Cf

Oh, conference league? New rule: if Chelsea lose this they're disqualified form CL.

Just spotted this on TV at the pub. What even is it?

Agree - I suspect the term power struggle overblows what has happened, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a more nuanced case of the job wasn't what he was expecting given the amount of power Howe has. Or it's because Eales is going.

This is more like what you want. A board, the manager, different departments, all on the same page so that if anyone leaves the rest are aligned on what replacements to bring in.

This is generally overblown to me. What is Howe doing that means we can't find a successor when the time comes? Different managers obviously have different styles - hire one that suits your current squad. Only a few managers (your Ruben Amorims of the world) are going to build a squad that is so specialised that they limit their options. Also setups and systems evolve - the person best placed to see and address this is the manager. Don't get me wrong - overall direction is good. And one man can only do so much. Howe absolutely needs advisors, scouts, coaches, etc. But the concept of a DoF dictating to a manager/head coach the players they have and the system they should play just doesn't sit right.

This just sounds healthy to me. You want professionals who challenge each other with a certain amount of alignment and respect for each other.

This is where I'm at too. I can see the reason for such a role as we do want Eddie to be able to focus on the training pitch but it should be a collaborative role. A DoF is seen as above the manager and that just creates the wrong dynamic.

You just know he does though

We've got Eddie Howe for that.

I assumed the thread title was a piss take given all that had been going on in here earlier

If there's certain players Eddie sees value in keeping around for experience on the training pitch and what have you then as long as we aren't paying too much no objection from me. Obviously barring extreme circumstances he should be nowhere near the pitch on match day.

Can't wait to see what Howe can do when we plug the obvious deficiencies in the squad. Next season could be (even more) amazing.

Complaining about the referee selection is so classless and to do so publicly they should face punitive action imo.

What happend?

He took away my fancy blue name the utter bastard.