Interpolic

Can you please explain why it was such a big deal and why it "set us back" because I'm honestly not getting it.

Same, don't think I've ever seen a goal quite like that. Some crackers there but DiMarco's vs France should be on the list imo. https://www.uefa.com/uefanationsleague/video/0291-1bcb13d76256-2f024cbc253b-1000--watch-dimarco-s-italy-stunner/

Obsessed with this, aren't you? I'd almost forgotten it ever happened til the last few days.

Nobody has said that. Most people have similar gripes about him (slow to integrate players, should rotate more, aversion to flair players etc) and some people (one person) have/has a bizarre vendetta against him because his nephew works for the club The way I see it every manager has upsides and downsides but looking at it holistically he has done far more than a 'decent' job whether that's in the last 3.5 seasons or 2.5 seasons or whichever way you want to frame it. Last season was the most successful in our recent history and he's generally had us performing well beyond the sum of our parts, so he deserves a lot of support while he navigates the latest challenges on the pitch and off it.

On Howe: www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sandro-tonali-jumps-eddie-howe-32859560 Add him to the loser list.

Other context to consider is that the deck is still massively stacked in the favour of six clubs, which was evident in the summer when player after player chose them over us when we'd just won a cup and qualified for CL. Yet finishing above some of those clubs is seen by some as the bare minimum.

Hall wasn't a new player in the squad and the Greek was an accounting trick that meant we lost a much more useful player. The point is the squad was arguably weakened over 2 years so saying he spent £260m this summer without any of the other context is purposefully misleading.

We spent £260m but we also brought £160m in (Isak, Kelly, Longstaff). The previous 3 transfer windows we only bought Osula in for £12m. Context is unhelpful when you're making a crap, reductive argument though admittedly.

And which clubs don't have poor runs of form in a season? Almost every team in history has. And the few who haven't have generally spent a ton more than everyone else. Some people (not you, obvs) talk like there's a black mark against those previous seasons because we had some bad runs. The only teams who don't have bad runs are league winning teams with league winning budgets.

God almighty it's gonna be a long 2 weeks.

Ah OK so Ancelotti just needs to finish 4th or 5th or 7th and he'll be doing a grand job. You're so desperate for him to fail what's your next username going to be when he shows you up again, "Third Time Lucky"?

Er what? I'm asking if you'll hold him to the same high standards you expect of Howe, i.e. matching/surpassing Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City despite them having way more resources.

And you think Ancelotti will get us top 3 results with a top 8 budget? Otherwise you'll want him sacked I assume?

Versus what? It's all relative. Our wage bill is half that of some of our competition. We also sold our best player.

wow, man

Come on, man. They had the top budgets in the country, they have the resources to win most of their games. The lower outlay you have on wages and transfers the more flaky you'll be. Howe has had us above par in the context of that reality.

Which top level managers are not inconsistent?

I asked you a question, you're avoiding answering it. Of course I can make a case It's not the first time you've called Howe "consistently inconsistent" and it's one of the most laughable views I've read on here, ever. To be consistently consistent he'd be winning the league at a canter every season. It doesn't matter which order the points are put on the board. He's got the 7th or 8th highest budget in the league and has consistently over-performed against it, in the face of massive challenges. What was your previous username?

We've never had a user called "That’s total bollocks. I’ve said repeatedly I really like Eddie Howe and I would love dearly for him to succeed. Am just not seeing it though. The top managers are consistent in the league. Eddie Howe has been consistently inconsistent. And I have criticised him before and been made to eat my words when we go on a prolonged run of form, but then we’re right back in a shit spell again. How is that sustainable? This season feels different though. We’ve never played as badly as this under him. And to whoever is saying nobody has the balls to say he should be replaced, i have said this on this thread. I think he should be given the season as am sure we won’t be relegated. But approaching the summer we should look to bring in a top coach and try and kick on as a club from that point. Ross Wilson should be the one picking the players (if any) that we sign in January."

The full back situation is a bit like how we went half a season with only 3 wingers after Miggy left. We got away with it then, we most certainly haven't got away with it this time. @Yorkie agree with you on the CMs but most of those full backs have a huge asterisk against them. Trippier is fading and can't play regularly, Krafth is emergency cover similar to Lascelles. Ashby is a non-factor and Targett is away on loan but couldn't be relied on fitness-wise anyway. Definitely needs to be our next signing, hopefully we've learnt the lesson that you can't hope to cheat the numbers in the wide positions.

Not many were crying out for another full back in the summer but not buying one appears to have been a significant oversight. I fell into the trap myself because Tino's availability had been so strong. Walker-Peters on a free or James Justin for <£10m would have given us decent cover that could play on either side. Not sure how much that one is on Howe given how many fires we had to put out in the summer, and having both Tino/Hall out is quite bad luck tbf. But we cannot be in this position again where Tripper is playing 3x a week and Burn is playing at FB whatsoever. One thing about Howe that I just accept as one of his quirks is his hesitation to integrate players into the team. We should not have been starting that midfield 3 as much as we have, especially in the face of tiredness, illness and poor form. I can see a path for Ramsey, albeit him becoming a genuine starting option is taking longer than I'd like. But what is the plan with Miley? He is not starting enough games, nor getting enough minutes. If we're not careful we'll lose him like we did Anderson. You have to take the rough with the smooth with any manager but the above are a couple of my current annoyances. More broadly the patterns of play just aren't there at the moment but I do think him and his staff will work that out soon.

You can't stand the manager and have been wishing him into unemployment since your previous username, which was presumably laughed off the forum. What was it, out of interest?

I'd be furious if we sacked him. Almost guaranteed to take us backwards. Give him time and he'll sort it. If we finish midtable and do alright in the cups then I'm fine with that and don't think it'd lead to much more of an exodus than if we got into the CL. Sandro and Tino are the worries and if they are wanted by a team that'll pay the money then one or both of them might go either way. Howe has over-achieved pretty consistently so it's really annoying seeing the same old chancers on here using that as a stick to beat him with if there's a slump. Patience is needed, we'll crack it.