KaKa

Yup, the release clause was put in there for a reason after all.

1 minute ago, brummie said:

 

The other factor I think worth considering, we had to go to absolute rock bottom and reset before we could start to improve things. Three years in the Championship, including at one point under that chancer Tony Xia getting literally days away from administration.

 

It was a reset of a lot of things, but it's a measure of how bad things had got structurally and in terms of deadwood - the same deadwood that led us to a comedy sub 20 points relegation.

Good point.

Yeah, you guys did suffer a lot more during that period than we ever did, because Mike Ashley was able to master being awful without the club bottoming out financially.

And so you are now able to reap the benefits quicker than we can.

53 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

I agree with this. But we've kept some dead wood on for seemingly no footballing reason.

Just Dummet and Ritchie right? Who they must feel add some important value off the pitch, which is fair enough I think. 

The real problem are the players that we cannot sell and who add no value on or off the pitch currently, who we have only managed to loan out at best, and still have years to run on significant money.

48 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

2 things Villa have got right that we need to learn from - they've made some v. sensible low-fee or free signings, even if the wages are fairly high. Kamara lad, and Tielemans both on free transfers. We've signed 2 CMs for £100m. They use the loan market to fill out the squad. Zaniolo, Lenglet - I don't know how good either are but at least they are warm bodies the manager is willing to use. Do they earn multiples of what Ritchie / Dummett and co. earn?

 

And then obviously the youth setup. That's the FFP hack. It's going to take us 3-5 years to catch up properly but that will propel us. We seem to be signing a lot of youth players from other clubs so I'm hoping we jump the queue on that.

 

We seem to want to only sign potential superstars (apart from Barnes). Rather than a sensible 28 year-old £15-30m fullback to come in add value to the first team immediately like Alex Moreno. We'll sign a 19-year old for more money that the manager doesn't want to play with the hope he turns into a very top player. Which I think is generally a good idea for the long-term but man it has limits on filling out the squad in the short-term.

 

 

 

We don't really have the flexibility they have, because we didn't/don't have the valuable home grown youngsters they've been able to move for pure profit FFP wise. We also have a bunch of dead weight eating up our wages, which they don't really have either.

Because of this we've tried to make some use of the players we have on the books as best we can, and focus on getting in higher value players to be in and around the first team.

We are still being hamstrung by the useless squad building and lack of youth infrastructure during the Mike Ashley years.

Think a first team left back and a first team right winger could have been prioritised ahead of Tonali and Barnes. Bit confusing looking back at it.

1 minute ago, Holmesy said:

I agree about replacing him. I just don’t see anyone out there that I would either want, or would like from a human perspective as much as Eddie. After enduring terminal pricks like Carver, Pardew and Bruce, EH is the perfect tonic.
 

Yeah, can't think of any manager we could realistically get that would be a certainty.

I think we have a potentially great manager in Howe, but he needs more support recruitment wise.

Think he tends to go for a certain type of player as many on here have pointed out, which is fine, as the foundation of his team, but mixing in some different qualities would benefit us massively.

We could also do with balancing out the squad better when we do buy players, as that has not been done as well as it could have been.

The DOF and head of recruitment have to play a key role in those kinds of discussions. 

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

You surely can’t expect people to come on here after a series of shocking performances and be totally calm and objective?! I think your point is valid but football is a massively emotional sport to follow and we all care deeply about the club. We need somewhere to vent, the more mature among us and the rabid weirdos. 
My opinion is that those calling for EH to be sacked are morons, but theirs is probably that I’m an old dickhead. I’m alright with that. The one thing that I think most of us agree on is that EH did a phenomenal job last season but he is rightly being criticised for some poor management this season. Hopefully he’s given time to put it right and hopefully he has the ability to do that.

Yeah, fair enough. Just find this all quite disappointing.

Howe should be given the opportunity to bounce back from this IMO, because he has shown a lot of great qualities, and I'm really not sure why people are so confident we'll land someone better. For me the recruitment is the key part of all this, because ultimately, although the quality of players has been good, the balance hasn't been quite right and key areas have not been addressed or prioritised.

If this is a blind spot on Howe's part then Ashworth and Nickson need to step up and make that clear. 

7 minutes ago, TheInfiniteOdyssey said:

He’s not going to continue through the season if we keep losing every week.
 

Our form can’t continue like this forever, what’s the board’s threshold for withstanding losses in a row? If we lose all matches in the Luton (H), Forest (A) and Bournemouth (H), (on top of expected losses against City and Villa), he’ll most likely be gone.

'Our form can't continue like this forever ...'

So that's really what you anticipate happening?

Is that really likely from what we've seen from the manager previously?

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

No, I know it wasn’t directed at me personally.  Just think that it’s best to ‘cool jets’ on talking about people ‘not deserving a football club’.  Some of us remember when Newcastle United’s existence was under threat - even the dafties going overboard on Howe don’t deserve that.  It’s all just opinions - theirs are no less valid than mine or yours. 

Well you'll have to forgive my complete and utter disgust with some of these takes.

But having suffered through the likes of Allardyce, Pardew and Bruce under Mike Ashley, I find it completely fucking astonishing that a manager that took us from relegation fodder to the Champions League in just over a year without the freedom to change the whole squad due to FFP is being questioned already.

It's his first really rough patch, and we're still not even out of competing for a European spot from now till the end of the season, and yet, so much noise.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous, and I'm really not sure such fans deserve anything good. And so we'll have to agree to disagree.

They are indeed entitled to their opinion, and that is just mine in response.

6 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I haven’t called for Howe to be sacked.  And pressure isn’t created by daft cunts on Twitter - it’s created by match-going supporters.  I’m not one of those anymore. 

 

The online ‘banter’ brigade tends to be an international collection of fucking weirdos, who go on about ‘Penaldo’ and other shite.  They’re not football fans at all as far as I’m concerned - I doubt they’ve ever been to a game in their lives.  They just comment on Twitter and YouTube.

Well my post wasn't directed at you specifically was it? Or anyone with any kind of common sense.

And unfortunately nowadays the noise online on all these social media plarforms does create pressure.

But hey, we'll see how it goes. The next year or so is going to give us all a better idea of the folks running the club, and how this whole thing is going to go.

11 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

You know, some of us were watching this club in a crumbling SJP with crowds under 20,000 and with relegation to the third tier a very likely prospect.  I know that is the case for some of those criticising Howe.  The club wouldn’t exist for those who came along a lot later without that.

 

Probably best to knock this kind of patter on the head. 

I speak of fans of all clubs tbh.

They just watch the game to rage about their often wild expectations not being met, which means they then can't banter other fans online, which is all they care about.

They don't really appreciate or enjoy the sporting process of a team working it's way to the top, through the good and bad. Everything now or sack.

Well soon find out what these owners are made of. For people like you I hope they have some sense, because if they go with the loudest goofballs online, I would not be surprised in the least if it ends up heading down the road Chelsea are currently.

3 minutes ago, Hovagod said:

Why do you keep posting like you’re above other fans of the club? I broadly agree with your wider point, but you should pack that it in as it’s incredibly annoying. Do you do this at games as well?

I do it because I am above you. Duh!

1 hour ago, Thomson Mouse said:

 

They only ‘blame’ is that Howe has got us ahead of where we thought we’d be with a shit squad

I really don't understand why this is continuously being overlooked.

We had no business achieving the progress we did with the players we had, and I generally don't know which other manager would have done so with that squad.

Unbelievably though, but perhaps unsurprisingly, it's gone straight to people's heads, and they now believe we have no business losing to certain teams and should be a top 4 fixture!

Can't even be bothered anymore engaging with it really. Most football fans really don't deserve a club worth following at all.

If the noise keeps getting louder and the club is dumb enough to act on it, and bring in that psychopath Mourinho, I'll just laugh tbh, and be insufferable when it all goes to shit.

2 minutes ago, Tonalis Bookie said:

 

Said start of the season Jose would be in for first game next season and still believe it. On a personal note also, id like it. Come and finish your mentors work, sir.

I almost want this to happen because of how badly it is guaranteed to go.

Think it's what some of you fully deserve tbh.

Just now, MrRaspberryJam said:

Did you actually search? Howling. 

You're a really weird guy man. 

5 minutes ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

Search posts from “Kaka” containing “Gibbs White”. Job done. 

As expected, absolutely nothing of the sort.

Nice try though.

Just now, MrRaspberryJam said:

When he signed for Forest last summer you were telling everyone how overrated he was. A few on here said they wouldn’t have minded him at NUFC and you scoffed at them saying we should be aiming higher. 

Show me the evidence.

2 minutes ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

You going to finally admit Morgan Gibbs White is a good player now?

Never said he wasn't did I?

Liked him even when he was linked to us after his Championship season at Forest to bring them up.

Wanted us to sign him back then.

Nuno's more pragmatic counter setup suits this Forest personnel. Fair play.

Gary O'Neill is so impressive man.

Doughty has to put that in the box first time man. Ridiculous.

Wasting these fantastic crosses from Tchong, my goodness.

Luton are so good man. Such a dynamic relentless bunch.

Adebayo is looking good at this level. If Moyes stays at West Ham I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up somewhere like that.

3 minutes ago, MrRaspberryJam said:

you reckon he’s just going through a dodgy patch in front of goal at the mo?

Not really a striker. Mostly played out wide in Spain till I think the back end of his final season there.

Just now, nufc123 said:

What he did before the goal was class. Missed a lot of chances early on, but hes on 7 goals and got another assist now. Its not great but its his debut season in the PL, and hes only 22.

Every single time I watch Chelsea he is at the heart of so much of their good play.

His hold up play, ball carrying and use of the ball is very very good.

Lacks composure when finishing, and so the lazy narrative is that he's terrible. It's nonsense though.