BottledDog Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 This guy. Fucking love this guy. :icon_salut: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNUFC Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Next step for the team is to pick up at least a point when we concede first - yet to happen yet this season. Alan, you've got another challenge. You've successfully completed every challenge Mick has thrown at you (bar say nothing at all...ever), someone else now fancies a go. Good luck. Tick Next challenge anyone... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bimpy474 Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Next step for the team is to pick up at least a point when we concede first - yet to happen yet this season. Alan, you've got another challenge. You've successfully completed every challenge Mick has thrown at you (bar say nothing at all...ever), someone else now fancies a go. Good luck. Tick Next challenge anyone... While true against 9 men is not exactly the bar the measure it with. Be interesting if we go behind to Arsenal, a true test. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 Will be interesting what he'll be saying post match today. "I thought the Stoke players conducted themselves brilliantly in the secondhalf - against our strike force and down to nine men. It was a shame for Stoke because the two sending-offs were a major factor in us winning in the manner we did. On next opponents Arsenal: "Arsenal are top of the league. That is deserved, they have been the best team in this first half of the season, but we are in great shape, our place will be rocking and rolling and Arsenal know it won't be easy to turn us over. On a possible challenge for fourth: "The experts are the ones who know and they keep telling us we are not going to be involved and I think they are probably right." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snoopythewriter Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 If we had come out second half and played the cautious game, I would have gone down to the ground and killed him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belfast Mags Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 All sounds fair enough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmk Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 This guy. Fucking love this guy. :icon_salut: Not me, but he's doing a good job at the moment so fair play to him. Quite impressed this season, seeing much more of a team than before so long may it continue. Good stuff. I didn't buy that we had a shit squad as many people made out last season so where we are in the league is where we should be imo, the manager is doing a good job right now. He has come a long way this season in making us look like a team rather than a bunch of individuals, I'll always give a manager credit for that and Pardew is no different. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 It's stuff like leaving Sissoko on over Anita that makes him a bit shit. He got lucky today with Stoke self imploding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 It's stuff like leaving Sissoko on over Anita that makes him a bit shit. He got lucky today with Stoke self imploding. Pretty desperate stuff there Dr V, hate this 'luck' shite. We are 18 games into the season, 6 points off top, 6th place in the league but the only reason we beat Stoke was luck. No way we would have won otherwise with their total domination Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 It's stuff like leaving Sissoko on over Anita that makes him a bit shit. He got lucky today with Stoke self imploding. Pretty desperate stuff there Dr V, hate this 'luck' shite. We are 18 games into the season, 6 points off top, 6th place in the league but the only reason we beat Stoke was luck. No way we would have won otherwise with their total domination You can keep your anguish, mate. We were shite in that first 40 minutes, second best to Stoke at home. I didn't say the only reason we beat Stoke was luck. I said the manager got lucky because they were in control and they completely gifted us the 3 points. We might have gone on to beat them in the second half if it'd been 11v11, we'll never know, but there's nothing harsh about saying he was dealt a massive slice of luck today, because he was. The Sissoko/Anita decision was just idiotic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrettNUFC Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 He got lucky today with Stoke self imploding. this another team I should I add to my list we got lucky against, Venky? This must be half the sides in the PL now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 You can keep your anguish, mate. We were s**** in that first 40 minutes, second best to Stoke at home. I didn't say the only reason we beat Stoke was luck. I said the manager got lucky because they were in control and they completely gifted us the 3 points. We might have gone on to beat them in the second half if it'd been 11v11, we'll never know, but there's nothing harsh about saying he was dealt a massive slice of luck today, because he was. The Sissoko/Anita decision was just idiotic. We'll never know what would have happened if it had remained 11 v 11, my guess is that we wouldn't have got 3 points and would have struggled to get anything from the game. This place would have been up in arms if we'd had a player sent off like they had for the first and the hand ball from Williamson was as clear as you'll ever see. Having said that, Pardew kept stopping Ben Arfa from dropping deep in the 2nd half, he kept telling him to drag his defender away from the centre of the field where things were getting a bit tight, even against 9 men. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Even though it was v 9, it was good to see him have the mindset to go and pummel them for a change. Could have taken our foot off the gas once it got to 3 and strolled through given we have Arsenal in a couple of days but to finish with Remy, Shola, Cisse & HBA and still looking for goals was positive given it's not his natural instinct. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Venkman Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Even though it was v 9, it was good to see him have the mindset to go and pummel them for a change. Could have taken our foot off the gas once it got to 3 and strolled through given we have Arsenal in a couple of days but to finish with Remy, Shola, Cisse & HBA and still looking for goals was positive given it's not his natural instinct. Yep, I agree with this. He made a good job of the situation in the second half, no doubt. But only a fool would deny that we were dealt a very strong hand after 40 minutes of being second best at home to Stoke. The Sissoko situation was a farce. I've posted a few times recently about how I really hope he's changed his outlook etc and the signs are encouraging in places. He's doing a good job this season, undoubtedly, but I reserve the right to call the luck he was afforded yesterday for what it was, it was LUCK. It should be possible to say that without being called 'desperate' to try and denigrate a manager I'm on record as really wanting to succeed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Pardew on Ben Arfa. I hope he talks about work rate and nothing else Which he probably is... "I keep saying to him that Gouffran and Sissoko have set the standard here, the sort of standard that you would expect at Bayern Munich from their wide players, and that's what we need from [ben Arfa]. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cajun Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 You can keep your anguish, mate. We were s**** in that first 40 minutes, second best to Stoke at home. I didn't say the only reason we beat Stoke was luck. I said the manager got lucky because they were in control and they completely gifted us the 3 points. We might have gone on to beat them in the second half if it'd been 11v11, we'll never know, but there's nothing harsh about saying he was dealt a massive slice of luck today, because he was. The Sissoko/Anita decision was just idiotic. We'll never know what would have happened if it had remained 11 v 11, my guess is that we wouldn't have got 3 points and would have struggled to get anything from the game. This place would have been up in arms if we'd had a player sent off like they had for the first and the hand ball from Williamson was as clear as you'll ever see. Having said that, Pardew kept stopping Ben Arfa from dropping deep in the 2nd half, he kept telling him to drag his defender away from the centre of the field where things were getting a bit tight, even against 9 men. Sorry but both of those comments are complete nonsense, the player in questions thread would have had 5 pages added to it calling him a fucking idiot (see Tiote vs the mackems) and what the hell is Williamson supposed to do there? He was running, surprisingly his arms weren't stuck to his sides, you would have to be a complete moron to feel aggrieved that someone had a ball kicked at their arm 20 yards out from goal and you didn't get a freekick from it. As for Stoke controlling the game (not you Mick), neither team was controlling that game at all. They had scored one brilliant goal, we hadn't. Both sides had threatened as much as the other (ie not much). The commentators were just more interested in wanking about Charlie Adam's speculative efforts than what was really happening in the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayson Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Fully believe in the "making your own luck" concept. Wouldnt use that against Pards. We're doing very well, there are still issues but most clubs will have them. The turnaround has been outstanding really & has come from beating some top sides. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Maybe it's just being hyper-critical which is accentuated by THE DIVISION but taking Anita off instead of Sissoko (and before that throwing Sissoko pretty much up top) was poor. Sissoko was sloppy all game and was at fault for messing up 2-3 golden opportunities in the first half. It'll be the same against Arsenal too. Anita will be sacrificed out of the 2 of them either before or during the game which is just wrong. I do like Sissoko still, but Anita is delicious on and off the ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 We are 6th and just 3 off top 4 doing a cracking job and can see why he left Sissoko on as more likely to bomb on, although he was shit in first half. As much as I hate Pardew at times I dont see how anyone can gripe when we are in such a good position after last season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanshithispantz Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 It's constructive criticism and it's better to assess your faults and improve them than to just ignore them because everything else seems rosy. I would say at the minute we could be improved by Anita being in the side ahead of Sissoko if Ben Arfa is playing wide right. I would use the Stoke first half display as evidence of that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 You can only beat what's in front of you, and we did that relatively comfortably in the end, even with the help of the referee. Three more points, a comfortable home victory and still in the top six. No real praise, no real criticism, bring on Arsenal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bimpy474 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 We might have been lucky to an extent in some games but beating Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham and winning 7 of our last 9 is certainly not down to it. As much as i dont like Pardew, we're doing well because of him, just as we did shit because of him. I want us to be more expansive and have more movement but the table doesn't lie. Yes the so called bigger teams have slipped up but that's their problem and for us to be so close to the top going into January is quite simply brilliant, from the manager to all the players. Simply brilliant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nufc4eva Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 We might have been lucky to an extent in some games but beating Man Utd, Chelsea, Tottenham and winning 7 of our last 9 is certainly not down to it. As much as i dont like Pardew, we're doing well because of him, just as we did s*** because of him. I want us to be more expansive and have more movement but the table doesn't lie. Yes the so called bigger teams have slipped up but that's their problem and for us to be so close to the top going into January is quite simply brilliant, from the manager to all the players. Simply brilliant. He has clearly got us fitter, organised, hard working and built up great team spirit and also looking to play better football. All of this comes from him and even if you hate him you have to appreciate how we have progressed since last season. Beating Man Utd, Chelsea, Palace etc was not luck, we played very well against them all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotus Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 We were pretty flat for most of the 1st half. First 5 mins or so we looked ok then we just disappeared. I can't honestly say that was the manager or just the players being a bit off the boil due to it being xmas. Fact is though that Stoke were in the ascendency until they got stupid. We'll never know if we'd have picked up in the 2nd half, as it was, they made it easy. The ref also had a massive homer. No one in our team or management staff can have any pride in the 1st half performance. After the 2 reds (second one deserved) we were always going to win and we did. Best bit of passing of the game was actually Stoke's 5 or so passes that led to Willo's handball. As i hate Hughes i'm overall delighted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 no way we win that without the sendings off like, i'm sorry, it's like some people just haven't been paying attention for the last 3 years Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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