Antipode23

Cheers for the reasoned thoughts. I agree that PSR goes a long way to screwing us, but I'm still to hear anyone explain why, under similar PSR constraints, Villa are not suffering like we are. If PSR was a death sentence then Villa would be in a battle for 15th in the league like us. TLDR I think there's a danger we overblame PSR and don't call out other factors enough.

What are the main things fans are saying out of curiosity? Are they just effing and blinding out of pure emotion, or sharing some of the sentiments in here?

For what it's worth, as a reluctant but committed Howe-outer, I don't have a major issue with people who are unsure of how much to blame Eddie. It's not an entirely black and white issue, there are a number of factors at play, and Eddie's done a lot of good for NUFC. As with anything, we should think things through before coming to conclusions. In the same breath, most people of the view Eddie should go don't ONLY blame him for this mess. But there's good evidence he's responsible for a chunk of it, and there's no getting away from that. The thing with the owners is, yes they're ponderously slow and generally seem fairly non committed, but there's too much (not everything mind) about our dire on-field performances that you can't really blame them for. The manager has far more responsibility for that.

a) there is division in the fanbase, I haven't created it b) division isn't always completely bad, contrary to modern belief c) in this case, if people want to absolve Howe of almost all blame, I'm very happy being 'divided' from them. It's just not a reasonable position and I won't pretend otherwise

I've noticed that most people who have major criticism to direct towards Eddie can actually flesh out their view, as you have, in an articulate and balanced way. Whereas those who won't have a bar of criticizing Eddie will often refuse to properly engage on the nuances of the issue and resort to personal slights like insinuating you're a bad fan, closet Mackem, have no patience, just want a scapegoat, the list goes on. It's tedious and disingenuous.

See, what fascinates me is how you've decided that people losing interest in the team MUST be THEIR fault. It couldn't possibly be Eddie's/the team's, or perhaps a mix. Nope, it's "you must be a terrible fan." Seriously? Also certain posters need to get off the "omg you think it's all the manager's fault" train. No, most of us don't. Stop being lazy and deliberately misrepresenting our position. Ever heard of a strawman? Give it a Google.

You have to compare managers in context though right? Did the other managers have the same (relative) freedom to spend as Eddie, for example? I'm sure there are other contextual differences that make comparisons hard to do. I also think Eddie's drop off this season shouldn't be minimised or deflected from. Imo it has been largely self-inflicted and is a warning sign of things to come - not a mere blip as some are suggesting.

Before anyone piles in on the stubborn and prideful thing, what other explanation is there for his constant narrow mindedness and refusal to change? I cannot accept that he doesn't know there are other formations. I cannot accept he has zero idea how to coach these players to play possession football. I cannot accept that he is unaware of better value transfer options than 150m for Wissa, Elanga and Ramsey. The evidence suggests he knows there are other ways of doing things but refuses to even try them. I say these things because I'm gutted about what's happened to our club, and even what Eddie is doing to his own legacy. It's all so unnecessary.

Just made the mistake of watching Eddie's post match press conference. I really don't want to bag on the guy. But man. To hear him constantly say things to the effect of, "there's no reason we should be playing like this", "it's a bit of a mystery"... like mate, stop lying to us, and yourself. We are dire, we have been for months, and you REFUSE to change anything. You have to know there's a connection. To gaslight us in this way, and treat us like idiots, is totally unacceptable. If you pay attention you'll notice that he answers like a politician - measured, eloquent sure, but often lacking actual substance. Or worse, it's just outright dishonesty. At this point, unfortunately, I think he's revealed himself to be - among his many good qualities- a very stubborn and prideful man, which has ended up damaging the team he built, and is ultimately going to cost him his job.

Maybe, tbh I'm kind of distracted by our team as a whole being so rubbish that I don't always see Ramsdales shortcomings. When he plays well a lot of people on here share my initial sentiment. But yes, fair point on the wages (assuming we know what they are). I was actually quite uninspired when he came in and felt like it was another example of Eddie being unimaginative and narrow minded in the transfer market, so I'm not saying he's certainly our best option, just that I could tolerate him. He seems like a good lad if that's worth anything too.

Obviously I'd laugh my head off if they gave us 100m, I'm just saying I'd take making a profit on the 40m we paid for him as he's quite a limited player, and I don't think he'd drastically improve one if our "rivals".

I wouldn't mind him as a back up for say 15m max. But do feel we need to buy one of those 'next big thing' young foreign keepers as our long term number 1.

I'd be happy with a decent fee for him (say 60m?) rather than a big one. Is he actually going to improve their team to a great degree? I'd argue not.

Yeap at this point I'm quite happy if we remain crap against West Ham and Forest. Would be weird if we were anything but.

I like how you just casually tossed this in.

Wallsend on the rampage.

My impression is that Eddie's quite narrow minded on transfers (as well as tactics) and was given too much influence by the board/owners, which is naive and unacceptable on their part. As others have said, to leave us without a functional DOF was a major cock up, and Eddie just stepped in to fill the void.

I personally blame Ramsdale for all our troubles.

PL proven. Great athlete. Literally don't think Eddie sees far beyond that.

De Zerbi playing the clever proactive manager at 1-0 then looking bewildered at 1-1. Comedy gold.

I think there's too much to be done by too many below us for that to be a thing. Mercifully.

I think you're gonna get both. And rightly so.

To be fair, you don't get 12 PL assists in a season if you're a crap footballer. He's obviously got something. That said, the fact that he's got this kind of dire season in him too is reason enough to cut our losses and move him on imo.

You really have no idea?

"Trying to find the answers". He acts like it's some profound undiscoverable mystery why we've been dire all season. There are answers (or at least options worth trying) staring him in the face and yet he persists in doing the same thing over, and over, and over again. To then act mystified is bloody hard to take tbh.