Alan Pardew

[Gallowgate Toon]

As has been mentioned, he really needs to stop with the favouritism and overly negative tactics and just sort the balance of the team out, especially as he's so keen to keep 4-4-2. We don't need every single player on their natural foot but at least one on each side, yesterday should have seen Anita at RB with Ben Arfa ahead of him and Santon at LB with Ferguson ahead of him. There was literally no decent wide crossing outlet yesterday until Fergie came on, that's scandalous, especially when you're playing 2 strikers that are brilliant in the box against one of the league's crappest teams.

 

I thought some of the tactical choices yesterday were pathetic, the line up we started out with was gutless.

[Dr Venkman]

As has been mentioned, he really needs to stop with the favouritism and overly negative tactics and just sort the balance of the team out, especially as he's so keen to keep 4-4-2. We don't need every single player on their natural foot but at least one on each side, yesterday should have seen Anita at RB with Ben Arfa ahead of him and Santon at LB with Ferguson ahead of him. There was literally no decent wide crossing outlet yesterday until Fergie came on, that's scandalous, especially when you're playing 2 strikers that are brilliant in the box against one of the league's crappest teams.

 

I thought some of the tactical choices yesterday were pathetic, the line up we started out with was gutless.

 

Good post, as is Wullie's above. If we're going to persist with 4-4-2 the easiest way to get some attacking play going is to get it wide, get to the byline and get crosses in for our two clinical strikers.

[Jayson]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

[Interpolic]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

[Mick]

I think one of the problems Pardew has is that he basically seems to have very little say in transfer policy, and that our main buying strategy is "who can we get for cheap?"

 

Hence he's got a squad of players that don't really fit into any particular system or style of play. We constantly chop and change. Sometimes it's 4-4-2, sometimes it's 4-5-1, sometimes it's 4-3-3, sometimes it's 4-2-3-1. Sometimes Ba's up front, sometimes he's a left sided wide forward. Perch is a full back, now he's a central midfielder, now he's a centre half. Anita's a central midfielder, now he's a full back. Jonas has played right, left, centrally, full back, Ben Arfa's played up front, left, right, centrally. Ryan Taylor's played just about everywhere but up front and in goal. Pardew likes to play a direct 4-4-2 but most of our players don't.

 

What position does Sammy Ameobi play if he comes into our team? Marveaux? Ferguson? Gosling? Vuckic? I honestly haven't got the first clue what the best/main position is of half of our players.

 

Versatility's fine but we seem to ask it from nearly every player in the squad because as a club, we don't seem to have any real idea of how we should be playing. Wenger never buys a player that he doesn't think will be able to play the way he wants to play. Pardew doesn't have that luxury. He gets what he's given and then has to shoehorn it all into a working unit. No wonder we look all over the place and have no cohesion. Plan B? We've not really come up with Plan A yet.

 

The transfer policy isn't the reason that we play Ba and Cisse through the middle when we all know we are a better team with Cisse in the middle with Ba and Ben Arfa either side of him.  The transfer policy isn't to blame for Perch starting at right back ahead of Anita when it looks like Anita is better in that position.

 

Obertan played right wing ahead of Ben Arfa, Ryan Taylor started ahead of Santon last season and that has nothing to do with the transfer policy.

 

You can blame our transfer policy for not having Douglas to cover for Taylor or Debuchy to cover or replace Simpson but even then, would they have been given games?  Our transfer policy has it's problems, I'm not sure our current style of play (or lack of it) is one of them.

[Jayson]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

 

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then fuck knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

[Interpolic]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

 

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then fuck knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

 

"His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training."

 

There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out.  It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat.  On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking.  Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop.

[Jayson]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

 

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

 

"His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training."

 

There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out.  It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat.  On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking.  Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop.

 

I didnt suggest there wasnt more to his role for that to need to be pointed out, i was replying to someone questioning what he gave us.

 

What other options did he have? You'll find you're left with Anita & an out of form Marveaux who'd played 90 minutes midweek. I didnt see anyone asking for Fergie to start in the prematch thread either. Im fairly sure he was also manager during our best attacking play last season also btw.

[Interpolic]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

 

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

 

"His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training."

 

There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out.  It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat.  On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking.  Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop.

 

I didnt suggest there wasnt more to his role for that to need to be pointed out, i was replying to someone questioning what he gave us.

 

What other options did he have? You'll find you're left with Anita & an out of form Marveaux who'd played 90 minutes midweek. I didnt see anyone asking for Fergie to start in the prematch thread either. Im fairly sure he was also manager during our best attacking play last season also btw.

 

Why's he abandoned the idea of going out to attack teams then?  That is the root of most of the frustration.

 

If it's down to lack of options then I'm surprised you can say that with a straight face.  Because we didn't need any more players, did we?  It won't be an issue - a small, unbalanced squad with poor backup options won't get found out.  We've never lost points because of this and we never will.

[Parky]

I think one of the problems Pardew has is that he basically seems to have very little say in transfer policy, and that our main buying strategy is "who can we get for cheap?"

 

Hence he's got a squad of players that don't really fit into any particular system or style of play. We constantly chop and change. Sometimes it's 4-4-2, sometimes it's 4-5-1, sometimes it's 4-3-3, sometimes it's 4-2-3-1. Sometimes Ba's up front, sometimes he's a left sided wide forward. Perch is a full back, now he's a central midfielder, now he's a centre half. Anita's a central midfielder, now he's a full back. Jonas has played right, left, centrally, full back, Ben Arfa's played up front, left, right, centrally. Ryan Taylor's played just about everywhere but up front and in goal. Pardew likes to play a direct 4-4-2 but most of our players don't.

 

What position does Sammy Ameobi play if he comes into our team? Marveaux? Ferguson? Gosling? Vuckic? I honestly haven't got the first clue what the best/main position is of half of our players.

 

Versatility's fine but we seem to ask it from nearly every player in the squad because as a club, we don't seem to have any real idea of how we should be playing. Wenger never buys a player that he doesn't think will be able to play the way he wants to play. Pardew doesn't have that luxury. He gets what he's given and then has to shoehorn it all into a working unit. No wonder we look all over the place and have no cohesion. Plan B? We've not really come up with Plan A yet.

 

Think you've highlighted the deeper malaise there very well.

[Mistle17]

I think one of the problems Pardew has is that he basically seems to have very little say in transfer policy, and that our main buying strategy is "who can we get for cheap?"

 

Hence he's got a squad of players that don't really fit into any particular system or style of play. We constantly chop and change. Sometimes it's 4-4-2, sometimes it's 4-5-1, sometimes it's 4-3-3, sometimes it's 4-2-3-1. Sometimes Ba's up front, sometimes he's a left sided wide forward. Perch is a full back, now he's a central midfielder, now he's a centre half. Anita's a central midfielder, now he's a full back. Jonas has played right, left, centrally, full back, Ben Arfa's played up front, left, right, centrally. Ryan Taylor's played just about everywhere but up front and in goal. Pardew likes to play a direct 4-4-2 but most of our players don't.

 

What position does Sammy Ameobi play if he comes into our team? Marveaux? Ferguson? Gosling? Vuckic? I honestly haven't got the first clue what the best/main position is of half of our players.

 

Versatility's fine but we seem to ask it from nearly every player in the squad because as a club, we don't seem to have any real idea of how we should be playing. Wenger never buys a player that he doesn't think will be able to play the way he wants to play. Pardew doesn't have that luxury. He gets what he's given and then has to shoehorn it all into a working unit. No wonder we look all over the place and have no cohesion. Plan B? We've not really come up with Plan A yet.

 

I agree with what you saying, but I feel that we actually do have a group of players who, on the whole, are very well suited to a good passing game in a fluid formation. It's just that Pardew cant seem to find a settled system or a productive style of play, both of which you pointed out. I think a lot of it is down to favouritism and keeping certain individuals happy. And, possibly, incompetence.

And for the record, I'm satisfied that Pardew doesn't have full control over signings. I think we're far far better off with Carr talent spotting- he has a very good habit of finding technically gifted players for a good price. Pardew wouldn't go for the same type of player imo.

[Mick]

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

 

Last season we let in 6 goals less than the season before and we scored exactly the same number.  We've gone from a goal difference of -1 to +5.  Personally, I'd rather have a balanced approach and not one where our MANAGER spends his time on one area of the team.

[Parky]

Bit of a pr blunder letting it out the bag that he just focusses on the shape and def part of the game.

[TRon]

I think Pardew will be okay when he stumbles onto the right formation like he did in the second half of last season. We had some great early results last season but we were often outplayed only to have our fantastic forwards grabbing winners from nowhere. I had hoped we were going to kick on this season but we just seem to have gone back into what seems to be Pardew default mode. Defend deep and snatch opportunistic goals from long balls.

[AlanSkÃrare]

I think Pardew will be okay when he stumbles onto the right formation like he did in the second half of last season. We had some great early results last season but we were often outplayed only to have our fantastic forwards grabbing winners from nowhere. I had hoped we were going to kick on this season but we just seem to have gone back into what seems to be Pardew default mode. Defend deep and snatch opportunistic goals from long balls.

 

Exactly what I think. This approach is what he reverts to when he has no idea.

 

[SiLvOR]

I think Pardew will be okay when he stumbles onto the right formation like he did in the second half of last season. We had some great early results last season but we were often outplayed only to have our fantastic forwards grabbing winners from nowhere. I had hoped we were going to kick on this season but we just seem to have gone back into what seems to be Pardew default mode. Defend deep and snatch opportunistic goals from long balls.

 

Exactly what I think. This approach is what he reverts to when he has no idea.

 

 

I think it's down to not having the players he wants for his system. Like people have said, we have the likes of Marveaux, Vuckic and Sammy who I don't think quite know what their roles are going to be, I think Marveaux in particular doesn't seem to quite know where he's supposed to be. Pardew needs to think how he can get the best out of our players, not how he can shoehorn these players into his preferred formation.

[Parky]

Our main weakness is that we are very poor at retaining the ball. In the PL that is asking for trouble. We give it away cheaply by going forward too fast and without much of a plan other than hitting Ba early or giving it to Hatem.

 

Santon has got a lot better with runs down the left but he hesitates too much on crosses and has a fear of shooting which is a shame as he gets into good positons.

 

We don't really do much proper crossing but we don't really do much midfield interplay either when Hatem has the ball he has very few attacking options our midfield sits that deep. Not really one thing or the other at the moment.

 

It was alright last year but this year teams have studied us and know what we're about.

 

Pardew really needs to bite the bullet and get some kind of pattern going and even risk losing the odd game by being adventerous...Thought it was a bit disingenous last year trying it away to Spurs and then going on about 'letting our hair down' as if - see it doesn't work.

[Dinho lad]

Bit of a pr blunder letting it out the bag that he just focusses on the shape and def part of the game.

 

where?

[pi_D]

These last few pages are like an insight into how Sir Bobby was sacked. Fucking deplorable

[Parky]

Bit of a pr blunder letting it out the bag that he just focusses on the shape and def part of the game.

 

where?

 

Interview last year.

[Jayson]

 

 

His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training. Doing that + Ba's goals were the main reason we were so high before Cisse arrived. Not any manager could've done that. This season has been very similar re Ba's goals, but we lost defensive players.

 

His job isn't to coach the defence, he's the manager.

 

Keep hammering away with the negativity Mick, you must enjoy your life.

 

How's that negative, he's stating a fact.

 

Because i said anything about coaching a defense? If you're questioning why Pardew had any input in preparing us defensively for upcoming games then f*** knows what you're after. It clearly worked wonders for us & gave us new defensive records that were a huge part of our season given the standard of players we were rotating. But yeah, lets question his role instead of giving him any plaudits. "Hows that negative" 

 

"His biggest strength has been sorting our defence, the issue he said was his job to sort in training."

 

There is clearly far more to his role than that, which Mick pointed out.  It could be argued that this obsession with the defence is holding us back somewhat.  On Saturday we only fielded 3 players that you could describe as remotely attacking.  Perhaps he needs to look at the whole picture rather than prattling on about the defence non-stop.

 

I didnt suggest there wasnt more to his role for that to need to be pointed out, i was replying to someone questioning what he gave us.

 

What other options did he have? You'll find you're left with Anita & an out of form Marveaux who'd played 90 minutes midweek. I didnt see anyone asking for Fergie to start in the prematch thread either. Im fairly sure he was also manager during our best attacking play last season also btw.

 

Why's he abandoned the idea of going out to attack teams then?  That is the root of most of the frustration.

 

If it's down to lack of options then I'm surprised you can say that with a straight face.  Because we didn't need any more players, did we?  It won't be an issue - a small, unbalanced squad with poor backup options won't get found out.  We've never lost points because of this and we never will.

 

Ba is obviously unhappy playing wide left, its fine saying force him to play there but hes clearly affected by his motivation levels & he apparently isnt motivated to play there. So your option is to pot lose one of your best players for the good of the team or try untested alternatives to get them all performing.

 

Ive already said to you if Anita's not seen as an option to fill in for Cabaye over an 18 year old then yes we should have had someone else. I am also able to question his ideas, i personally thought he could have moved Barfa more central to increase his influence. Im largely just arguing with people who i feel go completely OTT in their assessment. There were much bigger influences at play than anything Pardew did wrong to me.

[Jack Flash]

These last few pages are like an insight into how Sir Bobby was sacked. f***ing deplorable

 

BLAME DA FANZ!

[Parky]

For the record I don't blame Pard8 for the squad weaknesses that is clearly out of his hands.

[Interpolic]

For the record I don't blame Pard8 for the squad weaknesses that is clearly out of his hands.

 

It is a bit annoying how he actively defends the inactivity rather than just keeping his mouth shut about it, mind.

[BeloEmre]

For the record I don't blame Pard8 for the squad weaknesses that is clearly out of his hands.

 

It is a bit annoying how he actively defends the inactivity rather than just keeping his mouth shut about it, mind.

He's probably just saying what he's been told to say.