I'm optimistic about next week

Cheers for your support. . When exactly was the last time you took six points off of us in one season?

 

Aye but Pardew sold a striker for 35m which, like Moyes, covered all of his buys. Guess what Moyes did when he sold Rooney? Spent shed loads! Also Yobo cost 1m initially but ended up costing 5m. You also have to keep it relative in relation to spend in terms of the time. It costs a lot more now to keep your head above water. We did this the other day and the myth about Moyes not spending money. He spent big money at times (made plenty of mistakes like all managers). He also had a stronger youth system at his disposal and was allowed 6 or 7 loans in the period which of course Pardew isn't allowed to do.

Even allowing for transfer funds, he had a squad capable of a lot better than 17th and that is all he achieved. As for Ferguson he was spending way more lavishly than Pardew relative to the time, but relatively speaking achieved far less in season 2 and 3.

Edit: Moyes squad for the 17th season just for reference:

1 GK Richard Wright
2 DF Steve Watson
3 DF Alessandro Pistone
4 DF Alan Stubbs
5 DF David Weir
6 DF David Unsworth
8 FW Tomasz Radzinski
9 FW Kevin Campbell
10 FW Duncan Ferguson
11 FW Francis Jeffers (on loan from Arsenal)
12 MF Li Tie
13 GK Steve Simonsen
14 MF Kevin Kilbane
15 DF Gary Naysmith
16 MF Thomas Gravesen
17 MF Scot Gemmill
18 FW Wayne Rooney
20 DF Joseph Yobo
21 MF Alex Nyarko
22 MF Tobias Linderoth
24 FW James McFadden
25 GK Nigel Martyn
26 MF Lee Carsley
27 DF Peter Clarke
28 DF Tony Hibbert
30 FW Nick Chadwick
31 MF Leon Osman
35 GK Paul Gerrard

None too shabby that for the time. Rooney at his peak too

 

For me it's just a bad comparison. It's like saying provided any manager has 1 decent season he can fail miserably the next year but should be kept on (even if there are no signs of improvement) just because Moyes was kept on and has been a success.

I'm sure there are a number of managers that were dismissed after only being in charge for 2 and a half years and their replacements achieved far greater success.

 

That's not the point I'm making though is it. The point is you're judging someone over a very short period of time and saying you are not allowed to have a bad season where it looks like you have regressed. I'm saying you can and provided clear evidence you can bounce back if faith is shown.

 

Should Souness, Allardyce, Gullit etc all have been given time as well then?

For me Pardew is crumbling under the pressure, even to the extent where he is now praising our poor performance second half against West Brom in an effort to kid the fans. Add to that the childish comments regarding Sunderland can only dream of Europe and that he'll make sure we'll finish above them next season. Such a poor mentality to have, setting our objectives against what they do is not what I want to hear as a supporter.

To be fair we'll never agree on this subject so we'll have to agree to disagree, but for me it is no longer "if" he should go but "when" he should go.

 

I don't think its a similar situation with those three though. Gullit made his own position untenable with some crazed ego trip. Never had a good season to buy himself time either. Souness likewise never bought himself time by having a good spell. Again ego maniac brought in by a crazy chairman in some vain attempt to restore discipline he decided had been lost under a man who actually knew what he was doing. Forgetting of course it helps if they can manage too! Allardyce - really? The worst fit ever at this football club. No real comment needed.

Pardew over achieved in his first season, had us playing smart, intelligent football which was good to watch. In spells it was great to watch. He had us well drilled and thoroughly deserved his manager of the year award. At the end of the season there was not a single dissenting voice. He and his team have had a poor season 2nd season, very poor. I just think it is harder to believe that he has become a bad manager over the course of one season. I'd much rather we allowed a manager to learn from bad experiences rather than just keeping doing the usual and sacking them. It has not been a particularly successful strategy in my time watching the club.

 

What other approach is there In a time like this?

It's either be optimistic or pessimistic.

We know we have the player quality to damage any side, but the team performances have been poor. Reading managed to get a result vs Liverpool, and Liverpool have slipped up quite a few times.

We're going to have to score goals to win, I don't see us keeping a clean sheet against them.

I smell a 3-2.

 

We started the season with what everyone, and I expect this includes Pardew, knew was an inadequtely sized squad, especially given our European commitments.

We now have a quite decent core of players, but have only had them for 11 league games. In those league games, we have averaged 1.8 points, which is pretty respectable.

The season is ending with a bit of a whimper. We wouldn't feel like that, though, if the Sunderland match were taken out of the equation. Benfica definitely was a factor in the Suncerland result.

Pardew has had one fantastic season and one disappointing season. Chopping and changing solves nothing. Next season proves whether he is the man for hte job or not.