shurlock

True -thus surprised that he would single out missing out on frees. OTOH, frees seem to be the norm in L1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfers/5494052/Transfers-League-One-summer-2009.html

I hope that doesn't mean he has to go Oilver Twist-style to ML with his begging bowl. Seriously, though, you would expect that Pards discussed budgets when he joined and he was assured that there would be funds; that must have been one of the attractions to offset the drop in division.

Absolutely- some decent freebies have been knocking around. Just look at Kisnorbo to Leeds today. Pinnacle's in the past but the effects of all that delay rumble on.

Pardew talked about instilling a winning mentality - the simple taste of winning sometimes matters more than the circumstances of the match and the strength of the opposition. If we were in form, I would give less of a s**t about friendlies; but given how low confidence must be following the horrors of last season, friendlies assume special importance IMO.

Some of the responsibility also has to fall on Pullis and Wotton who were meant to be covering the back four - in effect Salisbury scored for fun against an extremely defensive side. Hope a decent CM is at the top of Pards shopping list.

No -you're absolutely correct -Stern had previously been thorn in Pards side - must have a decent scoring record against teams -Reading, West Ham, Charlton- Pards has managed.

If you haven't seen it, worth doing so. 7-8 min interview -pretty honest and definitely a few pointers as to upcoming decisions and choices. -While impressed with the infrastructure here (fans, stadium), he singled out the scouting network as singularly poor. He is also looking to bring in an assistant sooner rather than later. -Spoke about familiar faces- Kelvin, Perry and Stern John as a thorn in his side - John will possibly get a new lease of life under AP, especially given what Pilchards was saying yesterday. -Not surprisingly, happy to have picked up Harding on a bosman - thinks this could be the beginning of a long journey. -Sent a few veiled threats to players with 'big reputations here' - if you're not motivated to play for us, especially in L1, better f**k off. Don't need to be a genius to figure out he was addressing Rasiak and Saga. -Talked about adding one or two players - not sure what he meant by this: whether its the proverbial or literal one or two. In places, talks about not making million changes, doing things nice and steady; in others saying the squad is really thin of experience and quality. -Says he's been reading alot of fans comments about areas of weakness, and frankly, his views mirror ours to a large extent. The obvious areas are all for us to see.

got both my tickets - cannot wait. like the others, I think Swindon will sell out as well as a few other (relatively) local fixtures. Wonder what the sales policy will be this season - preference to ST holders or individuals with a record of away trips?

Fair enough- you wait around and risk getting nothing. so he played it safe.

Leicester fans say he's bulked up a bit and is harder to dispossess. They really like him, though his season in L1 was disrupted by off-the-field problems (sadly he had a number of deaths in the family).

Was committed enough but little more than a glorified battering ram at the end.

I'm not the greatest fan of either Patterson or Wotton but Henderson did them no favours. Why we stayed 4-5-1 isolating Saga and making life more difficult for Patterson while chasing the game, I will not know. For all the bodies we had in midfield, nobody (perhaps except Schneiderlin for a brief few mins) wanted to take a touch and bring the ball forward and look to move into space. Wotte basically made us bypass midfield with the long ball last season; midfield is crying out for an overhaul.

Thanks for this. Fascinating detail.

I agree - what game was henderson watching?:confused:

seen him a number of times - think he is an excellent midfielder. a very good passer of the ball and, unlike schneiderlin, not afraid to get stuck in. surprised a premiership side didnt snap him up when charlton first went down. not surprisingly, spent alot of his latter time at charlton, either injured or sulking....

kisnorbo's a good player - dirty but gets a few goals from set pieces- something which we've lacked. don't think he'll want to drop down, though.

Davis, CBs, Mills and Schneiderlin (when he came on) were all reasonable - suggests midfield and upfront need real attention (though can't see us playing with just the one striker in other matches - henderson still seemed to be thinking like the old regime). We need more width and pace - ajax gave a master class in how to spread the ball and use all the width of the pitch. Thankfully Pards likes playing with wingers.

Spot on. Wotton = pure deadwood

would have been the charlton game. shame people couldn't stay till the end, though ML was also uncomfortable in the limelight, it seems.

Lets not forget that when WGS came to us - he was considered damaged goods after getting Coventry relegated. As I said on the other thread, people forget how young he is (only a couple years older than NP) and he's actually been there and done it (numerous playoffs, promotions, prem experience, a FA cup final which West Ham was within whiskers of winning - would have been the first english manager to win the trophy in well over a decade). For f**k sake i don't know what people expect, especially as their choices are no more inspired -yes big reputations but largely merry-go-round casualties. People defend him by saying that League 1 -10 points Southampton shouldn't expect a big name. That's true to an extent but its also ungenerous, obscuring the fact that Pardew's record his excellent in its own right: His average points per game is 1.51 points over more than 450 games -that's better than coppell, redknapp, hoddle and pearson (even though NP has spent most of his managerial career with championship winning Leicester). Its not actually far behind WGS even though WGS spent four years in the SPL which is a virtual monopoly. Welcome Pards - an extremely shrewd appointment that suggests Liebherr and co are learning very quickly.

1.51 points a game over a period of 460+ games. not half bad. compare with 1.49 points a game for NP who's spent more than half of his short career at league winning Leicester. I bet there's no current ENGLISH manager in the game with a better points haul than Pardew.:cool:

Until they took a gamble with Keane, he was favourite to replace magilton at big-spending Ipswich only a few months ago. Suggests we're punching above weight and its a more than a decent acquisition.

v.good recent interview - talking about using the break he's had to prepare/psyche himself up for the next challenge and to hit the ground running.

I'm happy with that- people forget how young he is (only a couple years older than NP) and he's actually been there and done it (numerous playoffs, promotion, a FA cup final) -for f**k sake i don't know what people expect, especially as their choices are no more inspired -yes big reputations but largely merry-go-round casualties. Sounds like he's got passion - fair play for calling never-satisfied west ham fans w**kers (when he was still at the club). Using the word rape in post-match analysis is one (colourful) way of describing a perfectly timed tackle. welcome pards

Ben Thatcher - currently at Ipswich (not sure if he's getting many games) - some experience at LB (not to mention a hit with the skates) Either Tommy Doherty (Wycombe W) or Ben Davies (Shrewsbury Town) would give us some steel in in centre midfield.