Colos Short and Curlies

I hope he means there is a lack of perms and shellsuits and no other reason

I reckon 21 points from those

I suppose today has technically gone better than expected with ManU losing and Brighton dropping points at home

Antwerp was amazing but I don’t think you can say one amazing round and then throwing away the second round to be brilliant ?

I’m not overly fussed on the results - other than the worry that Isak, Bruno and Botman will all be off in the summer. The issue for me is that he’s played the hand he has been dealt badly with the way we’re going out with the same midfield issue, creating the same defensive issues and the compounding our attacking issues through running any fit player into the ground. If we are going to progress we need a manager who is a bit more proactive when things aren’t going well. the power play/dynamic that is seemingly in place with Ashworth is also a little concerning. there is of course a very plausible scenario where he was the right person for the last 2.5 years but has hit the ceiling. i dunno, thinking out loud really but I’m coming more around to the idea that he needs a storming end of the season or that will be all folks.

Ritchie on for Miley

you could say Howes been as bad as any coach this past few months so we wouldn’t miss him. of course neither is true

mid a team doesn’t know what it’s doing then it’s on the coach. if the players aren’t good enough to compete he gets a pass

along with Bruno and Botman wouldnt surprise me if we are starting again this summer

is it? Couldn’t see anything on the website, just TNT

after 5 mins was put up on the board

Said it before but I'd love a season where everyone in the top leagues in every UEFA nation qualifies for a straight up one legged knock out competition with no seeding and no country restrictions. It would be absolute chaos but great fun and you would have a genuine champion of Europe. Real Madrid vs some Welsh minnow first round, playing in front of 10 angry welsh men and 50 sheep

Exactly, if the bench is padded out with kids who won't get on then its better to have these 2 back involved, even if there is zero chance of them setting foot on the turf

I think this is an important point when thinking about the longer term sustainability of how(e) we play. This season has been one of pretty much everything that could go against us going against us whereas the opposite was largely true last season - starting at the top no Europe, early FA cup exit, 3 of the Sky 6 underperforming, Villa giving everything a Gerrard sized head start, relatively few injuries and when they did occur they were in a 'good' order such as one of Wilson or Isak being available. Next season will take away some of the issues from this season in terms of level and amount of games being played but we can't expect it to be like last season unless we upgrade in a few areas of the team or evolve the style of play

But we were after him the summer we bought Isak

Or we accept that Isak, Bruno and Botman are our crown jewels and we should consider if Howeball as it currently looks gets the best out of them. If not then 2 options - (a) we sell them and replace, (b) we necessitate a change in playing style.

Give them Wilson for £12m and we'll take Solanke for £55m Seems a fair trade to me

I'm sure we've got some SD mugs still kicking around. Give them 100 of them

But the 'expert' in charge of the footballing side of things will be the Sporting Director. As Sushimonster points out we are in a weird position where the manager was in place before the SD and therefore had to play a dual role in shaping the transfer activity and overall style of play that the club was to follow in the first 2 windows. It is right and proper now that if we bring in a good SD then Howe's influence over them will diminish, even if just through having more people at the table. Howe will leave at some point, merging into the right structure now will minimise the chances of a totally unsuitable manager coming in after him (like Kenny following KK or Souness following Bobby)

The latter obviously, but if you sign up to be a coach you cant complain if you don't get to decide on the managerial bits. Of course we don't know the terms of his remit/contract but its also fair to say his stock with the board won't be quite as high now as it was the summer of 22 or 23 when it comes to the remit of Ashworth's replacement

release clause should mean zip when it comes to intra group transfers. Let Liverpool set the market value for that one

Head Coach isn’t he?

There's a difference in a Pardew team at Old Trafford and a Howe team at home to Luton/Forest/Bournemouth