shurlock

Pardew signed players that anyone with a copy of Football Manager and a voice and a pot to p i $$ in on a HCDAJFU thread would have identified: Lambert, Fonte, Barnard, Puncheon - these were all established players and required only a big purse not amazing superpowers to spot a diamond in the rough (for that see Pearson's record at Leicester). Yes, Harding was a good find to the extent he was less well-known, though he had a decent CV at some big clubs. Antonio was definitely an excellent find. However questions have to be asked about players that involved greater managerial discretion and knowledge -Hammond, Seaborne, Otsemebor, Trotman - all of these are probably better measures of AP's player-finding ability. And of course, there are the omissions - areas in the team -CM, a target-man, extra pace- that were crying out for reinforcement -not only in the Summer but also Jan- but were ignored. I agree Pards got the best out of Lallana - I think Pards was very adept with young English players and trying to keep their feet on the ground; however, I disagree about Schneiderlin who was allowed to play more and more in his comfort zone over Pardew's reign (and it helped he droppped down a division); by the same token, players like James, Wotton, Hammond and to a lesser extent Puncheon should have had more competition and not be given such an easy run. Puncheon is interesting because it shows the Lallana effect in reverese: bigging up young English players can also blind you to poor performance or the need to give them an occasional kick up the ar $e. How well Pards did with other types of players -say foreign players like Papa- also needs to be asked - again the record is more mixed. Finally, and most important, is our playing style under Pards (won't bang on about it again) but it has left us dangerously unbalanced and dependent on Lambert -fantastic when he's fit and in form but a liability when he's not. It needed only a dip in form or an injury (or two with Lallana) for this particular chicken to come home to roost. Yesterday was only the culmination of a long-festering problem. In hindsight, it was wishful thinking to assume that none of the above would have happened sooner or later and makes it even more puzzling why appropriate measures were not taken by Pards. All in all, Pards did a solid job but given the cash at his disposal and the weaknesses in our set-up, it was very much a case of diminishing returns. I appreciate some of what he's done but he was never indispensible and its time to move on and focus on a season that's still fresh and there for anyone's taking.

Jesus, if only some people would calm down, we're 4 league games into the season = i'm sure by the end of october, things will have stabilised and we'll be right up in the mix. Better late than never that our playing style has been exposed as sh*te and that we're clueless without a fully-functioning Lambert or the flair and finesse of Lallana.

WOW factor in descending order = MON, KK, Leonardo, Hoddle, WGS, Mowbray, Zola, Coppell, Brown, Curbishley, Blackwell, Adkins, Howe, Hart. Not attempting to rank them in order of ability but simply what's likely to make the archetypal fat f**k who lives on an IV drip of Sky Sports, FIFA 10 and Prem Big Four games scratch his ignorant, fairweather head and go "WOW".

ITK= in-the-dark, tedious know-nothings

Broken record but Schneiderlin and Hammond remain the problem - what i don't understand is that Schneiderlin went on a really powerful, direct run at the start of the second half and got a decent shot away. Obviously he has it in the locker but why oh why have none of our managers encouraged him to do it more often? Hopefully a better manager than Pards will get Schneiderlin to step up and fulfill more of his potential. Hammond is another matter...

Better put than me

Fonte was partly responsible for their 2nd, getting pickpocketed after he had dwelt too long on the ball (still a fantastic finish).

Great- next we're going to get done for tapping up.

Thought he looked pretty lively playing in a more central position. Refreshing to see one of our players constantly on the move to look for and receive the ball.

Hasn't defoe been carrying a groin injury (obviously Lambert isn't used the same way as defore). Nonetheless i thought they could be managed OK without causing too many problems.

He's as honest and conscientious a footballer as they come which makes it even more worrying since he takes poor performances to heart.

I dont think the balls (at least from the back) were any different from earlier games or last season - just that then he was playing out of his skin. You're right about shirking of responsibility (though Punch -whatever his failings- always gives it a go). I think players have grown comfortable -and something encouraged by Pards- with relying on the ball to Lambert and playing from there. Only OXO and Guly when he came on showed an interest in passing and moving from midfield.

He won a few though that was only because he had come deep and the defender backed off and his headers were at any rate too heavy. Overall I can't remember him winning more than 20% of his headers whereas last season it was close to 80%.

Been mentioned in lots of other threads but don't think questions about Lambo's form and wider impact can be avoided. I watched him carefully today to try and work out how much his lacklustreness is due to injury or poor form. Seemed to run around and chase balls OK but only once did he jump for a header and as a consequence was easily outgunned in the air most of the afternoon. Pards said he was 85% there before the Brizzle game - he seems closer to 40%. This raises a bigger question about the legacy Pards has left. Needless to say, Lambert is a good player and would be a key player in any team; but our direct style of play which requires a focal player like Lambert to win and hold up balls so we can play off him basically makes him indispensible. This rigidity cost us time to time last season when Lambert had a poor game but his sheer consistency masked our true dependence on it. This season as Lambert has struggled for form for whatever reason, the chickens have come well and truly home to roost. Where now? Pards has lumbered us with a rather one-dimenstional style of play which cannot be adjusted over night - too many players roles are defined by Lambert's position in the team. But as today showed, we look like the cross between lost children and aimless sledgehammer without a functioning target man. Will Lambert be returning to form anytime soon? Or is he reverting to his former Stockport self - unlike Puncheon, doesnt seem to be the kind of player who is naturally and aggressively confident (thank god) and without goals can become quite withdrawn. If not, who's available to loan once the window reopens. Cant think of many target men that havent already been snapped up.

Wilkins certainly thinks it does - his Rochdale preview is preoccupied with the possible fan response. Might be self-serving but even the messiah Pardew was calling for fans not to get on the team's back at the start of the season coz it was translating into our play.

Not any - only lower-league managers with a good track record. I think alot of talent is overlooked because people overlook or turn a nose upto lower league success, confusing ability for the resources a manager may or may not have. One reason we get the merry-go-round of usual suspects whenever a new vacancy comes up.

Is there a massive difference? After all, most managers who start in the lower divisions ultimately hit a ceiling to how far they can take a team because they typically run out of money. As such, that they can't take a team any further has little to do with managerial ability. There arent many examples of peoples managing in the lower leagues and getting a crack at the big time; but the few current examples that exist -Pullis, Redknapp etc- show that as long as you have the funds, its not a totally different world and success translates from division to division. Yes we tried it with Sturrock but he was given neither the time nor the money. I thought the way that Scunny tested a strong Man City side in last season's FA Cup was a decent testament to Adkins raw abilities.

Bit of a misleading title - nothing new here. Daily Echo in their finest journalistic tradition are simply reheating what we discussed yesterday and repeating some dubious Sky odds. Nothing revealing from the club either.

Who's betting there's a "one alan pardew" chant from the monkeys in the northam within the first five mins?

Its an odd one - not disputing your position but i couldnt be more up for this game - want to see a proper reaction after the proverbial headcold of the last five days; win and we kickstart the season again with our first homewin and can look forward with relish to the imminent announcement of a new manager; lose or perform poorly, and the fans could make it pretty awkward and ugly for the club - psychologically, whether we move on or continue to dwell means that there is alot at stake and makes for an intriguing and unpredictable afternoon. Throw in the mix that half the press is expecting and hoping we lose and Rochdale are a tidy side and will come down and compete, and its nicely set up.

Only wheeer-dealer redknapp would do that. No doubt as part of the interview process NC will ask candidates if they think we can go up and won't have much time for those in the excuse business or hesitant about their chances of taking us up this season. Will make it very hard for the successful applicant to play the "its not my team guv" card.

Not saying he's the worst manager in the world but he's hardly the world beater, the future manager of Man U some were touting him to be...if eddie howe had consistent form behind him, I would be less concerned - not saying we need a bling-bling big-name signing only somebody with promise AND a track record - Nigel Adkins, for instance, fits that bill even though he's not my no.1 choice.

Sceptical of managers who've had one good, first season - on that measure Dowie and Keane would be world-beaters for their respective feats of getting Palace and Sunderland promoted to the premiership in their first season. What have they done since?

Whoever it was, he had butterfingers - kept dropping the ball when KD tossed it back to him.

Not necessarily talking about this incident - talkin about peoples attitudes to the Sun in general. Alot of people are f**ked off by its efforts to strongarm and harass anyone -whether a politician, celebrity, organisation whoever- that disagrees with it.