Going back to the original post By SSA , I to work in the construction industry and encounter the same problems as him from but from much lower down the pecking order.
My point is that managers in all walks of life can make huge difference. A good site manager can get the best out of a poor team to produce a reasonable ,if not spectacular result.But a poor site manager, even with good blokes around him ,will struggle to meet deadlines and stay within budget.
So far I think Mr Pardew is doing a good job,but now the pressure is on him to produce the results with the players he has at his disposal. It will be entirely down to him how quickly this team gel as he deals with them every day. I would hope to start seeing our team become real force ,akin to Leeds or Norwich, in a very few weeks.
PS Secret site agent need a decent fork lift driver