Theregulars

If this is enjoyment for you then I’d love to be a fly on the wall during one of your down days.

I agree, would seem odd to swap back up gig for another, unless we rate him higher than Pope. I reckon they’re about neck and neck, altho rambo better with feet. Perhaps they may go horses for courses?

It’s difficult as I’m not convinced you can read, but, in a nutshell, my arguments are that your interpretations of the match and the manager’s performance and strengths are unrealistic, not supported by evidence, tainted by needless negativity because you don’t have adequate emotional control / cognition and that, all things considered, the manager is doing a good job with heavily depleted resources and an unusually concentrated amount of misfortune / difficult circumstances. If you take the simple fact that the team is literally worse than the one we put out most weeks last year, is it not surprising that we’re not as good as last year? Could it be possible - at all conceivable - that you’re just upset that the team isn’t doing as well and you are taking that out on the one thing you can without any real cost or consequence? It’s painful watching tbh.

Better than all our other options behind Pope.

And, for clarity, my argument is that yours isn’t supported by the facts, you weapons-grade Olympic-standard windowlicker.

Not a functioning mind

Sure; yours is invalid. It isn’t borne out once you test it on reality.

No he just thinks it’s more valid and accurate because reality backs him up.

No issue with different opinions; just those which have no basis in reality but which are persistently rehashed with a misplaced certainty and confidence.

Presumably you’re happy for people to continue pointing out that you’re a problem, then.

It's incredible, right? How can you watch what we were treated to on Saturday and not feel in love?! I don't get it. I was there and it's automatically one of the best experiences I've had as a sports fan at a match in person. I also don't get how you can watch it and think we're in as dire a scenario as some set out: if we scored 6 west Ham couldn't have complained. It's like deliberate avoidance of observable reality to suit a viewpoint which makes you literally feel worse.

My goodness! Like a little doggo with a chew bone. A really unique combination of ignorant, pugnacious and annoying. I’ve clearly responded to the point you made accusing Howe of tactical inflexibility / ineptitude by saying that there are obvious mitigating circumstances that mean he can’t really do much in terms of flexibility. It’s like collecting your weekly shop, finding half of it rotten, and then expecting a greater variety of meals and snacks from the lesser pool. You’re asking for something that isn’t possible. It’s so obvious that you’re butt hurt that Newcastle aren’t as successful as last year and you’re rounding on the manager as you’ve nothing else to focus disappointment on. Tbh your likely joyless existence is probably a fair price to pay for it all. While we’re playing the patronising internet links game, here are some for you: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/basics/projection?amp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias https://www.psychmechanics.com/signs-of-low-intelligence/

Could it be that it’s not that everyone else is missing the point…?

Bless you. Best fetch myself some orthopaedic shoes.

Howe out

Pardon?! Very much an arguing a point you’ve made. Perhaps just not in a way you understand, bucko

Essentially someone should dilute this thread into a picture of Eddie Howe and a pint glass 284 ml full, and use AI to repeat ad infinitum.

Or maaaaaybe the back ups aren’t very good because the squad isn’t that deeeeeeeep so they’re just not as good the players we’d ideally pick so we’re having to play against both elite opposition and with one hand behind our back and we’re still winning a lot of the games and with a very plausible chance of Europa League and having created some of the best football memories for the club ever including yesterday and I dont recognise grammar as a currency anymore

I think you’re missing a really obvious point, yeh: you’re demanding him to change when he’s barely had an option to do so all year. Fair enough if you think Lascelles > Botman or Hall > Burn makes that significant a difference. Were we conceding 3 a game prior to the current Joelinton and Pope injuries?

Yes. Every time I listen to, watch or read about him, I see a man giving everything he can offer to make us better. I don’t follow why not making the changes you suggest = not trying.

Why do you think he’s not trying?

No, I don’t think they’re crackpot. I think your judgment is impaired by your emotional investment. A few thoughts in counter: 1. Trippier is the captain and leads us on the field. He talks players through games and, in my view, leads vocally on the pitch the way nobody else in our side can or does. When he’s fit, he’ll play. I agree that Livramento looks brilliant and could have given trippier some relief, and perhaps should have come into the side while burn went through a bad run of form (more on that below). Certainly unfortunate trippier had a run of mistakes but he gets an easy pass from me for the comparatively much higher number of assists, tackles, great passes, crosses, free kicks etc. 2. Botman has looked worse than last year, but “crap” is hyperbolic. He has been injured and the club has explained that it recommended surgery, but the player asked to play on - it would appear the injury and treatment options weren’t clean cut either way. I don’t mind the club giving players say in these matters, although I can understand why others might prefer the club to have overruled him. Lascelles has also been injured, but I think they could have persuaded Botman to get surgery earlier and selected burn and hall. My understanding is that Hall’s minutes have needed to be restricted because of the structure of his deal and our weird FFP position and because he’s not viewed as defensively reliable or fit enough yet. He’s a player who has got better in absentia but certainly some promising cameos (nothing more IMO, although very encouraging yesterday). Given Botman and Burn contributions over time in my view it’s justified to back them and select them. 3. difficult to comment on set pieces as I’m not an expert, but as a general point I sincerely believe we’re one of the best coached sides in the league. Transition point: certainly we keep getting caught, but this may just be a function of players being absent who are key defenders in those situations (joelinton the workhorse warrior and pope the sweeper and much better shot stopper). I’d imagine Howe is aware and trying to work on the issue with the extremely limited options available. 4. I don’t see how you can conclude from his time under this manager that Longstaff offers nothing going forward. He’s playing injured with literal painkilling injections, which is plausibly a compromising factor. Certainly he’s dropped off but the intention is that he is a midfield squad rotation option, not a starter and player of literally every minute. 5. In my view we tried sitting deep away at Arsenal, city and Liverpool and countering. We were battered twice and lost easily the other times. 6. A more defensive midfield set up means one less attacker, so there’s an element of give/take that would need to be factored in. We don’t actually have a defensive minded midfielder available without Joelinton and tonali, but my impression is that you don’t accept this as a fair excuse. 7. burn has not been poor for 4-5 months. He went through a spell of being targeted by coaches for lack of pace given that he now lacked protection with injuries. He’s had some bad games but has had far more good games. Essentially, you think that with more defensive rotation and a more defensively minded midfield set up we’d have more points. I think it’s probably arguable at best or would only have a marginal impact, which is why I think the hyperbole and generalisations are quite jarring to read. It’s also really important to emphasise that Howe and the players are obviously trying really hard in incredibly difficult circumstances.

What selections would you have made differently and how would they have produced a preferable outcome?

It’s not accurate to say it was flat-out bad for overwhelming majority. We attacked really well for a lot of the game - we missed 3/4 sitters as well as the 4 we scored, and hit the bar, and fabianski made a great save from Barnes. We defended poorly, which is surely at least in part due to the fact that the defence is currently heavily injured and players having to play out of position and multiple positions per match. Certainly things to work on in defence, but - like everything this season - obvious caveats which you need to go out of your way not to see to continue this line of enquiry.