French Influence Going Badly

Alan Shearer touched on it and got a bit of condemnation from some quarters.

But after last nights abject display, maybe he's right.

Too much French influence in the squad causing disarray with players either too moody to play, injured, poor temperament and simply not good enough.

Is the French Revolution turning sour?

When the going gets tough like it will over the next few weeks, are they strong enough to cope with the pressure?

 

We're just lacking leaders on and off the field. We had no game plan last night and the players have no faith in what Pardew is asking them to do.

I'm not getting at Pardew, it's just it's obvious to see from the lack of discipline on the pitch. Pardew has been badly let down by MA & JK but he's also badly letting the players down (along with the fans) as they're much better than they showed last night. We had Jonas in CM and Mbiwa at LB, talk about square pegs in round holes, last season showed that doesn't work so why pick those two when you had Dummett and Anita on the bench...

You then have Cabaye letting the fans, players, Pardew and himself down and it's just one big horrible mess.

Whether they're French, English or Dutch etc doesn't matter for me, Taylor is English and look at him last night with that cowardly red card. Pardew said last season in January that we needed new signings to give us a lift and some impetus, I now firmly believe that the players feel they need a new manager to do exactly that for them.

I actually think the players don't respect him anymore, he never criticises them and it's like he wants to be best friends with them. He should have hung some of them out to dry in his post match interview last night but instead he said we showed fight and commitment. He's actually insulting the intelligence of the fans with comments like that.

 

That's the biggest worry for me - that Pardew will never get these player playing well as the players do not really want him. If Kinnear is the replacement I can't see them taking to him any better.

Playing Jonas ahead of Anita in cm makes even less sense when you consider that Jonas has been struggling with an injury leading up to the game, which has now predictably worsened.

 

Maybe the questions I asked are the wrong ones and the real question

Is It TIme for Pardew to go?

My opinion at the end of last season was that he should go, but for one reason or another I came round to the view he deserved another chance.

Team selection and his post match comments last night have changed that.
The lack of any coherent leadership stood out, so this morning I think he should go.
6 - 8 games would have been fair enough, but now the sooner the better.

 

Look don't just blame the French players. Jonas is just a useless tampon. Taylor embarrassed himself beyond measure last night and Sammy and Shola are just ****s. The whole team need to sort themselves out but then again we are managed by someone who doesn't know what the **** to do save lump the ball forward and pimp our players for the transfer window.

 

A couple of more bad results and Poyet will be in.

 

I think it undoubtedly is. You can go and get Poyet or whoever but these players will still be unable to man up. Personally I'd like Poyet or Hoddle.

We've veered too far away from what took us so far a few seasons ago.

A lot of fans are funny though because they were untroubled by Nolans/Bartons exit, wouldn't have Carroll back, couldn't wait for Simpson to go. They were bigging up these french lads because of their surperior technical ability etc. Now a lot of the same people are moaning about these lads. You can't really win with our support.

Unfortunately another of Mikes gambles has gone wrong. There is time to rectify it in this window, but you'd need to go and get some steel. You badly need a striker who can hold the ball up. I keep hearing that Cisse can do this if we play a certain way. He can't, he is a feeble man with a weak will. You need some bite in midfield. You need a right back too.

 

Disagree totally here.
The players are good enough- the manager isn't.

 

Quite agree, can also argue that this was the manager that got us up to 5th, but that was down to a good start to the season and Cisse having a hot streak for 6 or 7 games.

 

I'm not saying the number of French of players is the problem, quality possibly if you go by Debuchy, but not all.
Other nationalities arent heaping themselves in glory either. But question needs to be asked along with many others.

The team needs to get some backbone into and as it stands that appears to lie with the current players.

Bottom line for me now is whether Pardew is able to get the best out of them and I don't think he can anymore.
For me he should go before its too late as he seems to have lost the respect of the players, support is dwindling quick for him and the post match interview just about summed up that he is losing the plot.

 

Are you still a 100% Pardew man?

 

Here's the unpopular view, a lot of kneejerk reaction, you would have to be wearing some seriously rose tinted glasses to expect that in the first game of the season away to one of the best funded teams in the world that the result was gonna be anything other than what happened.

 

If I put all the joking to one side and get a little serious for one obscure moment (rare for me I know), I don't think I've ever been a 100% Pardew man. I don't think I've ever been 100% behind any manager who has been here for less than 3 years bar maybe Sir Bobby. That is different though because he was a great manager with a proven track record. Everyone else we've had in my time has been an unknown - Pardew, Hughton, Gullit, Dalglish, Allardyce, Roeder, Ardiles, Souness, Shearer, Keegan, Clarke, Kinnear, Pearson, Smith, Suggett, McFaul - its not exactly a list of guaranteed success. KK proved himself and I think after 3 years I was 100% behind him. Maybe a little earlier even such was the excitement. The rest I have looked at and thought, "well I'm not convinced but it is what it is, I'll give them 3 years and see where we are". I just think that is a fair amount of time and hell what else was I going to do on a Saturday. Unless of course you are Gullit or Allaradyce and just a really bad fit for the club.

With Pardew I feel a little like I did with Dalglish. I think he is a scapegoat for a lot of what goes wrong behind the scenes. I just thing a mess behind the scenes (which I don't think anyone would really dispute) is a recipe for disaster. Dalglish is always the man who dismantled KK's team. Taking a step back though and speaking to people who knew what was going on at the time, he was mororless told to dismantle that team and told to get the wage bill under control. Like Dalglish though, and as I expressed in the close season, I do think its past the point of no return for Pards. The majority of fans want him out, and that being the case at Newcastle, I don't think you can turn it around. The manager will always carry the can, and to be fair Pardew does look a bit beleaguered. He has been royally ****ed over by the board again this window and I do think they are hoping he'll walk.

Heading into the season I did my usual and thought "we go again, maybe they aren't as overrated as they seem" but I think I was kidding myself. We lack heart. We lack desire. We lack power/strength. We basically lack some things you can't give to the currrent bunch.

I've said many times previously I'm a Hoddle man if you want a proven track record. If you want to go and take an exciting risk, then I'm a Poyet man. I don't think Pards is a bad manager but one thing I do know is our support after a good few years watching us. Any manager is on a short leash, just the way we are. We have high expectations, maybe a little beyond what we should even, and that isn't going to change. I always laugh when pundits say "they need to be patient and realise where they are". I can only assume they've never been here or at the very least never really understood the people in the North East. Barren years have bred real desire/passion/delusion/desperation!

I still maintain the reaction to one game is way over the top, and it is unhealthy/fairly silly for the clubs fans to continue to look back to last season. However that is what has happened heading into the season and I can see a swift end to this chapter.

 

PS I will never be serious again

 

Not sure I agree that it was the reaction to one game. From the games last season continuing to this, can anyone recall when was our last victory or last game that we played REALLY well? I can't even remember when we played well last season considering we won several fluke games as well...Ben Arfa's winner at start of season, Sissoko scores 2 and proceeds to be ****e for the rest of season..

We shouldn't judge Pardew with half an eye on what happened with Dalglish. This is Pardew's realm, nothing to do with Dalglish anymore. And the fact of the matter is him not having a say in transfers aside, he has stunk up the joint in every way possible.

"Sunderland can only dream of Europe" , this past match "we threatened their goal were unlucky not to score"
This kind of tripe he says........

Jonas forever in the team(though against CIty he didn't do badly),

I absolutely HATE how he loves to play his mind's "best XI", which meant MYM at LB, Sissoko at AM, Jonas at LM,
only to later disrupt the entire team by bringing on Shola for a DM and then shifting EVERY PLAYER to a new position to play.

Do you realise that shifting to a new position without time to adjust is not as easy as it appears on paper? Your tactical discipline , etc is going to be affected.

 

The only good thing about Pardew is his sexy hair.

 

The people who feel we are needlessly kicking off big style for losing to one of the best sides in our league I feel are missing the point. Most of us can't remember when we played really well and totally trounced the opposition.

Our pre-season was a bore fest which showed us nothing of the development of any of our French legion, and together with the shambolic senior management we have and a total lack of purchases, how many seasoned Toon fans can have genuine optimism?

Debuchy aside, I think all the others are capable of doing much better, but not without better leadership both on and off the field. And I see no change here with the removal of Pardew until the transfer window "unfortunately has beaten us"

I think we'll need three more defeats to force Ashley to fire Pardew. My main worry now is losing key players before the window closes.

 

So on one hand you want to dismiss the past (Dalglish), but on another want to use last seasons sticks stick to beat Pardew with? Its a new season, we got spanked off one of the top 4 teams and realistic title contenders. We were very poor and ill disciplined in the process. That can happen to any team in any season. If we were talking after similar abject displays against West Ham and Fulham I could understand the mass hysteria a little, but to me its just far too early to jump off the deep end. Its the wrong game to lose the plot. However I fully expected this and called it as soon as the fixtures were announced.

He did stink out the place last year. The year before he was having smoke blown up his backside by all and sundry. Maybe he is on a downward spiral that cannot be reversed. Maybe he has lost the players.

You can't remember a game where we played well last season? Are you sure you'r enot over reacting?

 

Mayhap if we read into football as deeply as we should such matters would appear as trivial as they are.

 

Irrelevant of nationality we appear to have issues.

Our senior players need to grab the dressing room and lead the team.

We need a leader on the pitch. I know the disruption of Coloccini last season and Cabaye this season doesn't help, but we need the team to have a leader, either inspirational in their own performance or someone who can drive the other players on.