Well against Hull, Ledley totally watched as they walked by him on that goal --I was screaming at the TV. The other goal was a nice turn, but seeing Dann get nutmegged and turned made me yell. We have been a shambles defensively, but often it is player errors, not tactics.

How many times has Kelly been beaten cleanly one-on-one this year? What can Pards do about that (other than play Fryers).

When we had Tomkins on the right and Ward on the left against Southampton it was one of the few times we looked sorted at the back. Our DMs have been inconsistent too, with Cabaye never having it since the Euros, MacArthur has been up and down, and Ledley is solid but slow and his concentration has been off this year.

How do you build a solid back 4 with what we have? Damo is solid but slow, and we get ripped apart by fast fullbacks who pull him out of position --because they know they can run riot over Kelly or Fryers. Ward is better, but against talented full backs he has to hang back and the winger gets no support.

Perhaps we looked like sh*te at the beginning because of the calls against contact in the box, but Dann and Damo haven't recovered. Mandanda is good with his feet but doesn't challenge crosses well in the box (yet). Hennessey is a nightmare on freekicks, but he's solid on corners and crosses (Sunderland oopsie notwithstanding).

I think we have been poor defensively because right now we have poor defenders. Half of them their form may pick up, but the other half are fading or were never that good to begin with. God help us if Tomkin's injury is serious, or we'll be playing 3 at the back till January. But how else can Pards set up with these defenders?

Not many they weren't. They had been down in the bottom six for much of the season, and pulled together a run of decent results only in the last six games.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Agreed, and worse is yet to come over the next 4 games,none of which I expect us to win and at best get just the one point,away at Watford.
Shocking result at Hull where I fully expected 3 points before the next3/4 challenging fixtures.
Just how long can Parish continue to back this no hoper,who will take us down if he is not removed before the new window.,mark my words.

A good manager would have ironed out these players and have them alert to everything around them but they are getting taken to pieces at the back by Burnley, Hull FFS and Swansea FFS and 3-5 goals each. Do other teams have their problems? Yes. Do they deal with them? Yes. Yet we excuse Pathetic Pardew.

We are not talking about teams worth £300 million taking the pish. We are talking about Burnley, Swansea, Hull FFS and no I don't expect us to beat all these teams but 1 point from 9 out of them is bollox tbh. These teams are more alert, focused, determined, drilled, working and looking out for each other and giving everything for every point. Everything we are not. This stuff is not even that sophisticated which makes it even more unacceptable. It's the sort of stuff that a Sunday League side can sort out by shouting at each other and a few home truths said by the characters at half time.

I am fackin fed up with watching us play like teenagers on their summer holidays from midfield back to goal. Somebody is ultimately responsible if it happens every week and I can tell you now that there are weeks when there are 4 able defenders and however many midfielders playing in front of them yet still it's the not the manager's responsibility.

There is therefore something wrong with the culture and thinking within the squad. Whatever it is, we are walking backwards into the drop zone and the championship and someone needs to address it. There isn't enough there to tell me Pardew can.

COYP

Just an observation, Pardew has been our manager for almost 2 years and throughout 2016, has achieved just 6 wins in some 34 games.Bearing in mind who we play in the next 4,his return could very well move to just 6 wins in 38 games.
We still have him talking about this being a transitional season and the press references to our being an ' entertaining mess'.
Contrast Pardew with Conte,who has hit the ground running immediately and of course,other class managers who have performed very well from the start and you begin to identify the problem.Such a shame Parish and Pardew are such good chums as we continue to look like chumps while he remains our manager.
After the next few games, hopefully with a word in his ear from the US, a replacement in the form of Big Sam will be instrumental in saving our status in this league before it is to late.

It's amazing how much people are panicking. I guess it's a symptom of how bad this year as a whole has been and the increased expectations we now have.

Just reading some posts on here would make you think we are cut adrift at the bottom of the league, but we are 15th, with just a -2 goal difference. It is not the time to panic yet. Hull was bad, but we always struggle to play against a 3 at the back.

I think we will continue to pick up results. We are not one of the worse 3 teams in the league (on performances or results) this season, so that is why Parish is keeping the faith.

Even with our 6 game losing streak, in the last 10 games, Hull City and Everton have picked up less points, and Swansea the same.

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