TheBrownBottle

Hasn’t he heard Hopkinson saying how big we’re going to be?

We should definitely going there to try - I definitely wouldn’t advocate sacking it off - but we shouldn’t be playing anyone who has a knock or who is completely knackered

I have tbf - and I’ve also heard of Pyrrhic victories, too We shouldn’t be risking anyone for this though - so if any of the players are less than 100% they should not be starting. There’s always a chance, even if the odds are ridiculously low

No, I think that’s completely appreciated. The club has a skeleton executive and an absentee ownership. That doesn’t mean that a PL manager wouldn’t understand what a player is worth or how they should be scouted. Howe isn’t there just to put the cones out. I also highly doubt that those who think Howe is completely clean on the summer would be saying that if the signings had worked. Or maybe they’d be on here saying ‘I know Elanga is ripping the league up, but that’s nothing to do with Howe signing him’.

I do get annoyed at the thought of underperforming players being unsettled because the team isn’t performing, as if they have nowt to do with it. It’s like being angry at being sat in gridlocked traffic and thinking you’re not part of the problem.

Agreed, it shows that the club isn’t being run properly. I also don’t think Pep would appoint his nephew.

The new SCR rules come in this summer; 85% squad cost to turnover with a 30% allowance over this figure. If we finish lower midtable and miss out on Europe we’ll take a real knock to our income levels - and get hit with a second whammy, as our SCR will be reduced to 70% (with the usual 30% overrun). The higher 85% limit is only for clubs which qualify for Europe. Going over the second threshold will be a sporting sanction - more than likely points deductions. Without European qualification, we’d have a tough time of spending without selling. You’d hope the club would be across this; even if Maguire isn’t. edit: the ‘three season rolling’ thing doesn’t apply from next season due to the changes, so I’ve no idea why Maguire thinks the Isak sale and CL money means we can spend in the summer.

I have my doubts that the board were the ones headhunting Andy Howe to run the transfer committee

Nowt to spend in Jan if you spunk a quarter of a billion in the summer

I wouldn’t for Alonso, and Ancelotti’s time at Everton would make me think twice

KK didn’t know that. Bobby Robson was at his debut vs QPR.

I think this is far, far more of a problem. There’s no joined-up thinking at the club.

Let’s hope so, it would mean they’ve fell off a cliff.

If we sacked Howe today it would likely take that long. The only ‘positive’ is we’d get to see the likes of Caulkin and Hope wanking on about ‘the process’.

Alonso might, last I heard he’s out of work. It’s not like we haven’t persuaded a manager whose last managerial job was Real Madrid to join before. I wouldn’t hire Alonso over Howe, though.

If their players are so shit, maybe we should hire their coaching team instead? I think they’ve bought reasonably well.

And I’m not saying he isn’t on a par with Emery - but I can’t abide the ‘he hasn’t been backed’ narrative, as if he’s been ‘Ashleyed’. The above numbers are from Swiss Ramble two years ago - the 25/26 numbers will have Howe comfortably ahead. I’ve not spent time on this thread doing the Emery comparisons - but if we’re just making up non-existent defences, then we’re surrendering critical faculties. The issue for me isn’t that we can’t compete with Man City - it’s that we’ve spent heavily and we’re currently sat in the bottom half underneath Sunderland. Howe has the squad he wanted to assemble (as an aside, I also don’t have much time for the ‘he didn’t get his first choices’ patter - as if every manager signs who they want). This is his team, his squad - he’s more than capable of getting a tune out of it. No-one should be talking about firing him for me - but he absolutely should be feeling some pressure to get his expensively assembled side to perform.

I never advocated bringing him onboard, but the ‘why because they’re beating Burnley’ crack is ridiculously daft. In terms of the ‘market we’re working in’, their signings look a fuck ton better than the likes of Elanga my untrained eye.

100%. I’m not seeing the ‘he hasn’t been backed’ logic. Howe has been backed to the hilt under PSR. There is a separate argument re how the club could’ve done a better job growing its finances, but everything available has been spent. I’ve seen the wages defence on here countless times to the point that it’s become a mantra. Performance = wages matching league position. Transfer fees just don’t count anymore, despite the fact that some like Elanga or Wissa’s amortised fee will outstrip their wage cost.

Perhaps because they’re above us in February after we all thought they’d be relegated by now?

There was a window?

And I think using wages alone is disingenuous - we could’ve blown Villa out of the water on wages without the high transfer spend.

‘Bombazoo’

He’s got 10x the net spend of Emery. He’s been backed pretty handsomely. Needs to get a tune out of what he’s assembled.

Yep, I reckon a manager whose team won the European Cup Final with the biggest winning margin in history a few months ago might be reasonably expected to do an ok job.