Zero

and you need to consider the work load of a modern manager as well. It’s simply impossible to ask Howe and read and analyse all the scout reports on the table. He still need to handle first team coaching and tactics. Those are his primary tasks. Alex Ferguson, in his last days at Man Utd, actually worked like a DOF more than a manager. His coaches handled most of the training work and tactics. Howe isn’t this type of manager, although I know some of the people here wants him to become one

Certainly a manager should have input but when we are talking about “final say” it must be the DOF who has it. Put it simple, what’s the point if the DOF can get a deal like Doue at 20m but the manager rejected it because he preferred EPL proven and tell the DOF that he will only approve deals like Elanga? Yea I know it’s a bit extreme but “final say” is something else. If your manager has the final say, practically speaking, he is controlling all the transfers, not just input. He is the one that sign-off the deal.

I think a proper transfer structure should be 1. The manager has the right to prioritise positions that need strengthening, and 2. The DOF or the committee, leading by the DOF, should have the final say on transfers, especially for the outgoings The manager should never have the final say on transfers, and shouldn’t have the right to block outgoings. Squad building is DOFs responsibilities and as such DOF should have the final say.

Over to our new head of recruitment Andy Howe

I think you just need a call to the players agent then within 5 mins the terms can be agreed Most likely you just need to sort out base salary, no of years and any specific clause

I kinda prepared for the worst already.

1. That’s contrary to another poster here. The jury hasn’t out yet. Anyway, we can only guess. 2. Europe. Not ECL. I don’t believe the ownership doesn’t care about qualifying for the Europa League. It directly affects our coefficient and incoming sharing in the future. 3. I give up.

1. As someone suggested, Ornsteins article is kinda misleading. PIF still hasn’t decide whether Howe will continue next season. It’s just the club is working under the assumption that Howe would continue. So these few matches do matter. 2. The draw against Forest kinda confirmed that we won’t be qualifying for Euro matches next season. A loss to West Ham would be the official confirmation. 3. And if you are PIF, reviewing and evaluating these few matches, as a prediction for next season, how would you interpret a home loss to West Ham?

Whilst I want Hotspur to relegate, I have a feeling that if we lose this game, Howe would be told to say bye at end of this season. We better win this.

I start to think he is actually not a good fit for 433. More suited to 4231 or 442 where he has more freedom to run into spaces.

I can accept a transitional season if the time was effectively used for rebuilding and recreating a new formation / tactics. But honestly ask yourself, did Howe really make good use of this season by implementing new formation / tactics or training up new players / youngsters? Did the new players fitting in well? We all know the answer. Howe just kept on doing the same thing again and again and again. This is, honestly speaking, fucking waste of time. Osula is the only discovery, but it’s even more bizarre - if he’s the answer why don’t we just started him last August and stop paying the extraordinary fee for Wissa? You can’t defend Howe by simply saying “transitional season, let it go”. There are a lot of things you should do during a transitional season.

that’s the part I totally don’t understand. Still remember the reports that we were after Ekitike and planned to play him as a 10 behind Isak? I thought we would really switch to 442 or 4231 this season, or at least mix them up occasionally. I really don’t understand it. In the universe where we got Ekitike and able to keep Isak - what’s the formation Eddie going to play?

I would say it’s the midfield that’s the problem. Tonali as the only 6 no longer work. We looked much more stable playing both Tonali and Bruno together as 6. May be we couldn’t press that effectively by playing 4231, but ultimately you have to sort out the stability issue first. Thats the first priority. No point getting the goal first and destined to lose it back.

Nah I really think this would work. Wolte playing alongside Osula. The midfield look much more stable and Wolte fully focusing on attacking. At worst we could play Ramsay instead in that role. This should be the set up going forward. Don’t fucking go back to that Plan A please

I honestly didn’t think we would still be playing Burn at LB at the end of 2025/26 season. And looks like this will continue.

No, I swear to God I won’t complain if it ended up 0-0 but we sticked to that 4231. I didnt think we created next to nothing anyway. Wolte has been hit and miss but he did create two chances, one to Murphy and one to Osula. That’s more than acceptable if we kept the other side of the pitch tight and firm. Boring? May be. Solid? Definitely. You have to accept one thing at the very least: the Plan A / 433 doesn’t work well in defence, and that’s why we lose 27 points from a leading position. If you don’t agree with this we might just end the discussion here. Going back to that 433 is never a right decision. I know you are blaming the players for the failure instead of admitting this 433 no longer work. I ain’t, or I can’t, considering the quality of players of our opponents.

that’s what he did today and that’s why I am fuckin furious. He got it right the first 60 mins. I really thought he finally made a tiny breakthrough step and abandoned that fucking 433. And he went back to it.

Man, take a break , read below, and think again. Had we continue with that 4231, we were solid. Really solid. Bruno at 6 with Tonali, we never looked like having the same problem before. The worst case was just we are unable to score and end up 0-0, but we might score 1 and got all the three points. In addition we earned experience and confidence that this new setup would work next match. Instead we went back to that Plan A 433. Yea we scored again. Fine. Now tell me, base on this seasons results, the chance of holding this 1-0 result is? And what’s the message sent out by going back to this 433? Is that fucking 1 goal really worth it? 27 points lost from leading. Must be most in EPL. I don’t wanna waste time to check it out. Thats fucking ridiculous. we looked better in attacking and? Did we get the three points? Are we building up something to turn the tide? Think again man.

we went back to plan A after subbing Wolte.

Yes, a fucking yes. Because the goal is meaningless, we will lose it back. I would rather we use the game time to polish this new setup (4231 or whatever) which could bring us better performance and results. people like you gotta understand one thing - what we wanted most is an answer , a new approach, a glimpse of hope, instead of just 1 goal which might not even guarantee 3 points. Eddie got it spot on for 60mins. The double pivot looks fucking solid. I thought we finally got an answer. Then Eddie just made the sub and went back to his glorious Plan A. So what should we expect for the next game then?

he chose to go back to his Plan A. I won’t say he is unlucky. Had he continue his first half set up, even if it’s just a 0-0 draw he would have got lots of praises here already I praised him in the game thread for the first half setup. I am fucking furious to see him going back to his Plan A. Just why?

you are fucking insane

And play that fucking Plan A 433 again?

I would be honest. Back to that fucking Plan A is a coward move. Yea we scored and? Did we win? Isn’t that what happened again and again and again the past few months? How about just build on something new and give the players time to learn? Instead of going back to the past approach and end up having same results?

it’s just like in boxing that you took a more aggressive approach and able to score more hits, looked like on the up-side, and then got a sucker punch. After that you were unable to recover due to both the fatigue and damage suffered, and just hope the match to end soon. Mayweather would never play like that. He is fucking boring I know. But having a solid approach is extremely crucial for persistent results. Same applies to our work tbh