TRon

I agree with this. He's only 25 and a proven player. There will always be fans who slag off any player, but there's some big teams sniffing around for good reason. I'm sick of overpaying for unproven shite, so we should at least get market value for someone we know does the business.

He didn't exactly look the folding type tbh. Maybe Liverpool's style just didn't suit him? You would think a team like that would create plenty of chances, but could be just a Chris Wood type of thing when he was here. I'd be wary he's a poor finisher though. The last thing we need is a Wissa repeat.

They are in a similar position to us in that every time they take two steps forward they are forced to take two steps back. They look on the brink of tottering sometimes but then seem to pull off a series of wins to get them back on track. Quite like us last season.

That doesn't reflect well on Howe then. Sometimes just a change of thinking can make the difference to a squad. We saw it with Amorim leaving. We saw it with Forest, and we are seeing signs of it at Spurs.

I didn't know that much about Woltemade tbh, but I did think Wissa would be a good short term replacement for Isak to get us through the CL campaign. With Ramsey, Elanga and Thiaw I trusted Howe's judgement. I don't trust it quite as much now.

Unfortunately that's just how it has worked out for us. When we signed him he had already suffered one major injury in his career. Then he went on to have an outstanding season for us and his value rocketed. Now he's plagued with injury yet again, his value has plummeted again.

Pretty much where I am. I think getting into Europe has to be the minimum given we have a lighter schedule next season. Expecting top 5 probably a bit much given who is ahead of us and their spending power.

I'm going off what I've seen this season. It might be that we bring in a bunch of technically talented young players in the summer and Howe gets a tune out of them immediately. I thought we had a valuable squad this season and they've looked much worse than the sum of their parts. So yes, I have some doubts about a new direction, but it's possible he could get new players to play his way more effectively.

What sort of finish would you be expecting next time round?

Who would make the decision even if they had doubts? Wilson? I think faith in Howe is less than it was before, but I'm not sure there is a clear vision for next season, other than give him another shot based on previous success. Buying young technical players and Howe in charge doesn't seem to quite line up for me.

That's how it will probably pan out.

Just have to look at how long they took to replace Eales as CEO and Mitchell as DOF. I don't think there's anybody there with the authority to make a decision without going through a long accountability process. In which case you can understand why they would rather just stick for now and see if next season goes a bit better.

I don't. Simply because I don't think the board have anyone else lined up.

It would risk turning into another Callum Wilson extension if we gave him another contract. You mentioned Trippier, and there is the example of a player who has been great but is no longer physically able to perform at the same level he used to. I have always loved Schar as a player, but we can't keep going back to the well.

Honestly think we should just pay what it takes to get Trafford now. He'd be in the City team if they hadn't took the plunge and bought the best keeper in the world.

That would just show we've learned nothing.

I think we will play the same way, maybe try to recruit a different striker to make it work better. Maybe someone like Jackson.

I don't expect much change next season anyway. Our football was poor right from the start of the season, I think results might improve somewhat next time round with no Europe, but I think we will probably be around mid-table again.

Howe would have to change his whole football ethos to accomodate Nick IMO. He only works in a possession based system, and even then I am not sure about having a CF who lacks pace. I suppose if you have two wide forwards feeding off him it could work, but seems miles away from how we set up currently.

I remember desperately hoping we would be in for him last summer.

I think mainly because there's no way he works in a Howe set up.

What would we get for Woltemade if we sold him in the summer? I'm of the opinion if we are selling one of him or Wissa, it's more likely to be Wolt.

I really like Summerville, but I've heard nothing linking us with him, and I imagine there will be competition given the season he's having. Given our new strategy of buying before the PL premium kicks in, I would guess we should have bought him last summer really.

Thanks. I don't know why we are even arguing about this in the Howe thread. @The College Dropout if you want to argue your case maybe take it up in the PIF thread.

Depends how good Ross Wilson is.