Business as usual

Has there ever been a more bittersweet goal that Pappis Cisse's equaliser  against Hull City?

Personally I didn't know whether to cheer or cry. While I want to cheer every goal, every NUFC win I knew that Cisse's goal would extend Alan Pardew's stay at the club despite another lackluster performance.

There is obviously a big appetite for change at St James yet the atmosphere on Saturday was not as bad as I imagined it would be. Credit to the Sackpardew.com lads but for whatever reason the planned protest did not amount to anything serious. The fans love for the team seems to out weigh their dislike for Pardew. Add to that the emotion regarding Jonas and Pardew really did not have to walk the gauntlet That I and many others were expecting.

So Pardew survives to live another day - today's  papers talk about Ashley showing patience - unfortunately for AP the fans patience has gone and it will take a minor miracle for him to win any fans back. The ball is certainly in Mike Ashley's court, like always, and we simply have to wait until he no longer deems AP to be the man for the job.

Pardew's post game reaction was that of a man who is clinging onto his job by the skin of his teeth - lets all remember that we only just managed a draw at home against a average Hull side. Pardew rolled the dice with Cisse and got lucky. To describe this as a great result or to suggest he made a genius managerial decision is farcical.

A line the club released in the aftermath of the Southampton game was that it was "Business as usual for AP and his staff" Well to use their own words Saturdays performance was business as usual for a Pardew side - we lacked any team cohesion or organisation. For me nothing has changed and until I see a team that are organised, positive, and well trained I will not accept that Pardew is the right man for my club.

I saw a banner which I hear was confiscated by the NUFC heavies which summed this up perfectly. It read:

"We do not demand a team that wins, we demand a club that tries"