulham.

[oldtype]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

[mrmojorisin75]

one aspect where he's really let things fall apart is home games, thinking back to the hughton sacking one thing pardew seemed to instantly be an upgrade on was winning home games....hughton had struggled badly and basically teams could come up to sjp shut up shop and walk away with a fairly easy 1 or 3 points, pardew came in and we looked strong at home again and that bred a confidence throughout everything else

 

pardew is now slap bang in that same position...if you have a strong home record it'll mask a lot of things and this is really costing him, he hasn't a fucking clue how to change it in his favour either unfortunately

 

qpr is big for me, he's got to win it, if he doesn't then i really fail to see a way back for him unless he's backed with some quality/appropriate players for his style in jan

[TRon]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

That would depend on two things:

 

1) results

2) style of play suiting the current squad

 

At the moment I can't really see either coming any time soon so I think your view is very short term at best.

 

 

 

 

 

[HawK]

I'd take Wenger like.

[oldtype]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

That would depend on two things:

 

1) results

2) style of play suiting the current squad

 

At the moment I can't really see either coming any time soon so I think your view is very short term at best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm assuming the new manager isn't going to be significantly better than Pardew, which I think given our track record is a pretty fair assumption.

[Varadi]

I'm still broadly supportive of Pardew and really hope he turns it around, but some of the evidence starting to stack up against him really needs addressing asap.

 

- No wins after going behind in over 2 years

- No goals from set pieces all season

- Worst away run in 27 years

 

I think European qualification for next season is already gone, so he's got the rest of the season to find a way to get this squad playing to their potential while scraping enough points together to keep us (comfortably) away from relegation - the next 6 months are a defining time for his whole managerial career I reckon.

[AlanSkÃrare]

I'm still broadly supportive of Pardew and really hope he turns it around, but some of the evidence starting to stack up against him really needs addressing asap.

 

- No wins after going behind in over 2 years

- No goals from set pieces all season

- Worst away run in 27 years

 

I think European qualification for next season is already gone, so he's got the rest of the season to find a way to get this squad playing to their potential while scraping enough points together to keep us (comfortably) away from relegation - the next 6 months games are a defining time for his whole managerial career I reckon.

 

He'll lose the fans if things don't pick up in the next six games. And they won't.

[Varadi]

He'll lose the fans if things don't pick up in the next six games. And they won't.

 

I agree, but I just don't see a scenario in which he gets sacked before the end of the season - possibly if he very clearly and publicly loses the dressing room but that doesn't look likely.

 

Ashley isn't going to want to lose face by ditching someone 3 months into an 8 year contract, and has demonstrated plenty times he gives less than one single fuck what the fans think. Just hope he's enough sense to realise he must back him in the transfer window....

[merlin]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

[Guest icemanblue]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I always thought his rapport with the players was one of his biggest strengths. Not that it will always translate to good performances on the pitch obviously.

[Lotus]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

It's probably easy to confuse 'not playing for the manager' with 'under-performing'. Plenty are doing the latter. Other than that it's speculation.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

It's probably easy to confuse 'not playing for the manager' with 'under-performing'. Plenty are doing the latter. Other than that it's speculation.

 

Exactly.

[Guest icemanblue]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

It's probably easy to confuse 'not playing for the manager' with 'under-performing'. Plenty are doing the latter. Other than that it's speculation.

 

I'm not sure it's that easy to confuse. I don't think there's been too much evidence of a lack of application, but there are obviously a fair few underperforming.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

It's easy to confuse if you're looking for reasons to criticise Pardew.

[Guest icemanblue]

Aye.

[Lotus]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

It's probably easy to confuse 'not playing for the manager' with 'under-performing'. Plenty are doing the latter. Other than that it's speculation.

 

I'm not sure it's that easy to confuse. I don't think there's been too much evidence of a lack of application, but there are obviously a fair few underperforming.

 

I think when you get 6 or 7 of your top players seriously underperforming at the same time it can make people wonder.

 

Fwiw, i don't get the impression he's lost the dressing room. Still, when you have that many players well below par it gets easy to jump to conclusions.

[merlin]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

You tell me which ones are......Ba and Cisse clearly aren't, neither was Cabaye before his injury, Tiote is  shadow of the player he was when he arrived and Colo is a pro but doing just what is professionally necessary...need I go on ?

 

No doubt you see things differently, but we aint going to agree.

[Guest icemanblue]

I think we're marginally more likely to keep players with Pardew than without him. Shortcomings nonwithstanding, at the very least they seem to like him and are willing to play for him.

 

Many of them clearly aren't playing for him - that much is obvious.

 

Is it?

 

Which players?

 

You tell me which ones are......Ba and Cisse clearly aren't, neither was Cabaye before his injury, Tiote is  shadow of the player he was when he arrived and Colo is a pro but doing just what is professionally necessary...need I go on ?

 

No doubt you see things differently, but we aint going to agree.

 

I think you are confusing poor form with 'not playing' for the manager, like.

 

Ba has scored 10 league goals, which is 10 more than during one of our best spells last season. Cabaye has admitted that he'd been carrying that injury for a while and it affected his performances. Cisse has been off the boil from the very start of the season. Tiote has had a stop-start season so far and has looked very sloppy, but I don't think there's any doubting his desire to win.

[Wullie]

I'd be a lot more confident that the players were playing for the manager if we were managing to grind some draws out of these poor showings but we're not even managing that, just going from defeat to inevitable defeat.

 

Isn't it often said that the best indicator of spirit in a camp is the ability to come from behind? Well Pardew is unprecedented in how unbelievably bad he is at that. I've never known anything like it.

[Lotus]

I'd be a lot more confident that the players were playing for the manager if we were managing to grind some draws out of these poor showings but we're not even managing that, just going from defeat to inevitable defeat.

 

Isn't it often said that the best indicator of spirit in a camp is the ability to come from behind? Well Pardew is unprecedented in how unbelievably bad he is at that. I've never known anything like it.

 

Tbf Wullie, the body language of the players on Monday night after we drew level was that they thought they were going to go on and win the game. You could sense their hunger for that (imo). It's just that we actually don't really carry any attacking threat and we're easy to catch on the break, so we lost (not helped by crucial mistakes from Simpson, Tiote and Coloccini).

[sugoinufc]

normally i would say its way to early to sack a manager who did so well last season. Also we all are annoyed by the rapid change of managers at this club. But the problem is he is clueless of how to develop us into something more modern and attractive which would benefit the club as a whole.

 

We cannot compete with clubs like tottenham year after year if this is the way we want to play football. His manager skills/philosophy is outdated in the long run. During the time he has been here....with all the great players he has,  he still managed to take us backwards. just look at our attacking play this season....clueless. Cisse on the wing, for real many many bad examples to choose from. His selection is mostly right, but how cant it be, when we only have 14-15 to choose from. When was the last time we played a whole game without changing formation at some point. frustrating to say the least.

 

I say it again and again....if only i could see what he was trying to do - develop our style of play, then i wouldn´t mind us loosing in the process as we progress.

 

The main problem at this club at this moment is: Pardew is clueless!

[sugoinufc]

I'd be a lot more confident that the players were playing for the manager if we were managing to grind some draws out of these poor showings but we're not even managing that, just going from defeat to inevitable defeat.

 

Isn't it often said that the best indicator of spirit in a camp is the ability to come from behind? Well Pardew is unprecedented in how unbelievably bad he is at that. I've never known anything like it.

 

shola on the the last 25 mintues and go even longer when we have not won one single header in their penalty area all match. That is how clueless he is. It really nails it for me!

[Parky]

normally i would say its way to early to sack a manager who did so well last season. Also we all are annoyed by the rapid change of managers at this club. But the problem is he is clueless of how to develop us into something more modern and attractive which would benefit the club as a whole.

 

We cannot compete with clubs like tottenham year after year if this is the way we want to play football. His manager skills/philosophy is outdated in the long run. During the time he has been here....with all the great players he has,  he still managed to take us backwards. just look at our attacking play this season....clueless. Cisse on the wing, for real many many bad examples to choose from. His selection is mostly right, but how cant it be, when we only have 14-15 to choose from. When was the last time we played a whole game without changing formation at some point. frustrating to say the least.

 

I say it again and again....if only i could see what he was trying to do - develop our style of play, then i wouldn´t mind us loosing in the process as we progress.

 

The main problem at this club at this moment is: Pardew is clueless!

 

Pards it seems will never understand that style and cohesion is permanent, individual brilliance is temporary.