CalmintheChaos Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 9 hours ago, HawK said: how many games in the 5th season did you watch exactly? Plenty and can remember us looking great for the last few months too. Pardew had a 10th place and sure we were like 9th with a state of a squad when he was hounded out too. Incredible Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawK Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 18 minutes ago, CalmintheChaos said: Plenty and can remember us looking great for the last few months too. Pardew had a 10th place and sure we were like 9th with a state of a squad when he was hounded out too. Incredible You must have been watching completely different games to me. On the ball all we ever did was hoof it from the back to the opposition penalty area, Cisse and Ba had the first touch and hold up play of a pair of dismembered mountain goats and never, in the entire season, won the ball. Not only that, but Tiote and Cabaye were sat practically in line with the defence, so the second ball was a freebie for the opposition. Our game plan was very much to get the opposition the ball and see if they would let us have it back further up the pitch, despite not having a high press or even a half-way press. Pretty much the only reason we finished fifth was the quality in the middle from Tiote and Cabaye and Cisse had the best 4-5 months a footballr can have, his shots that went in were frankly ridiculous. How we got to fifth, playing the way we did, was a miracle, and it was despite how Pardew set us up and managed us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawK Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 The cherry on top, was the following season we played exactly the same way, and to some people's complete bafflement (especially Pardew's), the luck had run out and our position actually reflected how we were set up and the choices we made on the ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmintheChaos Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 56 minutes ago, HawK said: You must have been watching completely different games to me. On the ball all we ever did was hoof it from the back to the opposition penalty area, Cisse and Ba had the first touch and hold up play of a pair of dismembered mountain goats and never, in the entire season, won the ball. Not only that, but Tiote and Cabaye were sat practically in line with the defence, so the second ball was a freebie for the opposition. Our game plan was very much to get the opposition the ball and see if they would let us have it back further up the pitch, despite not having a high press or even a half-way press. Pretty much the only reason we finished fifth was the quality in the middle from Tiote and Cabaye and Cisse had the best 4-5 months a footballr can have, his shots that went in were frankly ridiculous. How we got to fifth, playing the way we did, was a miracle, and it was despite how Pardew set us up and managed us. Even if the 5th was a fluke what about top 10 and then 9th when he was hounded out? Just shows we will never be happy really with any manager under Ashley. I loved Benitez but plenty moaned about him too Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberto2005 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 4 minutes ago, CalmintheChaos said: Even if the 5th was a fluke what about top 10 and then 9th when he was hounded out? Just shows we will never be happy really with any manager under Ashley. I loved Benitez but plenty moaned about him too Most people loved Rafa, every set of supporters moans about their manager. You can go on every forum barring probably City and Chelsea and they'll be moaning about their manager. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, CalmintheChaos said: Even if the 5th was a fluke what about top 10 and then 9th when he was hounded out? Just shows we will never be happy really with any manager under Ashley. I loved Benitez but plenty moaned about him too Top 10 with Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, Santon, Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, Cisse, Remy, etc...that should have been the bare minimum. 5th was a freak but we should have been a top 7/8 side for the duration of those 3-4 years with that squad. Edited May 14, 2021 by Optimistic Nut Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 17 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said: Top 10 with Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, Santon, Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, Cisse, Remy, etc...that should have been the bare minimum. 5th was a freak but we should have been a top 7/8 side for the duration of those 3-4 years with that squad. I’d go as far as saying with a proficient manager (like Rafa) that squad would have been competing for CL qualification. Pardews style of play with that squad was criminal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Top 4 would have been hard but he’d he could have challenged it definitely. Whereas 10th was ‘par’ for Pardew, I think a good manager would have seen 7th as par but with eyes on the places above it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyc35i Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 We really have had some very good players in the last 15 years. Shame the coaching set up, squad depth and general infrastructure development matched the limited ambition of the owner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 2 hours ago, HawK said: You must have been watching completely different games to me. On the ball all we ever did was hoof it from the back to the opposition penalty area, Cisse and Ba had the first touch and hold up play of a pair of dismembered mountain goats and never, in the entire season, won the ball. Not only that, but Tiote and Cabaye were sat practically in line with the defence, so the second ball was a freebie for the opposition. Our game plan was very much to get the opposition the ball and see if they would let us have it back further up the pitch, despite not having a high press or even a half-way press. Pretty much the only reason we finished fifth was the quality in the middle from Tiote and Cabaye and Cisse had the best 4-5 months a footballr can have, his shots that went in were frankly ridiculous. How we got to fifth, playing the way we did, was a miracle, and it was despite how Pardew set us up and managed us. Yeah we were absolute dogshit for most of the season, it's been said enough times that our improvement coincided diametrically with injuries forcing Pardew to put Ben Arfa in the line up, which along with Ba and Cisse up top, gave us a very potent front three. Pardew's tactics were horrific, everything we achieved was just down to having some class players in key areas of the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raconteur Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I have this memory that Ashley was most displeased to qualify for the second tier Euro comp (was it still the UEFA Cup then?) and it seemed like a hard ceiling of seventh was set from then on. From there, "aiming" for seventh at best soon became "surviving in the league". Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I remember it... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colos Short and Curlies Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Optimistic Nut said: Top 4 would have been hard but he’d he could have challenged it definitely. Whereas 10th was ‘par’ for Pardew, I think a good manager would have seen 7th as par but with eyes on the places above it. Reckon Rafa would have got us top four in 11-12. 4 points off 4th and 5 off 3rd (of course 4th didn't get Champions League that year). Home defeat to West Brom and absolute thumpings fro Fulham, Wigan and Norwich in that season and only really Chelsea away that was a remarkable win (maybe Man U at home as well). You'd put money on Rafa getting 5 more points than Pardew managed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 1 minute ago, Colos Short and Curlies said: Reckon Rafa would have got us top four in 11-12. 4 points off 4th and 5 off 3rd (of course 4th didn't get Champions League that year). Home defeat to West Brom and absolute thumpings fro Fulham, Wigan and Norwich in that season and only really Chelsea away that was a remarkable win (maybe Man U at home as well). You'd put money on Rafa getting 5 more points than Pardew managed I’m not too sure, that season was pure fluke. I do think he’d have kept us around the top 7 though in the seasons after it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonArmy1892 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I can't wait for this bloke to fuck off, seriously. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Espio Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) Manager of the Month Edited May 14, 2021 by Espio Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minhosa Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Oh fuck off man. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocker Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Bet the players are happy with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robster Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 FML Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Well played Masters, my face is well and truly slapped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottishMagpie Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToonArmy1892 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sima Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Christ, he's going to be unbearable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robster Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Of course... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manxst Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 The celebratory extra butter might finish him off? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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