Back in the summer, I seem to remember we were all impressed by McLeod's You.tube video.
No doubt Pards saw it too and thought he'd found the next Darren Bent.
Although one of his goals looks more like the next Paulo Wanchope.
So here it is once again, not by popular demand, the video that made Pards buy Izzy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yrl-QAokyA 
Comments
I really do find it strange that, considering that Pardew said we would play our way out of the division, that he has continuing to play the long ball up to Big Chris in favour of using the pace of McLeod and Varney.
Give the guy a chance, we spent £1m on him ffs. Give him a run of games and if he can't step up then fair enough. To brand him as not good enough on what we have seen of him so far is imo just ridiculous.
It's about the service you get from midfield and ours is so hesitant and blunt right now it's no wonder McLeod isn't getting the kind of chances he needs. 4-5-1 don't help either.
Makes me wonder what they do in training.
Spot on.
We are so slow in our passing and build up play and I think that is why we struggle to break sides down at home.
methinks he is going to make the same mistake again - leave it to the last minute, miss out on the bargains and then have to pick up any scraps that are left lying around.
I hope that I am proved wrong - but seeing as we knew 3 weeks ago that Reid was out for 2 months I would hope that something is being arranged in this area as I type. QPR have already signed 3 players, Leicester a couple and even poor lowly Derby have sorted something out.
If you save par from a bunker do you see it as a shot saved or get annoyed that you missed the green in the 1st place?
How do you know we arent lining something up? We have never done any transfer business in the public domain and are highly unlikely to start any time soon with Murray and Co at the helm.
The McLeod video proves he thrives on the same type of service that Benty used to get.
It might help if we play to the strengths of players?
No service usually means no chances. Even the best strikers find that a challenge.
Big Chris is pretty battered at the moment - so surely Pards will rest him for the Cup match.
Then we'll be forced into different tactics. Won't we......?
As I was saying in the Lisbie post, defences aren't scared of the long ball, it makes life easy for them. What does worry them is pace. We have strikers with pace, why are we not playing them and giving them the sort of service that seems pretty easy for a league 2 side?
We have full backs who either because of age or inexperience or orders do not get forward enough. We have defenders who could get carry the ball out of defence to turn things around quickly. Too often we play the ball around in deep areas then launch it forward.
I am excited at the prospect of Moo2 and Youga (or Basey) coming into the team. In order for this to work, we need to be tight when defending and midfielders who can sit if necessary. Sort that out and I'm opimistic we'll still have a happy ending.
My team would be
Moo2 Sodje Fortune Youga or Basey
Sam Semedo or Holland ZZ Reid Thomas
Varney
Subs: Gandolf, Magic, Racon, Big Chris and Dickson (or McLeod)
We have full backs who either because of age or inexperience or orders do not get forward enough. We have defenders who could get carry the ball out of defence to turn things around quickly.[/quote]
Old Magic / Tragic did this on Tuesday, lost the ball and lay dead on the pitch whilst the ball was heading into the area for penalty.
Moo2 Sodje Fortune Youga
Sam Semedo ZZ/Reid Thomas
Varney McLeod
True but he ain't no full back.
I see it mostly as a midfield problem rather than just up front.
I wouldn't mind if the long ball was a means to an end but we aren't even good at it!!
More space, less defenders, cut inside - and through on goal.
See, easy! ;o)
In fairness I think the 4-5-1 also had a lot to do with Pardew not wanting to drop 1 of Reid and ZZ, but also knowing that he couldn't drop Semedo or we would be lightweight in the middle. For me, Reid on the left made the team unbalanced.
I thought that Semedo was excellent in the holding role and could do just as good a job in a midfield 4 with either ZZ or Reid next to him.
Normally I'm fairly good at biting my tongue when I read this sort of tosh but I'm afraid this just takes the biscuit. How do you know that we signed McLeod because we missed out on Eastwood rather than because we wanted to sign McLeod? How do you even know we were in for Eastwood? Why do you think that Pardew will "make the same mistake again" and we will miss out on bargains?! It's not the Harrod's sale for f*ck's sake, where the best china gets sold to the person who's been queuing all night at the door. Why do we have to pick up "scraps"? Do you think that Pardew, for all his faults, is so stupid that he will just buy "scraps" for the sake of buying "scraps"? Or do you not have a good reason for saying all this other than being blindly negative so you can say "told you so" if it does go wrong?
QPR, Leicester and Derby have all signed people, we haven't, therefore we're in the shit, is that the way the argument goes? Might it be something to do with the fact that the players they want/need have already become available? It's not a competition to see who can sign the most the earliest!
I've read so much on here the last few days about our current "crisis" and it's clear to me that some people revel in us losing a few games. All I can say if the majority of our support thinks the way you do then we will get what we deserve. Still, at least you could then say "I told you so" couldn't you?
I would say McLeod's almost certain to start against West Brom alongside Varney.
He scored against them a few weeks ago so maybe he'll think of them as his 'lucky' team.
You can see he's a confidence player so it's all in McLeod's head whether he plays well.
If he gets an early goal, that'll settle his nerves and hopefully the boo boys will leave him alone.
I would like Wagstaff/Christensen to get on just so we can see a glimpse of the future. Racon deserves a game as does Josh Wright.
I am not at all fussed about the FA Cup so we might as well blood some youth!
I would imagine that Championship Clubs like us who want quality players and are not just looking for a pair of feet will be required to wait till the Premiership Clubs have had first dibs and we have to pick from the unwanted, the players too good for the Championship and not good enough for the Premiership. We are also in no hurry this week as we are not playing a proper match for over a week. I would hope for at least some discussions next week, but there is a good chance that we won't get anyone till the last week of January and loanees after that.
I fully expect the squad members to play on Saturday, Racon, Ambrose, Varney, McCleod and it is up to them to make an impression to force their way into the team for Blackpool.
Or go to Ghana, do well and play in the African Nations Cup/World Cup Finals 2010.
Pardew isn't far off doing a Dowie in terms of over-inflated fees.
As for Bougherra the previous year. . . . the scary thing about that is that he bought him while we were in the Premiership, presumably thinking he was a Premiership player. . . . Blue Sq Premiership?
A fair amount of dosh has been spent.
Although, to be fair, these players are all pretty young still - so no doubt Pards believed he was buying potential.
But they still need to do the job convincingly, which they've not really had the chances to do yet.
So the jury's still out.
But even if you think they are inflated fees - that's the market price; pay it or go without.
Sure, there is an occasional bargain around but you have to filter a fair few players to find your diamond.
It's a numbers game: sometimes you strike lucky - and sometimes you don't.
The Bougherra signing falls into a very different category - and was a gamble to bolster our chances of Premier survival.
At the time he was very much in form and very much sought after - Everton offered £4 mill but wanted him to play in midfield, which the player refused.
You can't deny his basic ability - if only he had the composure and concentration to go with it.