Eddie Howe

[Guest reefatoon]

3 hours ago, MarkyMark said:

Alex Ferguson pulled Man Utd out of the relegation zone and finished midtable in his first season - and also had trophy-winning pedigree at Aberdeen (where he managed them to victory over Real Madrid in a European final).

 

Just saying ...

Our very own Kevin Keegan first took charge of us when we were in the shit in the old second division, had some awful results in his first few games too and still managed to keep us up by the skin of our teeth. After that the rest was history. No way should we be judging Howe already.

[MrRaspberryJam]

2 hours ago, r0cafella said:

When will that be exactly? Isn’t part of his job getting the best out of what he has taken over?

 

Like he has with Joelinton?

 

Overall, the team we have - specifically the defence - is total horseshit. 

[Collage]

7 hours ago, SchärMix said:

 

4231 and 442 are fundamentally the exact same. 

 

 

 

I’d say a proper 4-2-3-1 should have wide forwards rather than wingers. Quite often a lineup is masquerading as a 4-2-3-1 to appear more attacking, when it’s really more of a 4-4-1-1 with wingers/wide midfielders who work hard defensively.

[Fantail Breeze]

1 hour ago, Mr Raspberry Jam said:

 

Like he has with Joelinton?

 

Overall, the team we have - specifically the defence - is total horseshit. 

 

You could argue for every Joelinton who has improved, there is an ASM who has regressed.

 

I think Howe’s philosophy will take time to embed and as time goes on we’ll get more Joelinton’s and less ASM’s. I just worry we don’t have that time.

[RS]

4 hours ago, MarkyMark said:

Alex Ferguson pulled Man Utd out of the relegation zone and finished midtable in his first season - and also had trophy-winning pedigree at Aberdeen (where he managed them to victory over Real Madrid in a European final).

 

Just saying ...

Lost 6 of his first 8 games. Just saying. 

[MrRaspberryJam]

Just now, Fantail Breeze said:

 

You could argue for every Joelinton who has improved, there is an ASM who has regressed.

 

I think Howe’s philosophy will take time to embed and as time goes on we’ll get more Joelinton’s and less ASM’s. I just worry we don’t have that time.

 

Touché. There's sufficient time to keep us up - half a season is left and we're only 3pts adrift. A good transfer window will see us home and dry methinks. 

[buzza]

I prefer we get beat but still stick to the system he wants to play, this way we should have a bit more success against the teams out of the top six/seven.

The players will start to play better and surely some of the reffing decisions and luck needs to come our way at some point???

[buzza]

as well as  new players coming in and giving us a lift

[jackyboy]

You can't expect Howe to set the team up for Bruce ball one week then Howe ball the next. He's coaching a system into them that we need to play every week for the players to benefit and get used to it. Given time we'll reap the rewards. If we go down on the way, and I hope we don't, then so be it.

He was dealt a lousy hand and so was Amanda but at least they are here and we now have hope

[morpeth mag]

We have effectively played 451 for most of the last two games and I think using the extra player (Joelinton) in midfield has worked in terms of competing for possession and making chances on the break.

No system survives the Clark and Shelves errors and sadly no team can survive playing Ritchie at full back.

[Lush Vlad]

I think so far.  Bar an awful 20 minutes or so against Arsenal and the Leicester game after we went 1-0 down.  I can see a lot of positives and I think there are reasons to be optimistic.  The shape is better, a lot of players have upped their game and now look like useful members of the squad.  The fitness levels are definitely up, we often press in numbers and commit more people forward.  There is the semblance of a gameplan at least, unlike before.  

 

I think my biggest worry is that the defence looks just as bad, if not worse, than it did before.  I get he is limited to who he can pick, we have played some tough games and the back 4 is now more exposed.  Mainly due to the fact we don't have 8-9 players camped on the edge of our box like we did under Bruce.  But we struggle for goals as it is and don't really have anyone in the team bar Wilson and maybe ASM, who you think are going to have decent opportunities and score.  So if we keep conceding soft goals, which have been a theme so far.  Then we're well and truly fucked. 

 

[steve_69]

1 minute ago, Lush Vlad said:

I think so far.  Bar an awful 20 minutes or so against Arsenal and the Leicester game after we went 1-0 down.  I can see a lot of positives and I think there are reasons to be optimistic.  The shape is better, a lot of players have upped their game and now look like useful members of the squad.  The fitness levels are definitely up, we often press in numbers and commit more people forward.  There is the semblance of a gameplan at least, unlike before.  

 

I think my biggest worry is that the defence looks just as bad, if not worse, than it did before.  I get he is limited to who he can pick, we have played some tough games and the back 4 is now more exposed.  Mainly due to the fact we don't have 8-9 players camped on the edge of our box like we did under Bruce.  But we struggle for goals as it is and don't really have anyone in the team bar Wilson and maybe ASM, who you think are going to have decent opportunities and score.  So if we keep conceding soft goals, which have been a theme so far.  Then we're well and truly fucked. 

 

You simply can't plan for the kind of individual errors our players are making though. That inevitably comes with having shit players.
We can work on shape and system as much as we want, but Clark dropping the kind of clangers he does every game, Darlow's crisp packet hands, Shelvey's blind pass, Dubravka's mistakes make all of that hard work redundant.

[Lush Vlad]

6 minutes ago, steve_69 said:

You simply can't plan for the kind of individual errors our players are making though. That inevitably comes with having shit players.
We can work on shape and system as much as we want, but Clark dropping the kind of clangers he does every game, Darlow's crisp packet hands, Shelvey's blind pass, Dubravka's mistakes make all of that hard work redundant.

 

I do agree on the individual mistakes.  But putting Clark back in was a mistake on his part, mind.  Not sure what he was expecting from him, the bloke is finished.  May as well have played Krafth or Hayden at centre back if Schaer wasn't 100%.  

 

It's hard to judge at this stage, really.  As we have had a mixture of tough games were we expected to get fuck all and subsequently got exactly that.  Then Norwich was ruined after 10 minutes, Brentford was a different system and Burnley was just a slog.  Nobody looks good against those shithouses. 

 

I think we'll know a bit more mid to late Jan.  Got an ok run of fixtures coming up after Man U and hopefully the players will be getting more comfortable with the new tactics and set up.  Got to start getting some wins to go with the positives.  

[Guest]

I think he’s brilliant. You can see exactly what he wants to do and I think he’ll get there. Was fully expecting a few tankings along the way but I think second half of the season we’ll be far more consistent against the clubs from say 8th down. Was surprised to see last night we were unbeaten against the bottom half sides, he’ll turn those draws into wins.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Optimistic Nut

[Lush Vlad]

It's good to see that most the fans are on board and fully behind him.  See a few mongs on Twitter trying to suggest it's no better than Bruce  but we had the same drongos spouting this shite about Bruce being the same as Rafa.  So not really paying attention to that nonsense. 

[steve_69]

47 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

It's good to see that most the fans are on board and fully behind him.  See a few mongs on Twitter trying to suggest it's no better than Bruce  but we had the same drongos spouting this shite about Bruce being the same as Rafa.  So not really paying attention to that nonsense. 

Every club has thick fans but i'd say the thickest of ours would out-thick any others in the league. Leeds would give us a run for our money but I still think we'd top the podium. Some of the shite peddled on Twitter is beyond parody

[Wandy]

People got carried away when we appointed him last month, getting giddy after reading a few articles and watching some youtube videos. The excitement was very OTT, but now the doom and gloom from some quarters is also ridiculous. The truth is the guy is a good manager but, until proven otherwise, not top drawer as yet. If we go down then he will probably be the best bet to bring us back up....unless the second half of the season is a shocker.

[Thumbheed]

13 hours ago, The Bonk said:

 

Fernandez is hurt, isn't he? 

 

Fair criticism, but again, probably, on paper, the best two that fit into Howe's system. What are the other options? Hayden? Shite. Hendrick? Shite. Gan on, list the better duo.

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.......this last point, come on. Bruce ball was barely football, just no, there comes a point in time when you need to deploy a system, tactics and some semblance of formation. There was none of that under Bruce, just pure fucking luck, shithousing points we didn't deserve due to some herculean individual effort. Rafa had us in a defensive first, counter attack system, which worked for most of these numpty's. I'd expect that Rafa would have bought players that would improve the system and ease us into a more attacking team. We all know what happened instead.

Villa, Wolves, Brighton, Leeds (albeit look shit now), Palace, etc. all have better players than us. 

Sorry, re read what I put, but yeh that's been horrifically worded. I just meant the defence only, as in you surely you can't blame the quality of player for the reason a defence is performing poorly for one manager but not the other. I think it's fair to criticise - or at discuss as a going concern- our defensive performances. 

 

We can see the impact of Howe's coaching and management on our attacking play which has improved 10 fold under him, but as of yet, I've not seen much in terms of progress for our defence. 

 

I think that's literally been my only point, that and some of his selection choice are questionable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Thumbheed

[The Bonk]

53 minutes ago, Thumbheed said:

Sorry, re read what I put, but yeh that's been horrifically worded. I just meant the defence only, as in you surely you can't blame the quality of player for the reason a defence is performing poorly for one manager but not the other. I think it's fair to criticise - or at discuss as a going concern- our defensive performances. 

 

We can see the impact of Howe's coaching and management on our attacking play which has improved 10 fold under him, but as of yet, I've not seen much in terms of progress for our defence. 

 

I think that's literally been my only point, that and some of his selection choice are questionable. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Probably won't until we get in a higher calibre of player to compliment players worth keeping like Schar. Howe strikes me as more of an enabler of talent, not someone who drills fundamentals into players such as Lascelles, Clark, Manquillo. 

 

No harm in questioning decisions, mate. Again, I was pissed that we couldn't follow up our only win with a better showing at Leicester. 

[The Bonk]

20 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

Definitely agree with this, the antithesis of Rafa basically.

 

Which is what managers should be doing at the top level. You don't see the mistakes (as often) we make from clubs inside the top 10-12 in the division. Edison made the worst mistake against us yesterday, but I don't particularly think he's got the highest football IQ. Granted, with that defence in front of him, you mostly need a shot stopper, someone who can play it on the deck for City to move up the pitch. 

[Kanji]

I'm really not sure any level of detailed Rafa-like drilling is going to get Lascelles or Clark to play proper PL quality football anymore. They are simply just not good enough anymore and have digressed massively since Rafa left.

 

Very similar extent to Fab Schar, who really became a player only under Rafa in his career and of course has had a great international career (paired with better partners, midfielders). Same goes with Fede, who has always been a pretty good defender his entire career. 

[GWN]

10 hours ago, r0cafella said:

When will that be exactly? Isn’t part of his job getting the best out of what he has taken over?

 

I’m just curious what your metric is?

 

when he buys some decent fucking players man, these are shite , that’s my metric, you can’t polish an ageing turd that has stunk for ages . 
 

Are you one of the fans very quick to turn on him? If so tell me why .

 

this team has been battered for a long time now , devoid of confidence and ability, devoid of investment, stuck with championship players for years . EH is no miracle worker but in the position he took the job on our club was in not even Pep could turn this rag bag shite squad into a team that will stay up .

 

he is trying to get the best out of the shite , we have improved slightly but dopey decisions by players that shouldn’t be near this club have cost him . 
 

seriously if you are having a pop at him already then I’m staggered , yet not surprised at some of our fan base . He was one of a few who would take this on , judge him next season when he’s had a fucking chance ok. 
 

 

[TRon]

8 minutes ago, GWN said:

 

when he buys some decent fucking players man, these are shite , that’s my metric, you can’t polish an ageing turd that has stunk for ages . 
 

Are you one of the fans very quick to turn on him? If so tell me why .

 

this team has been battered for a long time now , devoid of confidence and ability, devoid of investment, stuck with championship players for years . EH is no miracle worker but in the position he took the job on our club was in not even Pep could turn this rag bag shite squad into a team that will stay up .

 

he is trying to get the best out of the shite , we have improved slightly but dopey decisions by players that shouldn’t be near this club have cost him . 
 

seriously if you are having a pop at him already then I’m staggered , yet not surprised at some of our fan base . He was one of a few who would take this on , judge him next season when he’s had a fucking chance ok. 
 

 

 

It's getting pretty tiresome like. 

 

"He had a shit defensive record at Bournemouth, what do you expect??"

 

"Why didn't he fix that defence YESTERDAY??"

 

In the games where we've played lower half teams, we've held our own, and are still unbeaten, if with that shambles of a team. Let's just wait and see what happens in January, on and off the pitch, and see where we are then. 

[GWN]

9 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

It's getting pretty tiresome like. 

 

"He had a shit defensive record at Bournemouth, what do you expect??"

 

"Why didn't he fix that defence YESTERDAY??"

 

In the games where we've played lower half teams, we've held our own, and are still unbeaten, if with that shambles of a team. Let's just wait and see what happens in January, on and off the pitch, and see where we are then. 

 

people are entitled to their opinion mate but to be this quick off the draw is staggering in my opinion, not something I’m going to get involved in .EH , we are lucky to have him , very lucky considering what was on offer.

[Vinny Green Balls]

5 hours ago, steve_69 said:

Every club has thick fans but i'd say the thickest of ours would out-thick any others in the league. Leeds would give us a run for our money but I still think we'd top the podium. Some of the shite peddled on Twitter is beyond parody

some of the shite peddled on here is beyond parody.