After finishing fifth last season optimism was high and the hope was that we would build on that this season.
We didn’t and now the heat is most definitely on Alan Pardew as fans vent their frustration. The article from Stardust yesterday hit the nail on the head for a lot of people, but I’m wondering if there are any mitigating circumstances that could be at least party to blame for our rotten season. We all know that the squad wasn’t strengthened enough last summer, that we’ve suffered injuries, that we’ve been playing in the Europa League, but did any of these set us up for our downfall? I believe that our season can be split into three sections.
Phase 1 – Instability
At the start of the season I was mildly optimistic. Fair enough we hadn’t strengthened enough but we had a good team and a European campaign to look forward to. I was expecting to finish 6thto 8th or somewhere in that region. I, like most people, if asked to name our strongest team would have said: Krul; Simpson, Coloccini, Taylor, Santon; Jonas, Tiote, Cabaye, HBA; Ba and Cisse. A team that never played together this season.
The first ten games saw us win three, draw five and lose two. We were 10thin the table with 14 points. Not as good as expected, but we used 17 players in those ten games such was our instability. By now even I was bemoaning our failure to strengthen in the summer. And we hadn’t seemed to solve the Ba/Cisse conundrum up front.
In goal Tim Krul played six times, winning two and drawing three whilst in the middle of that Steve Harper made four appearance, winning one and drawing two. The defence was even more unstable. Granted Davide Santon played all ten, but Danny Simpson only played five with James Perch making four appearances and Shane Ferguson making one. I central defence we had the Taylor/Coloccini partnership which played three times (D2, L1), then Taylor/Williamson for three games (W1, D2), Coloccini/Williamson were paired together twice (W1, D1) whilst Perch played once with Steven Taylor which we won and once with Mike Williamson where we lost.
In midfield We had Yohan Cabaye partnered by Vurnon Anita five times (W1, D3 L1), Cheik Tiote three times (W1, D1, L1) and even James Perch once which we won. Finally we had Cheik Tiote and Gael Bigirimana playing together in one game which we drew.
Now I know we didn’t play 4-4-2, but we had Jonas and Hatem Ben Arfa available for all those games with Cisse and Ba starting seven of them (W2, D3, L2). The other times we had Ba and Shola starting twice (W1, D1) and Cisse and Marveaux getting a draw from their game.
Phase 2 – Meltdown
Phase 1 ended with a win against West Brom where Cheik Tiote got sent off and a draw against Liverpool where Fabricio Coloccini got sent off. To top it off the first game of this phase, a loss against West Ham, was Cabaye’s last game before missing 11. These 13 games saw us win only two games and draw one other. The answer why lies in our midfield.
Tim Krul and Davide Santon played all 13 games. Danny Simpson played the first ten with Mathieu Debuchy stepping on for the last two and James Perch playing in the other. In central defence we had Mike Williamson playing 12 – nine of those with Coloccini and three with Steven Taylor. The other game saw Coloccini and Perch paired together. Up front Ba played all ten before he left, partnering Cisse for nine of them and Shola once. After he left we had Cisse and Shola twice and Cisse with Obertan once.
We used nine midfield players in those 13 games. Vurnon Anita played 11, Jonas played nine as did Cheik Tiote but only six times together. James Perch managed five games while Sylvain Marveaux played in six of those games. Yohan Cabaye only managed the first and last game, Hatem Ben Arfa managed three, which meant Ferguson (three times) Gael Bigirimana (twice) and Gabriel Obertan (also twice) were also called on in midfield. Given the enforced changes that meant we only played same four in midfield three times: Anita, Tiote, Jonas and Perch.
So by the end of this we were 16th with 21 points, a goal difference of -13 and only two points above relegation. It shows how important Cabaye is to us.
Phase 3 – Survival
The January transfer window brought five new players. We had had the benefit of Debuchy for two games but the rest only turned up towards the end of the window. But they made an immediate impact. Suddenly we had stability and we won two games on the bounce for the first and only time this season. And then the loss away to Spurs was followed by another win. Also we saw the emergence of Elliott as decent back up for Krul.
In defence Steven Taylor was just about ever-present partnering Coloccini or Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. Debuchy settled in and Simpson provided cover. The left-back slot was a bit more problematical towards the end of the season but midfield was much more settled. Yohan Cabaye played nearly every game as did Jonas Gutierrez and Moussa Sissoko. James Perch or Cheik Tiote filled the defensive midfield position and Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveaux and Gabriel Obertan even made appearances. Papiss Cisse and Yoan Gouffran played just about every game.
This strengthening and stability helped, but the pressures of the drop didn’t. Still we played 15, won six, drew two, lost seven and ended up with us safe at last. From the tone of this article you can conclude that the lack of team stability was a major factor in our difficult season.
I also looked at who started how many games and what results we got with them. This is a bit simplistic but nevertheless an interesting indicator. After all it is a team game. Very few players actually played much of the season. Special mention must go to Jonas who only missed four games and we lost all of them. Other than Jonas only Santon (31) and Cisse (35) played over 30 games. Krul (24), Cabaye (25), Steven Taylor (24), Coloccini (22), Tiote (22) and Ba (19) also managed to get half a season in. And people claim that injuries didn’t affect anything.
We used 20 players regularly and another six who only started a few times. Yes there is an argument that Simpson, Williamson, Anita and Shola would have got more game time had our new Frenchmen not turned up but they were not significant contributors in terms of results.
In terms of contribution I bring you the effectiveness awards. In third place with 33 points from 25 starts (1.32 points per game) I give you Yohan Cabaye. Second with 16pts from 12 starts is Moussa Sissoko (1.33) but in first place with an amazing 20pts from 14 starts (1.43) I give you Yoan Gouffran. The team average across the season was only 1.08pps. Notice our top two only arrived in January.
So what does this all show? We managed to play the same team for three consecutive games once, we won two of those games and lost the other. We managed to play the same team in two consecutive games only twice in the season. The rest of the season, that’s 33 times, we failed to play an unchanged team. Stability may or may not be good for managers, but even the Tinkerman never used squad rotation like that. Given the above anyone prepared to nominate Pardew for Manager of the Year again.
No? Thought not. Doubt that many managers could get much of a tune out of that shambles though.
TLR@222, couldn’t agree more there. We all saw what this season did to Pardew on the stress front, he needs to keep well away from things for a week or two until this season’s debacle is out of his system.
I hope he learns to keep his kisser shut a bit more this season, and let his team do the talking.
Munich Mag(Quote)
@trumpet
Fans are so fickle that if we get off to a flying start next season, the anti Pards crew will deny they ever said it. 🙄
Seen it a thousand times.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Just to clarify on Jonas he made 33 starts from which the team picked up 41pts so that is 1.21pps. This compares to Marv who only started 10 but we only got 8 pts from those games therefore 0.80pps. Superficially this would imply that Jonas contributed more to the team than Marv does. However this would need to be looked at in more detail. Perhaps someone who wants to do the work to back up their argument that Marv should start ahead of Jonas should look at what happened in terms of mins on the pitch. Is Marv more effective when he comes on as a sub. The simple arguement of assists and goals is useful but again you are not comparing like with like. Strikers tend to score more goals than defenders.
Anyway I will agree that Obertans figures don’t look good
Premandup(Quote)
Solano,
The issue with wanting Liverpool as a blueprint is that we have moved from Villa to Arsenal to Everton and now to Liverpool. Seems to change to suit the situation, braindead stuff. Added to the fact we had a far better season than Liverpool last year, and were in a much better position to kick on. Instead Rodgers has handed Pardew his *** on a plate. We should have been competing with Liverpool this year realistically considering where they were and where we were
buddy(Quote)
ST
Didn’t he also say he wanted to finish 5th at the start of this season? He managed to finish 16th
“We worked hard last summer to bring them here, they did terrifically well to finish fifth and we want to do that again, or even better.”
So if he’s only aiming for 7th now does that mean we’ll finish 18th?
Pootle(Quote)
You’ll be alright though Troy. You want both Pardew out and Pardew to stay.
Safe bet nailing your colours to both masts.
Pootle(Quote)
http://www.libertynews.com/2013/05/breaking-terrorists-scream-allahu-akbar-as-they-cut-a-british-soldiers-head-off-in-broad-daylight/
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
TROY@227 for me he will always have a gob full of ***** no matter what season it is
icedog(Quote)
MM
Pardew did say he wanted PL experienced players 😕
Andymag(Quote)
Also I think the issue with the longball is not only is it horrible to watch, its painfully ineffective and doesnt suit out team in the slightest. We play with 3 DMs, and launch balls up to a striker who isnt good in the Air. Its like a hit and hope for the best rather than an effective attacking strategy. Nobody seems to be anywhere near latching onto a knockdown, as we only ever seem to have 3/4 players near the final third most. Its baffling and the most galling thing is that we have seen no sign of change nor do i think there will be one
buddy(Quote)
@ Mark i found that stat very interesting so went to look at possession stats as teams with more possession obviously will play more passes (long or short)
Newcastle 2,283 – 48.6%
Fulham 2,131 – 48.9%
Wigan 2,047 – 54.4 %
Everton 2,042 – 52.9%
Liverpool 2,041 – 57.2%
Spurs 2,028 – 53%
Swansea 2,024 – 55.3%
Chelsea 2,003 – 54.4%
Norwich 1,995 – 43.2%
Stoke 1,989 – 43.3%
Man United 1,968 – 56.2%
Sunderland 1,952 – 43.1%
So the teams around us apart from Fulham usually have the ball a lot more than us which i would say equates to their large number of long balls. I would say us and Fulham probably don’t try long balls as often as Norwich, Stole and Sunderland but because we have it more than them we manage to do more.
Santii(Quote)
I think if people get so annoyed with Pardew speaking in the press they should just ignore it. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.
Seriously though, him saying we want to compete with Liverpool is exactly (maybe slightly more ambitious) what many of us want for the next year or two so what are you both complaining about? Under Ashley we aren’t going to spend enough to be considered genuine CL contenders, so Pardew’s comments aren’t a stick to beat him with.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@Pootle
Its rational thinking Pootle. Try it. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Pootle
I regret what I said as after reading it I realised it didnt make sense and was rubbish, so I apologise.
@230
No it’s the opposite effect, two years ago Alan said his aim was top half and we finished fifth, this season he said top 4 and we finished sixteenth, so top 8 can be anywhere between 6th and 12th.
Andymag(Quote)
Are Marks stats relating to long balls.? According to the stats, super Martinez hoofs the ball for fun as well. 😯 oh dear. 😳
That will embarrass a few on here. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Last season Pardew had to say challenging for 5th, despite it being clear that we didn’t have the squad to be able to. If fans were rational he would have said that unfortunately due to our lack of quality in depth we would be hoping for mid-table – 8th, however had he said that, fans would have leapt on to it with “Aaaargh, he’s happy with us going backwards, get him out!”
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
TAE @ 232 RIP to the Woolwich Soldier 😥 I couldn’t believe it when I seen the news
Big Dave(Quote)
Rational or having no backbone?
Let the viewers decide?
😉
Pootle(Quote)
TAE@232 yeah mate I saw it on the news couple hours back , Really shocking stuff. That poor guy ,awfull way to die and no one could stop them cause they had guns too, His poor family will be completely aware of his last moments with all the coverage and it’s terribly upsetting . Hope they throw the book at the men responsible.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Good article Premand but we would need a comparsion to at least one other team and if possible 2 or 3. Can’t say for certain how another manager would have done in Pardew’s boots but I’m willing to bet some of our best from the past would have had us in mid table with around 50 points. Anyway it’s just speculation but watching the product on the field all season doesn’t convince me Pardew will do much better next season if he’s still with us. If we are poor to begin next season Ashley will be under enormous pressure to make a change and the incoming manager wouldn’t have had the benefit of the summer to have an impact. Does Ashley really want to look like he’s satisfied with a bottom 5 club to begin next season?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<<, thinks wars just been declared on britains streets meself thats disgracefull
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Clear we couldn’t challenge for fifth?
I seem to remember a few of his current blog defenders thinking we woulddo quite well this season despite our lack of summer transfer activity.
Pootle(Quote)
@Pootle
I think people call it
Sitting on the fence
Hedging your bets
Being in two minds
Playing it safe
Batting for both teams
Glory Hunter
(Viewers think of some more and insert here :D)
all aswell as having no backbone 😆 😳 😆
Santii(Quote)
@Pootle
Ouch 😆
I’ve touched a nerve there fella. 😆
Realistic. I don’t believe Pardew is as bad you make out though i think hes average. I therefore dont want another average manager in, which is what Ashley would do IMO.
Not a hard concept if you are a rational thinker. 😉
Did you come up with a replacement? 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
“Hope they throw the book at the men responsible.”
That just means cushy jail time where they can demand a PlayStation cos its their human rights.
They should be put down like the animals they are.
Pootle(Quote)
Oops. I’ve stirred the hornets nest. 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Pootle I can remember a few saying that the summer window was ok because we didn’t lose any of our top players, even though it was obvious we needed to strengthen, when in fact we got rid of 4 players 3 of which had a good bit of prem experience, could have helped out during the injuries
Big Dave(Quote)
Anyone else getting a bit annoyed about hearing about “lack of summer transfer activity”
It really is starting to be like Andy Carrolls 35 million all over again. 😆 😆
Santii(Quote)
Summer transfer activity Santii? You talking about the managerial post again? 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Benitez or Laudrup.
Easy. (And pointless and irrelevant)
Its not rational to simply be scared to voice an opinion.
As for not knowing what Ashley will do?
How many knew he would buy all those players in January?
Its just an excuse to hide behind while you are perched up on the fence.
You’ll just get splinters Troy. 😉
Pootle(Quote)
Solano @237 ,I think it’s the fact that we have hardly been able to compete with the likes of Reading and Wigan this season ,narrowly avoiding relegation and playing awfull football that makes his statement so embarrassing . To be honest I just want him to stfu and let his team and tactics do the talking. 🙄
KIMTOON(Quote)
Troy im only messing i don’t care what you think either way 😀 😆
Santii(Quote)
Kim he does talk some ***** at times but I am pretty sure we’ll have to put up with a lot more cause I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon
Big Dave(Quote)
Geordietwo.
There are lots of reasons for the poor season. Somebody listed 6 in the paper today. They were failure to strengthen, Ba’s get out clause, Colo’s love life. The poor run I called meltdown in the article, Injuries & I think the last one may have been tactics. The point being made was that only two were attributable to Pards. I was looking at the stats behind the poor run, but then expanded it to cover the whole season as I started to look at the figures. One thing that surprised me other than the inabilty to put the same team out consistantly. was that our best starting 11 at the start of the season never played together, and the best team from stats at the end of the season never played together either. Yes other teams have injuries but to never field your starting 11?
Premandup(Quote)
Pardew will most probably end up following the Hull City model, but not before January 2014.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Dave ,it’s certainly looking that way 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
“To be honest I just want him to stfu and let his team and tactics do the talking.”
I know what you mean Kim but to be honest his team selection and tactics are more woeful and painful, as incredible as that seems, than his blatherings to the press.
Pootle(Quote)
This attack on the soldier is awful no doubt about it.
Now these racist homophobic assholes ukip are going to get a lot more supporters because of this and they will no doubt stir the pot a lot more after this attack.
Pisses me of when a few run it for the many…
Santii(Quote)
Pootle ,they arn’t animals ,animals only kill for food by and large . But I agree they arn’t human , demons perhaps.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Pootle@262 😆 you have a point there
KIMTOON(Quote)
Yawn. Please can some one produce some more ‘statistics’ that prove Pardew plays exciting, attacking football and that we had a good season with just a smidgeon of bad luck.
I keep thinking about the evidence of my own eyes and the pain caused by what they witnessed and I don’t want to believe it, so can we have more ‘statistics that prove none of it was real??
Pootle(Quote)
@Kim
So do I, but again, people would have a go at him saying he was all over the press when we were winning, where is he when we losing?
I seriously think that some are just jumping on every single thing he does.
If Ashley says he’s staying then we just need to get on with it.
@Dave
I don’t think anyone said we would challenge for 5th with the squad. I think a lot of the summer disputes was whether it was ok to have a midtable season with Europe, or whether we should be splashing more to maintain our league position.
@Prem
Think I’m running out of patience to bother now, some will just never understand that as poor as Pardew has been this year, there have been a few mitigating circumstances. If we’d had even two more of our first teamers for 30+ games as well we probably would have got the points to finish 10th. Pardew’s **** season has just been magnified by all the other bad luck we’ve had. Coloccini sleeping around, you just can’t prepare for that.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
ST –
“SolanosTrumpet
52 mins ago
Why are people moaning that Pardew has said he wants to compete with Liverpool next year Get a grip you stereotypical delusional mags!”
As I am the main person ‘moaning’ I reckon it’s my right to correct this comment. I have no problem with Pardew wanting to compete with Lpool – that’s was never in question. I took acception to Pardew saying he was to use Lpool as a blueprint!. So, in what way does that make me a stereotypical delusional mag?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Pootle can you back up your arguments with any evidence or do you just want to slag of those who are prepared to try and find out why things are going wrong. I have not used stats to prove anything about tactics that is a different exercise altogether. Why not do it?
Premandup(Quote)
Good points Premand @259. Thanks for the reply. We did have a very rough go this season with injuries etc. I think all the big talk last summer from both Pardew and Llambias set them up for this criticism. I’m willing to agree to Pardew having another chance next season but there is a huge element of risk to the owner if he gets it wrong. I think management will have to consider a few issues going into next summer aside from the manager however. Such as:
1. To me it appears Cisse cannot replace Ba as a lone striker up front. A different formation with different players is required and I’m not talking about using Shola more.
2. In most games our midfield appeared confused as to their role and not suited to lobbing the ball up to Cisse for him to lose. The attack plan has to be for more on the carpet football to take advantage of Cabaye and Sissoko’s abilities.
3. A lot of our defensive frailty this season seems to come down to Saylor being made of glass and Colo wanting to leave. This has to be settled as soon as possible. I don’t think Saylor will ever stay relatively fit after having watched him for several seasons now.
4. Players like Shola, Perch and Willo have extremely limited usefulness. We take risks the more we have to play them. Willo is not a useful target man on set pieces. Perch is not a fullback or centre back. Shola is near the end, not useful for more than 15 minutes as 3rd choice striker.
5. A clearing out of players is required. We’ve talked about who many times. I won’t bore anyone by repeating my list.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Santii I get your drift, but I’d rather have law abiding UKIP supporters living in my country (however much I disagree with some of their views) than a bunch of ignorant, backwards religious zealots who worship death and care nothing for their fellow countrymen.
What I don’t understand is, if these idiotic savages love the medieval beliefs practised in certain areas of Afghanistan or Pakistan or such like, why don’t they **** off and try living there?
Pootle(Quote)
Santii @ 236 – good work, mate. 😀
Wellington(Quote)
Pootle – neither Laudrup nor Benitez is coming here. Those aren’t suggestions, they’re fantasies. But I will throw you a bone. There is a tiny chance that Zeman could come to Newcastle. If I were you, I would harp on about getting the most attacking coach in world football aboard.
Wellington(Quote)
@pootle
So we actually agree. Well done. I also want Pardew sacked for Benitez. You should really follow my points as it makes you look foolish when I correct you 😛
Santii
And I thought you never had an opinion about anything. 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Prem I have no intention of indulging in a statathon as thouse doing so have clearly been picking and chosing stats that present their distorted case.
Its the smug back-patting about producing stats that back up certain points of view (however distorted) or biased in the selection process that I find particularly pointless.
Not specifically refering to this article by the way (it raised some valid questions), just the self congratulatory sense of righteousness that seems to follow anybody producing statistics no matter how skewed or distorted.
Pootle(Quote)
Cisse and Ba are different players, Cisse more of a predator my stats in terms of points per start showed very little difference Cisse 1.06 from 34 games Ba 1.00 from 19. So you are correct we have to set up differently to get the best out of each. I think our midfield was coinfused because we rarely had much stability there. We did not have partnerships developed. Last season Cabaye and Tiote often dominated 3 man midfields. This time things were much more disjointed. Colo only started 21 and Saylor 23. That is not good for your best CB pairing. Nobody stood out this season. Whilst you may well be right re our fringe players Perch did well. His stats from a defenders point of view were on a par with everybody else except DEbuchy who stood out and Willo who was less effective this year. Last year we cleared out Best & Guthrie etc and missed them this year it could be argued. Lets get some good ones in before we junk our squaddies.
Premandup(Quote)
Pootle @ 271 spot on mate
ST @267 I never said there was 🙄
As for ” Think I’m running out of patience to bother now, some will just never understand that as poor as Pardew has been this year, there have been a few mitigating circumstances.”
I really don’t know why you bother to fight that one as it’s obvious some have decided to overlook that and lay ALL the blame at Pards door
Big Dave(Quote)
Ah your usual ‘I’m right no matter what anyone says, or what transpires’ defense Troy. Quelle surprise!
Its easy to be right when you sit on the fence.
Pootle(Quote)
@Prem
Pootle rarely backs anything up with facts. 😉
Your article is excellent and has highlighted some very important points which are overlooked by many.
I have no issue with having different opinions but to slate people for putting over valid points is typical of some.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Yes I would agree with all of the Premand @276. Move forward carefully and bring players in before letting others go. I’m not averse to Perch, actually enjoyed watching him play when in the right position. Yes our attack was a confused mess this year. That has to be rectified. Certainly with the right managing director I would be a lot more confident that we would fix things going into next season.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Should say I would agree with all of that Premand @276. 😳
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Why bother harping on at all Wellington?
No one predicted all our January signing so why get so tied up trying to predict who our next manager could be?
As long as it isn’t Pardew that’s a start.
Pootle(Quote)
Pootle that is a pretty broad question 😀
1 reason though maybe because us westerners have raped their economy and ravaged their country beyond recognition for years and years. Would you want to raise a family there (They come from many eastern European Countrys i know)? Or even want to live there?
They believe we are the sole reason their countries are being destroyed so a very small minority of Muslims who believe their scriptures literally take extreme measures against us infidels.
Now i think all religious people are fucking idiots (No Offense intended :D) but the majority of Muslims are very moral and caring just like a large amount of Christians.
Ukip will use this Muslim extremist and tarr the majority the same as the minority. I would be happy with10 foreigners in my street over 1 racist homophobic ******* like those people in charge of Ukip.
Santii(Quote)
Pootle I agree that I have seen some of that on here. I just like to see people backing up their position with some sort of references. I don’t agree with some of the stats I’ve seen on here, but I felt that there are people who have looked at this article decided it does not confirm their prejudices about tactics etc which clearly this article is not about. I’ve just got back from a 4.30 start this morning and read some guff, You happened to be online at the time. Sorry you didn’t desrve it. I don’t suppose any of them do.
Premandup(Quote)
Forgive me lads i know this is a football blog 😀
Santii(Quote)
@pootle
Sorry mate I didn’t realise I had to choose one way or the other. If you can’t see the relevance of my point then I worry for you. 😉
Do you understand I don’t hate Pardew as much as you. Therefore I don’t want him sacked.
I say that because I don’t believe Ashley will pay for a better manager such as Benitez.
Of course, I could be wrong, which you have struggled to grasp, as you may be right and appoint Benitez.
You would then be able to say, I told you so.
You really do find some things difficult to grasp don’t you. 😆 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Fact!
Troy both wants Pardew sacked AND doesn’t want him sacked.
A bold stance.
Pootle(Quote)
@Sharpy
It was actually to Georgio. Liverpool do seem to have altered how they do business, but Tottenham needs to be our inspiration.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Oh dear he still struggles to grasp it. 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Anyone know If Pardew’s been sacked??
Just had a text off a mate and that’s what he’s heard!! Nowt on SSN at the mo!!!
Toonsoldier9(Quote)
I don’t hate Pardew. I just think his management of the team this year has been atrocious. On several fronts.
Pretending otherwise is ridiculous and totally irrational.
You can skew as many stats into proving otherwise as you want. It won’t make it right.
I think we can do better.
I think saying ‘We know Ashley won’t” is a lame, embarrassing cop out for not deciding where you stand.
Did you know Ashley would stump up £9m for Cisse?
Did you know Ashley would buy all those players in January?
No. You didn’t.
So stop pretending to know Ashleys mind and say what you want for the good of the team.
I never took you for lily livered Troy.
😉
Pootle(Quote)
@Toonsoldier
People on twitter are certain he has or is about to be sacked… I wouldn’t take anything of that site to serious though just cross your fingers and hope they are right this one time 😀
Santii(Quote)
@Ice
I take your point fella about some of the things Pards says. I don’t see his Liverpool quote as being a bad thing to say.
The trouble is, toon fans including myself, clamour for any info from the club and always want to hear the manager talk about the club.
I’m sure surrounding the quotes which are picked out are surrounded by many other quotes which never get reported.
He’s always going to be criticised because he’s not a successful manager like SBR or KK in the eyes of the fans.
Just my thoughts.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy, baby, for me its not all about him getting Benitez so I can say I told you so.
I said Benitez because he has a proven track record. I said Laudrup because I think he would get a lot more from our players than Pardew currently can and even if we only finished around 8th to 10th at least he believes in entertaining football. Don’t forget I pay my money to be entertained too.
The truth is I have no idea who would come, who could come or who we can realistically get. Nor does you or anyone else.
I’m nervous about someone like Poyet but the fact is he could be a great success here. No one knows.
Bearing in mind the great job we all did predicting the signing of Cisse, or the signings in January I think its futile and, frankly, silly to pretend we know what Ashley would or could do.
Pootle(Quote)
Pootle do you honestly think that Jabba will sack Pards and get a quality manager in before the new season
Big Dave(Quote)
ST – fair enough mate. But again, I wouldn’t look to make Lpool or Spurs our blueprint. Simply because its unrealistic mate, they are both a country mile head of us in terms of finance and global support. We need to design our own blueprint and go with that, the problem we have is that as long as Mike Ashley at the helm he’ll be more interested in making SD a global brand than he will NUFC.
Sharpy17(Quote)
@Pootle
You make me chuckle Pootle. 😉
You’re basically telling me to change my mind about Pardews ability.
I’m telling I don’t think he’s as bad you believe. He’s not great, he plays poor football but I do believe he can steady the ship for next season and finish in the top half of the table.
I don’t want a change of manager unless it is going to be a top class manager as average managers tend to only last a couple of seasons and you are back to square one.
I definitely do not have a problem with anyone shouting for his sacking as its everyone’s entitlement but you seem to have a real problem with anyone trying to prove Pardew has had his problems this season and give valid reasons.
I’m sorry if you are upset but as Santii said to me, I don’t really care. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Pootle
I can second guess cos that’s what I choose to do and I’m prepared to say it on a public forum.
I base my second guessing on the history of Ashley’s reign. He has been horrific at appointing managers.
Managers aren’t like players. Rarely do they have a sell on value like a player.
Compen would have to be paid to Pardew. Compen to the club you get a manager from.
Or if the manager is a free agent, he is usually **** cos no one wants him or he’s good and there’s competition for his services.
You can be romantic as you want and believe Ashley will get Laudrup or Benitez. I hope he does but I’m second guessing and saying he won’t.
That has been explained many times by myself and others. You struggle with the concept, I don’t.
Now get on the reality train and I will allow you to jump off if we stop at Benitez City. You can then say I’m wrong. That is not sitting on the fence.
Its being realistic and I’m confident of reaching Mediocre City. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Sharpy
I’m not sure, Spurs definitely spend a lot, but in the past a fair bit was funded by sales – Keane/Berbatov/Carrick/Modric.
If Ashley can follow that we stand a chance of improving. If though…
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
I don’t care how you assess Pardews abilities Troy.
Each to their own. At least you aren’t using a statistical barrage to try to prove we don’t play ineffective defensive longball. Or that black is white.
I find your diaphanous beliefs about Pardew and Ashley quite entertaining actually. Just fancied a bit of good natured jousting tonight. 😉
I need to go and buy a new bottle of bleach now, though, as I’ve just left a truly unfortunate skidmark down the toilet. 😳
Pootle(Quote)