[andy_m]

That's two results in a row ground out now - they're going to be deserving champions in fairness.

Normal service resumed at Selhurst. You won't believe the number of people who were talking about how we were the better side and had more possession - as though last season hadn't happened and we shouldn't know better than anyone that these things don't actually matter! We were out-Pulised. The thing about Pardew is that we'll beat Man City but won't be able to find a way past the likes of West Brom. Under Pulis it would have been the other way around coupled with the remote possibility that we'd edge out a top side for a draw. 30% possession, defend the point you have and maybe nick a goal on the break might be bloody awful to watch (trust me, last season was torture, and this season has been much more enjoyable) but it does work, whilst our current course can only really work in the short to medium term. At some point the bubble will burst and we'll have to go back to basics. After all, our four wins in a row until yesterday included (luckily) beating Stoke away aswell as the champions. 6 points that you simply cannot have been counting on - arguably 1 might have been considered an acceptable return. Take five points from our current total and we'd only just be above West Brom who we lost to yesterday - if we'd spent a season doing that and those results had gone against rather than for us we'd be in serious trouble, something which should be unacceptable given the high quality of the squad. And the reality is that West Brom and their like are our immediate rivals and it is they who we need to be taking points from consistently. If we have a poor start to next season I genuinely don't know if we will have the organisation required to make a fight of it in the latter stages.