Dr Gloom

I think we'd be 18th if his predictions had come true. We couldn't have hoped for a better prediction. Last thing we needed as lawro to jinx us by predicting a win. He always gets it wrong

Fuck's sake. What?

Colo is our most important player this season. Selling him would be an even bigger blow than when we lost Carroll

not a bad goal return tbh. mainly in the championship though. his time is up. good, honest pro but not good enough for where we want to be.

Mass murderers are my main pet hate.

Am sticking with my theory about Obertan's main problem. You still peddling this 'lucky bastard' line? Am genuinely annoyed with you for not giving Pardew credit for the job he has done, the fat bastard might have been lucky appointing him, he might have known what he was doing, we'll never know. Whatever, it doesnt matter, Pards has done a cracking job and there is no way you can call our start to this season lucky. Unless you're Happy Face and you like pulling statistics oot your hoop for the sake of argument. HF really gets to you, doesn't he? I though everyone could see through our faux-rivalry. I just need a nemesis, he's the best i've got. Ah knaa man, just pulling your leg.It's canny funny though. The tension isn't 100% tongue-in-cheek however. The lack of proper rivalries on here is a change for the better I reckon. Great piece of business by team positive in the summer. I hear the new signings aren't doing too well on N-O. is that where CT and Deano fucked off to?

he should think of pele in escape to victory. he wouldn't miss a game for a sore toe

The general foot area is rather important in this sport. come on though, a month out for a toe infection? sounds a bit excessive doesn't it? i've heard of people playing on with a broken toe before, which tbf would be way more painful. i don't mind him being out for a game or two, not least so we can have a look at marveaux, but really? a month out for a sore toe? he should man up.

Er, since when did a toe infection rule you out for a month? Shades of marcelino there like. Will it pave the way for Ben arfa or marveaux to start with jonas moved to the right flank?

There's definitely something to be said for a team of dullards and no massive egos.

Fucking hell Gemmill, that puts my current bout of man flu in perspective. Rest up and get well soon!

Good manager. I don't get why everyone on here seems to hate him so much. He seems alright to me. Deserves a crack at the England job. Lol at the op. I forgot about that weirdo pole. I wonder if he fucked off to the same place as CT and deano

must be some chemicals combined with the alcohol to result in a three day hangover.

anyone got a video of towelgate? i don't remember seeing it during the match

It's because we're 10 games unbeaten. Pardew is playing it by the book - you dont change a winning team. I would like to see both those players involved in the starting lineup and I'm sure we will before long. But why change things when we're on a run like this? Despite my own impatience to see the most talented players on the pitch (I think we'd all like to see Obertan or Best rested and Ben arfa starting), I can see that the manager hasn't put a foot wrong.

credit to pardew and the players. this is one of the best drilled, motivated and organised sides i can remember. he's had fuck all to spend so you have to admire how he's done it but you can't put a price on the spirit and the attitude of the players. i questioned whether pardew could sustain the never say die fighting spirit that emerged under hughton but tbf to him, it seems to be even better now. plus our defensive organisation and the speed of which we are closing players down is as good as it's ever been. you can hide the lack of quality flair players if you have these other attributes. the one thing that i think will bite us on the arse - and the reason why our position is a false one - is the lack of depth in the squad. one of the key factors in our success has been a settled starting 11. injuries to key players and our options on the bench don't look that clever. that said, we have some quality waiting in the wings but we're desperately short in some areas.

Aye, that's my main criticism of shepherd too. It was his decision making that let him down. We had a chance to kick on and establish ourselves as a top 4 side for years but then shepherd sacks sbr and replaces him with souness - crazy stuff. It was just a few games into a new season too iirc. His habit of backing manages then sacking them in September was baffling and destabilising. All that said, i wish Ashley cared about the club like shepherd did and was prepared to put the kind of money into transfers we saw under the previous regime.

fair play to him, he's taken some stick but that was a good performance against tough opposition

amazing result and a first class away performance. stoke put us under a lot of physical pressure but we didn't give them any space on the ball. i thought we'd struggle without tiote but the team was still organised and well drilled. credit it to pardew and the players.

"there's only one alan pardew" ... has that been sung before?

two soft pens there like

er, why the fuck has pardew subbed cabaye for perch? must be an injury surely? first thing he does is get booked.

they've got all of the ball but that's fine as we're hustling and harrying them in possession and they're creating next to fuck all. it's nerve wracking mind how every time the ball goes out of play in our half, feels like giving away a free kick in a dangerous possesion because of that bastard delap.

credit where it's due. pardew has done a brilliant job on limited resources. to potentially be 3rd or 4th going into november is fantasy stuff.