Alex

I've been to Oradour-sur-Glane. Highly recommended but very weird, given the history, as you'd expect. I spend a week in Limousin about 3 or 4 years ago. We flew to Limoges as Flybe went there from Newcastle and I had some loyalty points to use up. It's a beautiful, unspoilt corner of France. We also went to the Dordogne and Cognac which aren't too far away (and the French roads are very good).

CT, I know you like a bit of 80s stuff so this is dedicated to you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IlHgbOWj4o

Quite, but I'd counter it's unsustainable. Loads of sides have had one good season in the top flight on a low budget then fallen away. Coppell's Reading, Ipswich under Burley are two that spring to mind. Can you name a side that has done it consistently in your lifetime? With all the factors I mentioned that is, which would immediately rule out Arsenal under Wenger and Moyes at Everton.

Canny that like. What did you win?

I think he actually thinks it's quite simple but what he's actually asking for is nigh-on impossible. Basically you've got an owner who's never owned a club before with a chairman who's never worked in football before. Their stated aim is a team consistently finishing in the top 8. They're hoping to do this with more or less zero net spend, a low paid manager, a small and inexperienced backroom staff, a small squad (in terms of quality outside the first XI anyway), a small scouting network and low player wages (in relative terms). I've probably missed something there as well. So, in other words you've got two blokes with no prior experience in the game trying to achieve something that to the best of my knowledge has never been achieved in the English game. Even assuming you got a manager in who could work under those constraints and produce good results over a few seasons (not going to happen imo but anyway) then it would only be a matter of time before he went to a bigger, better job. So even if you achieved the nigh-on impossible you'd probably have to start again in 3 years or so.

Bruges is very nice like. Stay off the main square though as the restaurants / cafes are very much overpriced tourist traps and the bars are very dear there too. It's easy to get round (the medieval centre is very compact) and it's beautiful. There's loads of nice little bars and cafes. I'd recommend doing a walking tour but just a self-guided one rather than with a guide and a large group. The beer is amazing and the chips and chocolates are bad either. Go up the Bell Tower and have a look at Jesus' blood too (it looks like a rusty turd / dodgy bit of chorizo). Keep away from the alcoves though. Ghent is meant to be mint as well (didn't have time to go when we were there) and it's only about 20 mins away by train.

Aye, fair enough. Working with a pair of cunts like Ashley and Llambias would probably have done him the world of good in a perverse way.

He came to a better league for more money. Quite possibly with a view to moving to a top four side. I think if a similar approach to getting the right manager was employed then we wouldn't even be having this debate as Pardew would've been replaced with someone better already.

He's had 3 managers jobs and he's done / doing a good job at all of them so far so he obviously has something about him. He was a highly regarded coach too.

I would say, CT, at the risk of repeating myself, that the overriding point is whether we could get anyone better than Pardew willing to work under the constraints at the club. Or to put it another way, can the owner attract anyone better. We'll see, I remain unconvinced him and Dekka know anything about football. Same goes for you

You know, and I said this at the time, i.e. when he got the bullet, I think we stumbled on a potentially great NUFC manager in Chris Hughton. The players loved him, the fans loved him and he was a class act. I don't see Ashley getting that lucky again somehow.

Typical Man Utd

Someone like Laudrup will definitely be on loads more than Pardew too. Is there a lower paid manager in the league?

That's another thing. I've never said no one would take the job, loads of people would, but to be prepared to work under the circumstances here and on the sort of wage Pardew is on, well, you're fishing in a small pond in terms of quality. You'd have to get lucky with someone because to take Martinez for example (who I would have in a shot), he turned down 6x what Pardew is on when he decided not to go to Villa.

See the last three managers I mentioned. Look at the coaching staff. It's pretty inexperience and lightweight to say the least. Also safe to say they're not on a lot wages-wise. What makes you think he's prepared to pay the going rate to get an upgrade? It's pie in the sky stuff tbh. The club's run on a shoestring in management / coaching terms. Graham Carr's not on a lot either. In fact if you look at him, Stone and Carver, I would guess they're reasonably happy to be working for their home town club and living in the area which makes up for the wage a bit. I also don't think, Carr apart, they'd get a job in the Premier League for another club anyway.

To be slightly serious, people on here saying he should resign should ask themselves if they would walk away from a £1m pay-off. If they think the owner should sack him, fair enough, but it's ridiculous expecting Pardew to resign. And I dread to think who would come in as his replacement. The last three managers have been JFK, Hughton and Pardew. And Kinnear was on the biggest salary out of them lot. That's the pool we'd be fishing in.

I can definitely see Pardew resigning. I reckon Mourinho could be tempted by the 500k a year on offer as well.

One of your biggest regrets?

It's one of my biggest regrets, aye.

Looks like you're quick on the uptake too.

Great anecdote. Keep them coming.

Hey, this kid's got some good patter. Not at all like your stereotypical Old Firm cunt.

It was a good finish but Williamson didn't even put a challenge in.

What an utterly pathetic, gutless and tactically inept performance. 3 years running now under Pardew we've gone out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle after being completely outplayed by a lower division side. I'm not sure who I hate most at the moment. Probably Obertan. That Pardew at West Ham comparison seems more apt all the time. Fair enough Shola's sending off was a joke but that just partly masks the performance. We deserved absolutely fuck all from that game. They're 9th in the Championship as well.