TheBrownBottle

I agree the lad gets more pelters than some others, but trying is a minimum requirement really. A professional footballer putting some effort in really shouldn’t be particularly praiseworthy

They’re expensive vs average income; far more expensive than they were pre-1992, which is what I was driving at. The average age of a PL crowd is now mid-40s. No chance it was that pre-1992. They not cheap - they’re not as expensive as some other PL clubs.

No, he’s never been quick. He’s got a good ‘engine’, but he’s not fast. I’d also like to see him pushed further forward again. I’d like to see someone like Kalvin Phillips come in, and allow Bruno to be further forward / rested from time to time.

Yeah, when KK left the whole ‘chequebook manager’ shite was ongoing, but he brought in £20m in sales as well as £60m in signings (and the squad he left was definitely worth more than £40m). It was nearly impossible to cover for all positions back then - and the intensity of play reflected it. I do think that Gillespie’s injury bollocksed our season that year - we were never the same again. Funnily enough, I do think some of the criticism that could be levelled at KK could be levelled at Howe - Keegan wouldn’t drop Lee or Beardsley even when they were completely out of form, even though the likes of Watson and Huckerby were able to come in for a game or two. Howe and KK are very similar in that I always want to hear them talk. Robson and Benitez are the only other NUFC managers where I can say that. Howe isn’t super charismatic, but he’s likeable and level-headed.

Given Tonali isn’t likely to have suitors at present, it would be Joelinton - if only for the fact that he’d be likely to bring in the most money, and he’s free of amortisation at this point. Longstaff, Miles and Anderson are HG, you don’t want to be shifting those players. NB I don’t want us to sell Joelinton at the moment. Just answering the hypothetical.

ASM and Wood aren’t good enough for where NUFC want to be. You can keep the penny

Howe has said himself that he doesn’t like changing a team which won the game before. Then Benitez is the other end of the scale, and never saw a team he couldn’t change the week after. I think Howe’s too smart not to have learned from this experience. I don’t think he’ll go down the Benitez path, but I think once we have the majority of players back we’ll start seeing starting players shuffled around a bit more week by week

100%. That’s where I am with this.

Completely different era in fairness. KK doesn’t sell Ruel Fox the previous summer if he’s allowed more than a three man bench with one sub. No-one thought of squad rotation in 1995 other than Ferguson, who first started doing it in the League Cup the year before.

Part of the issue is cost. If you’re charging prices on a par with a decent west end production, then your ‘customers’ demand entertainment - they don’t make their own fun. The clubs willing took middle class money and betrayed the working class fan bases decades ago now. It’s why I get hacked off when I hear Klopp whining about atmosphere, or when Keane went on about ‘prawn sandwiches’. As if they can’t quite equate their exorbitant salaries requiring ticket prices which price out those more likely to create atmospheres. Football took the recommendations of Taylor Report to squeeze more money and change its supporter base. Atmospheres which are flatter than a witch’s tit are a consequence

The atmosphere changed the moment it went all-seater, and the final nail was the lop-sided extension in 2000. This is compounded by an ageing ST cohort sitting on their hands and day trippers. Large groups of young lads going together are usually what builds atmospheres. But they can’t attend as a block due to the impossibility of getting large number of tickets together, and the exorbitant cost means that many are priced out. Neither of these are likely to be fixed - in fact, they’re only likely to get worse. I’ve heard the same complaints re the atmosphere for decades; it isn’t going back to how it was, it isn’t going to be fixed. Safe standing won’t fix it because the places will still be mainly ST holders and not groups together; a ‘singing section’ is unlikely to fix it as those in there will age and not want to give up their seat. The entire ground is now what the West / Milburn seating was when I was a kid. The lower Leazes etc is now where many disabled supporters sit - you can’t just whack standing back wherever you want without causing issues to those who are there already.

Yeah, I think he’s played pretty well too. Off today today.

He literally used it as an excuse in his post match interview. Otherwise why raise it?

I’m going to just hop off this thread. People are getting far too defensive. I never said it’s all on the manager - it isn’t. I have seen the bench in recent weeks - which is why I wrote that he hasn’t now got much of a choice. That doesn’t mean that the manger is completely blameless. He has a footballing approach which is likely to lead to fatigue and injuries, and he didn’t develop either an amended plan A (and no plan B). It’s not all bad luck

I don’t think Howe has a choice but to do what he’s doing now - and yes, I’m well aware of how long this has been going on. Just saying that he overplayed players when he had a choice - even in October we had multiple options at FB, for example, and he wouldn’t drop / rest Trippier or Burn until they were completely fucked. Don’t take it as me saying that Howe is 100% to blame or responsible for an injury crisis; I do though think he isn’t blameless

The back line are clearly missing him as sweeper-keeper. It’s chaotic without him in there

It is basic. And he didn’t do it when he had the full squad available to him. He also had a WC break coming up mid-season. Howe shouldn’t be under pressure for his job at the moment, but that doesn’t mean he’s beyond criticism.

They can’t train because they were already paggered. Other clubs have similar fixture lists and their managers aren’t in the press complaining that they can’t train - and someone like Ten Hag would absolutely have used that excuse. This will happen again and again and again under Howe unless he learns from it. I’m more than happy for him to be given the time to learn, but he absolutely is not the victim of bad luck re injuries and fatigue.

This is why Howe needs time - and to show that he’s learned from this. If I was running the club, barring complete meltdown he’d have until next Xmas. But this can’t keep happening - we need to adapt.

Then as you’ve explained it’s less of an excuse and more something Howe needs to look at. Howe drilling his players non stop and having a playing style which is so demanding that the players are burned out before the season is halfway finished. Howe is not blameless and it isn’t bad luck that the players are running on embers.

Not as good as Speed and Tiote? Dear me. Technique-wise, Cabaye is more debatable. He’s clearly a better footballer than Lee, but Lee was superb for us for a lot of his time here.

It definitely is flattering - Forest looked by far the more dangerous side

Nowt. But we don’t hear a peep from them. We know Staveley has to run all major decisions via PIF and - crucially - the management contract that she has for the club is entirely based on performance (PIF’s perception of performance). So we’re in the weird position of the minority shareholder running the club on a management contract, and also being the mouthpiece. It isn’t in Staveley’s interest to be overly critical of anything that is happening. But we absolutely do not know anything about PIF’s views.

I hadn’t looked at the table for some time, but did so today. If Everton win their game in hand, then their league results for the first half of the season are the same as ours. Of course, Everton didn’t have six European fixtures vs top sides, but still - that’s not good.

Tbf I’m only going on what Staveley said. Could be that she’s making her client’s judgement sound better