TheBrownBottle

If we sack Howe and bring in Ron Atkinson to be belligerent to the local press on his first press conference then we can start to see the similarities

Totally. If they still want him to be their man going forward, the first they should do when the season ends is send him on a month-long holiday. No comms, no checking on player procurement, just complete switch-off. It was worrying seeing the impact it’s having, and some of us have seen this before - Howe’s a relatively young man (for the industry he’s in) and the job can age people overnight. Some things are more important.

Agreed, though that depends if we give a shite about a fine or not. Points deductions, transfer embargos and competition bans I can understand wanting to avoid.

We’re in silly season if we think this is a possibility. We at serious risk of a bottom half finish, which obviously would be a shite season.

He isn’t - and tbf he said as much post-match. I still hope he’s given the chance to change tack - he said he’s being reflective and I have no reason to doubt it. Howe strikes me as a smart enough guy as to have those ‘conversations with himself’. I hope he’s considering making back room changes as others have mentioned - the very best tend to do this.

I’m honestly surprised that everyone’s bullshit detector isn’t ringing with this fella so far. There’s literally no player available in world football which would have been affordable and would have plugged a current squad gap? Give owa

It would have zero impact on the summer budget if it was a loan signing - though I agree re something like a ‘panic buy’ permanent transfer

I know where you’re coming from, and you’re right I wouldn’t include youth team signings as signings. But they all count - of course, it’s only one window where we’ve had signings intended to improve the first team. PSR rules of course dictate that, but that’s often mentioned as if we can’t do a thing about it, whereas a big part of our transfer failings is our terrible selling record; allowing players to go well past peak value until they’re worth very little or even nothing. The rules constrain us, but we’ve not been smart within those constraints.

100%, but Howe doesn’t like loan signings

We paid money for Osula and that Greek bloke. They count as signings.

That’s not the case - but we haven’t bought anyone in the last three January windows

KK wasn’t immune either tbf. I don’t understand vitriol being poured on Howe, the man deserves respect, but the performances so far this season wouldn’t have been readily accepted at any time over the last few decades let alone post-takeover. KK and Howe are both NUFC legends - I wouldn’t worry about how either are viewed elsewhere.

I agree - but if it isn’t entertaining and it isn’t going to be a winning side then there’s going to be a problem. That’s where we are at present - the football has been lacking in entertainment value and in addition to that we look very, very frail. We look liked an uncoached mess at the moment. I liked Howe’s comments after the game, because it means he acknowledges it too - but that can’t go on forever. It’s absolutely ridiculous that a club this size went so long without a trophy, and Howe will be always remembered by the support as the man who ended that run - but big clubs don’t rest on that. It buys him time, but it doesn’t buy him immunity from criticism.

I don’t think League Cup wins are remembered outside of the club which wins them. Any English football fan who was around in the ‘90s remembers that side - without looking it up, how many can name the League Cup winners that season? (Again, outside the club which won it). The anoraks amongst us can - but the average punter will have no clue. Outside of the UK, the League Cup isn’t really known about. I seriously doubt that anyone will be talking about Newcastle’s league cup win (outside of Newcastle) next year, let alone in a couple of decades.

I’m sure we can all forgive him 😁

Even a draw down at Boro and a big win for us would’ve done it - effectively, a home win vs Spurs on the same level we had later that year would have done it.

Which is totally fair - but it’s definitely worth watching. That’s the closest I’ve seen Howe come to kicking the players under the bus (they deserve the call-out, too). It being Howe, he made a positive from it (that it means there’s plenty of room for improvement).

Also completely untrue - I don’t recollect losing the title ‘emphatically’. I can still remember the pre-match crack before the final match against Spurs where there was still a small hope of winning the league.

Howe’s post-match presser suggests that he doesn’t think they’re giving their all tbh

It’s in part because they’re all transitioning into being head coaches, not managers. No owner in their right mind is handing the head coach a blank cheque to sign players. It’s part of the reason why the PL is so tight these days - the coaching levels are pretty consistent across the board. It’s also why clubs with first-class recruitment teams (Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford etc) don’t fall away when the manager changes.

The CL money won’t help at all - that was this season, as was the Isak money. No more ‘three year rollovers’ from next season

Better again, but the base line is subterranean

No-one is paying £60m for him tbf. We wouldn’t get our money back. Though we’d only need £50m next season for it to be ‘cost neutral’ in terms of fee amortisation

Not sure point-scoring helps tbh. The vast majority of those comments were (and still do) absolutely come from ‘the right place’. I’d be far happier with my concerns being completely wrong than their optimism being proven wrong.

Perhaps, but it’s also one the reasons I like the man. Most PL managers wouldn’t be this honest. But his players are badly letting him down and this is the closest I’ve seen to Howe calling them out in public. And he’s right about all of it, too.