timeEd32

You could make a pretty strong argument that the single biggest failure of club leadership (this applies to Eales, Eddie*, Mitchell, and anyone in the comms department) in the last few months is the lack of understanding at how important their messaging is. Words matter. (*maybe not Eddie as I think he knew exactly what he was doing; it was just maybe a little misguided in his case)

I've been wondering if we might see Kelly at CB at some point, and maybe even Burn at LB. That'll be a fun day.

Can't wait for Hope's version. CIVIL WAR INTENSIFIES FOLLOWING ARMISTICE TALKS -- Sources at Darsley Park have shared that Howe did not hold the door open for Mitchell upon exiting the building. It is not clear if the head coach's hand slipped, perhaps moist from spending the morning on the grass, or if this was retribution for the Director's failure to land this summer's top target. Others have questioned if the squeaky front door is a sign of PIF's wavering commitment to United.

Eh, the PSR concerns are directly related to off the pitch progress and without that progress then CL qualification wouldn't really be any different than doing it in 2022/23. It would be huge and come with lots of near term benefits, but our revenue and infrastructure would still be miles behind. I'd feel very relaxed about our weekly results if there were shovels in the ground and big / creative sponsorship deals being announced.

I was thinking today how enraged they would be if we did to them at SJP what they did to City with that free kick for their first goal. They’d be calling for an inquisition.

The fact we don’t know our best XI yet is the thing giving me the most hope at the moment. We have options in most positions so there are a lot of combinations. If Eddie and team can figure that out and correct a couple mental / physical ailments among our key players we could be off and running.

I'm honestly more disappointed to not have any updates on the training ground. The only thing stopping me from being very annoyed by it is the fact that it could, in theory, be tied to the stadium situation.

We've only played five games, three of them away, and one of the home games largely with 10 men so many, many caveats apply. That said, the stats at the moment show what we're seeing - opponents are spending far more time in our penalty area, we're struggling to get the ball forward and into dangerous positions, we are easy to play against (2nd worst in the league in tackles + interceptions behind only City, who just defend by having the ball), and we're sloppy. In 2022/23 we were 4th in the league in touches in opp. penalty area. In 2023/24 we were 5th. This season we are 18th (closer to Ipswich in 20th than Everton in 12th) In 2022/23 we had the 2nd fewest touches in our own penalty area and opponents had the 5th fewest touches. In 2023/24 we had the 5th fewest and 8th fewest, respectively. This season we have the third most touches in our own penalty area and opponents have the 2nd most touches in our box. In 2022/23 we were 6th in progressive carries into the penalty area. In 2023/24 we were 8th. This season we are 14th. In 2022/23 we were 4th in passes into the penalty area. In 2023/24 we were 5th This season we are 12th. In 2022/23 we had the 6th fewest number of clearances. In 2023/24 we also had the 6th fewest. This season we have the 4th most. In 2022/23 we were 6th in shot creating actions. In 2023/24 we were 7th. This season we are 15th. In 2022/23 we committed nine errors all season (mistakes leading to a shot), which was 4th best. In 2023/24 we committed 16 errors, which was tied for 8th best. This season we have committed six errors already, tied for the most. In 2022/23 we were 1st in aerial duels won % (56%). In 2023/24 we were 6th (52%). This season we are 6th (52.4%). In 2022/23 we faced the 5th fewest crosses into the penalty area and had the 4th highest % of crosses stopped by the GK (7.9%). In 2023/24 we faced the 6th fewest crosses and had the 10th highest % of them stopped by the GK (6.7%). This season we have faced the most crosses into the penalty area and have the 6th worst % of crosses stopped by the GK (4.7%).

Appreciate the explanation. Makes more sense than what seemed like a sudden u-turn. I still think you're making a lot of assumptions that cast Eddie as the villain in this story. The Bournemouth fan post was shockingly on the money about everything else, so that section is concerning but accepting it as truth now also assumes zero ability to change or grow on Eddie's part.

Kovacic has been quite solid so far, hasn't he?

I understand the sentiment, but I'd feel a little sick of Villa won the title.

Imminently https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/09/23/manchester-city-verdict-imminent-premier-league-legal-fight/

“I don’t think it will be long,” Guardiola said of De Bruyne’s expected return after City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal. “I cannot say how long for, I don’t know for Newcastle but it won’t be long. (He has) discomfort in his legs,” he added. -------- Seems very unlikely they rush him back for Saturday IMO.

It's meant to be, yes. As is their Saturday game. Next Tuesday at SJP would make a lot of sense.

It was always going to be a challenging window with us wanting to sell players that are the wrong age and not having a ton of financial flexibility. The way we went about it (or at least the way it was reported) and the public bickering has made it worse. The off-the-pitch circus and lackluster performances have led to many feeling like it's all doom and gloom. But we have 10 points on the board and mostly play the good teams at home and the weaker teams away in the first half. If Eddie and staff can get our best players performing and find the right system(s) there's no reason we can't get to January in a good place, possibly still in the LC, and with some money to spend with Mitchell having been in the role for 6 months. I posted in some other thread that more than half of Brighton's transfer business in the last few years has been done in January and June. PSR and the like have created buying opportunities for those in positions of strength. But Eddie has to get us back to playing our best. Whether he gets along with Mitchell or not will be irrelevant if he doesn't.

I don't really disagree with a lot of what you're saying other than the fact you seem to be pinning this entirely on Howe. If this summer ticked you off then you should be very annoyed about summer 2023 because you can trace all of the problems back to that. It was somewhere between naive and reckless and we had a DoF in place. I am not, under any circumstances, putting financial and PSR management at the foot of the manager. That blame needs to lie elsewhere. We've also had reports that part of Eddie's preference for PL players is the lack of data available from other leagues. This is probably why we haven't exploited South American talent or smaller leagues in Europe. There's really no reason to think Eddie is opposed to having a DoF in place so that's hurdle one. The next big thing is the level of power each role has and who has final say on certain things. If there's an issue it's likely here and this is where there absolutely has to be concessions on Eddie's part. We genuinely have no idea at the moment where this line is and whether or not he's happy about it. Honestly mostly of your complaints seem like they could be leveled at some combination of PIF, Staveley, Eales, and Ashworth (as well as Howe), but you've just decided that every bad thing is the fault of the manager (ahem, head coach - another sign he knew from the beginning he wouldn't be all-powerful) despite singing his praises for 2+ years.

In fairness you’ve gone from being positive and pro-Eddie to exceedingly pro Mitchell/the structure essentially overnight. It’s pretty jarring.

What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. Three outlets released their interpretation of the interview at essentially the same time - Douglas, Edwards, and Hope. The DM version, which was decidedly the most negative, was circulating the most on Twitter and Reddit from what I saw. The Athletic version came out the next day. There was no way to react to the interview without reading the articles about it and the slant from each.

Solid fan fiction. GRRM could use some help finishing Game of Thrones.

Poor question, poor thread. The right answer is we’ll see the best version of NUFC if they figure out how to coexist. There are few people in the world better suited to developing talent than Eddie Howe and the only way we can compete within the financial rules is to buy young, undervalued and lesser known players. Whether Mitchell’s ability in his role is equal to Eddie’s in his remains to be seen, but he’s been here five minutes.

There’s really nothing to suggest Howe is opposed to a DoF setup. In fact there are multiple reports that he wanted a larger overhaul of our data capabilities so that we have better information on global players. He does want a certain amount of power, which is where he needs to compromise. We have no idea what the problems are between him and Mitchell. It could be a bit of a power struggle. It could be that Mitchell said he’d go get Guehi and then failed. It could be as simple as Mitchell being a bit of a Billy big bollocks, which can only be tolerated if someone is useful. I’m quite sure it’s not just because there is a Director of Football at the club.

That’s what has confused me in some other games too. As soon as I’m ready to condemn him he runs after something. But then he’ll lose the ball and not even try to win it back.

I was willing to put it down to fitness, but after seeing him put in something resembling effort for England you’d have a hard time convincing me his head wasn’t turned this summer. The one thing Gordon could guarantee on even his worst day was effort and work rate. It’s gone at the moment.

The Blackburn FA Cup goal was like being returned to another era. With no TV coverage word started to spread of that goal. The anticipation of waiting for the highlights. In the hours between tales started to spread of how he had dribbled through four, five, a hundred men.