Chicken Dancer

Fantastic win and finally a good performance, but very important not to get too high. They are absolutely dire and one of the worst teams we've played in a while. Great scenes at the end though. Felt proper chuffed for him.

The reaction of the fans to Howe at the end there should be enough to show the wider public that the noise is very much limited to the online contingent.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not confident whatsoever

You can get 5/2 on Spurs if you fancy. Obviously be a chunk better if you really fancy it by 2 or 3 goals.

Would be the best way to utilise him I reckon. Sort of like a poor man's Firminho. He's looked a lot worse since he's being rotated with Wissa. I'd sooner give Woltemade the bulk of the minutes, or failing that start Osula.

I actually quite like this piece and mainly agree with the points raised. Some bollocks mixed in too. I certainly don't want Howe to go but there needs to be a refresh in the summer of the squad and the style. We just have to adapt. The performances across the board have been poor all season long - granted with the odd anomaly like Everton away or City at home. If we are incapable of putting in 90 minute performances then something has to change with the tactics/setup. How many times this season have we pissed away an early lead to then be comfortably beat? It's not a coincidence when it happens time and time again. It's a pattern. I do have a feeling that Brentford was a turning point for us. I hope I'm right anyway, I'm desperate for it to turn round and I really feel for the bloke on a personal level. He's given us so much joy, but comments like the ones Chris Sutton is peddling are not helping at all. There's been questions asked from plenty fans - including me - but if you're using social media as your source then there'll probably be a handful of fans at every single club that are truly happy. St James' hasn't turned, the away fans haven't turned and that's the biggest tell. The booing at full-time on Saturday was the first outpour of emotion from the crowd in what has been (whether you care to agree or not) a disappointing season, but the support has been unwavering for Howe and the team. It will take a defeat to the mackems on Tyneside for it to become nasty imo, but even that wouldn't be anything close to the shit messrs Pardew/Souness/Bruce took. Rightly so of course.

I can’t imagine Man Utd and especially Liverpool going for Howe tbh. Could be wrong.

It’s the performances for me. I don’t want to go on and on as I’ve said it numerous times now but we’ve played well a handful of times all season. We’ve became really boring and dull to watch. If we’d lost 2-3 yesterday in a basketball game, as disappointing as it would be at least I’d feel fairly entertained. But we’re just a hard watch. Not sure why or how it’s happened.

Can’t help but feel for the bloke on a personal level. Looks absolutely exhausted and he’s given everything to us the past 4 years. I really hope it doesn’t get nasty for him but got a horrible feeling it’s heading that way.

The stance I took with Elanga I’m taking here, given the sample size is now large enough. Dreadful at worst, average at best. A complete waste of £55m.

I’ve been at gigs where the bands been booed off for a poor performance. People can vent how they want, as I say not something I do but it’d been happening for centuries (booing). It is what it is. For what it’s worth I done something I never do yesterday and fucked off as soon as the third went in.

This a great post and a pretty accurate summary. He’s had total control for some time and certainly has more control than other managers across the league. It pains me to admit it but any criticism is more than just, certainly at the minute.

I personally don’t boo or that but I think people are entitled to do whatever they want tbh. They’ve paid their money and are well within their rights to let them know when they aren’t happy. What I do have a problem with is the few seats in front of my seat is always full of different people every week, which I quite I enjoy. What I don’t enjoy is the ones yesterday videoing the Brentford pen ffs.

Best manager in my and most of our lives. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t reached his ceiling. Starting to think it might be the case, as sad as that may be.

Would say I’m shocked but I’m not. Same shit every week. Also the atmosphere was fucking shit, though what was served up didn’t help.

We've got an awful habit as a fanbase of wanting to sell our best players at any point they're having a bad patch. The whole team is playing shit, he's absolute mustard and the type of player we need to keep about long term if we ever want to amount to anything more. Every player has good and bad spells, it's football.

Feels like a huge game. Thank fuck it’s 1730, plenty time for a beer to get the crowd going. Ideally a shocking refereeing decision early doors to get the crowds back up. Nothing better than an angry St James’.

The forum would be a worse place without your optimism, so I don’t think you should do that (especially when I’m not confident we do them at all ) Who else will be here to tell us we’re gonna go to the Etihad in a few weeks and win?

Nah you are right to be fair. I think my frustrations come from what I know we can and did do and now just don’t. I’d expect us to control certain games but we just seem incapable, and it’s an awful feeling going 1-0 up and just waiting for the other team to score and then probably go on to win. He’s still the don in my eyes but the season is slowly disappearing with a very tricky few weeks ahead. I fear the worst, but the good news is it will take a lot for SJP to turn. There’s been nowt in the ground, but I think everyone has the same concerns on forums/pubs. Very big game Saturday.

Even this game was twitchy for large chunks. They had us on the ropes a bit, we regained control about 70 minutes onwards, though the festive wine and cheese may have clouded my memory.

I think we played well for a half against Arsenal then we almost looked like a little team again, whereas in the past (under Howe) we’d really have taken the game to them. We should have had a penalty like for sure. Liverpool we were class, it remains the best performance of the season (including City H Everton A) for me. Which is a worry itself given it was the second game of the season. I’ll let you have the Villa H game though I don’t agree I thought we were crap, especially second half. What I think we do agree on though is that the amount of good 90 minute performances are few and far between. I’ve said it a few times but that 22/23 team was really something and it’s probably spoiled my enjoyment a tad, watching us now vs that. I totally understand football evolves but that season was my favourite ever (obviously the shiny thing made last season the most memorable). I’m eternally grateful for the past 4 years - they really have been the best years of my NUFC supporting life by some distance - I’ve had some wonderful times in town, at aways in this country and in Europe. It’s been a blast and I pray that they continue, but I’m not sure how we’d cope being in Europa/Conference next season. We/Howe havent quite figured out how to compete on all fronts, but very few can. It probably isn’t, but Saturday really feels like a must win. Even just to ease the pressure a bit.

I absolutely adore your optimism, I wish I was like you and you’re by far the most positive fella on this forum. But we genuinely haven’t been decent in one game and bad the next this season. I can count on one hand when we’ve played well, two at a push. I can’t be arsed listing the entire fixture list but even the wins in the 3pms at home were poor-to-average performances, that’s before we mention the away form (namely at Bournemouth, Leeds, Sunderland and Wolves). The Leeds home game was absolutely incredible and we did win the game, but another game that we were poor in (imo). I’m talking exclusively about the league here btw. We’ve been pretty good in Europe and it’s a great achievement to qualify for the playoffs with a really favourable tie to come. I also hope Howe is here 10 years, it would be so daft to pull the trigger. But if this continues into spring and beyond the club will have a decision to make for sure.

But I am criticising Howe? He’s got it wrong more than he’s got it right this season. He’s got it right more than he’s got it wrong in his tenure here. They’re two completely different things.

I’m not really sure what you mean. I’d be gutted if he left but what we’re seeing consistently isn’t good enough, I don’t think that’s particularly controversial take. You can point to a good performance in Paris but it was sandwiched in between a load of shit domestically. You know yourself if it was any other manager in our history people wouldn’t stand for it, so not sure why we should now? Because we used to be proper shit?

Howe has enough credit in the bank to be able to be given the opportunity to navigate this of course. It would be a terrible move to sack him anytime soon. Just because he’s been absolutely unbelievable for us doesn’t make him immune from criticism. Some would sooner blame the kit man than the manager for the consistently shit performances.