500bhp

I think this lad is brilliant, will be better than Anderson. But Eddie, only play him in midfield!

Thought he was great today, a total enigma. Improved so much the last few weeks since getting a run in the team. Keep him and sell Woltemade - because he can never play in a Howe team and it looks like Howe is here next season.

Was shit today, from my seat at least.

Yeah, not looking forward to today. I've gone all Bruce/Ashley mode and I'm more excited about seeing my mates for pre match beers in the sun than the game itself. Total contrast to 12-15 months ago. 0-2 defeat.

I saw him in there last night doing a karaoke duet with the drag queen DJ 😀

0-2 defeat. Howe leaves on Sunday by mutual consent. Hope I'm wrong.

I'm exactly the same. All I've ever wanted was to see us win a trophy and to be there in person with my mates. After 45 years of going to the match I achieved that last year. NUFC and football in general has felt different since then. Like I've sort of completed it. Wasn't even that excited when we got 5th last year to get into the CL. Seen us play in the CL loads of times and we aren't ever going to win it.

We'll get four more points. Win a home game and a draw from somewhere.

So chatting up a lass in a bar 'de value women'. Fucking hell, I've heard it all now 😳

I'll stick to what I said at the start of the season, I'd rather have Longstaff and the £30m. Fingers crossed he comes good next season.

No its for losing the last 8 of 11 PL games (before tomorrow), and 5 of last 6 home PL home games, and being around 8-14 place all season, and losing both derbies, and spending £125m on strikers he won't play, and £55m on a winger with no goals and one assist in PL, and being out thought tactically in most games, and losing more home games than in seasons we've been relegated, and not making subs proactively resulting in leads becoming losses in the last 30 minutes of games, and some other stuff. Been a brilliant manager for us and gave me possibly the best day of my life on 16th March 2025 standing at Wembley (don't tell the missus or kids!) but we are stale now and the players no longer respond to his instructions so its time for a change.

I'm the same, and yet plenty of people will still say give Howe next season.

Sliding doors moment, but imagine we had sold Longstaff and Miggy to raise the £35m instead of Anderson.

And Leeds unfortunately.

Maybe, but some might say that a progressive club and DOF model would have signed us Rayan and shifted Murphy out on loan.

We could have signed 19 year old Rayan for £25m in January and decided not to. He already has more G/A in PL this season than Elanga. Just my view but this seems the type of player Wilson would go for, not so much Eddie.

Looks like we'll have to send Nixon scouting at the 2026 Commonwealth Games for athletes, rather than the 2026 World Cup for technical footballers! <joke 😀>.

Yes this is what a lot of people are overlooking, especially the Howe In side. Unless we win 3 or 4 of the last five then its going to be a flat depressing summer. All momentum has been lost as well as the feel good factor. Zero optimism for the season ahead. That can be mitigated to some extent with a new manager and team rebuild. Get an early lift from seeing us in pre season not playing 433 or Elanga or Murphy or others. Its a great feeling the first game of the season with half a team making its debut. Especially with a new manager there as well. We all need some optimism going into the new particularly as I'll be paying just short of £1000 for my season ticket.

Our league performances have been getting worse month on month. Villa away we looked good just missing a decent forward. Home to Liverpool and Arsenal we were unlucky and on another day could have won both. Although even then I was worried about the late goals conceded. We've got progressively worse since then. That's what worries me about Howe being in charge next season, he can't stop this juggernaut of bad form. And please, nobody say give him 3-4 months and if its no better than sack him end of the year. That's the worst of both worlds. (I've excluded cups as the players always seem up for those games, which in itself is worrying about our management).

That first January transfer window was brilliant and kept us up. Howe went for PL proven players and it worked; Burn, Wood, Trippier and Targett. Bruno was also signed and, if I recall correctly, that was driven predominantly by the existing recruitment team. Amanda said give us the list of players you've been watching but could not buy under MA. That list included Bruno, Botman, Isak, Ekitike and others. So Howe and the recruitment team both deserve praise for those signings.

Similar to that, I've just noticed that of the 8 PL teams playing today, 6 have beaten us at home in the league 😳. What a grim season its been. Edit, we did Man City in PL but lost in both cups.

Please don't take this the wrong way and I'm not trying to be a smart arse but were you at the match yesterday? Unusually for me I had no alcohol pre game for the first time in years, so I used the opportunity to look closely and soberly at the players instead of just following the action and the ball. Most of those players were half arsed, didn't track back and seem to have given up. Trippier second half being a noticeable exception. Its just a small thing but when the players ran out to start the second half both sets has small cones to run around to warm up with a coach there from each team. Bournemouth players did it properly listening to the coach, making eye contact and acknowledged him. Ours couldn't be give a shit and virtually all ignored the coach and run over the cones. I know that sounds trivial but it sums up the current mood in the camp.

Answer my question please. How far do we have to drop before you think about changing the manager? 14th now, maybe its 16th or 18th or 20th? What's your cut off point? I've been watching football at SJP since 1980, longer than some but not as long as others. 40 years ago we didn't have social media or 24-7 Sky Sports News or the Champions League, or even live football most weekends. I'd say the pressure on PL managers at the biggest clubs (which includes NUFC) is greater now than in the 80s.

So how far do we have to drop before you think we should change the manager? Are you OK with finishing 16th or 18th or 20th. Maybe get relegated next season and let Howe try to take us back up in 2028. We are on a downwards spiral and sadly nothing I've seen in the last 12 or so league games gives me any confidence he is capable of reversing this trend. I can't be arsed to go through the history books of PL clubs but I'm sure I can find multiple examples of clubs that dropped 10 league places, replaced their manager, and then went on to achieve greater success. Your Fergie at Man U example was about 40 years ago, football is a little bit different now.

Yes, I had a great view of that from where I sit. It was so fucking lazy, I was screaming for him to stick to his man but he gave up easily just past the centre circle.