Eddie Howe

[54]

3 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

I have a theory that he wants to stick with the back 4 moving forward into the future so he is seeing who can and can't play in the 4 against the big sides. Think he'll be getting clearer pictures of a few, which can only be a good thing.

Definitely think he's been using the last few games as a barometer of what need to be done in the summer and going into next season. As well as the players he can trust to be squad players and the ones who get be left on the wayside.

[Paullow]

11 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Might sound a bit mad, but I think I'd prefer us to finish say 15th than 9th. We're absolutely not a top 10 team and getting there next season should be our motivation not expectation.

 

Howe's done an amazing job, but I'm very confident he'd be a victim of his own success among some fans if we'd finished 9th this season then repeated it next season, much better that we get a realistic picture of where we are this season and manage our expectations based on that.

 

Yeah, I said pretty much the same in the match thread, albeit to less likes , although would likely have got lost in the thread, but yeah, totally agree. There would be a fair few expecting top 6, or at least a genuine challenge, whereas 9th/10th should be exactly where we are aiming for next season, and it will be progress, and it also shows that we absolutely do need at least 4 more Bruno level signings to be a solid 9th/10th side with no realistic relegation worries.

 

[SUPERTOON]

 

[Paullow]

Forget the 'big 6', our team / squad is a long way off the likes of West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, Villa. I'd still include Everton in there, and probably and one or two others, and those will all be strengthening in the summer as well, well maybe not so much Everton, but if we can finish in and amongst those crop of clubs, and away from the rest, then it will be a solid follow up season.

[SUPERTOON]

 

[Rod]

8 minutes ago, Paullow said:

Forget the 'big 6', our team / squad is a long way off the likes of West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, Villa. I'd still include Everton in there, and probably and one or two others, and those will all be strengthening in the summer as well, well maybe not so much Everton, but if we can finish in and amongst those crop of clubs, and away from the rest, then it will be a solid follow up season.

In my opinion we are on par or even better than Wolves, Everton and Villa (just look at our recent results).  Not far from West Ham and Leicester.  In 3 years we will be challenging Spurs and Man Utd.

[The Prophet]

11 minutes ago, Paullow said:

Forget the 'big 6', our team / squad is a long way off the likes of West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, Villa. I'd still include Everton in there, and probably and one or two others, and those will all be strengthening in the summer as well, well maybe not so much Everton, but if we can finish in and amongst those crop of clubs, and away from the rest, then it will be a solid follow up season.

 

We're not far behind Villa and are probably on par with Everton, squad wise.

[nufc123]

Howe saying all the right things.

[RodneyCisse]

Let’s not get overly upset after getting beat by the best team around, who’ve spent more on a single player than we did in January.

[Nine]

22 minutes ago, Paullow said:

Forget the 'big 6', our team / squad is a long way off the likes of West Ham, Wolves, Leicester, Villa. I'd still include Everton in there, and probably and one or two others, and those will all be strengthening in the summer as well, well maybe not so much Everton, but if we can finish in and amongst those crop of clubs, and away from the rest, then it will be a solid follow up season.

You could argue we might have a better squad than Everton but I absolutely agree with the sentiment. We have a long road ahead break into the top 6, we have to remember we were owned by Ashley only one transfer window ago. We are still at the building block stage of our evolution and depending on a lot of factors we could even still be in almost the same position next summer, lots of things need to go right before we starting talking about top 6 or top 4.. Howe defo backed himself into a corner with some fans with that good run we went on and it’s raised some peoples expectations way beyond what is reasonable right now. Top half would be great for next season, I’m more focused on the direction of our style of play along with who we bring in as much as our league position. 
 

Todays result hasn’t changed anything, this was case yesterday and last week and the week before that. 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by Nine

[Kanj]

 

[LV]

Common sense is restored 

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, Kanji said:

 

Well loved by who ?

[RodneyCisse]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

Well loved by who ?

Bruce?

 

He can waste West Brom’s money on whoever he wants from us. 

[HaydnNUFC]

3 minutes ago, Kanji said:

 

 

My guess is Lascelles, Hayden, Clark, Hendrick, Fernandez, Gayle, Ritchie and hopefully Longstaff. Basically most of the dregs of the 2016/17 Championship season that should've been moved on 4 years ago.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by HaydnNUFC

[joeyt]

Do seem to have a bit of a habit of getting howked by some teams away from home. Leicester, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs

[WillingtonMag]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Well loved by who ?

Could well be people who are popular and vocal in the dressing room

[Paullow]

9 minutes ago, Rod said:

In my opinion we are on par or even better than Wolves, Everton and Villa (just look at our recent results).  Not far from West Ham and Leicester.  In 3 years we will be challenging Spurs and Man Utd.

All about opinions I guess, but I still think we're a long way behind.

 

Burn wasn't a guaranteed starter for Brighton, and would either be on the bench or a LB when Dunk, Duffy, Webster were fit, and despite his strong start, is very much a bottom half defender IMO. Him and Schaar rotating with a quality addition would be fine for a top 10 charge next season, but we need better longer term. Villa obviously wanted better than Targett, which tells you something. Shelvey has been operating in the bottom half or Championship for the past 6 or 7 years, Fraser probably bottom half. I don't think we need to replace Dubs yet because there's other positions I'd go for first, and you do need a bit of familiarity, but I doubt he'd get into any of these teams mentioned, and again bottom half standard IMO. You can't rely on Wilson for a full season, and Wood is bang average and at 30 has had a career of struggling in the PL or in the Championship. There are some decent players here, and plenty to build around, but there's also some pretty average players who Howe has been getting the best out of.

 

You can't knock the 10 wins from 14, but there were clearly a few factors that went out way in a lot of those wins such as early red cards, timing of fixtures etc.

 

[WillingtonMag]

2 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

My guess is Lascelles, Hayden, Clark, Hendrick, Fernandez, Gayle, Ritchie and hopefully Longstaff. Basically most of the dregs of the 2016/17 Championship season that should've been moved on 4 years ago.

 

 

 

Longstaffs just signed a new contract hasn't he? ☹️

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, joeyt said:

Do seem to have a bit of a habit of getting howked by some teams away from home. Leicester, Arsenal, Man City, Spurs

Leicester away we have a decent record tbf. Obviously we have had 2 heavy defeats but 3/4 wins in that time as well.

[HaydnNUFC]

Just now, WillingtonMag said:

Longstaffs just signed a new contract hasn't he? ☹️

 

Dummett has. Longstaff is out of contract in the summer. There was talk that we were looking to renew it but fucking hell do I hope we don't.

[joeyt]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

Leicester away we have a decent record tbf. Obviously we have had 2 heavy defeats but 3/4 wins in that time as well.

I meant under Howe not historically

[WillingtonMag]

2 minutes ago, Paullow said:

All about opinions I guess, but I still think we're a long way behind.

 

Burn wasn't a guaranteed starter for Brighton, and would either be on the bench or a LB when Dunk, Duffy, Webster were fit, and despite his strong start, is very much a bottom half defender IMO. Him and Schaar rotating with a quality addition would be fine for a top 10 charge next season, but we need better longer term. Villa obviously wanted better than Targett, which tells you something. Shelvey has been operating in the bottom half or Championship for the past 6 or 7 years, Fraser probably bottom half. I don't think we need to replace Dubs yet because there's other positions I'd go for first, and you do need a bit of familiarity, but I doubt he'd get into any of these teams mentioned, and again bottom half standard IMO. You can't rely on Wilson for a full season, and Wood is bang average and at 30 has had a career of struggling in the PL or in the Championship. There are some decent players here, and plenty to build around, but there's also some pretty average players who Howe has been getting the best out of.

 

You can't knock the 10 wins from 14, but there were clearly a few factors that went out way in a lot of those wins such as early red cards, timing of fixtures etc.

 

It still only takes 4 or 5 quality players though doesn't it, which to be fair is the same for most Premier league clubs. Just look at the difference Bruno alone has made.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by WillingtonMag

[Kid Icarus]

I really want to see Ritchie, Gayle, and Clark get good send offs like. It's not their fault the good byes should have come years ago, they still played a big part in the club's history. Ritchie especially I absolutely loved, the tenacious little fucker.

[WillingtonMag]

2 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Dummett has. Longstaff is out of contract in the summer. There was talk that we were looking to renew it but fucking hell do I hope we don't.

Must have got my wires crossed on that one aye hopefully that doesn't go through then.