AyeDubbleYoo

When we’re asking who’s to blame to we should probably specify who’s to blame for what? No disasters or anything, a poor season in a period of strong progress. Not a disaster and not a crisis.

There's so little evidence for that though. If he ever had a CL season with a CL-level squad who weren’t all injured, we could really see.

I think it’s possibly depending on what’s happening behind the scenes in preparing for the summer. It won’t be before the end of the season though.

Well they’ll have to be told to stay won’t they? You can possibly let more than a couple go. It’s partly their fault we didn’t get CL.

I don’t feel like that’s the overriding question because the recruitment team should be in place to support him. Can he be a part of that team? I believe yes, he didn’t have any objections to Botman/Bruno/Tonali/Hall/Tino/Isak and the other great signings we made before. We’ve had a poor window made worse by injuries and bad form and therefore a bad season.

And they’re still challenging at the top of the league, amazing really.

Well not quite, they created a situation where there wasn’t a harmonious and functioning structure above and around Howe. We can’t go through every signing again, I don’t have the fingertip skin for that. He shouldn’t have ‘too much’ control, no manager should. But making that work depends on the roles being player by others too.

I was with you until you called it blind loyalty.

I feel like I’d still be much more concerned with an unknown manager trying to get a tune out of our players than Howe being allowed another summer to coach and make signings. Probably why I’m so pro Howe is the massive risk involved in changing him.

We haven’t done any training

I wasn’t arguing the merits, I was just saying I’m surprised you hadn’t already voted out.

Howe, the executive mess, the recruitment team and the bad luck with injuries at the start of the season.

Again, partly.

I wouldn’t have taken him off TBH, he was starting to find space as the game opened up.

You think we could sell 8 first team players in one summer? We’ve jumped the shark now.

You can just change your vote at any time.

Partly.

I think so given you’re slagging him relentlessly

We’ve rarely been a mid table team though, mostly either CL chasers or relegation candidates.

Man Utd did go through years of bad managers until they got a decent caretaker like, so maybe not the best example to follow.

You can change your vote.

Yeah not at all, I’m just saying they’re bad.

TBF I’m sure Howe knows that, it’s just that the replacements have been worse and/or injured.

I honestly think resignation over further back-room issues is the only way he won’t be manager next season. If that’s sorted then I would expect a better summer and a decent season. Sacking him would be pointless anyway unless the recruitment and executive people are completely ready to supply a new manager with better players. Otherwise it’s more likely they would do worse than Howe.

We have to hope and believe that the back-room stuff is sorted and ready to roll now. Otherwise it really doesn’t matter who the manager is, actually it could get worse given how technically limited most of our players are.