Ellis H

11 in the league.

7 points off relegation on January 1st with Liverpool away next.

When we beat Tottenham we’ll be 11 points clear of them and Man Utd losing to Liverpool would put us 13 clear of them. 2 European rivals eliminated by 5th January. We’d absolutely not be in such a great position if he’d been sacked a month ago.

There’s far too many clips of Onana passing the ball directly to the opposition on the edge of the box and failing to save basic shots. Wolves scored directly from a corner today if anyone hasn’t seen it. Pope has his flaws but he unquestionably gains us many points a season.

For almost all of the last 2 decades we’d have desperately and pathetically defended that early goal and probably lost 3-1. Now, Howe will be lying awake tonight gutted we didn’t get the 5 or 6 we fully deserved. 2 extremely winnable games against top 6 rivals next to set us up perfectly for the second half of the season.

We could be 10 points off the top on Christmas Day with a semi final coming up. Don’t think a single one of us would have deemed that even slightly realistic in pre-season. The reality is obviously more nuanced but plenty of reasons to be very optimistic about the second half of the season.

Any talk of going backwards makes me remember we were bottom of the league and 5 points off safety when he took over in late November. We didn’t win any of the first 14 games but won 12 of the last 18 to finish 11th. Since that season we’ve finished 4th with a cup final appearance, 8 points off 4th (and a cup final upset away from Europe) and are now 5 points off 4th and in the Semi Finals of the cup. He’s consistently got us challenging for the top 4 and trophies with a top 8 squad. What could he do with a top 6 squad? Or even a top 4 one? I hope we get to find out.

Assuming he’s in some way available, last night showed why we should push the boat out for Mbeumo. He wasn’t on the pitch long and created 2 huge chances out of nothing in a team that hadn’t looked interested all game. That, and giving us a good hiding in the away game, was a brilliant audition. He’d cost a lot but would be worth his weight in gold in this team.

“We didn’t have Rodri” again no doubt.

The point we got off Palace looking a good one now. They’re doing really well against the top 10.

Not sure what he did but it’s officially 5 yellow cards so he’s definitely out. “His suspension leaves Town with only one recognised striker for next week's Newcastle clash - Ali Al-Hamadi, who was playing in League Two at the start of 2024.”

You’re right. Just looked and would never have guessed he’d played that much.

https://www.nufc.com/html/2020-21html/2020-12-22brentford-a.html Almost exactly 4 years ago. It’s easy to moan about things now but never forget what it was like. Some good Bruce quotes in there for the connoisseurs.

They drew 2-2 last week with Brighton tbf. Maybe we made them look bad?

Yeah, I was thinking about those reliable, fringe type players like Watson, Sellars, Fox, Gillespie etc. He’ll be on stage at the Tyne Theatre in 30 years telling stories about this period.

Assuming a similar trajectory, Osula will be Isak’s replacement next season.

One of the key things I love about him is that he wants to win 5-0 every game. Other managers say that then prove otherwise but he dreams of it every night. Give him the right tools and he could do (or continue to do) something really special with us.

Indeed. Funny thing about him is that he’d be loved by us in the early to mid-90’s teams. Extremely likeable, works really hard and can score and assist when called upon. Now he’s treated as something we must suffer through.

Every injury will just make it all the more annoying when he signs for West Ham next season and plays 30+ games.

“As Starmer landed in the region, a Manchester-based company that specialises in the material graphene announced a new deal with the Saudis to use its product in a major construction project. The deal with Graphene Innovation Manchester aims to generate £250m of investment and research in Greater Manchester, and could generate more than a thousand skilled jobs.” The North and the North East are very different to Southerners.

This is the lineup for the next Tottenham manager. You’d assume we’d be fishing in the same stream these days unless Mitchell has other ideas. Pochettino and Mourinho wouldn’t be anywhere near as long for us obviously. Brendan Rodgers 5/2 Erik Ten Hag 8/1 Thomas Frank 8/1 Graham Potter 10/1 Gareth Southgate 12/1 Marco Silva 12/1 Andoni Iraola 14/1 Kieran McKenna 14/1 Michael Carrick 14/1 Roberto De Zerbi 14/1 Xavi 14/1 Diego Simeone 16/1 Eddie Howe 16/1 Julian Nagelsmann 16/1 Max Allegri 18/1 Maurizio Sarri 20/1 Michel 20/1 Lee Carsley 22/1 David Moyes 25/1 Mauricio Pochettino 25/1 Unai Emery 33/1 Jose Mourinho 100/1 Antonio Conte 250/1

“Ratcliffe was always going to have to make unpopular decisions but it has come at the cost of staff morale and now supporters are brazenly branding him a “c**t” https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/saw-dan-ashworth-escorted-out-30538942

That was last season. We’re currently 5 points off 5/6th which is fine in December. Long term? We’ll see.

8 points off 4th, an FA Cup final away from Europe and averaging 2.5 goals a game is near miraculous considering the circumstances. How spoiled are we that it’s considered underachieving?

They need to have a proper, realistic plan in place if they’re pulling the plug. Change for the sake of change could set us back a few years and undo most of Howe’s good work. Forwards not sideways.