Ahead of the trip to Newcastle on Saturday we welcome home fan James Harrison back to LFW after a year away to give his opinion on a topsy-turvy start to the season at St James’ Park.

Alan Pardew in or out? Who would you have liked in if he had gone?

JH: I'm sticking to my guns and saying Pardew out. He has a canny knack of getting a small run of wins together followed by a longer barren run. We keep going round in circles. Spurs and Man Utd, even Liverpool are there for the taking and you would think we would be in the prime position to capitalise on that with a manager (and captain) who have been omnipresent for the last four seasons.

The press seem to have selective amnesia but accuse the fans of the very same thing. Yes he got us fifth (which they remember) but we also survived by the skin of teeth the very next season (finishing sixteenth, which they forget) when we finally got a win at Loftus Road. Last season we started brilliant then completely capitulated.

And he's also a lovely human being.

Personally I would have looked to Europe, France in particular. Christophe Galtier had been rumoured and he has done a superb job with St Etienne. I can't fathom the rationale behind having a manager who prefers Hayden Mullins over Javier Mascherano whilst simultaneously advocating a foreign import transfer policy. Also Pardew has no idea what 4-2-3-1 is so he should admit his limits and play 4-4-fucking-2.

Why do the fans go after Pardew and not Mike Ashley? Surely any replacement would be another one of Ashley's bum chums and do much the same job?

JH: I think it was a good thing the supporters finally put pressure on the manager. In a roundabout way it was the only way we could put any pressure on Ashley; it gave him a decision to make. The fans are too loyal for their own good and continue to support the team home and away. The only way that we can really hurt him is to stop going to the matches which is never going to happen. What I am disappointed about is the fans continuing to pay additional money (on top of their season tickets) to go to cup games that the club have stated are not a priority. Those game should be boycotted for the sheer contempt he's had for the fans.

It's got to the point where we are happy enough to get tenth place but not in the manner in which Pardew was doing it. Here is a brilliant stat: "Before Alan Pardew arrived, since 1993, Newcastle United had lost 35 Premier League games by three goals or more. Alan Pardew has lost by three goals or more 21 times on his own since December 2010" - sackpardew.com. A lot of supporters (myself included) are tired of the team getting thrashed and it being par for the course.

Given the turnaround in results, were the fans a little hasty in kicking off to the extent they did? Now the team is settling down it looks decent.

JH: The run extended into last season and four wins in nine months just isn't good enough. However I will give Pardew credit for the turnaround, it's just frustrating it's taken so long for him to admit things weren't working. The turnaround was largely due to having his hand forced due to injuries. We moved Moussa Sissoko in-field from the wing and now he looks like the beast he's meant to be. He finally dropped Yoan Gouffran and offered some forgotten faces (Mehdi Abeid and Sammy Ameobi) a chance. The defence looks more solid sans Mike Williamson.

Of the new summer arrivals, who has impressed and who has struggled?

JH: Darryl Janmaat has probably been the pick of the bunch. I think he's actually an improvement on Mathieu Debuchy, who went to Arsenal in the summer. Debuchy was awesome in the air but for someone who liked to attack so much his lack of assists was worrying. Janmaat has provided them and looked solid on the floor - albeit he’s a deal slower than his predecessor.

Remy Cabella looks like Hatem Ben Arfa on the 5-2 diet: lots of potential but looks like a fart from the east stand will knock him over. He also keeps begging for free kicks he'll never get in England. He played really well against Spurs when he was given a free role behind Ayoze Perez. Pardew looks like he doesn't know what to do with him. What is tricky is that Siem De Jong has been injured since the third game of the season but looked ideal for the ten role which could be to Cabella's detriment.

Perez has been an excellent poacher. Even when we were struggling you could see that the pace was there. He's done particularly well when you consider the games he's scored in are the ones where he's been up top on his own and he's not the biggest.

Jack Colback has been steady and dependable, makes some good through balls and movement - a really good signing.

Emmanuel Riviere is the French Emile Heskey.

Where is the team strong and where is it weak? Who or what would you like to see come in in January?

JH: We are strong in numbers in the midfield but need more goals from them, that's where the lack of Yohan Cabaye has really been felt. Cabella and De Jong need to provide balls and goals to the attack. We definitely need another striker. I would go for a big strong striker, someone Perez and Cisse can run off.

We've got an absolute belter in Rolando Aarons. He's not scared to take players on and looks to play the early ball to the strikers. He could be the player to get Papiss Cisse back to his best. Gabriel Obertan's injury was a blow as well as he's been like a different player this season.

A central defender is paramount. Mike Williamson is not good enough and Fabricio Coloccini is only interested half the time - plus he's getting on a bit in years.

Having Ryan Taylor back is a massive boost. He can play pretty much anywhere on the pitch and his set pieces have been missed.

What are the short, medium and long term prospects for Newcastle under this chairman?

JH: Mid table finish ad infinitum. I think long term we can only hope Rangers get promoted and Ashley jumps ship. We're never going to be troubling the top four of the table but is it too much to hope that the club will take the cups seriously? It sickens me to say that we need a foreign investor to match the ambitions of the fans (to win a cup) but that's the way the sport is these days. But it could be a case of careful what you wish for...

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TacticalR added 23:35 - Nov 21 Thanks to James. It all seems bonkers at Newcastle, yet somehow they stagger on. They really seem to have that 'What's this club all about?' mid-table existential angst thing. Obviously their problems are more than a matter of academic interest to us as we hope that they will bonkers enough to completely mess up and go down instead of us. However, despite everything they haven't really messed up for a while. Ashley's model seems to be to act as a showcase for foreign players and that can be a bit risky if you sell one too many, plus you have to integrate the new players, and there seem to be quite a few of those. It's interesting that Pardew can get little runs going amid the barren patches, and that that has been enough to keep them ticking over in the Premiership.

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