500bhp

The mackems who were in league 1 about 4 years ago have bought a whole new team for what we spent on Wissa, Woltemade, Elanga and Ramsey. They've beat us twice this season with that new team, and will finish above us and may even get into Europe. I'll also add Brentford and Bournemouth who lost their best players last summer but signed astute replacements. They are also above us. As a club we fucked up last summer with our PL proven first transfer approach. Howe takes the majority of that blame as he had a free go at his targets once he allegedly ousted our DOF.

Anyone else slightly worried? Or just me!

Agreed, let's cut Burn some slack! 😀

8 defeats in last 11 league games and some people still want Howe in charge next season. It's that type of attitude that separates the successful clubs from the also rans. Our owners want to be challenging for top honours in the next four years. Whether that's realistic or not that's their on the record goal. No way Howe will be in charge next season. If they haven't already the board will be sounding out replacements this week.

Its probably Brentford offering the £20m. Or maybe not due to the way he left.

Those of us who have worked for big corporates have seen this type of thing before. Give someone a promotion or big payrise just before the redundancies or sackings happen, usually due to a takeover. They walk away with a much bigger payout.

Yes something really radical like making that double substitution of the wingers at 50-55 mins instead of 65-70 minutes just after the opposition have equalised. (Sorry for this post Eddie!).

Not that I want Jose but many people said the same thing about 70(?) year old SBR when he was appointed.

When they beat us 4-1 in January last year that was the best performance I saw by an away team at SJP last season. Pray they dont play like that again. They were set up perfectly to play against us. Good that we've evolved since then and still don't play that 433 with flat midfield..........oh shit!

The sit down at the end of the season has to include Howe as the board need to hear his views and plans. He looks broken at the moment and shattered and full of self doubt. He doesn't deserve to feel like that as he's such a decent and honorable bloke. I've thought for a while he might resign especially if the club is looking to operate differently going forward around recruitment, playing philosophy, etc. This is a great breakout opportunity for both parties. Ideally it will be a genuine 'mutual decision' announced before the West Ham game so he gets the send off he deserves and the appreciation of the crowd.

I'm sure they paid €100m for Kane. I know he's class but was about 30 when they signed him. Cheeky fuckers!

I asked that exact same question yesterday morning......! I'm not as knowledgeable as others on here of the situations at other PL teams but I've been trying to think of examples where a club has had a shit league campaign and dropped 8-10 positions like we have but not sacked the manager at the end of the season. Then the following season he's got them back up towards the top of the league? Can't think of any examples**, probably because most ambitions clubs sack the manager after falling 8-10 league places. ** I think Moyes at Everton about 15 years ago may have done this.

Mate, I think you need to step away from this subject for a bit. You've done a fantastic job defending Howe against any level or type of criticism or negativity. Respect for that. But it seems to be getting to yoi now and its not healthy you having to spend all day replying to numerous posters all saying a similar thing. Log off, have a cuppa and go a walk 🍻

How was Howe let down this summer? No CEO should not impact our scouting and recruitment of players. No DOF on the other hand has a massive impact. mmmmm.....I wonder under what circumstances our DOF left in May just as the window was opening. Power struggle with Howe some would say! I admit the Isak debacle impacted Howe and recruitment. But that only be blamed for so much.

Howe has been brilliant for us, no doubt whatsoever. His main quality is improving poor or average players with thorough coaching. Think Miggy, Longstaff, Burn, Murphy, Joelinton, Krafth and loads of others. I'm less sure he can do that with top or elite players. Especially when those top teams are in Europe every season and making latter stages of the domestic cups. So playing the dreaded two games per week.

If the people who are talking about replacing Howe are massive fannies, does that mean the people who want Howe to stay are massive dicks 😁😁😁. (No malice intended, just banter mate).

Maybe a controversial take but I dont think we necessarily need to get a 'better' manager than Howe, maybe an equal would do. The players have gone stale and not all have become bad players over a season. I think they need to hear new ideas from a new manager and coaching team. The relationship has hit the 5-year itch and needs separation. Even they must be questioning Howe's tactics, subs, etc. Once you realise that your boss is shite its really difficult to work for them, respect them and give your all. Howe is not shite of course, but he can lose some respect from the players due to his actions or decision making. Also, the new manager needs to be accepting that the DoF will set the recruitment strategy, which the manager will of course have some say in. He needs to be open to going for non-PL as the starting point (where applicable) and be pragmatic and sensible enough about targets. Last summer a DOF would not have allowed £55m on Wissa and Elanga or sanctioned a £50m bid for Strand-Larson. Its probably a stereotype but a younger continental manager might be more accepting of working under a DOF and the conditions that brings.

We've progressively got worse in the league the longer the season has gone on. I was concerned months ago but people on here kept saying we are only 3 points off CL, then it was only 6 points and now its, well, fuck knows how far off we are. I was concerned after the away derby but was told it was a one off, and then the home derby which presumably was a two off! Then I was told we'll be OK once its one game per week. That worked yesterday against a team with a shit home record, who always lose if they go behind and who rested their best players. We make the same mistakes game after game. He doesn't know his best back four or his best front three. His subs are reactive not proactive. I still think he's a very good manager who can improve poor or average players with enough coaching time. Less sure he can improve good or very good players, or maybe that's a bit harsh. He'll leave Newcastle and do very well in his next job I've no doubt. But his journey here is over. I expect us to lose on Saturday (I'll be there giving 100% support to Howe and the players with no booing from me during the game) but won't be surprised if he resigns after. He looks well beaten and needs a rest and time to reset. He deserves to go on his terms before it gets really nasty. How bad does it need to get for you to think about changing the manager? 16th or 18th or worse.

I'm not as knowledgeable as others on here of the situations at other PL teams but I've been trying to think of examples where a club has had a shit league campaign and dropped 8-10 positions like we have but not sacked the manager at the end of the season. Then the following season he's got them back up towards the top of the league? Can't think of any examples**, probably because most ambitions clubs sack the manager after falling 8-10 league places. ** I think Moyes at Everton about 15 years ago may have done this.

Even 1-1 would have been harsh on Palace. They hit the bar and Ramsdale made at least two excellent saves. I can't remember a shot on target apart from Osula. Palace made the triple change and instantly looked a real threat. We reacted by swapping Gordon for Barnes, like for like with no other tweaks and got worse.

Agree on the training ground and the CEO to some extent, although a CEO is not typically involved in transfers these days, thats the DOF. Who it would appear(??) was pushed out by Howe in a power struggle in May leaving us with no DOF last summer.

Other than the delay in the training ground and stadium announcements, I don't see what they've done wrong? They must have invested £1.5bn in the project if you include the £600m paid to settle the Bein issue to allow the takeover to complete. They've spent the maximum allowed within the PSR rules over each 3 year rolling loss period. They are not visible owners but they've upheld their side of the deal with cash injections.

I'm guessing you're quite young? Certainly compared to some of us old fuckers on here 😀. Seeing ex players and managers at other clubs is just the way it is, normal football stuff. I was happy when KK moved back into management with Man City. Players and managers come and go. Its a cycle and Howe is probably about to complete his extremely successful time with us. I won't be arsed if he gets the Man U this summer, for example.

Excellent post. Completely agree with it.

Well I don't agree with you disagreeing with me 😃. (I mean that in the nicest possible way!) Maybe the players do still believe in Howe and execute his plans to perfection. In which case, what is the plan that makes us concede 7 at Barca, 5 at City, 4 at Liverpool, and 3 against a shit load of teams including many home games. And going ahead and still losing. Maybe I'm being too simplistic but either the players are not following the managers instructions properly or they are and its the instructions that are not working. Either way it's a concern. We all want the best for the club and I want Howe to do very well these last seven games and prove to the board he's the guy to take us forward against the backdrop of a more squad trading style approach and recruitment. Next season I'll be paying just short of £1000 for my ST so I dont think I'm being unreasonable as a paying fan.