Guest palnese Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Think Sunderland will finish in the bottom half. They're just so poor. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelunchbox Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 thought he made the right decision starting shola and ba. shola is the only striker we got that can actually hold the ball up to a certain degree. when we had leon best he could make the ball stick and invited tackles , hence his injury record. AC did it for us as well. shola played very well before he was sacrificed. was not impressed with Ba's overall play, but holding the ball up is not really his game. I wasn't that impressed with Pardew's fist towards our fans after the final whistle, almost making out like we won something. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conjo Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 We should be in contention for 6th together with Everton & Liverpool. 8th is the minimum position for me to deem it an acceptable season. Just can´t see us besting Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal & Tottenham. Not "panic" time just yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 That last line is killer man. "We're suddenly in the top 8 or 9, and that's where we want to be". Not having a pop at him for saying it, but it's a sad truth that for this season: that is our genuine aim. What a depressing aim in turns of our league aspirations. I think we need to realise that we overachieved last season and top half is more of a truer reflection of the club, as opposed to top six. I don't think it is at all. Not when you look at some of the players we've got at our disposal. Pardew's the problem for us at the moment as he's not playing to the team's strengths. Agree with Otter, given that we have Pardew at the top and he's not going anywhere any time soon. Obviously if we had a better manager, then I'd hope for more with the squad we have - as it is, I think hoping for more is a bit like hope in Shawshank. My hope is for a cup this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 We should be in contention for 6th together with Everton & Liverpool. 8th is the minimum position for me to deem it an acceptable season. Just can´t see us besting Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal & Tottenham. Not "panic" time just yet. Aye but need's to be major improvement and quickly, i can't actually see us finishing lower than 8th tbh but it has been very frustrating seeing us like this when we all know we are capable of so much more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdckelly Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Think 6th may be a bit beyond us given evertons form thus far but 7th or 8th would be quite acceptable. The problem isn't so much the quality the 1st 11 have but the not quite up to the same level our squad options have in comparison and while I'm delighted to be in europe we're not really equipped yet to handle the extra fixtures without it having some effect on our league form. Or maybe its just a matter of getting used to the thursday-sunday turnaround which we really haven't coped all that well with Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest hydeous Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Wanted to see a different tempo and passing to our game today. I think we're getting there, but injuries / suspensions are holding us back. As always, I look forward to next week and hope that we get back to our best and start winning some bloody games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Howaythetoon Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I'm not going to be critical of him today because derby games are hard calls to make if you like but overall, his tactics are suffocating us and especially our better players. We are better than our 10 points and our position in the table. Above all else though, we are better than our performances, much better. If 4-4-2 is his preferred set-up he needs to sign a link-up striker in January to partner Ba effectively, a left winger and maybe a defensive midfielder which Tiote is not by the way. And maybe even a right winger because Be Arfa is wasted playing that kind of role or being asked to. He struggled massively at both ends today stuck wide right in the right winger role. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Finishing 8th could conceivably decimate our first team. All the top players people love now will soon be hated if their agents start deciding they should be playing regular European football, just look at how opinions on Ba changed over the summer. Ah well, cross that bridge when we come to it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdckelly Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. not saying its having an effect on performance in tired legs due to the changed teams (though williamson had to play league and europe all last month) but the effect its having on the preperation Pards puts in for the league games, just not sure we've adapted mentally to it yet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Finishing 8th could conceivably decimate our first team. All the top players people love now will soon be hated if their agents start deciding they should be playing regular European football, just look at how opinions on Ba changed over the summer. Ah well, cross that bridge when we come to it. Absolutely right As I've posited in another thread before, I think the only way to break into any ostensibly 'closed-group' elite in the Premiership is to spike within the space of one, or maybe two, seasons - otherwise wealthier clubs will dissect the spine during transfer windows. This view we need to prove ourselves and build incrementally for five steady years or anything like that is absurd in modern day football IMO. There's nowt wrong with backing us to challenge with the likes of Spurs. Of course, as long as you don't say you're certain we'll smash them etc, you won't invite comments over arrogance but you should be able to have confidence in your team and be able to say so. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beren Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. Take it you haven't reviewed our December fixtures very closely? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelunchbox Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. most of the players are the same as last season, we are playing the same as last season, mostly direct stuff. only difference is the oppositions have wised up to our game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. We got 8 points from those games last season, this season we've got 5. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. not saying its having an effect on performance in tired legs due to the changed teams (though williamson had to play league and europe all last month) but the effect its having on the preperation Pards puts in for the league games, just not sure we've adapted mentally to it yet Oh right yeah, probably right on that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayson Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. most of the players are the same as last season, we are playing the same as last season, mostly direct stuff. only difference is the oppositions have wised up to our game. We've played two full games with both our central midfielders & half our defence has been out. Its not mostly the same as last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Logic Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Losing a bit of faith with Pardew, though I was never convinced in the first place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interpolic Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 That last line is killer man. "We're suddenly in the top 8 or 9, and that's where we want to be". Not having a pop at him for saying it, but it's a sad truth that for this season: that is our genuine aim. What a depressing aim in turns of our league aspirations. I think we need to realise that we overachieved last season and top half is more of a truer reflection of the club, as opposed to top six. I don't think it is at all. Not when you look at some of the players we've got at our disposal. Pardew's the problem for us at the moment as he's not playing to the team's strengths. Agree with Otter, given that we have Pardew at the top and he's not going anywhere any time soon. Obviously if we had a better manager, then I'd hope for more with the squad we have - as it is, I think hoping for more is a bit like hope in Shawshank. My hope is for a cup this year. A cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. most of the players are the same as last season, we are playing the same as last season, mostly direct stuff. only difference is the oppositions have wised up to our game. Difference is last season or beginning of season anyway. We had a settled defence, Raylor had good delivery from wide area and set pieces, Jonas and Obertan outwide and Best and Ba upfront. Ok it wasn't very technical but it was very direct and it worked this is a different team. With Santon, Cisse, Ben Arfa coming in, this team does not suit direct football and is more of a possession team with some direct entities mixed in. Well it should be anyway but we are playing like we still have Best upfront for Ba to feed on etc etc. We need to be changing the style to adapt to players we have it's obvious what worked with those players do not work with these. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. We got 8 points from those games last season, this season we've got 5. Your taking a narrow perspective to make a point. We've had a hectic schedule and key players out. We're doing OK as things stand and should kick on from here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. Take it you haven't reviewed our December fixtures very closely? Hey mate, I'd be the first to say that there are no easy games any more. We play in a league where Wigan could beat Chelsea and Norwich did beat Arsenal. I just think we've had an awkward start and we will become more fluid in our play from here on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bimpy474 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Said it a while ago and I'll stick by it now. When I saw our opening games Spurs, ManU, Everton away, Chelsea away and macums away I thought we'll be fine if we're mid table going into November and fully expect us to kick on from there. We got 8 points from those games last season, this season we've got 5. Your taking a narrow perspective to make a point. We've had a hectic schedule and key players out. We're doing OK as things stand and should kick on from here. Totally agree with this, if we haven't kicked on then thats the time to really start to worry. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlelunchbox Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 I don't think we can use Europe as an excuse for poor performances, majority of european games the team is totally different to the weekend. The main reason for poor performances are injuries and playing in a way that does not suit our best players at all. Until these issues are looked at i can't see much changing. most of the players are the same as last season, we are playing the same as last season, mostly direct stuff. only difference is the oppositions have wised up to our game. We've played two full games with both our central midfielders & half our defence has been out. Its not mostly the same as last season. our style of play is the same. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts