derry

Time will tell.

I knew his history at West Ham and Charlton, especially Charlton and as yet I've not seen anything I didn't expect. In a nutshell I don't rate him. I'm always willing to be proved wrong but despite today's result I think he is on borrowed time as the home form is vital for him to keep his job and he isn't sorting that end of things at the moment.

A lot of careers have been ruined by playing on using pain killer injections.

I don't think you can compare LM and AP. MacMenemy walked the walk, Pardew talks the talk and until he sorts us out against massed defences and in the winter on poor pitches he is still work in progress for me. I'm not convinced.

The surgeon said before the Plymouth game that he couldn't see anything wrong and that there were now only two options, open it up and look giving four weeks out or if if it breaks down about six weeks so see what happens.That's why he has been playing, it could well be that it has now finally broken down.

I'm delighted we've won well. I've seen all the games at SMS and I'm not going to be convinced by an away win, away from the expectations at SMS. The bedrock of any season is the home results and Pardew hasn't yet worked out how to break down massed defences at SMS. Today I was chatting to one of the 1976 FA Cup players who has hundreds of first division appearances, he was critical of the team not seeming to have the belief in itself and thought they were fragile and some of that had to be down to the manager, he felt that playing so narrow played into the hands of the opponents defending their space, that Davis really needs to help out his defence at corners into the goalmouth and that he should be taking charge and punching. He went on to say that tactics are all very well but most importantly the manager has to lead the way. He told me about coming in at half time at the Dell when we weren't playing too well, Lawrie MacMenemy said 'Don't look at me, your the ones playing poorly and messing it up, you sort it out' Immediately Mick Channon suggested something, other players came in and the team decided how to play, then went out in the second half and won easily. He thought that demonstrated great man management and the confidence of the team was sky high by deciding themselves how they were going to play, going out totally positive knowing what they were going to do.

It's a good win away from home with the alleged pressure off. One swallow doesn't make a summer and until this team puts it's inhibitions behind it at home, there will be no satisfaction here. As for Pardew I've never rated him and up to now he has done precious little to prove me wrong given the resources he has at his disposal.

About bloody time too. The season started three weeks ago. It's the preparation FFS, now after four hard games we get it together. I hope this is the last time we see silly mixture teams playing 45 mins at a time in meaningless matches. Barnet, Sutton, Eastleigh etc a total waste of preparation time. Plymouth, Leyton Orient, Bournemouth and Bolton and now we are finally competitive.

I think Pardew is now taking flak because of the way our pre season preparations, which looked weak and haphazard, leading to the first time the first team squad, actually played together in a full match v Plymouth and leading to a poor start. We have now had four competitive matches and are now beginning to get it right. August 7th was the target date to get it right after six weeks pre season preparation not August 28th. Played a whole host of youth players in our preparation matches who we will never see in the first team this year if ever, leading to each match comprising 45 minutes for a mix up team right through the pre season. Thats why he is getting flak from me, especially as every year we have the same type of low key preparation followed by the same dire start. I thought Pardew would have the wit to change that, but he carried on the usual preparation accompanied by the usual 'the matches don't count' bull.

They are not Pardew's players. Whilst he obviously has a big say it is committee of Les Reed, David Burke plus Cortese and Pardew who make the final decision on any player.

As for that leader on the pitch, whilst he was hard on his own team, he was demoralising to play against because he was such a high class player. Then again there was a high proportion of 'in your face' characters. He now sits next to me at SMS having bought his first season ticket. It is a long time since we had a leader or leaders on the pitch. The wearing of an armband doesn't make a leader. When Cloughie went to Derby he brought in Dave Mackay to be the leader, at Notts Forest, John McGovern but all his teams were full of difficult, hard nosed players, Burns, O'Neill, Lloyd etc. Shankly's teams were the same. Nowadays Chelsea and Man Utd reflect their managers images. The players we bring in really need to be less fragile and more hard nosed. I think the players reflect the managers fragility.

Hi Bill, you sound more like your old self. Your right but as we demonstrated years ago, that reputations counted for nowt if the team played without fear or inhibitions often beating comprehensively, teams that were more talented but also fragile. It was always the hard nosed cussedness, sheer belligerence and the we'll show these buggers attitude that often won games we should have struggled to win. That sort of character always shines through and all the best teams have it.

Honestly Frank, I think it is the way Pardew sets up and hamstrings his teams. I think the players are much better than the performances and managed by a manager that gives them the room to play, I'm sure we would see how good they are. For me the disappointment is the falling short of the potential they are capable of, rather than the safety first approach. We have a collection of the best players in the league, yet instead of going for the jugular with confidence, we set up like a team that is frightened of it's own shadow. I really think that Pardew is affected by the demands of his second season, where no excuses will be entertained, as such he is communicating this nervousness to the players, hence the excuses regarding feeling the pressure etc. I think it is Pardew who is feeling the pressure and consequently transmitting his inhibitions to the players. His comment this week that he and the players are relieved to be getting away from SMS is indicative. A team that doesn't want to play at home because of the pressure FFS. With the players we have playing with confidence and freedom, we could be pulverising teams at SMS rather than behaving like timid losers. It is the managers job to get the players believing that they are unbeatable, rather than this timidity.

We might even get him for nothing at the end of January.

Frank, Ron and I watch this all the time and if the players weren't carrying out the plan, Pardew who is most of the time standing passively making the odd note, even when the play stops for an injury, he makes no attempt to get the players attention. It seems to us that they are playing the way he wants. That Davis lumping it up front whoever is there is standard procedure, that the two wide men tucked in and the flat static midfield together with 11 back in defence at corners and no movement at attacking corners or covering outside the back post. With free kicks in range we shoot, we have no clever moves at anything it's all basic.

I think we may end up needing all of them at some point.

The better managers make their teams perform better than expected, for example Eddie Howe at Bournemouth. Pardew doesn't do that, at the moment the allegedly best squad in the league isn't performing to par never mind better.

Excuse after excuse from all and sundry. No luck, we are feeling the pressure of being favourites, we hit the woodwork, the goalkeepers were brilliant etc. We have had chances but it's not pressure and chances that win matches it's goals. The chances we have made have in the main been pressurised by the defenders blocking most of them, or causing us to miss. We are not overloading defences because we have neither the pace or consistent width to drag defenders out of position. Plymouth overloaded us with the cross nodded back across and one defender outnumbered. Leyton Orient overloaded us with the movement of Tyrrel Forbes who ran across the box, lost his marker and flicked a cross in unchallenged, again last night we were overloaded at the near post so that when the ball was headed back to the near post we couldn't block it. The delivery of corners and free kicks were in the main pretty poor. The movement at set pieces pretty much non existent with all the attackers already in the box just static. Nobody running from outside the box, available outside the back post or dummy running to move the defenders around and create some space. Davis apart from a brilliant save late in the second half was poor. His attempts at short balls were causing us more problems than the opposition and his kicking caused no problems to the opposition, his lack of communication and staying on his line at corners/free kicks is inviting the opposition to knock balls in close to the goal something we can't do because the opposition's goalkeeper catches most of them. The two full backs tried hard whilst Martin bearing in mind it was only his third or fourth appearance was good, Fonte solid as usual. Lallana was just about the best player on the pitch in terms of effort and skill, Puncheon was much better but provided little in the way of penetration as he was far too narrow or filled the space he needed too early which invited the defence to close him down and drive him across the field. Hammond and Schneiderlin together don't provide a decent midfielder, they just don't blend and the comfort zone play of Schneiderlin doesn't open up defences without the pace needed out on the touchlines and available to pass to immediately. Barnard lacks pace but is a decent footballer and works hard. Lambert was way off the pace and was ambling around and on occasions we broke hardly got into a trot, and was never bursting into the box looking for rebounds. We were better than Saturday, just, but for twenty minutes in the middle of the first half we lost our shape which was always on the narrow side, in the second half we pressed hard, created pressure, worked the goalkeeper hard but hardly created a clear overload. The manager doesn't seem to be up for it any more. The alleged pressure felt may in fact be the pressure he is feeling. Could it be that some of the team isn't buying into these excuses or the way we are playing or the obvious weaknesses regarding lack of attacking pace. Lambert's body language was poor last night and what was the huddle in the centre of the pitch before they went in at halftime on Saturday all about. I don't want to hear excuses, this team has had time to gel, proper replacements for W/A signed and a bit of strengthening. If they can't quickly get it together and start winning some matches then whatever it takes needs doing or this season will be wasted. A win at BR would be a start but an unbeaten run with more wins than draws is now needed to get back on track

Nearly all the players mentioned were transferred for a big fee or didn't want to play for us anymore. As for Waigo it definitely sounds like he didn't want to stay which is understandable, we could have definitely used him to raise our pace in the two league games so far. A lot of chickens are being counted on here but this guy hasn't played yet. If he is as good as Waigo he will be an asset. It will take some weeks to see.

Wed 4th August 2010 precipitation at Shawbury 10mm with a south westerly wind. www.weatheronline.co.uk If it was me I'd ring Air Traffic Control at RAF Shawbury (RAF main helicopter training base) and ask them to give you their actual weather for the date/time that is relevant.

The year Burnley won promotion, they played their best sides all the way through the cup competitions and had great runs in both cups.

IMO he was technically a lot better than nearly all our players and was grossly misused. That's my opinion and what qualifies you to call it nonsense.

I think that he would have been thoroughly briefed, with reference to Weston's post re Pardew/Cortese/Reed/Burke I had heard that it was no longer a manager decision who we signed.

Funny you should say that Ron. I think this looks like another Cortese Italian connection signing similar qualities to Waigo. We all know what happened then Pardew had never seen him and despit his obvious value under-utilised him. But then Pardew has form, in similar circumstances he was given two of the best players in the world in Tevez and Mascherano and didn't have the wit to build the side around them instead trying to get them to fit in to the Pardew pattern. When it didn't work, he left them out, look at them now. I can see this not being Pardew's decision, so unless he comes in and proves undroppable I wouldn't be surprised to see him messed about as Waigo was. However I can't see Cortese letting that happen for long if it does.

Just like the ugly way we play, back to Davis hoof it up to Lambert. If we get it on the deck and pass and move with the team spread out we could do well but that's not the way we play, mores the pity. I think Owen Coyle has a different philosophy and prefers his team to pass the ball like Burnley did under him.