Rayvin

I think the total non-reaction IheartDC is getting here is slowly killing him, his posts are getting more and more frantic. He's had people agreeing with him and wishing him Merry Christmas.

Yeah but in fairness, we'll always be able to blame Pardew and normal service should resume under a manager of competence. It's a shame they didn't get relegated a couple of seasons back though, it would've saved a lot of points for us...

Seriously? There's a part of me that really thinks fair play to him on that front, but at the same time that makes him really quite delusional in is self-visualisation. Imagine if that got shattered. Was the autobiography good?

Fair point. I'll rephrase - Moussa is really fucking good at countering.

To be fair to Pardew, we're actually pretty fucking good at countering. It's not going to matter this time though. Am expecting a hammering - Alnwick vs Van Persie, Falcao and Rooney? He'll have to play the game of his life. Even with our pretty good countering, we rely on some outstanding defending and goalkeeping from time to time, and he just isn't up to it.

Plus we have Allardyce's West Ham being lauded as playing 'attractive football' that involves the use of Andy Carroll and Stephen Downing. Outdated football methods challenging for the CL places...

Maybe he means he'd rather lose 1-0 than 3-0, and this was therefore a huge success versus our previous outings. Although I would have thought his preference was for 4-0s.

Well maybe but then Liverpool have fallen farther than we have since last season. We're actually doing alright just looking at the table - at least to the untrained eye. Not hugely convinced of Rodger's managerial credentials I have to say, although that might just be because he's working for Liverpool currently, and their plight is amusing.

How does he get such an easy ride from the press? Is it just the fear of being banned? Saying that, it's not like journalists ever really challenge any manager - they're just mouthpieces.

I reckon he says shit like that because it's now part of his 'image'. He can't possibly be that much of a bell end.

He represented the end of our club as we knew it too...

Y'know, I'd forgotten about Siem De Jong... maybe he'll offer us what we need, who knows. When is he due back, must be soon now?

Is that going to preclude us from playing in Europe then? Surely the League would have to take some issue with that...

Must have been utterly horrifying to witness. RIP to those lost and best wishes for those who can be saved.

That is fair play Always liked Milner, seems a down to earth kinda guy.

1 - Buy Cabaye back or some other playmaker who can unlock defences. Would throw the entire budget at this if need be. All £10. 2 - Recall MYM if possible. 3 - Sack John Carver and begin process for revitalising the coaching structure so that the club has quality people in place despite any managerial changes. I would ensure that decision making surrounding who was brought in was not the responsibility of myself; perhaps Graham Carr calling the shots on that one. 4 - Tie Sissoko down to a new contract if at all possible. 5 - Strong challenge for the FA Cup to get the fans back on side.

From the players we have currently, what do we think the style of football would be though? I actually think we're well suited to the counter attack - we have pacey players who can move the ball quickly through midfield and up to the front men. Sissoko is integral to this, which is why our entire system will be in tatters in January when he is sold. Of course, it'd be nice to be able to assert ourselves on teams as an alternative strategy to the counterattacking - Pardew has never really managed this, despite some occasional attractive periods - back in the Cabaye days. If we still had Cabaye as well as the team we have currently, I think we'd be able to find these killer balls to unlock defences after sustained possession based play. It's the inability to do this that means we are so impotent when the other team has men behind the ball, regardless of the 'style' of play.

I just hope it's in the summer rather than January. Our season (such as it is) seems to be harpooned every January. And then we'll have another relegation fight on our hands as we realise that the board were too incompetent to find a suitable replacement.

True enough - it's actually strange how little Sunderland have progressed in that time. I think they've probably gone backwards actually, they were alright for a while under Bruce. We all can agree that Pardew costs us the derbies - at least it's not surprising anyone any more. I'm also pleased that Alnwick didn't do something stupid which meant that Pardew couldn't use him as a scapegoat.

Er... now there's an reasonable response. Are you quite right in the head? This is why people think you're a mackem. Notice how no one else is freaking out about this result? Annoying? Yes. Worth raving about like this was rtg? No.

Agreed, he's been consistently good. I just wish we could organise our forward players into a system that worked to their strengths - all of them.

Pardew's post match interview appears to blame the players for pushing up to try and force the win. This is from the guy who took off our holding midfielder for a third striker to be on the field.

That'll be another Brendan Rodgers ramble about how strong the team spirit is blah blah, so many positives to take from the game, etc...

If Armstrong had squared to Sissoko about 10 minutes before their goal, we would have won. Instead he took the shot on - fair enough, he's a forward and inexperienced. But still, had he been a little more aware, we probably would have won the game. Small margins this time.