shurlock

Agree though the pattern was more systematic - Brentford, Exeter, Tranmere, Brighton were away games in which we looked clueless (I don't include Millwall because they ultimately went up). And when we did eke out wins, they were hardly convincing - Brizzle Rovers and Norwich apart. The irony is that we looked much, much better on our travels in the first half of the season than the second. That was my big question mark over Pards, that we seemed to be going backwards away from home and not learning. And while most people who saw our home games could rave over some big results, that was smoke and mirrors stuff when you consider the record points hauls by our closest rivals and the fact you didn't have a pot to p i $ $ in last season if you only won your home games.

Tipped by Dion and the rest to lose against Rochdale on Sat...clueless

Maybe dean is going to be zola what butch is to ancelotti - zola's good friends with butch - both of whom are chelski/serie a legends and butch obviously knows dean. surprised we didnt use more of our chelski connections last season - apart from the Mellis loan deal who was arguably underused by AP.

Uncanny resemblance to steve mcclaren.

Not ITK or anything - just trying to join the dots as dispassionately as possible. Unless the whole media is being mugged off, the consensus is that ML wanted to replace AP, but that NC stepped in to defend him. I doubt that anybody who fed this story to the media would use a dead man's name gratuitously or misrepresent his views. Throw into the mix that AP was allowed to prepare the squad during the close-season and bring in new players -indeed he was talking up a new signing only on the weekend, and its hard to believe that his fate was sealed ages ago and this is the inevitable culmination of a long-standing agenda. Yes NC and AP didnt see eye to eye on alot of things but thats not the same as some of the boring conspiratorial BS on here. Finally, just because we didn't know about the behind the scenes unrest doesn't necessarily mean the protagonists were small fry - after all the club has done a pretty good job at keeping some very big things quiet.

Jeez didnt think speculation could actually be way-off - but this comes close

Wonder how Doddy got on with Pards - and this lack of cooperation and integration does put into new light the way Pards went out off his way to play so many youth players in the preseasons...

David Platt? Itai connections - obvious eagerness to get into the management game, giving up cushty sky arrangement. We are the Man City of the lower leagues...

Notwithstanding his time at Celtic which was rotting from within anyway, I rate tony mowbray - would certainly get us playing the right way and knows how to mix it at a lower level.

If so, someone needs to come in asap: as you say, if its hard to motivate yourself, however professional you are yet there's no announcement imminent (otherwise wilkins would have been gone), that's a perfect recipe for drift. admittedly its still early in the season, but there are some biggish, away games on the horizon - Swindon, Sheff Weds. The only worse thing would be to rush the search process and bring someone second-rate in - hard to imagine Cortese being so reactive and exposed, so unlike you I think he's slightly further down the road to appointing a new manager. At least I hope so.

Is still around - and taking the helm temporarily. As he was Pards first recruit, you would expect he would have been asked to pack his bags as well or that would have left on his own volition as some gesture of collective responsibility; of course, he might still leave once the new regime is installed but its a funny, odd one and perhaps suggests that it wasn't as simple as time being called or running out for Pards and his team or that behind the scenes its just Cortese vs. world.

Have a word with yourself

Like the charlton fans.

Pardew did a solid job but not a fantastic one - the fact remains that we have some excellent players by L1 standards. One of my concerns last season was that our talent never really clicked as a team but often resembled an aggregation of individuals. Similarly, we never really had the nous to turn a game around or change styles if we didn't get off to a fast start. I forget the number of times we were bailed out by moments of individual brilliance. Why can't somebody new not get the same, indeed not do better when the fundamentals are there. Yes the manner in which this was done has left a slightly sour taste - and the slightly risk-averse side of me says don't fix it if its not broken but I'm more than happy to reserve judgment and see what the new appointment does. Ultimately I liked Pards general manner (even if he could come across slightly aloof) more than his tactics and playing style. As to why now - we're only three games in - it would have been far more questionable if we had waited till Xmas and wasted that transfer window.

Free parking

What tripe. He was woefully misused - and apart from when he arrived (a run that saw us playing some of our best football last season) was never given a run of games to establish himself.

Great signing - but I wonder whether this is Papa all over again - not in terms of playing style or what he brings to the team but how far AP was involved in identifying the player. With Papa, I got sense that AP never saw him as his player and was never truly sold on him. Thus Papa was used sporadically - something which definitely upset his time at the club. Im pretty sure that this deal has been inspired by Cortese and his contact, so I hope that this isnt a case of history repeating himself....

Cesena have some quality players - Stephen Appiah (Ghana's captain at the World Cup) and few other internationals, so they're no mugs. as you say if we get him, it'll be one hell of a coup.

Wasnt it the preseason friendly against Spurs?

The Club is making an effort, advertising on the screens in the stadium and stewards holding boards along the route outside to the effect that northam road is a public highway...

Good analysis - wonder whether we really both Hammond and Schneiderlin for home games. Schneiderlin has more potential than Hammond but just seems to be coasting at the moment. Pardew should take some responsibility for this - i can understand that by having our CMs hold the fort it frees up the front four - but its just crazy how rigidly this is implemented - they seem to get travel/home sickness whenever they cross the halfway line when they should be occasionally gambling and giving and going - one reason it was so refreshing to see Fonte be a bit more cavalier. Anyway the result is that we are far too predictable - there's very little need for opponents to track or anticipate any of our players making runs. it also demands a hell of alot from Puncheon and Lallana - I think Puncheon has had a poor few games but he gets very little assistance at times; most serious, we lose our shape as a consequence of these tactics since they seem to create a massive vacuum in the middle of the park whenever we're attacking. In the absence of Hammond or Schneiderlin or another CM to support play, the likes of Lallana and Puncheon get sucked off the wings to pick up the ball while Barnard and Lambert end up getting pulled deeper and deeper. As you put it, its a shapeless mess.

Yep, a gibbering wreck.

Agree -said as much on the other thread: "Must be a really tough time for Nicola C at the moment - from the memorial's transcript it is obvious that he has lost a dear friend and comrade-in-arms. His head must be swimming at the moment and must have some pretty mixed feelings about what he's doing and where he's going. Cant be easy to come into work every day and know that part of what made things so meaningful is gone. Do feel real sympathy for the guy - quite apart from the fact that he is now the critical link to our future"

Even better than the watch story in Pulp Fiction.

Must be a really tough time for Nicola C at the moment - from the memorial's transcript it is obvious that he has lost a dear friend and comrade-in-arms. His head must be swimming at the moment and must have some pretty mixed feelings about what he's doing and where he's going. Cant be easy to come into work every day and know that part of what made things so meaningful, the spirit and adventure he shared with Markus, is gone. Do feel real sympathy for the guy - quite apart from the fact that he is now the critical link to our future.