Memphis

There’s a really good player in there and if it doesn’t happen at Barca, it’s not going to. Obviously if Bayern Munich and Barca are fighting over a player, he’s got to be pretty good. I never imagined it would be Anthony Gordon but life is weird sometimes. Best of luck to him, never got attached to him as a player but he's always seemed like a nice enough lad. Great move for him and seems like a reasonable price for us. Win-win imo.

Turns out we couldn't even be arsed to spell "highlights" correctly on the YouTube thumbnail of this shit

This is a man who is out of ideas, and when you look at his quotes over the last few weeks, it shows: After the first derby loss: "We didn't reach the standards and level of performance that we would pride ourselves on. And the main thing, you just heard me say it many, many times over the years, is effort, commitment. You know, winning our individual duels, winning the battle on the pitch. You can do all those things and still lose, but you leave with a feeling that we left it all out on the pitch. That was one of a collection of small games, I think, this year where we've been disappointed with ourselves." February 7: “There’s a harsh reality for me. I need to think long and hard about me. I need to work better and do more, work out solutions. I’m obviously not doing my job well enough. It’s a difficult moment for us, there’s no denying it. Today we have to take full accountability.” February 28: “Certainly in relation to the Premier League, our form for a while has not been strong enough, it's not been good enough. We know that. We take responsibility for that. It’s been really frustrating for us and that is the perils of Europe, I’m afraid, where we’ve tried to be laser-focused on every game and give attention to every game with the same importance." Today: "Very, very painful. Most of all painful for our supporters and they're the ones I think about now. I've got very little to use as an excuse. Once you haven't performed and you know how much the game means you have to accept the criticism. I'm disappointed in myself and my delivery over the last week."

He's a lovely man, a real gentleman, has been a fine representative of the club and the city. Nothing can replace 2 CLs and a trophy. Truly amazing. But having done all he has done, it's time for something different. He has nothing left to give and it's showing. He is tired, his team is tired, his plans are tired, the whole project is tired. He deserves enormous respect, enormous credit, and enormous appreciation. Let's keep that in perspective. But it's time. Before a summer of bad buying and poor decisions makes it worse.

That was disgraceful. We were bullied, we looked a million miles off the pace, no one was arsed, just a horrendous afternoon. Subs somehow lowered the energy level, which is quite something. We have so much work to do to rebuild this squad.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7052189/2026/02/18/newcastle-eddie-howe-tottenham-aston-villa-analysis/?unlocked_article_code=1.NFA.x1kJ.0K5_cLs6Mxd7&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta Here’s a gift link to the latest from Caulkin. It's very good and again speaks to how highly-regarded Eddie is among the players and ownership. It also shows his unparalleled ability to communicate with and lead the group. Mission over Bullshit. It has a ring to it. Is Woltemade going to be Joelinton 2.0?

Desperately needed that.

Great response so far. Looking so comfortable and the forward play is really fluid. Very much an indictment of our forwards that simply not playing them has led to a dominant half in which we played some excellent stuff.

Just want to add that this thread is a credit to the forum. Some top posts, thoughtful stuff, some disagreement but in the right spirit, probably a measure of just how good a man Eddie is that we discuss him like this.

I think even Eddie himself would recognise that you shouldn't keep a player - or a manager - around based on what they've done in the past. On the pitch, look at Kieran Trippier - monumental signing at the time, played an enormous role in upping our quality and professionalism at a crucial point, he was incredible. Until he wasn't. And now, we are seeing him being played based on a lack of a viable alternative, yes, but more a belief in a player whose time at the top level is well and truly over. I should stipulate that I adore Eddie. Personally, I love the way he represents us, understands the club and the supporters, speaks very well. I appreciate his work ethic as well, you cannot accuse him of lacking effort or desire. He has done things for this club that no one else ever has and I will always revere him for that. That said, we live in the present, not the past. And in the present, he appears to be lacking something he once had - maybe it's as simple as not having a top-class striker. But he also seems to be unable to get the best out of these players. We have seen consistent development from players under Eddie until this year. No one apart from Lewis Miley or Lewis Hall can say they've really upped their game this year. Many have regressed. Eddie consistently had us as more than the sum of our parts, now we appear to be less. And while that fact may not be his fault, the lack of development and lack of dynamism is. No manager deserves to be kept on simply because of things they've done in the past. There is only tomorrow in the game of football. And so I think people are asking the wrong question. The question shouldn't be: Does Eddie Howe deserve to be retained as manager? The question you have to ask yourself is this: Is Eddie Howe (for us) the managerial equivalent of Kieran Trippier? Or is he Alan Shearer - able to recover from a devastating setback with a few modifications and get back to his very best? I don't know the answer for sure. But the evidence I've seen so far is starting to suggest that he's running out of ideas.

No more, please.

Really ponderous. We just look like a tired squad, tired physically and maybe tired of playing together. We are not seeing the best of any player now, and because everyone is nervy, mistakes are more common than ever. Ultimately it comes down to just how bad our forwards have been and how badly they’ve been integrated into the squad. We have zero presence up front, and zero dynamism to get in behind. It leads to glacial passing sequences and no end product. If we don’t score via transitions, we are hopeless. No need to change the manager yet, he’s certainly earned plenty of time. But we will have to completely overhaul things in the summer. Several of these players should be nowhere near our first team by August. If they still are, we are completely fucked. As for this year, let’s just win the CL.

I just love him. He gets us and has gotten us from the very first moment he arrived. Already a legend, well on the way to being an icon.

A game to match the weather. Obvious how much we need to freshen things up.