Pardew at fault (again)

Alan Pardew got it wrong again on Saturday with his tactics and selection.

All week he was talking to the papers saying how we would play our game as normal and not worry about Stoke however when it comes to match day he springs a tactic change and selects a 3-5-2 formation. In my time following NUFC we have never been a 3-5-2 team and Saturday showed exactly why. To then add insult to injury he made Sol Campbell the lynch pin at the back - the key position in a 3-5-2 formation even though Sol has not played since late 2011.

Steve Harper must also take some blame for this heavy defeat as he looked shaky all afternoon gifting the second goal and getting no where near the first or third - an all around bad day at the office.

We are hitting a bad patch of form at the wrong time of the season. I do think we will be OK, but to do that we have to win the up coming 6 pointers against team in and around us like Wolves and Villa.

Hopefully the international break will allow us to get some players back to fitness and get can put an end to this poor run. For this to happen Pardew needs to make some wise choices as I really do feel he has been off his game over the last few weeks.