Southampton Away

[Alex 35080]

A team is always likely to be sussed out the season after a good season if they don't make the required additions to personnel. Admittedly Pardew has also been sussed out but that's partly due to his lack of options and partly due to his own limitations. I don't suppose the latter comes as that much of a surprise to most though. Although it's fucking hilarious seeing CT, his biggest advocate, turning on him. He'll possibly suss out Ashley isn't the world's greatest owner next. All this comes from a view point of not really giving a fuck anymore thanks largely to the fat cunt (Ashley, not CT).

[Happy Face 29]

He'll possibly suss out Ashley isn't the world's greatest owner next.

 

 

Bragging about his budgie to everyone down the pub one week, the next he's wrung it's neck because it couldn't pronounce antidisestablishmentarianism correct.

[McFaul 35]

he does now he's not working at Safeway Cowgate any more

Gene insinuating that CT is Paul Wyn here in case that went over anybodies head.

 

Before a ball was kicked I said we'd come 12th, and I think we'll have to improve to come 12th. That was utterly disgusting that game yesterday. It reminded me of a 2-0 defeat at Charlton in 2001. http://nufc.com/html...1charltona.html

 

SBR said:

 

 

"If they think it's about enjoying themselves for six days they have got it wrong in their heads, for Christ's sake,"

 

"They get a lot of money for what they have just given. We go to La Manga, and I don't want to go. I will see how I feel when I get to the airport, but the way I feel at the moment I'd rather go back to Newcastle."

 

"To be fair to the referee, he has the right to play on. We have to play to the whistle and we just didn't apply ourselves.

 

"I took Solano off after he pulled out of a tackle. We are poor away from home - absolutely dreadful.

 

"We lost the game in the period from the first goal until half-time because before that it was even stevens and we perhaps looked a bit better than they did.

 

"That was the period they won the match and they were much better than we were. We were pathetic in that period.

 

"I have come out of a scorching dressing room,"

 

"I'm concerned about our boys' attitude compared to a team that lost on Wednesday.

 

"We didn't play on Wednesday; we didn't even play last Sunday because of the weather and we should have been fresh.

 

"Charlton have taken six points off us this season, and good luck to them because they deserved it."

 

"I feel sorry for our supporters who have travelled from all over the country, paid good money and seen a dismal, pathetic first-half performance."

 

"I apologise to them."

 

"From the moment they scored their first goal until the end of the first half we were actually boys against men, and I told my players that.

 

"We had nothing up front; we were poor in midfield and disastrous at the back. How can we run a football team?

 

"It's not good enough. We're a big club - much bigger than Charlton Athletic, with respect. They had 20,000 here today; we have 52,000.

 

"We had big names and big reputations on paper today. But on the pitch their players were better than ours, and I don't accept that."

 

 

The difference then was we had a good bloke pulling the strings (imo), now we have a billionaire who's absolute fundamental aim is to make money, as long as he's doing that, the performance on the pitch matters not a jot. Pardew is a weak man, Demba clearly running the show in my view, if that's the case either he or Pardew has to go. W3 D5 L6 after Stoke, that is not good enough for Newcastle United.

Edited November 26, 2012 by McFaul

[Monroe Transfer 0]

The difference then was we had a good bloke pulling the strings (imo),

 

[Tooj 17]

How was Shepherd a good bloke btw?

 

If you were his brother and you got that warehouse deal you'd say so aye.

 

I can't fucking stand Ashley btw but one thing you can say about him is that at least he has put his own money into the club.

[Gejon 2]

We haven't generally played any better with a full strength team this season either.

 

Doesn't help when the key players have been in and out of the side so much though, so on the rare occasion we have been full strength on paper those coming in will be getting up to speed after suspension/injury.

 

Particularly important at the back.

[Gejon 2]

Brock, does the philosophy and way of playing currently sit well with you? If not, do you think it could be improved upon by switching manager - keeping in mind the way southampton played given their lack of resources..

 

They spent £20m+ more than us this summer.

[Tom 14011]

Doesn't help when the key players have been in and out of the side so much though, so on the rare occasion we have been full strength on paper those coming in will be getting up to speed after suspension/injury.

 

Particularly important at the back.

Last season when we went on our unbeaten run I'm fairly sure that our defence was the same 5 for every game. Our back 5 is all over the shop at the moment in more ways than one.

[Kid Dynamite 7027]

Look at what we fielded yesterday. Two holding midfielders and Jonas on the flank. ( not even gonna bother with the other flank)

Id be DELIGHTED to face pardews troops atm, has to be one of the easiest fixtures of the year. There is ZERO threat.

And that to me, is worrying.

 

I'd lay off the roids mate, your lips are shrinking looking at your photo

[McFaul 35]

How was Shepherd a good bloke btw?

 

If you were his brother and you got that warehouse deal you'd say so aye.

 

I can't fucking stand Ashley btw but one thing you can say about him is that at least he has put his own money into the club.

Well he's a billionaire. I bet no billionaire has ever bought a club as big as Newcastle or bigger and spent as little as he has. FFS had his faults, but I don't care what anyone says his prime objective was to make the footballing side as good as it could possibly be. He was a magnificent chairman from 1997 to 2004, his business acumen contributing to NUFC being Europe's 8th richest club. In 2004 our wage to turnover ratio was just 45%, he never once cheapened the brand of the club, like this bastard has, and more importantly for me, he was a geordie. Definitely a case of better than devil you know.

[McFaul 35]

They'd sell NUFC tampons and bog roll if they could make a profit. We're living under a delusion the club is going somewhere, we're stagnant. The 5th place was a complete fluke, the fact Liverpool in 8th were +25 GD and we were in 5th with +5 says much.

[ChezGiven 0]

Well if its all down to luck, maybe we'll be champions next season. Every cloud and all that.

[toonotl 2979]

If we play well & get lucky. We'll win the league by 20 points.

[Tom 14011]

Well if its all down to luck, maybe we'll be champions next season. Every cloud and all that.

The good stuff is down to luck everything else is just Pardew being shit. Apparently.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

with the names on the sheet things are bound to go right twice a day, for all of ashleys shortcomings theres alot of fucking good fotballers in our squad atm.

The tactics being served up is one of a bottom scrape-off though, and I question the offensive training.

There is no team, just a bunch of individuals... those who can skin players look good occationally, everyone else is forced to hold their position so most of the passes are either back or hooftastic.

[Lake Bells tits 1]

Well he's a billionaire. I bet no billionaire has ever bought a club as big as Newcastle or bigger and spent as little as he has. FFS had his faults, but I don't care what anyone says his prime objective was to make the footballing side as good as it could possibly be. He was a magnificent chairman from 1997 to 2004, his business acumen contributing to NUFC being Europe's 8th richest club. In 2004 our wage to turnover ratio was just 45%, he never once cheapened the brand of the club, like this bastard has, and more importantly for me, he was a geordie. Definitely a case of better than devil you know.

 

Spot on, noone is arguing he was steering toward the cliff in a financial blazing light of glory - but Im not sure I prefer the slow but inevitable death coming from Ashleys pinchin` pennies formula.

Could well be a small wiganesque club with above-average following in 5-6 years if this devaluing of the club continues. Minimal investment on-pitch, used as a vehicle for promotion off-pitch...

[Gejon 2]

Last season when we went on our unbeaten run I'm fairly sure that our defence was the same 5 for every game. Our back 5 is all over the shop at the moment in more ways than one.

 

Yep, there have been a few centre back pairings over the years who individually you wouldn't touch with a bargepole but because they have been regular partners they have formed an effective pairing.

 

Defence is one of the only areas I would try and play as many games as possible with the same players.

[Aeris 0]

Tom, on 26 November 2012 - 09:07 PM, said:

 

Last season when we went on our unbeaten run I'm fairly sure that our defence was the same 5 for every game. Our back 5 is all over the shop at the moment in more ways than one.

 

Never knew we played with a back 5...

[colinh9 0]

I'd like to put down a few things, and this is all ad hoc so I thank you in advance for bothering to read.

 

This all boils down to one thing:

 

Lack of investment. Beating the dead horse. -3 million in transfers over the summer with an added campaign in Europe to a team that was already pretty short in the depth chart.

 

It's not Pardew's fault, at least nowhere near the point where we need to think about changing managers.

 

Let's look at the match against Southampton, what could have been done differently? You can argue the tactics weren't great- and I'd agree that playing Cisse and Ba together hasn't worked out- but what choice did he have? Revert back to a 4-5-1? With Ferguson and Jonas on the flanks- thus putting more of an emphasis on them creating chances? Or start Sammy and move Jonas into the center where he is useless?

 

Subs: Harper, Tavernier, Bigirimana, Ranger, Marvuex, Sammy, Perch.

 

Really, what would you have done differently? He has nobody pushing the first team to the limits, if anything, it's more who can I put out there that might give me a shot at winning. It's not how you should think in football, but when you have nothing to work with- what can you do?

 

Now, I'll concede that Pardew has had his moments this season that could have been better. The first XI hasn't done it's job and that's partly down to tactics. Yet, it's also to do with their attitudes and performance. Maybe Cisse slacked in the off-season, maybe Cabaye came back too confident after the Euros. Who knows? It's all speculation.

 

Saying the team was "lucky" last year means a few different things. In the last 15 years (since I was 9 so I'm sorry I can't speak past that) we've had tons of injuries. All the time. So much so that it was, what's wrong in Newcastle? Why are so many players on the injury table? Is it their training methods? The point of this is that we've been just as unlucky in the past- so has every single team in the BPL. It happens. What we had last year was a bit of an anamoly- for the most part we kept the core group healthy- and those that were playing their best never really succumbed to injury. Say what you will, but this is "lucky" It was unlikely this would happen again this year...lo and behold we have a "crisis" We just don't have the depth to deal with injuries and unfortunately this is what happens, you lose games you could possibly win with more investment. Now, we also had some results that went our way last year that maybe were a bit fortunate. That doesn't mean that credit isn't due to Pardew or the players- because good managers, and good teams, find a way to win games they possibly shouldn't have. That's the point. We WERE a bit fortunate to push on into 5th, the whole point of saying that was to emphasize that we needed investment to spur on the players and the coach that got us there. You think Cabaye, Ba, Ben Arfa etc are happy we didn't add any real talent to the team this off-season? Nobody expected us to sign Messi- but we didn't sign anyone (Anita was a good signing but doesn't fit the mold) to show real intent to push on.

 

I didn't expect Ashley to spend 20+ million (I wished for it) but we could have had 3 more players in and spent a total of 10 million. Completely reasonable, especially given the savings we've had in wages since he took over.

 

The players need to start performing when they are out there. Pardew needs to adjust and figure out where to go from here. They are not absolved of all blame- rightfully so they should have plenty of it. The core problem is the lack of investment.

 

I don't expect this team to be fighting for relegation, nor did I expect a Champions League campaign this season. I don't think any of what a lot of people are saying is unreasonable though.

[Gejon 2]

 

Tom, on 26 November 2012 - 09:07 PM, said:

 

Last season when we went on our unbeaten run I'm fairly sure that our defence was the same 5 for every game. Our back 5 is all over the shop at the moment in more ways than one.

 

Never knew we played with a back 5...

 

Showing your complete lack of football knowledge here, will let someone else explain where you have gone wrong here.

 

No shock you know fuck all mind, given you are LBT or some desperate lass who follows him about.

[Aeris 0]

Quote_colinh9

Really, what would you have done differently? He has nobody pushing the first team to the limits, if anything, it's more who can I put out there that might give me a shot at winning. It's not how you should think in football, but when you have nothing to work with- what can you do?

 

Pretty imbecile to say there's nothing he could've done differently when what he was doing wasn't working at fucking all. There's always something which could work, at least securing us a draw or maybe even just given us some scoring opportunities. There was absolutely nothing happening with the way we played! So when nothing comes out of it, you say still there's nothing different he could've done? At the moment in Norway, a bottom 5 first division club just won the cup (the norwegian answer to FA cup), they had no particularly skilled players in the club, but they managed to win due to clever thinking, this is something Pardew never could've achieved.

[Monroe Transfer 0]

The 5th place was a complete fluke, the fact Liverpool in 8th were +25 GD and we were in 5th with +5 says much.

 

Not fair. Can't agree with that I'm afraid Stevie. You can't fluke a 38 game season. You just can't do it. Did things go our way (other clubs' failings, not too many injuries etc)? Yes, but not enough to take away from any of the achievements last season.

 

GD-wise; our 'problem' last season (amongst others) was that we never scored more than 3 in a league game, and that we lost a small number of games very heavily. I'd much rather win 1-0 throughout the season than have a mix of more losses peppered with the odd thrashing of a team. Our inability to kill games off last season, to go for the jugular, undoubtedly lost us some points. There were games where we were the better side, got the goals we needed in good time but never kept it up enough to score even more. It annoyed me, we were too cautious at times (at others we did try and scored third and fourth goals, but just couldn't).

 

In fact as far as I know we've only scored more than 3 in a game and won it once under Pardew (against West Ham in his first season).

Edited November 26, 2012 by Monroe Transfer

[Monroe Transfer 0]

Didn't one of the admins check Aeris and LBT's IP addresses and proved they're not one and the same?

[Park Life 71]

Gone by x-mas I reckons. He's fucked up some things, the board have fucked up other things, the players are fucking up what's left to fuck up...What can I say it looks and sounds like a fuck up. On the other hand Ba might score with his ego and we nick a 0-1 at Stoke.

[Gejon 2]

Not fair. Can't agree with that I'm afraid Stevie. You can't fluke a 38 game season. You just can't do it. Did things go our way (other clubs' failings, not too many injuries etc)? Yes, but not enough to take away from any of the achievements last season.

 

GD-wise; our 'problem' last season (amongst others) was that we never scored more than 3 in a league game, and that we lost a small number of games very heavily. I'd much rather win 1-0 throughout the season than have a mix of more losses peppered with the odd thrashing of a team. Our inability to kill games off last season, to go for the jugular, undoubtedly lost us some points. There were games where we were the better side, got the goals we needed in good time but never kept it up enough to score even more. It annoyed me, we were too cautious at times (at others we did try and scored third and fourth goals, but just couldn't).

 

In fact as far as I know we've only scored more than 3 in a game and won it once under Pardew (against West Ham in his first season).

 

Agreed, we were frustrating at times but it wasn't luck it was calculated football which although not always exciting we deserved to be where we finished after so many games.

 

It wasn't Stoke/Bolton like either. We could have played prettier football but at the time we were a long way from a team that would finish 5th (challenging for 4th or even 3rd by the last game) so I more than appreciate the finish.