Surely this should be the template for every home match at St James’ Park. Yet for some reason it isn’t. I’m intrigued to know why.
Performances aren’t brilliant, but come on we’ve been served up some rubbish over the years. Spells of good times have been few and far between over the years. However it is a results based business and last season was disappointing. Finishing 16th is poor even by our standards. Note that an away win at Villa with a good performance has lifted the spirits with most fans, so hopefully we are in for a more positive season.
However, I’m not convinced that the discontent is generated by on-field factors. I think it is more off field. So I’ve decided that a survey of our bloggers might help to clarify the perspective of what is actually going on. I’ve come up with some headings, with a bit of a description of where I think we are in each of them. What I want from you is marks out of 10 of how important each category is, and marks out of 10 for how well we are doing in each category. I’ll use these to develop a feelgood factor that we can repeat and monitor. So first up…
League Results
Since the war we have been relegated four times spending a total of 17 seasons in the second tier of English football. We have also had four periods of “Glory Years”, top five finishes, 1948 to 1952 where with George Rutherford and Stan Seymour we finished 4th – 5th – 4th – 8th. These were also the cup years.
Next up we had three relegations and only seven top ten finishes from 26 top flight seasons until the Sir John Hall and Kevin Keegan years when in the four years (1993 to 1997) we finished 3rd – 6th – 2nd – 2nd and shortly thereafter we had the Freddie Shepherd and Sir Bobby Robson years where we finished 4th – 3rd – 5th. Other than that the only other high spots were the 5th places achieved by Gordon Lee in 1976/7 and Alan Pardew in 2011/2.
If we ignore the four seasons we were relegated (and the years in the second tier) and the 13 glory years above we have averaged 13th in the remaining 32 seasons. On that basis I think that the Alan Pardew years to date deserves probably a 7/10 and as league results are the key measure and worth 8/10
Europe and Cups
Even if things are not going well a good cup run and a trip to Europe can lift the spirits so with a run to the Quarter Final of the Europa League cup last season to remember again 7/10 but as a measure it’s less important so 7/10
Next we come to things that are less tangible such as style of play, PR and communications; as well as background matters such as Finances, Squad strength etc. Personally I don’t think these are as important but you may feel different. To me so long as we are not threatened with administration and can field 11 players on the pitch it will be reflected in the outcomes and so are marginal. Together I’ve given them half the overall value.
Finances
Turnover, Profit, Global Brand awareness, Deloitte rankings etc indicate that the clubs finances are in the best state they have been in a long time. Turnover of nearly £100m, Profit of a few million, ROI of 8%, 7th biggest in EPL, 20th in Europe everything good here so 9/10 in a measure worth 4/10
Squad including Manager and Coaches
The first team is as good as anybody outside the big six. The bench and squad is probably OK for a domestic season but still very susceptible to injuries etc, Management that can cope well in the good times but struggle when under the cosh. 6/10 from a measure worth 4/10
Style of play
Well I’ve seen some decent play and some hoofball and some horror shows so no, only 4/10 from a measure worth 3/10
PR & Communications
What PR? What communications? Decision making that baffles the imagination. Appointments that confuse. I don’t mind a reclusive owner, but that has to be compensated for. It isn’t, just 1/10 in a measure worth 3/10
Showbiz
I don’t know if you could rightly even call this a measure. Newcastle became my second team in The Joe Harvey years, Pop Robson, Supermac etc. Great entertainment on and off the field. Only four top ten finishes in ten seasons.
Since then nobody can claim to have been bored following Newcastle. Always in the news for right and wrong reasons. Once described as the best soap opera in English football and still living up to the billing. Other clubs may try to claim the headlines but only Newcastle know how to fill the column inches. I’m going to have to give it 9/10 even though currently it’s for all the wrong reasons, nothing new there. But as a measure I’m only awarding 1/10 and struggling to justify that.
So folks, over to you. What’s you’re verdict on the above categories. How are we doing in each. Have I got the importance right, and any other categories that I have missed out.
So on the basis of the above I award a Feelgood Factor of 63% or 6/10. Not bad, could do better. What’s all the fuss about?
Pards is fine supporters – no he isn’t. Rabbit in the headlights most of last season and a total lack of ability to understand the players he has and play them in their best positions. Having said that, the bile directed at him wouldn’t be half as thick if he wouldn’t talk to the press. That’s probably his biggest fault. Speaking.
georgio(Quote)
@Newkie – 293
He didn’t think he could get a win at Man Utd & Arsenal. Not many teams do so why would he?
Tiote wasn’t fully fit. He won’t be fully fit until he’s had another game.
He couldn’t play Shola because Remy was available. Cisse & Remy are ahead of Shola. I was worried that he might chose Shola ahead of Gouffran but i guess Pardew proved me wrong on that one.
I can’t think of one time when i’ve seen Wigan not play confidently or be unable to take the game to the oppositon. They might have lost but they still went out to try and win.
It was the opposite for us. Always worried about how other teams could hurt us. Trying to keep things tight and nick the odd goal. Defending 1 goal leads. Pathetic.
Our squad is worth more than Everton’s. Why can’t we compete with them?
We outspent Arsenal before relegation but we still could not compete. It the rubbish managers we’ve had.
KK(Quote)
@KK
FTSOTBAP
For the sake of the blog and Pardew. 🙂
@Aussie
Will you stop jumping up and down like Roo cos you stole it off Stardust originally. 😛
Have you ever been original? 😯 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Fatih Terim – He said he would come to us. The EPL is the most competitive league in the World. He would go to any of the top 6 if offered the chance and we are a top 7 club.
Marcelo Bielsa – Out of employment. He would come and only ask that he is left alone to work with the players. No demands for a big transfer budget or high salary etc.
Frank de Boer – Anita came so why wouldn’t he?
Philippe Montanier – This would be the easiest appointment to make.
KK(Quote)
Been away to get some wood cut ,I love the smell of timber . That reminds me, when’s Pards next presser. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
http://www.themag.co.uk/the-mag-articles/reported-ashley-cut-backroom-staff-blocked-any-new-additions-as-well-as-no-player-signings/
Sad if true ,laying people off to save a few quid ,I hate how cheapskate he is. £60m tv money and he gets rid of staff .
KIMTOON(Quote)
@Kim that funny
Did he not bring in a new fitness coach what a load of **** being written for gullible idiots to lap up.
Santii(Quote)
He didn’t think he could get a win at Man Utd & Arsenal. Not many teams do so why would he?
He didn’t think he could get a win…so he went for the win? You make no sense at all.
Shola is behind them because thats how Pards picked them…even some of our fans rate SHOLA above Cisse on current form so…
Wigan have looked gash against us several times, let alone against every other side. Their defenders rarely striked me as confident even when they won.
Our squad is worth more than Everton’s according to who? They just sold a player for 24 mil so I imagine that helps a lot on the football sites. Name one player in our team who would fetch that. Not one. They also have Baines at about 20 mil. I dread to think what Barkley’s price will be if he carries on the way he is, young english goalscorer=30mil? They have also strengthened a lot more than us in the summer.
Yes I agree with the last point…Wenger is a very good manager, most of ours were trash. But then Wenger did spend to make his squad in the first place and establish them, then he was able to use that base to develop his younger players and sell on his older ones to create that type of football. We never had such a vision as a club due to poor ownership and consistent managerial changes.
Newkie(Quote)
It seems strange to hire an average English manager with no second language for a club made up of foreign (mostly French internationals). If the main reasons for hiring Pardew are because he’ll do what he’s told and is relatively cheap to pay then what is the point? We can’t prove those are the reasons but I fail to see any others. If as a club the decision has been made (as it clearly has) to go forward in a big way with foreign players then surely a French speaking manager is needed? And if Ashley has any football ambition at all (he doesn’t) then why hire Kinnear when he’s been out of the game so long? Without ambition to win something the whole thing is a waste of time as far as supporters are concerned. Ambition isn’t a guarantee but lack of ambition is a fairly certain way to never win a trophy again.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
He didn’t think we could win against man utd and arsenal especially when it was away from home so he had nothing to lose.
He let the players play without holding them back. As it turns out they didn’t win but the important thing was the performance; a performance we didn’t normally see because of his negative attempts to try to stop opponents rather than focusing on how to beat opponents.
Even if you think everton have a better squad than ours, you can’t possibly think there is a big gap between us? The performances suggest that there is a gap somwhere so it’s either the manager & coaches or it’s the players?
Which is it?
We also had a very good platform to build from after keegan and bobby robson. Every other manager apart from hughton was not wanted by the fans (pardew included).
KK(Quote)
“Apparently, signing Gomis would have meant Newcastle taking an overdraft of £7m and owner Mike Ashley thought that Gomis was overpriced. The same also applied to Darren Bent with whom mastermind Joe Kinnear also held talks.”
The above is from the article Kimtoon sent the link for. Mastermind Joe Kinnear?????? Hahahahaha 😆 That’s hilarious. 😆 😆
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@Premandup
You’re working on the logic that previous managers apart from keegan & sbr have set a satisfactory standard. They haven’t. Apart from kedgan, sbr and hughton, all are other managers in the premier league era have not been good enough.
Pardew is about as good as most managers we’ve had in the past but that is not good enough otherwise those managers would still be here.
KK(Quote)
So Mike the buffoon is now laying of staff? He’s only worth 2.3 billion pounds or so but he has to heap misery on a few more decent people? Well done Mike, that’s another 200K or so saved that you can use for a big pissup with the other 2 stooges.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Darren Bent was not good enough for villa and lambert so why is h good enough for pardew & us?
Gomis is way too overpriced. He isn’t prolific and & just seems like a better replacement for shola. We needed a first team forward not a backup player.
I’m glad we didn’t sign either of those.
It made sense to lose simpson and perch. Sure they were both decent but neither could expect to start regularly.
It makes more sense to have young hungry players instead who coulx come into the first team and do a job.
KK(Quote)
Sorry should say laying off staff @313. 😳
GeordieTwo(Quote)
A good commdng made by somebody else.
Pardew as the 2nd longest manager in the league should have already sorted his backroom at. The truth is, he has. He’s filled it with people as rubbish as him.
KK(Quote)
Mike Ashley. What a class act. I can hardly wait to hear what the next move is Mike. Another pissup on the yacht? Maybe have the other 2 stooges over and celebrate laying off some staff? You are a real winner Mike. I’m sure your ex wife could tell us some stories.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
KK-Have you perhaps ever thought that Pardew wasn’t allowed his own backroom staff and that Ashley will only pay for cheap options-i.e promote Stone from the academy (for success, apparently) and getting in old toon legends to pacify the fans? Beardo was a quality player but what credentials does he have? Has he had any success?
Considering Hughton was forced to manage the side without a number 2 for almost 2 months, my money is on the fact that Ashley doesn’t want an elite backroom staff because he sees them as a drain on his money. Especially when he might have to sack them off because the manager he picked wasn’t the right one in the first place.
Newkie(Quote)
I’ve been wondering about Beardsley as well Newkie. A great player, always loved to watch him but is he any good as a coach? What is the evidence? The reserves and academy are struggling again. I thought we were building through youth? What about Carver? I’m just not sure about Carver either I’m afraid. He failed with Toronto FC, although the club is a disaster to be fair. Do we have a proper hiring method for management? Of course we do. I mean we snatched Kinnear away from all the clubs that were after him didn’t we?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Someone on another blog described Mike Ashley as a predatory opportunist. I think that hits the nail on the head. The man is a reptile with a purse for a heart. Sad and pathetic. His only friend is Joe Kinnear. They belong together.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@NEWKIE – 318
You could be right about Pardew not being able to have his own backroom team.
Who hired all these people? I can’t find any reason why they should be at the club unless it’s the fact that they are geordies!
It’s Pardew desperation (or arrogance/naivety) that would allow him to take a job without being able to bring in people who could help him.
KK(Quote)
Geordietwo-exactly mate. Look Pards is average but do people actually think eh surrounds himself with a poor coaching team on purpose? Of course he doesn’t, if he was that **** he’d be surrounding himself with the best coaches possible to make up for his shitness. The fact is Ashley just doesn’t allow it. I’m sure Pedro has some great skills to teach the young lads-but for me attitude is crucial and I really don’t see Beardsley laying into all our young future “stars”. Like you say, Carver and Stone, nice to have around but what exactly have they accomplished? They are hardly the next Mourinho or AVB making their mark on the world are they?
I think predatory opportunist is a great description. It makes him perfect for the world of cutthroat business, but unfortunately, not a good football owner.
Newkie(Quote)
KK-Exactly mate. They are cheap geordies to placate the fans anger as far as I’m concerned. It is nice to believe we could have a club run by past stars like Pedro and managed by Shearer but the reality is-until they have done their apprenticeship they can’t be given such important roles. I’m sure beardo is learning but maybe we should at least give him someone with real success as a guide?
I agree-Pards was desperate for a job-especially one of this calibre because he knows he won’t get a better one at another club. But even so I think he would have thought he could convince Ashley to invest in some coaches-he’s only just now managed to convince him we need a dedicated fitness expert, thank god. But look what it took to convince him…
Newkie(Quote)
KK lets spell it out simply. Do I want us to finish top 4. Yes of course I do. Do I expect us to. No. Why not? well, 6 teams with much bigger budgets than us stand as competition. Squad wages double ours all of them.
So what can we do. Spend several hundred million on players and double our wage bill. That will give us a better chance but guarantee nothing. At best it puts us on a level playing field. Is this going to happen under Ashley, No Of course not. Is another Billionaire going to come in and finance such a strategy. Not if they have any business sense.
Ok if we can’t buy it we need a manager who can lift us as has already happened twice in our history. But being Newcastle we didn’t quite make it and we threw it away. Who is out there, you name 4 possibles all of whom would be a good shout. My choice would be Bielsa but I hardly expect him to be a long term solution. He doesn’t seem to stay anywhere longterm.
I point out that our history is not stella. Under good managers we have done well, but never massive. Here we differ, I think our history defines us and it takes something special to transcend that. I don’t expect that, I don’t feel that we have some divine right to it. I’m not complaining that we are not exceeding the expectations of our history.
I would be delighted to find a manager who can raise us to new plane, to rewrite history. I don’t think that Pardew is that man. Even if he is only the 4th manager to get us a top 5 finish.
However, I believe that people who do not give credit where it is due are foolishly mean-spirited and such unreasonableness is part of the problem that has shaped our history. So yes I do give credit to Pardew. He is a competant EPL manager.currently one of only 6? Englishmen in the EPL. Given that there are 1000+ Managers with his qualifications but very few with his experience, I would reckon that he is rated as one of the top 10 English Managers. For a top 10 English Club that seems like a reasonable fit.
Yes as I’ve said we could do better, but we could also do a lot worse.
Premandup(Quote)
I recall that fans called for Carver to be appointed because of his past association with Sir Bobby. Pardew first of all took him on on a temporary basis because he said that he wanted to see if they could work together. There is no sign of Mike Ashley being involved.
Groucho(Quote)
@Pemandup
You seem happy that pardew has got the club performing as well (or as poorly) as it has performed since the start of the premier league.
I’m unhappy because of the very same reason. Why? Because the club has enough potential to be a giant but for too long we’ve under achieved.
Pardew might be a very good ENGLISH manager but i can’t think of any english managers that are decent at the moment. None are in the big jobs at any of the big clubs.
This is one of the problems with our national team. We have a **** youth setup. We have **** coaches and to top it off we have **** managers too.
We’re a top 20 club in world football. Pardew is not a top 20 manager.
KK(Quote)
No I’m not happy. Like everybody I want more. But I’m not going to slag off those who have us to where we are now. All I’m doing is giving credit where it’s due. I can think of lots of clubs with potential. I remember when Sheffield Wednesday were as big as us if not bigger. Every club has the potential, not many can achieve it. We have come close more than others. That’s good. We are building a decent platform here. We are probably in a better shape than at any time since SBR left. Not that that gets a mention. It appears we are run by idiots, managed by a FOOL and totally incompetent I despair at the lack of respect that these people give our club and they call themselves fans.
Premandup(Quote)
I agree we’re in the best shape since sbr but i can’t give credit to pardew for it. What has he done to get us where we are?
Graham Carr brought in most of the team and mike ashley has propped us up financially.
KK(Quote)
Managers get credit when things go well and flack when they don’t. The players rate him. His peers rate him, He’s deserves the credit for us being where we are. Nothing more, nothing less.
Premandup(Quote)
Groucho-Mike or more likely Dekka would have suggested it to Pards, the fans were livid with his appointment (I was pissed off as well) but I still think Carver was a bit of a smokescreen, he could easily lend some geordie credability to the cockney mafia. I’m sure they thought Carver would do well of course, to be honest he isn’t my main gripe. I don’t think he’s brilliant, but it is Stone-promoted because of the success of the academy (What success?) and the promotion of Pedro that strike me as a cheap way to get Geordie mascots on the bench and appease the fans.
I mean how can you claim you want to focus on youth development and then appoint someone with so little experience in an academy which is already renowned for missing top talent in the local area. Then again we have switched away from our youth policy because we aren’t buying people under 18 anymore….or something. We change plans whenever it suits us it seems.
Newkie(Quote)
Livid with the appointment of Pardew that is, not Carver*
Prem@327-Well said mate, agree with most of that.
Newkie(Quote)
Pardew one of the top 10 English managers. Could be, but that doesn’t count for **** as far as “success” goes…I’d like to know who are the other nine in front of him ? 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)
Hi Newkie, well you asked. @266
Premandup(Quote)
Munich if you can’t name them he must be no 1 😆
Premandup(Quote)
Premandup@334, it was your quotation, maybe you can name the top ten ? 😆 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
I wouldn’t say his peers rate him. I wouldn’t say they don’t rate him. To them he is what you said he is, just an average english manager.
I’m not sure why you think the players rate him. I’ve not seen any player actually come to the club to work with pardew in the same way ozil was happy to leave real madrid to work with wenger.
Managers get credit or abuse for what they do. Pardew hasn’t done anything that deserves credit. What has pardew brought to the club?
He is in a role that is too big for him. He is the worst performing manager to have been in charge at the club since the start of the premier league. If you’re happy for pardew to stay in charge surely you would have no problem with souness or roeder coming back?
KK(Quote)
Prem @ 327. I don’t know why you bother arguing with them. They don’t have any capacity to understand sense. They have a jaundiced view of things and by god they are going to stick to it no matter what.
Or they’re just on a wind up. Either way, ignore them. They aren’t worth the effort.
brisvegas(Quote)
@brisvegas
So can we assume you were happy for pardew to have been appointed?
Or was it because he was in charge when we finished 5th?
I call it how i see it. I see that on the whole Mike Ashley has been good for the club.
I also see that Pardew has not had an impact at the club. He hasn’t taken us forward. We haven’t progressed. As one of the longest serving managers in the league he has had not developed a style or philosophy.
Can you or anybody else tell me what exactly pardew has done at the club because to me it looks like he hasn’t moved us forward at all?
KK(Quote)
@brisvegas
Our squad is as good as it has been since sbr.
Souness & roeder were both in charge after sbr and they both have a better record than pardew.
Your logic suggests you would be happy if souness was in charge!!
KK(Quote)
Santi @307 , yep the fitness ladies wages is most likely covered by the loss of staff in the media department ,then an idiot could work that out, no 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Opinions opinions. We all have opinions. My opinion is that some people aren’t worth arguing with.
brisvegas(Quote)
Troy Stavers
September 18, 2013 at 15:39
@Aussie
Will you stop jumping up and down like Roo cos you stole it off Stardust originally. 😛
Have you ever been original? 😯 😆
Wow, deary me 😯 No wonder Djebs leaves you trailing in his comedic wake Troy.. You seem bereft of jokes and simply rely on stealing other peoples tag lines and then accuse those people of stealing them from someone else 😆 😆 😆
You seem a little lost mate, you do know that you can talk to your mate Aussie if needs be 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I might be going out on a limb here 😯 … but I reckon JJ/KK/JK doesn’t like Pardew and no amount of valid arguments to the contrary will convince him otherwise 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I think you might be right, Oz. I think you might be right.
There’s a lot of that going on: ignore the other person’s point of view (or caricature it to make it into an easy target), then continue banging on with the same old opinion as if it were fact, and repeat ad nauseum whatever mantra the opinion is based on.
I’m in another explosive mood. Must be male menopause. 😆
brisvegas(Quote)
Nah mate, just some mean spirited bastards who since the world isn’t spinning the way they want it to, whinge and blame all those doing the work for failing them. Ah diddums.
Anyway, speaking of work. 5.30 in the morning over here, time I was off.
Premandup(Quote)
Bloody hell Vegas, calm down mate, calm down! 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Wow! 😯
It looks like KK has been giving Begas & Aussie the runaround. 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Woah! Whats wrong with you all??
Ben arfa has been our standout performer. 1 player. On his own he has helped us get 5 points.
Take away his awesome contribution and we would have 2 points.
We would be in the bottom 3.
Would you all still be confident that pardew is good enough to be our manager?
He is the worst manager we’ve had since the start of the premier league. His results show that.
He’s also the third longest serving manager in that time yet he is not better than any other manager we’ve had.
KK(Quote)
Bit busy on here this morning. I’ll just try to squeeze one in.
How are you Aussie?
What would you like to debate?Price of fish? Kangarooburgers? Or whether Ashley has a heart of gold?
georgio(Quote)
KK – I don’t think (even though I can’t stand the bloke) he’s worse than Dogleash. At least he hasn’t dismantled a great team or bought total rubbish.
georgio(Quote)
Anybody that thinks pardew should be manager has changed their mind because they didn’t think that when he was hired.
So why have they changed their mind? It’s can’t be because of our performances last season.
So have they changed their mind because we finished 5th?
KK(Quote)
Pards is really showing up those who called him ***** last season.
He’s finished 5th, manager of the year and now he’s got us playing wonderful football in the top half the league.
A win against Hull launches the Pardew rocket into orbit.
I know KK is winding us up. Nobody can disagree with my points. 😎
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Georgio
The points per game show that pardew is worse but i agree he probably doesn’t have as good a team to work with.
However pardew does have a team as good as what sbr had but pardew has got worse results than roeder & souness.
There are some fans on here that have been beaten down so bad that they actually think finishing mid table is an achievement!
These fans are happy for the club to finish around 10th place and for the club to be managed by a top 10 ENGLISH manager.
English managers are **** & this club is not a mid table, mediocre club that only manages to win games occasionally by a 1 goal margin.
The worst thing is why would the club want to change manager if the fans are happy watching the boring football.
KK(Quote)
What I admire about Pards is his ability to be professional in all situations. He never brings the club into disrepute.
He’s calm under pressure and when given the tools to work with he constructs a team that’s up there with one of the best in history.
I can see him pushing for another award this month. Let’s all get behind him, even you KK cos I know you aren’t being serious. You can’t be. 😉
I liken Pards to the great Bill Shankly in many ways. A great one for motivational quotes and tactical awareness yet he’s not quite up there yet, I can see him achieving Shanklys heights as long as Mikey backs him.
Can’t wait for Hull now.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy, why would you bait me like that?
KK(Quote)
KK – last season was boring and utterly **** I agree but I didn’t half enjoy the villa game. There were definitely signs of improvement and for the first time under Pardew there was a definite team shape that I could see for the whole game. Anita and Sissoko are key for me with energy and intelligence. Once when Colo galloped forward Sissoko instantly dropped back to CB. Liked it. Probably not much to do with AP but players in the right positions. He’ll probably drop Anita for Tiote. Idiot.
georgio(Quote)
KK
I’m not baiting. I thought you were.
You can’t disagree with what I’m saying. I only deal in facts.
Your points are so off the mark I thought you were going to tell us all it was a wind up.
Read my last posts, they are facts that can’t be disputed.
Pards isn’t quite on Shanklys level yet but he well on the way and has great parts of his personality and skill it’s uncanny.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy – that bulge in your cheek is too visible.
georgio(Quote)
Georgio
Where’s the punch line???? 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
KK@353 – you think this team is as good as 2002/3? Were you there? They’re way off in my mind and very short of two good strikers. Not to mention two great wingers!
georgio(Quote)
Thats the thing georgio. A lot of these foreign players are taught to be tactically aware and i honestly think that we have a few players (liks anita & sissoko) who know more about tactics than the coaches and manager.
We’ll only enjoy occasional games like villa. The coaches and manager have not been able to get us playing with any particular philosophy.
We will have a decent season. We will finish in the top 10. It’s a world cup year and we have a team full of international players & not too many games. Top 10 is not difficult. It’s easy. It’s also a waste.
KK(Quote)
Don’t do them Troy – I’m too nice. But I ask you this – why is it one sheep and twenty sheep instead of twenty sheeps?
georgio(Quote)
I’ve always said, great managers are those that have experienced the good then the bad and then comeback again.
I’m so pleased he wasn’t sacked last season like many predicted. We wouldn’t be all on a high like we are now, sitting pretty in the table and ready to launch another euro challenge.
Pardew deserves all the credit he is now getting.
“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.”
Les Kellet 1971
Pards certainly achieved greatness two seasons ago and it looks like he’s on course again.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
How foolish is KK & Georgio looking now. 😆
Pards is rogering you’s . 😆
It’s time now to get right behind Pards and support him.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Georgio 360-Bang on, while we lost some quality by the time Sourpuss came in he still had a far better side than Pardew had when he came in and a better squad than we have now IMO. Roder actually did quite well given the tools he had at his disposal. It wasn’t great footie and he was never going to take us to glory so I suppose he was doomed to the sack but I thought he did pretty well given his options
KK-Strange rationale about Benny. So without Sturridge Liverpool would have 0 points? We would still be out performing them then 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Troy man, you were still slagging him off two weeks ago you sly devil 😆
Newkie(Quote)
I remember Troy predicting Pardew would be gone before the season started 😆 😆 😆 😆
brisvegas(Quote)
@Newkie
You hate dealing with the truth.
He’s assembled the best team since SBR days so where’s the problem.
We are flying high and shooting for Europe.
“Loyalty to the right man makes a manager out of the man. ”
Les Kellet 1975
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy,
Have you taken your medication this morning?
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
@Georgio – 360
I think:
Krul is as good as Given
Debuchy is better than Griffin
Yanga-Mbiwa is better than Bramble
Coloccini is better than Woodgate
Santon is as good as Bernard
Ben Arfa is as good as Robert
Anita is better than Jenas
Cabaye is better than Dyer
Sissoko is worse than Solano
Remy is better than Bellamy
Cisse is worse than Shearer
Based on this list i think we have 4 players overall that are better than 02-03.
What do you think?
KK(Quote)
Bris-Troy predicts everything and therefore is always right. You have to hand it to him really, it truly is irrefutable.
Troy 😆
Nah it’s good to have you on board this side of the merchant ship, take it away sailor ❗ 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Perhaps that list is too simplistic but still it would be interesting to see how we compare.
KK(Quote)
Well done lads, finally some light hearted laughs and banter
This place was getting way too serious..
Georgio, from earlier.. I’m good thanks mate, cheers for asking..
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
@Aussie
😡 I’m not laughing. ! 😡
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Yer right 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)