I'm sorry, but Pardew is seriously a ****ing idiot - Ben Arfa out for Southampton

I'm not asking for him to be sacked, but please read this horseshit -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...le-upbeat-Papiss-Cisse.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The Tyneside club are second in Group D, one point behind leaders Bordeaux, with the teams scheduled to meet in the final game which will determine who goes through as group winners and thus set for a more favourable draw.
It was bitter-sweet for Pardew though as Ben Arfa went off five minutes before the break with the manager expecting him to miss Sunday's Premier League game against Southampton.
Pardew did not know how long the Frenchman would be out and told ESPN: 'He is not everything for this football club.'
Cisse then limped off five minutes after the break with Pardew revealing: 'He got a kick on the thigh and we thought he might stiffen up over half-time which he did.
'We think he has a good chance for Sunday.'
He added: 'We are just having blow after blow.
'We are going to have to wait and see on Papiss and I think Hatem will miss Sunday.
'We didn't have enough attacking flair to keep the ball and put the pressure on.
'It gives the other team a lift and we didn't have enough getting down the sides and attacking play.
'We needed to get a result and got that and got through.
'I look at this competition - with a sticky second half today but otherwise I think we have been excellent.'

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I'm sorry Pardew, but you're a ****ing idiot. Playing Ben Arfa in a totally unnecessary game, then coming out and saying "he's not everything for this club", is ****ing awful management, it really is.

Ben Arfa is our best player by a country mile, and a lot of our chances and attacking threat come from moments of magic like him.

If there's a single player you should not be risking and keeping wrapped in cotton wool, it's Hatem ****ing Ben Arfa!

I understand we could have used this game to give some players that had a bad experience vs West Brom a confidence boost, but is Ben Arfa the sort of player that even needs that sort of thing? He barely even trains! In the warm ups he's a lazy bastard, and that's fine.

I know that one man does not make a team, but Hatem Ben Arfa's quality has been a huge part of what has been a shakey start to the season. His quality has come at random times where we couldn't break teams down, and it has gotten us results.

This game was not important. We could have played a **** side and gotten the same result.

 

Agree we shouldn't have played him. Obertan must be gutted, he's been in good form in Europe and gets dropped against the worst team of the group.

 

I thought the commentator said Obertan was injured, which I remember thinking was something I knew nothing about????

 

Aye something about Ober's toe ..... But still f2fs like

 

What else is he going to say, "The weekend's going to be a real challenge now, because to be honest Ben Arfa's our only creative outlet in midfield. I predict a long ball game and I'll be happy with a draw."

He's doing his job, which at the moment is damage limitation. The decision to play him was daft in hindsight, but I'm guessing the idea was we were going to put two past them in 30 mins, take him off and shut up shop. It just didn't happen like that. If you don't like it, go manage a football team and make those kinds of decisions for yourself.

 

Bollocks, utter bollocks. I've defended Pardew through plenty, and risking your best player in a game that you don't even have to win, while you've already got a load of others out injured is a ridiculous decision, especially since he promised to make the premier league our priority this season.

No he's not gonna just come out and literally just say "oh well, we're ****ed", but making comments implying that Ben Arfa is just one player is quite ridiculous. He should have come out and admitted that playing Ben Arfa was a big risk and unfortunately it cost us, and that he will be a big miss, not just say "he's not everything to this club".

 

Don't have a problem really, he had to balance getting Europe put to bed (vital) and Sunday. It was the first time he has risked Ben Arfa this season in Europe and he did so because of a lack of options. It was play him or Ba and given Cisse's fitness/form he'd have been loathe to lose the only player who looks like scoring. What were the other options is what you have to ask yourself? Amalfitano? Not really a serious option yet, and being blunt, one that Carr may have got wrong. Or do you bring Ranger in and set a really bad precedent. Very easy to jump on his back without offering a solution.

 

There were options other than Ben Arfa. You may argue that we may not have gotten the point without HBA, but there's no way we could have known that, and we have to ask ourselves if the result was really worth risking your best player, especially when there are other very important players injured also.

I would have played Shola up front with Cisse. I believe Shola has scored the most goals in Europe for us, correct? Shola 2, Obertan 1, Marv 1, Anita 1, Cisse 1, Raylor 1.

Shola should have played, he has proven effective in Europe. Also we could have used Amal at some point for some extra flair.

 

Shola was injured, next.

 

Don't be a twat, I didn't know.

Then we could have played Ferguson or Amalfitano. If there's anyone who needed a confidence boost it was Ferguson, as he was taken off half time vs Swansea.

Ferguson could have played. Or we could have played Abeid/Amal in the center and shifted Marv to the wing.

--------Cisse---------

Sammy-Amal---Marveaux

----Bigi----Anita-----

Santon-Colo--Saylor--Simpson

----------Krul------------

There were options out there, and Hatem wasn't worth risking for this result.

 

Posting threads calling Pardew an idiot amounts to sheer disrespect for a manager who essentially has gotten the best out of the meagre playing resources that he's been allowed to acquire.

HBA's fitness record after his leg break has been pretty good. He doesn't run 100 miles per game.

And I'd say that our chances of achieving anything of note in the Premiership are about as likely as finding Lord Lucan riding Shergar. So qualifying for the next stage of Europe was obviously key in Pardew's thinking - in this plan he got it right, though at a cost.

 

Do agree with Tash that he shouldn't have been risked but that acctually made me lol, simple minds and that

 

We needed the result. Had we lost last night we could have been looking at an exit which I seem to remember everyone finding an unpalatable prospect before all these injuries. Pards made it clear they were watching the other game and if Bordeaux looked ahead I'm sure he'd have withdrawn Benni and two other first teamers. Even so a defeat would have meant Maritimo would have had a good chance of overtaking us with us having to go to France last. Pardew would have been pillared!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but we had to put this to bed last night. Amalfitano is struggling and we may have lost that game had he started. Playing Fergie was the only other realistic option but it would have left a very inexperienced line up. Its easy to be critical when it goes wrong but you have to consider looking at it through as managers eyes before the game kicks off.

 

What is an achievement in the premier league though? Winning it?

Finishing in a good position in the premier league should be more important, because if we don't finish in a European spot again, we can can say bye bye to the likes of Ben Arfa and Ba. They're not gonna stay just playing PL football when CL clubs would have them in a heartbeat.

I'd say that finishing in the top 5/6 again is far more achieveable than winning the Europa League. We should give the Europa League a go, but if you sacrifice so much just to get into the knockout stages, then lose, then it's all been for nothing, and your premier league campaign is also in jepordy.

Pardew promised to make our PL campaign a priority. The Europa League games, at least the earlier ones, should be ones you should give more fringe players a chance to play, as well as kids.

We'd already done the job really, we didn't need to win last night. I don't think risking Hatem Ben Arfa for this result was a smart decision, mainly because so many of our best players are already injured.

If we still have the likes of Cabaye, Jonas and Cisse all fit and ready to play, I'd not be so worried, but we're running short on options as it is.

I was nearly in tears at times last night when I saw Ben Arfa come off with what I thought was a 6 week out injury, and Ba and Cisse limping at different times in the match after niggly challenges.

We have to think to ourselves, is it all worth it? Risking all these players for these sorts of games when we're already running low on depth and options?

 

If we win the games we'll be without Ben Arfa, then yes, it was a worthwhile risk. If we struggle in games without him and lose due to lack of flair and creativity, then no.

It would have been a better strategy to start without Ben Arfa, and bring him on if we were struggling, and have him tear **** up against tired opposition.

 

Eh? Same result would have ensued. We struggled the moment he went off so you'd have to assume we would have if he hadn't started. So he would have had to been risked anyway and could have been just as easily injured. You either don't risk him at all or you do. You're clutching a bit here Tash. One minute you're saying don't risk him, then you're advocating him being risked if we need him (as we found we would have)?

 

If I were to guess, I'd say Alan Pardew has a bit more managerial expertise, nous and in general, an all-round better knowledge of football than you, Tash.

We all have opinions, but calling somebody who is far superior at his job than you 'a ***ing idiot' is quite ludicrous to be perfectly honest.

 

You've called Pardew an idiot for playing HBA and also said that if we aren't in Europe he'll walk.

So you think he's happy to be left out of the competition as long as his team-mates can play?

Wasn't last night his first game in the competition? He might have begged Pardew to be allowed to play. Has that crossed your mind? Players get unhappy if they don't get games.

Whatever the answers are, Pardew is not a ****ing idiot.

 

Pardew and Ashley are playing a smart game, if all our plqyers are injured during the January window no one will want to buy them.

That's why Shola's being sent to Nigeria for the ACoN, so the Barca scouts can't find him.

 

Can I just correct you Tash? Santon is currently your favourite player according to my data!

I will of course post a thread at season's end with a run down of our squad (average and overall scores), and perhaps fit together a Tash's Top Team for your destruction!

Personally, I was lazily watching the game on my laptop and listening to music. Every time I looked back at the game Maritimo had possession I didn't even realise Benny was playing til he hobbled off!

Oh well a chorus of "we're ****, and we know we are", anyone?