One Year Record

Alladyce has turned WHU around, and what about the Bournemouth manager ?.

 

As long as he keeps us exactly where we are, mid table mediocrity and doing **** all in the cups, his job is the safest in the football league. Ashley does not want us challenging for Europe or domestic cups. Its only us 'deluded fans' that want that.

 

I would love to think that Ashley is eyeing the Champions League with Rangers and ****s off there. Sadly though, I think his intentions are more in line with using Rangers to blood our youngsters in a weaker league. Guaranteed success every season on a pittance would be perfect for him.

 

I think he might be after Rangers for the Champions League place. They are short of cash and so he can plaster their stadium in Sports Direct logos and get it on TV accross Europe with the Champions League coverage.

The worry is he comes up with a way to achieve this whilst holding onto Newcastle some how.

 

Play our kids in the SPL and CL to gain valuable experience. Bring them back down here and sell them after a couple of seasons. All the while promoting Sports Direct worldwide. Genius really.

 

Indeed Jim. I think some have great expectations. The reality is we would find it very difficult to find a manager to work under these conditions. Its all very well thinking "well I think X could do better with this squad". Plenty could but they wouldn't want to work under this regime. There is a shed load of potential here, if someone wanted to lavish cash we know it would take off, we've seen it before. We have a good looking youth system at present and a batch of young players who look promising. Patience is required. Maybe Aarons, Roberts, Armstrong, Abeid, Woodman, Perez, Satka, Lascelles etc can get us somewhere. Maybe not. Bottom line is its our only avenue.

The vast majority of fans have wanted Pardew gone for the last 18 months. Even when we won 6 games off the belt, most still wanted him out. So there is always an undercurrent of unhappiness surrounding the club. Most barely enjoyed our recent run of good form. The rest of the clubs supporters were saying how they found it weird, but you really have to been on the inside for the last 3yrs or more to understand why its like it is. As many know I have not been one for bulleting him as I don't know what we'll end up with. I still think Eddie Howe would be a good choice but realistically he probably wouldn't touch it. I know many rubbished this when I suggested last time but look at Bournemouth.

 

I'm wondering if I was alone during the run in actually being a little peeved that Pardew had got away with it?

 

No loads were simply putting it down to luck. Frankly I find that quite funny, it was purely down to good tactical planning. We just haven't had the players to maintain it.

 

Are people seriously suggesting that fans didn't enjoy our good run because they don't like Pardew, think everyone the good run they just know that we'll have a bad run where we don't win for 9 or 10 games. They also know that we've lost 23 games by 3 or more in the Pardew reign, the vast majority of which have been in the last 21 months. Personally want Pardew out ASAP BUT I know the main problem is Ashley. Living in the hope that the SFA tell him he has to sell Newcastle, can't see it though.

 

No. I am however seriously suggesting that many barely enjoyed the recent good run of form. You only need to go back a few weeks on these very boards to see this confirmed. Many were suggesting it was down to luck, when it was clearly down to good tactics. Some would bookend it with "and I still want him gone" etc etc just get the negative in. I can't remember who it was but one oppo fan said something along the lines of "You lot have won 5 on the bounce and you're still not happy..." I also have loads of mates who are fans who openly admitted they weren't enjoying it because they knew we had tough fixtures coming up and we'd lose them all. Others who have strong hatred of Pardew simply couldn't bring themselves to enjoy the wins properly. They were pleased we won, but would say "of course though this just buys that c**t another season"

As I say there is a constant undercurrent of unhappiness surrounding the club, there has been for at least 18 months. Fans hate the manager, they hate the owner, they hate the transfer policy, so on and so on. I don't have a problem with it, people are entitled to their opinion, and entitled to voice it. I'm more of a type who just takes stock of the current situ, accepts it and moves on from there. I can't see the point in wallowing in misery.

 

It's kinda hard to savour anything good at the club, because it's metaphorically fleeting moments of cheer in a never ending torment of bear-attacks and teenagers ****ting on your doorstep.

 

A lot of it was down to luck, we won games that could have gone either way, which plenty on here have said was what Sunderland did on Sunday. Fans like myself knew a bad run would come because we know what to expect after 4 years of Alan Pardew's management.

You can say what you want about the fans has Pardew apologised for costing us the game on Sunday (he was the one who took Tiote off for Cisse, not the fans, not John Carver not the other players), he gave us our biggest home defeat since the 1920's, lost 3 successive games by 3 or more on more than 1 occasion, lost successive home games by 3 or more on 3 occasions (something that had only happened once between 1992 and 2013). As for the owner he is just taking the piss out of us, mocked the success of the 90's the way he treat Kevin Keegan, sells key players whenever we get anywhere near success for profit, yet we still seem to lose money on plenty of other players. Decided £12 million was too much for Bony, who would now be going for at least £20 million.

 

I can't agree here. A small portion may have been down to luck. No more than your average game of football though. We were well set up. Indeed tactically, the adjustments Pardew made were brilliant. He got us sitting a little deeper, and simply used the pace of Obertan and Sissoko to hurt teams. He also gave youth a chance. I am a firm believer in being fair to managers. When they do well, they deserve credit. Pardew deserves plenty for that run of wins. As always with him though there is no consistency. He deserves plenty of flack for the Arsenal, Spurs and Sunderland games.

Don't get me wrong, he pissed me off on Sunday with that substitution. He pissed me off with the team selection at Arsenal and Spurs. I'm just disappointed we got the injuries we did too. If we had went into this little period with Aarons, Obertan and Abeid, I honestly think we'd have had a different set of results. We don't have the squad depth to cope with these kind of injuries but again that is another matter.

 

Team selection was better yes, he changed it for Arsenal and Spurs which you said you were disappointed with. The point is when you look at the 5 games I thought the only one we deserved to win was QPR, others all should have been draws but I don't think there's been a lot in many of our games this season. As for players missing we have had players out injured and suspended, however when I looked at the team against Sunderland the majority of them would be in the first XI.

 

Spot on.

I liked Bruce, like many I didn't give 2 ****s that he was from Ponteland.

He's a likeable fella, and he performs well when he has a 'decent' budget and some 'decent' players.

Give him a good budget and some talent and it goes to ****, he can't handle the personalities (hence we lost Cana, Bent, Gyan...), he shoehorns the system to try and place all of the 'names' on the team sheet.

He'll never take a team to the mythical next level cos as soon as he gets a few quid he forgets the lads that have got him to that point an ****s it.

Why on earth would any side recruit Hernandez, Ben Arfa and Gaston in a week?

 

I really don't know who should be the most embarrassed....us because you've won the last four derbies or you lot because Steve Bruce's Hull have done you in the last three games.

I'm sure you will be favourites to beat Hull but I wouldn't be surprised it Brucey has one more trick up his sleeve <he'll be itching to turn you over yet again>

 

Us mate, absolutely us.

Anything can happen in a derby, to be bossed by a ****pot club 3 in a row, head hanging.

I think we'll beat them like, but we won't canter it by any stretch. Be a nice atmosphere of course.

 

Aye, just checked their results for this season. They haven't won any of their last ten games but they've managed very decent draws against the likes of Everton, Liverpool and Arsenal (all away from home). It isn't as if they've been taking a pasting either when they have lost.....but still, they've only got 13 points. Brucey must have them reasonably well-drilled at the back. It's a very important game for both clubs and that's without all the added Brucey attention.

 

I don't think the Bruce thing affects us mate, we really don't give a ****, he'd have went with our best wishes had he not pulled the 'Geordie' card, he went cos his results were utterly appalling, no other reason, not to mention the many thousands of SAFC fans who are 'Geordie'. Bell end.

They've got some very decent players Hull, so we'd be naive to think we were gonna just turn up on the wave of the derby and win, but we've been almost impossible to beat recently, and if Fletch can stay fit and sharp we'll be alright, bordering on very decent.

Giaccerini and Alvarez are available for it, as well as Billy Jones, unheralded but for the 13 seconds he's been fit this season, we've looked a better, more balanced and more expansive team.

van Aarnholt is 2 weeks away as well, and he was playing superbly, really settling, lots of positives.

We still need to buy of course, and buy quality, not unheard of ****bags cos they are free/cheap/don't know Sunderland 'isn't London'.

 

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Whickham isn't played through the middle. Fletcher is good at holding the ball up and had a very good spell when he joined you where he was banging them in but young Whickham is a real handful. He'd make a very good number 9.