Keegans Export

I'm still a yes because there's still a lot of football to be played this season and another month of regular time on the training ground should be sufficient to see some progress. If it's more of the same then I'll move to a no. The poor performances and results have been an issue since well before Barca/mackems and this is the chance to show that next season won't start the same way this one has ended (so far)

Unfortunately that's a failure that the manager has to own. And if our entire style was built entirely on the foundation of having a 20-goal-per-season striker then those foundations may as well be built on sand. Obviously losing a player like that will have an effect but there's a club that lost 39 goals worth of forwards in the summer and they're currently 3 places ahead of where they finished last season. It just feels like a coping mechanism, and not enough to justify poor performances front-to-back, game after game.

This has been my position too, post-derby. Seven games, a week apart. Time on the training ground etc. It started off as an opportunity to try and nab that final European spot but now it's just about showing that at least with some time to train we can be more organised at the back and show some sort of fluency going forwards. I'm not seeing much of that so far. I still want to see what happens between now and the end of the season before I decide which side of the fence I'm going to end up on.

We've definitely had ample opportunity to train alternatives. The XI that started yesterday - nine of them were here last season when we had plenty of time to train. The fact that we seemingly didn't develop any alternatives seems a bit neglectful now we're apparently short on training time.

Technically yes, but we've actually only spent two weeks out of 34 in 8th or higher. We've only spent 7 of those 34 weeks in the top half. We were within range of Europe but it was alongside a number of clubs and we've consistently ended up towards the bottom of that group. The fact that we've responded so dismally to those defeats is much more of a negative than a positive in my opinion.

I'm not sure that's true. Our form over the past 12 months has us 13th. Extend it to the cup final and it's better (9th) but still below par. This is a past-couple-of-months thing, albeit the past month or so has been particularly bad.

The debt/debt interest wouldn't count towards the new SCR either

That's the point isn't it, they're not meant to improve football at all

I'm sure Villa had the same restrictions imposed on them

I'm sure my wife has one of those in her top drawer

So in this scenario Eddie Howe is...George Martin?

I think I've been pretty consistent - 7th is about par imo and that's what I'll use as judgement on whether this has been a good season or not. If we just missed out by a few points that is factored in obviously. The problem as it stands is that we've never looked a decent bet for top 7 or 8. We've only been in the top half for 7 weeks out of 33, we were 5th for a week and 8th the following one but it's been 9th or lower since (according to Wikipedia).

6th/7th would be a good season. 8th about par considering the progress we made in Europe. A good run of performances and results would presumably be enough to confirm two things; 1. The players are still responding to Howe and his methods, motivation etc. 2. He can still put results together if he has time on the training ground. Obviously point 2 is potentially still an issue but if he at least has an idea of how we could handle multiple games per week going into next season then anything 8th or above would secure me as "Howe In".

I've said for a while that I'm reserving judgement until the season is fully played out. Admittedly that was prior to the Palace game where I hoped (or maybe assumed) that the time between matches would result in an improved level of performance. That hasn't happened yet but a lot can still change in five games. As it stands though, I am worried. Watching both on telly and in person it looks like a number of players are switched off. Is it fair that the manager ultimately tends to pay the price for that? No, but that's how it is. And whatever happens in the summer the squad next season will be mostly made up of players we have here now. There's also the overarching issue of "the project". It's not his fault that the leadership has been lacking on that front but if players feel as if they've been sold a dream that isn't likely to come to fruition, does sticking with a manager after a 13th/14th/15th place finish likely to convince them otherwise? Again, it's not fair and it's not how it should be, but if the choice is replace the manager/coaches or replace 75% of the playing squad there's only going to be one outcome.

Does Mourinho really have that much pull now? His peak was probably 15-20 years ago, if we're targeting players who were toddlers during the "Special One" years is he going to shift the needle all that much?

Well either way we're +/-£200m give or take. Hardly the billions they've plunged into LV with barely anything to show for it. I don't for one second believe these 2030 targets are realistic, I'm not convinced that they even believe it themselves, but I do see the potential benefits in holding onto the club at least in the medium term. I don't think its a coincidence that they're looking for external funding for the stadium and more non-PIF sponsors.

When was the last time Mourinho improved on the results/league position of the managers that came before and after him? Doesn't seem to have had much impact at all at Roma, Fenerbace or Benfica. Obviously he won the Conference League with Roma.

If they'd want a young up-and-coming coach obviously it won't be Mourinho but there would be potentially quite a large pool. If they want a "name" (perhaps if PIF decide that's what they want...) then it'll be Mourinho. I think any other alternatives would either be preoccupied by the World Cup (Ancelotti, Nagelsmann) or likely to be a bit out of reach (Xavi, Alonso)

I think it's fair to say that Iraola has proven himself in the Premier League, at the very least he's probably a bit above average. He hasn't proven his ability to manage multiple competitions (ie domestic & European) and that's the biggest question mark around both him and Howe in terms of getting the very top jobs imo.

I don't think that's what it means tbf I think it's reasonable that there is a discussion about what has gone wrong this season that includes Eddie. If he has plans, solutions, answers then that helps his case to stay on. There's also not a 0% chance that he walks, especially if he feels the players are no longer responding to him.

The only person who is better off after last summer is his agent. Liverpool spent a fortune on one player and now don't have the squad to compete for the title. We wasted the money and have plummeted down the table. Isak has gone from being talked about as one of the top strikers in the world to an irrelevance.

I think it's perfectly reasonable to be delighted with what he's achieved for the last few years while also being concerned about how the next couple might pan out if we don't see shoots of improvement over the remaining fixtures. Before the Saudi’s took over, when we were finishing 12th & 13th...

The problem with that is that if Isak had stayed and either been shit or essentially refused to play/train we wouldn't have had the funds to replace him and we'd end up having to play Gordon or Osula up front. Wait, hang on...

I assume it'll be those four positions plus a replacement for any of Tonali/Gordon/Tino/Bruno leave

We do have a women's DOF though don't we? How much control she actually has though, that's anyone's guess.