Milburn

Dead man walking. No coming back from this.

Absolutely pathetic 2nd half so far in a match we cannot afford not to win.

If he stays, recruitment has to be club-driven - not manager-driven.

Three very good halves against a much better team. Can’t complain really.

Got it spot on today 👏👏

Fair enough. Personally I’d like the manager to be plug and play and rather easy to replace. But of course, a structure like that is not built overnight.

In a modern football setup, the manager shouldn’t be deeply involved in player logistics. That’s the job of the DoF and the recruitment department. The manager’s job is to coach the team, improve players, and maximise the squad he’s given. When managers have too much influence over recruitment, you often end up with short-term, manager-specific squads that need rebuilding every time the manager changes. The best-run clubs today separate those roles: the DoF builds the squad and long-term strategy, while the manager focuses on performances on the pitch. That model exists for a reason - it creates continuity and far better squad planning. Paul Mitchell had his own vision but lost the power struggle with Eddie Howe. And honestly, who can blame him for not wanting to spend his time and money chasing players like Wissa and Elanga? Mitchell might have been a knobhead personality-wise, but he was right about one thing: Newcastle’s transfer strategy isn’t fit for purpose. I struggle to see how things improve with a DoF who, in the end, was hired on Howe’s recommendation.

Nah, he’ll chase Premier League proven quality as that is what Eddie wants…

Expect him to be nothing else than Eddie’s yes-man.

Shambles of a player. Horrible horrible business.

City are insanely good. I’ve got no issue with us losing to them. Same with Barca next week. Howe shouldn’t really be judged on games against teams that are clearly miles ahead of us. The two points combined from West Ham (a), Brentford (a), Spurs (h), Sunderland (a), Wolves (a), Brentford (h) and Everton (h), on the other hand…

Yeah. We can do without world’s best manager.

Boys against men here

Nobody’s saying we’ve been awful all season. We often turn up against good teams, that’s never really been the issue under Howe. But if the “swagger” has been back for weeks, the results against weaker sides, the mental lapses and the soft goals don’t really reflect that. I’ve genuinely lost count of the points we’ve dropped from winning positions. That pattern keeps repeating, and I’m not convinced Howe has an answer to it. I’d genuinely love to be proven wrong.

His place to lose now surely

Hard to look past Trippier tonight. He was fantastic throughout.

Hopefully something for him to build on this. Very good tonight.

I can enjoy a win without instantly developing the memory of a goldfish about the rest of the season. 😁

No, I just don’t think one trophy gives someone a lifetime free pass while the team sits 12th and performances have been declining for months. Crazy concept, I know. 60% of today’s performance beats Brentford and Everton, that just highlights the problem — we show up for big games but the level drops far too often the rest of the time with Howe unable to adress it.

Yes I did. This was my first post today:

I’m not complaining about the win. I’m pointing out how the “anyone questioning Howe is an idiot” brigade suddenly finds its voice after one decent result.

Nice win, but it doesn’t magically wipe away 12th place, more defeats than wins, and months of declining performances. One good result doesn’t suddenly make the bigger problems disappear.

Good today 👏

Yeah, god forbid fans actually react when results are shit. Two home defeats in a row against the might of Brentford and Everton and 12th in the table, but sure - let’s all sit quietly and clap like seals. If questioning the manager after that “sums up our fanbase”, then the bar for discussion here is embarrassingly low.

Absolutely. There is a reason most managers don’t see 4 years.