TRon

It is a different project now. We gave it a good crack, but players have a short playing career, they can't wait 5 years hoping we will break the cartel stranglehold. We will have to sell along the way, and try to replace those players who get picked off by the established royalty clubs.

This really is the bottom line at the end of the day.

I think the club hierarchy would probably like Howe to stay in charge and go again next season, simply because good managers don't grow on trees, and Howe is a good manager. But there will be caveats. Howe will have to accept that he had a good crack at organising his own transfer window last summer, and while you could argue that he was having to do too much without a DOF, at the same time it gave him a free hand to bring in his preferred players. So this summer I would expect the DOF to be in charge of player recruitment and Howe will work with the players he's given. Obviously he'll have input, but I don't think it will be as final as previously. Whether Howe is prepared to work like that is a different matter.

He hasn't said Howe won't be manager either though has he? He's obviously been asked a question and he's said they'll sit down and make an assessment at the end of the season. I think Howe is a big boy and isn't so sensitive to let newspaper tittle tattle affect his job. If he doesn't feel supported by those above him, he won't need sacking, he'll walk anyway.

The real nightmare would be PIF selling us off to some Ashley MkII, then buying a club like Man U which would give them a golden ticket into cartel entry.

And why should it? It's not his job to keep Howe happy, he's his boss, not a fan. I'm not a fan of it being made public mind, even if he's not said anything that terrible in reality. It can easily be seen as a lack of confidence, when really it's just him saying we'll see how the land lies at the end of the season, which is perfectly reasonable.

Just people who are stung that it's Eddie Howe who got doubled by the Mackems tbh.

He has to grow our revenues so we can compete with the big boys. I don't expect it to happen overnight, but that's his job right?

Agree. Hopkinson really needs to produce results over the next 12 months otherwise you would have to question the competency of the board itself.

I wonder if the PL ever stop to reflect that it was the big spending of Chelsea and Man City which propelled English football to the top of the pile in the first place? Yes it was always popular, but then so was Italian football and Spanish when they had all the money.

Agree. He does come across as a bit crass, but people from that part of the world tend to overstate everything. He might be really bad at his job, but then again, he might be really good.

The gist of it was that Tonali should be valued at £100m+ given the high fees similar midfielders have been sold for, and other clubs would be reluctant to pay that. I don't think we have any intention of selling, but it depends on whether Tonali really wants to leave.

He doesn't have to be tbh. He's the manager, the club is bigger than one personality. Howe will just get on with his job, we win a few games and all this will go away.

Would normally describe it as a sideways step, but they are buying good players now, it's only a matter of time before they get a proper manager.

I wouldn't mind seeing Wissa start a few either assuming he's not gone on strike. Hate to think we just threw that much money at him without understanding what we were buying.

He can certainly play a good system if he has the right players to play it. The question marks arise whether he can play a different system when he doesn't have the players to play his preferred system. I always use the example of SBR for this, when he first arrived he used a more direct style because he had Big Dunc and Shearer up front, but then as he got his own players in, he switched to a faster passing based game which exploited pace more. I think Howe is a thinker, but it maybe takes him a while longer to adjust to tactical changes in the game, and that reflects in his in game management as well.

They could make ubercunt Richarlison player manager and it could hardly go any worse.

I just think we'll finish the season the same as we've gone all the way to now. Seven games left, we might win 3 or 4 if we have a good run. I might enjoy them a bit more with the pressure off since there's not much to play for. With one game a week the full pelt high press stuff should work a bit better.

Unfortunately that's exactly our success blueprint as set out by PSR. Or SCR as it's about to become. Makes no odds that we have more capital available than all the other clubs put together if we want it.

Yeah I don't think there's any need for an apology. @TheBrownBottle is a good poster and he backs his views up with reasoning. You don't have to agree with it, but that's what the forums are for. No one here is a professional, we might all be talking shit at the end of the day.

I've not really watched these lately because I want to hear intelligent views, not fans who are up one week, down the next depending on the result. The toorn review is very popular, but I only watch it when Alex the posh one is on as he actually breaks the games down. The main guy Paul shouts a lot but not much of it is worth hearing.

Spot on. Anyway, what's the alternative? Let's just enjoy it while we can. It's not been a great season but not for want of trying.

I agree with you FWIW, but it will be interesting to see how that plays out when the rubber meets the road. There's still 7 games left, if we have a barnstorming finish to the season it might settle a few with wandering eyes.

Aren't they all?

Thanks for that, although it doesn't really answer the question. I guess what you are saying is that by your current standards he's a very accomplished footballer. Interestingly, I don't really think his natural position is DM either. He looks more suited to an all action midfielder who can attack the box and unleash that right foot. I suppose the question marks would be over his on ball technique which is below someone like Bruno Guimeres for example.