Wes Tender

I think that he is a World class footballer...and I'm not the only person to think so.

They're exactly the same as anybody else employed to do a job. If they screw up, they deserve to be told about it. Yes, they're prone to the occasional error of judgement making split second decisions, but when they make a habit of making the wrong decisions which influence the match result, then the FA needs to take action. If they wish to discipline Pardew for his comments, then they ought to have a look themselves at the decisions that caused him to be upset. If other managers complain about the same referee, then they will be forced to act too. Pressure will inevitably grow for the football governing bodies to introduce electronic technology and I for one will welcome it, as the standards in the lower divisions are absolutely dire.

Not necessarily. It is a well known suspicion held by most that refs somehow find it almost impossible to award penalties against Man Ure and there is probably a lot of truth in it. And when the decisions go in our favour, i.e. there are dubious decisions that go against our opposition that were wrong, that doesn't make the rival teams' managers happy enough to say that oh well, it will all even it itself out in the end; they also complain. When the decision making becomes so poor, especially in the lower divisions, then something needs to be done about it. Either the poorer referees need to be taken off league games until they improve, or else electronic aids need to be employed. As technology improves year by year and as the decision making by referees becomes more important to the financial wellbeing of some clubs who might find that over a season they have lost sufficient points to make the difference between relegation in some cases and promotion in others, the clamour to introduce this technology will grow. As for Pardew's outburst against the poor refereeing, I don't see why he should be slated for showing the same frustration, anger or disappointment that the vast majority of fans shared with him.

Funny really how the barometer has swung just in the past couple of months. When the fake sheik arrived on the scene, I'd have certainly envied them, as it seemed that they were going to continue to have money thrown at them, whereas we were headed towards oblivion. Then we were taken over by the mega-rich owner and it became increasingly unlikely that their takeover would take place. At the moment, I'm jubilant that the fake sheik has completed his takeover, as he doesn't seem to have sufficient funds to invest in the players good enough to keep them up and the transfer deadline date is almost upon them, so long has been the delay in getting this far. I'm not convinced that the quality of players they have got in is good enough to keep them up and if they go down, that will be curtains for them. We both need a win, but we are only a little short of a squad that can produce a string of wins, whereas they are miles short of a squad that can survive in the Premiership. If they continue their run of losses, the falling morale in the squad and fanbase will be corrosive and they will be in a downward spiral whichg is difficult to reverse.

What's boring is hearing the constant carping of those who bleat that we need to win games, but who pay no heed to the gradual improvements that are taking place, where the squad is strengthened by good new players and the results also show an improvement. It obviously either doesn't occur to you, or else you do not have the imagination to consider it, that although we have made new signings, we have lost Rasiak and Murty and Mills are out injured. John, Surman and Dyer were also lost in the close season. Improvements have to be made in fitness and tactics, while at the same time until recently Pardew had to do it all by himself. He has appointed some able backroom staff to assist him and is still looking to make replacements to fill the gaps. If you really wanted to back up your negativity, tell us which of the signings Pardew made you disapprove of. Remember back to the last few managers (Pearson apart) who all played players out of position. Remember the squad full of overpaid journeymen who didn't play with the passion and commitment that their wages demanded. Remember the poor defences that we had where the shortcomings were never addressed (again apart from Pearson). Try and get some perspective, rather than just mouthing off aimlessly. Time IS on our side. We have hardly started the season and even when the transfer window is closed, we are allowed to make emergency loans.

Apparently speculation in today's Nudes of the World that 'Arry Redcrapp is after signing him following the hints from the French manager that he ought to be playing higher league football if he wants to play for France again. OK, let's tell Harold that he is not for sale and ensure that if he does go, we get a mega-buck return on him from cheque-book Redcrapp. He hasn't exactly set the World on fire for us and I'm pretty certain that he will only be a bench warmer for the Spuds. I'm also thinking that if we got a lot for him, we could do better with the sort of replacements we would get for him.

It is permitted to say that a player is rubbish. Wotton is rubbish. And it isn't ironic that he spelt articulate wrong. Being articulate has nothing to do with ability to spell well.

Sounded as if we are not far short of turning things around. We were better than a Premiership side or 70 minutes on Tuesday and today should have gained all three points had we won another penalty that we deserved, took several chances that we had, or if the referee hadn't awarded them a dodgy penalty right at the death. I would go as far as to say that had we not lost Murty on Tuesday, we might have had reasonable expectations of still being in the Carling Cup and having all three points today. We have a couple of days to make some signings to make the difference between a team that is nearly there and the finished article. I am still upbeat and confident that we will make those changes, give the new team a few matches to settle in and then we will start to gain momentum and show ourselves to be perfectly capable of beating sides like Stockport.

Oh dear! Pardew ignored you and left out Wotton, played James in midfield alongside Hammond and Thomas at right back. What a shame that he didn't take your advice, eh, or we might have gained more than the point. When will he ever learn, that when we have someone as qualified on our message board as you, he ought to have consulted with you first?

Shame that you're refereeing Man Utd v Arsenal today, or you could have done a useful job for us today at this level.

Well, replace Wotton with Gillett and I'd agree.

Opened the bedroom curtains this morning to a brights summer's morning and the first thing I notice across the road are two magpies. A nailed on Saints win in the offing.

Isn't Shopenhauer's own argument weakened by the fact that Germany lost the two major arguments of the last century?

Are there any experts on here, Dellgirl? It's more a matter of human nature, isn't it? It isn't altogether surprising that if a footballer suffers a horrendous injury from a tackle, for example, that when his injury is healed, he might be very nervous of repeating the experience. I'm sure that there are players who would continue just as before, but I'm also certain that it must be a factor with others. Take Oakley as an example. After his bad injury, he never seemed to get stuck in quite as much as he used to after it, at least for us.

For somebody at university, your comprehension seems to be a bit lacking. As you had played against Gillett and therefore feel able to judge him on the basis of one game, I asked you to name other players you had played against who you thought were capable of doing a job for us. You named instead what you thought was our best squad. That was a bit irrellevant, of course, as both Mills and Murty are out injured. If you're going to include players who can't play for us, you might as well tell us which positions are going to be filled with new signings to replace our weak spots. I reckon another CB, another RB, at least one pacy winger and another more mobile striker to go up front with Lambert. That would probably do until January, but even Scneiderlin and Saganowski might have gone by Tuesday. I have to laugh at the arrogance of youth that suggests that you are nearly as well qualified as Pardew. So how long have you been managing teams? It's a bit like the spotty scrot who comes into a company thinking that because of his degree he can do a better job than somebody who has less paper qualifications, but has actually worked his way up to that position and gained real experience. Everybody on here likes to pick a team for us, based on their own ideas and perceptions of what they have seen of the players. To do it well, a manager must also choose the players who might exploit weaknesses in the opposition, or counter their strengths. So I presume that with your vast knowledge of the game, the team you selected was the best team to beat Stockport, rather than the best team to play all season regardless of who the opposition is.

What has Pardew said about Gillett? I must have missed it.

Do you choose the team then? Or does Pardew not do anything until he has consulted with you? You played football at a minor level, the ink has hardly dried on your birth certificate and you seem to believe that your opinion carries more weight than that of most people on this forum for some reason. As the barometer of which players are good enough to play for us seems to be whether you played against them, perhaps you will kindly provide us with a list of those who you thought could be useful. Pardew can then get on the blower and sign them up. Hurry now, mind, as we only have until close of play Tuesday.

Do we fans need training? Who by and to what end? I can imagine some of the topics for the fans' training meetings:- 1) Matchday Chants - the part they play in the team's success 2) How can you improve your support, individually and collectively? 3) How to overcome feelings of negativity and despondency 4) Holding your end up in encounters with rival fans 5) Fan's forums v Official site. Where is the truth to be found?

Ah! So another who believes that Nineteen is a troll. He denies it and the Mods don't believe it, so it, so you must be mistaken.

Oh dear! Sunderland turn down the Skate bid for Nosworthy. Not having much luck, are they? And Fahim just bought Pompey for a mere £5 million plus taking on their debts. And there are noises being made that the financial side of the deal will have to undergo forensic investigation to establish that somebody like Shinawatra isn't behind the scenes trying to launder the fruits of his corruption in Thailand.

Exactly. They are your opinions based purely on what you have listened to him saying in an interview. Did you read the book? I stand by what I said. But as for your question about what I would feel about MLT as a manager if confronted with him largely ignoring advice about sports science and nutrition, I suspect that I would enforce it on all those players who showed a willingness to learn in order to make up for shortfalls in their natural ability. In the case of MLT, I'd accept that although he had some faults, his natural ability which arguably equated to genius, was more than enough compensation for his few and little idiosynchrasies. If you as manager would have left him out of your team because he didn't follow your instructions regarding fitness and diet to the letter, then more fool you. But I'm certain that confronted by somebody like you, you would have been capable of pursuading him that his loyalty was wasted here and that he ought to have been more ambitious elsewhere.

Come on, you're not fooling anybody. Be honest, you don't come because you can't be bothered to go to the effort and expense for third division football. Lots of fans used to moan and groan when we were being hammered in the Premiership. I'm assuming that you weren't put off coming because of the negative fans then, were you?

I know how it irks you that people have formed opinions about you based on what you write on here and you respond by stating that they know nothing about you, so have no grounds for forming those opinions. Fair enough. But on the other hand, I find it to be hypocrisy that you are spouting the same sort of groundless opinions about MLT, which appear to be based solely on your impressions of him rather than on any proven fact. This is precisely what you accuse others of doing to you. Show us evidence to support your accusations and make them more than just your opinion. I see none offered so far. And don't think that nobody noticed your snide little dig at Crouch in connection with the Ted Bates statue. Would you have preferred it to have remained as it was as a lasting reminder of how low(e) we had sunk? The equivalent of the Austin Allegro as a reminder of the lowest point in the British car industry.

When they were in the Academy, they did indeed have that winning mentality, but regrettably it was beaten out of them last season when they were all thrown in at the deep end without the support of older players around them to reassure and guide them. The good thing about the signings made by Pardew, is that he has mostly picked players who are winners. Players like Murty and Hammond didn't get to be captains of their respective teams by not having a never say die attitude and an ability to inspire others. I hope that by signing almost an entirely new team and blooding the brighter young propects gradually, we can build a winning mentality in the team, so that whenever they go behind, they will redouble their efforts to get back onto level terms rather than let their heads drop.

I don't know where you sit, but please be careful not to be confused by those shouts of disapproval and condemnation. They could very well have been shouts of anguish, disappointment, anger at the referee, condemnation of the cynical physicality of the Brum players, frustration at not being awarded penalties we deserved, any number of alternative reactions that you might have misinterpreted. I was in the heart of the Northam and didn't hear much in the way of negativity at all. In fact, I was very heartened that as soon as Brum scored their goals, we almost instantaneously started up the chants of support again. The overall reaction after the match might have been tinged with disappointment that we lost, sadness that the Brum victory had taken place largely as a result of the injury inflicted on Murty, but the major feeling that I perceived was one of optimism that we had given Brum a nasty shock and that for over 70 minutes we were the team that looked to be the top flight outfit, not them.