Eddie Howe

[Yorkie]

Pretty disappointed with Howe at this point tbh. I know we're shit but he's not giving us any edge whatsoever. We're utterly incapable at holding a lead and he's extremely accountable for that; the team mentality, the way they're drilled, in-game decisions... its all lacking. Absolute pisstake that we didn't see that out today. 

 

I'm desperate for him to do well cos I love the way he carries himself. But ergh. Worried at this point that it's not really going very well. 

 

If he's the key decision-maker re recruitment and he isn't identifying CM as priority one or at the very least two, I think that's a concern. That's where we lost the points on the pitch today. Aye we need CBs. We need everything. But CM would make the biggest difference. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

1 minute ago, Yorkie said:

Pretty disappointed with Howe at this point tbh. I know we're shit but he's not giving us any edge whatsoever. We're utterly incapable at holding a lead and he's extremely accountable for that; the team mentality, the way they're drilled, in-game decisions... its all lacking. Absolute pisstake that we didn't see that out today. 

 

I'm desperate for him to do well cos I love the way he carries himself. But ergh. Worried at this point that it's not really going very well. 

 

If he's the key decision-maker re recruitment and he isn't identifying CM as priority one or at the very least two, I think that's a concern. That's where we lost the points on the pitch today. Aye we need CBs. We need everything. But CM would make the biggest difference. 

I'm definitely a bit disappointed as well up to this point. difficult not to be. 

[andyc35i]

1 minute ago, Yorkie said:

Pretty disappointed with Howe at this point tbh. I know we're shit but he's not giving us any edge whatsoever. We're utterly incapable at holding a lead and he's extremely accountable for that; the team mentality, the way they're drilled, in-game decisions... its all lacking. Absolute pisstake that we didn't see that out today. 

 

I'm desperate for him to do well cos I love the way he carries himself. But ergh. Worried at this point that it's not really going very well. 

 

If he's the key decision-maker re recruitment and he isn't identifying CM as priority one or at the very least two, I think that's a concern. That's where we lost the points on the pitch today. Aye we need CBs. We need everything. But CM would make the biggest difference. 

I’m very concerned how anybody can watch us today (and all the other times) and not see how weak we are in midfield. We have nobody to cover any ground defensively, let alone create anything and our best midfielder is now Joelinton - this is just insane 

[Wilson]

I think everyone can see how bad we are in midfield, but at this point no amount of formation changes are going to help that. 

 

It's shit because our options are shit. 

[midds]

coming to the conclusion that he's not going to coach his way out of this mess. The only way he turns this around is if he buys his way out of it. I like him and think he's got good intentions and ideas but he's not been able to get them into operation when it matters, his players have let him down but it's all about efficiency now. Playing expansive football and being ambitious, committing players forward and "looking better" is all well and good but it needs to translate into better results sooner or later.

 

I worry for him tbh.   

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

That's where I'm at @midds. I think he's actually done pretty well to get the team playing his way as opposed to Bruce's way in the period of time he's been here. Remember how long it took Keegan to get the Allardyce stink out? That said, it's of fuck all use if you don't pick up points. 

[andyc35i]

My main gripe with Howe is that he continues to have in Shelvey as the first name on the team sheet. I get that it was required for his first two months here when his hands were tied without a transfer window to call on, but he should be demanding better players in this key area of the pitch. I will judge him when the window closes to see if we have the ‘balance’ he keeps talking about, but to say I’m concerned is an understatement 

[Dandy Don]

1 hour ago, Super Duper Branko Strupar said:

 

He must have made a huge jump in ability since last season then.

He hardly played last season due to Parker.

If he had they would most probably have stayed up.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Shelvey should never have featured. 

[Wilson]

1 minute ago, midds said:

coming to the conclusion that he's not going to coach his way out of this mess. The only way he turns this around is if he buys his way out of it. I like him and think he's got good intentions and ideas but he's not been able to get them into operation when it matters, his players have let him down but it's all about efficiency now. Playing expansive football and being ambitious, committing players forward and "looking better" is all well and good but it needs to translate into better results sooner or later.

 

I worry for him tbh.   

 

That bold bit is my thoughts on the whole thing, but that's because of the clip of the squad, not a pop at his ability... Not sure who, if anyone, could drag this crop out if the shit we're in. 

 

This is the only reason why I'm witholding criticism.  

[TRon]

51 minutes ago, Yelevats said:

You haven’t answered the question. 
 

at least present a constructive intelligent argument if you don’t agree.

 

Maybe you should give that a try, might make your views a bit more palatable rather than the one liner "He's taking us down" patter.

[Billy Pilgrim]

14 minutes ago, midds said:

coming to the conclusion that he's not going to coach his way out of this mess. The only way he turns this around is if he buys his way out of it. I like him and think he's got good intentions and ideas but he's not been able to get them into operation when it matters, his players have let him down but it's all about efficiency now. Playing expansive football and being ambitious, committing players forward and "looking better" is all well and good but it needs to translate into better results sooner or later.

 

I worry for him tbh.   

Far too sensible, Gulag for admin 

[TRon]

19 minutes ago, Barnes23 said:

As had been said by others, it's the lack of improvement in our attacking play that is most concerning of all IMO. I wasn't expecting any miracles defensively with our personnel, but aside from retaining the ball better (some of the time), there has been very little in terms of patterns of play which make me believe any kind of tactical transformation is on the horizon. 

 

At what point do people think we should consider making a change? I'm not having this argument that we're duty-bound to stick with him to the end of the season or even after relegation simply because we chose him post-takeover and there are major issues with the squad. 

 

Can't pretend I wouldn't love to see Rafa back if things haven't improved significantly in the coming weeks. 

 

Disgree with this tbh, I think our attacking players all have fundamental flaws, they have had them since the first day they walked through the door. From Miggy and Joelinton with their inability to strike a ball, ASM with his rotten decision making and so on. We have one blue chip forward in Wilson and he stands out a mile. It's precisely the reason Rafa and Bruce went with a defence first policy. 

 

It's been refreshing to see Howe try and get us playing some football, but first and foremost you have to play to your strengths. If you want Shelvey in midfield you automatically have to sit back so that spaces aren't exploited all around him when he's stood static for 80% of the time. 

 

I don't get it, Keegan wasn't considered a tactical mastermind, but even he switch formations and dropped Owen into an AM role to get us playing effectively in his second stint at Newcastle. 

[Mattoon]

I said at the beginning of the window we need to shore up that CM to give us some control in the middle of the park, someone to look forward and make those cutting edge decisions that lead to chances and someone to hold the line at the back, break up play and take the pressure off the defence, if he can't see that then there's a big problem.

 

Howe wants us to play football the way he wants us to play and at the moment there's a lot of square pegs being jammed into round holes. He's not a Rafa type manager, he can't create a system that benefits the strengths of the personnel he has whilst covering their weaknesses, you hire a manager like Howe, you get him the players he needs. We pull out a blank cheque book or we're going down because these players aren't good enough for what he wants to do.

 

Some of the blame has to be put on the owners, there should have been a structure in place to facilitate getting the right players, I get they want the right people in the right places but shit or get off the pot.

 

I know we've got 14 years of Ashley shaped cob webs stinking the place up but we don't have the luxury of time to get it perfect, we just need to get it as right as possible and give the club its best chance of survival. We're all frustrated because right now it feels like there's not enough urgency in anything we do, it feels like we either don't understand the seriousness of the situation or are willfully sleepwalking into relegation.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the blame should be shouldered across the club, players, manager and owners. Patience is running thin, but they deserve the world for getting rid of the previous regime, that doesn't mean we can't be frustrated and can only hope that any mistakes are learned from and not repeated.

[Geordie Ahmed]

Midfield is key, ours is shit

 

You can give Longstaff and Shelvey to Pep, Klopp and they'll not be able to polish them

 

If Howe had better alternatives and he was persisting with them then I'd give him stick but we literally have no one else, it's a dire situation 

 

However what Howe should be doing is demanding 2 new CM's because the current lot will relegate us comfortably, if he can't see how crucial that is then I do worry long term

 

I think some of the comments are mad and very knee jerk, I thought us of all fanbases around would be the most patient, we put up with 14 years of Ashley and I thought resilience is just a given but I'm seeing far too many people slagging Howe off and writing him off, despite the main issues with the side/squad not of his doing 

[Gallowgate Toon]

I expected 2 more wins in the league - today and Norwich. We're playing kinda how I expected though. 

 

I think the biggest problem we have is the mentality of the squad - a fair chunk of this lot have been grinding out staying in the division for years. While final positions have looked comfortable, we know that most of the season has been tough work each year. That's not healthy for high performance and players become harder to motivate for the slog each passing year. We've been a fine margins team for a long time.

 

The last few seasons, it's been a slight shot of fresh blood that has got things moving in the right direction again - Almiron, Willock, Rondon coming into fitness etc. Theoretically, we have the means for a massive dose of quality this time. 

[et tu brute]

2 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

I think for me personally I would feel

much more harshly towards him if he wasn’t such an affable and intelligent guy. The results are the results though and it’s not working out atm 

 

It's not only the results it's quite obvious he's not motivating the players. I didn't want him by any stretch, but I was expecting an increased fight today for such an important 6 pointer, especially after last week's game. What we got, was pretty much a damp squib repeat of last week, with very little creativity or game management throughout. From the moment we scored, it only looked a matter of time before Watford got back into it. The first half was not much better either despite having more possession.  Main reason I didn't want him was his devensive record which was poor and also his record of signing players was also in the main questionable. I also remembered a 'Bruce' team containing Longstaff, Bentaleb, Joelington, Gayle and Shelvey totally dominate his team which was supposedly fighting for survival. I hoped to god I was wrong when he was appointed, but I have seen nothing to suggest I am.  

[MarkyMark]

5 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

Midfield is key, ours is shit

 

You can give Longstaff and Shelvey to Pep, Klopp and they'll not be able to polish them

 

If Howe had better alternatives and he was persisting with them then I'd give him stick but we literally have no one else, it's a dire situation 

 

However what Howe should be doing is demanding 2 new CM's because the current lot will relegate us comfortably, if he can't see how crucial that is then I do worry long term

 

I think some of the comments are mad and very knee jerk, I thought us of all fanbases around would be the most patient, we put up with 14 years of Ashley and I thought resilience is just a given but I'm seeing far too many people slagging Howe off and writing him off, despite the main issues with the side/squad not of his doing 

Perfectly reasonable to question a record of one win in ten, particularly when several were winnable home games.  The performances haven’t improved either - that could easily have been a Steve Bruce NUFC out there today. 

 

Impatience would be booing and banners in the ground at this point.  Questioning the manager, his decisions or ultimately his suitability on an Internet forum is hardly a lack of patience.

 

We didn’t put up with Ashley - most wanted him gone around a year after he took over the club - it was that there was nothing we could do to remove him.  Passivity rather resilience.   

[duo]

31 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Pretty disappointed with Howe at this point tbh. I know we're shit but he's not giving us any edge whatsoever. We're utterly incapable at holding a lead and he's extremely accountable for that; the team mentality, the way they're drilled, in-game decisions... its all lacking. Absolute pisstake that we didn't see that out today. 

 

I'm desperate for him to do well cos I love the way he carries himself. But ergh. Worried at this point that it's not really going very well. 

 

If he's the key decision-maker re recruitment and he isn't identifying CM as priority one or at the very least two, I think that's a concern. That's where we lost the points on the pitch today. Aye we need CBs. We need everything. But CM would make the biggest difference. 

The most worrying thing is since he's come I don't feel much has changed.  He's had time now to implement things but I am struggling to see it.  He looks totally out of his depth - devoid of ideas - throwing £25Mil on the likes of Wood just shout desperation.  We've known for months that the club needed to strengthen in Jan but it feels like they've no plan in place - where Rafa would have a list of 10 players for each position, they seem to only have a couple.  Throw bid after bid after bid for the same player when it's clear the club doesn't want to sell.  You could argue his hands are tied with the players he got, which is true - the bench today was laughable.  But I do think another more competent manager could set us up better, make us harder to beat. 

[Mattoon]

2 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

I expected 2 more wins in the league - today and Norwich. We're playing kinda how I expected though. 

 

I think the biggest problem we have is the mentality of the squad - a fair chunk of this lot have been grinding out staying in the division for years. While final positions have looked comfortable, we know that most of the season has been tough work each year. That's not healthy for high performance and players become harder to motivate for the slog each passing year. We've been a fine margins team for a long time.

 

The last few seasons, it's been a slight shot of fresh blood that has got things moving in the right direction again - Almiron, Willock, Rondon coming into fitness etc. Theoretically, we have the means for a massive dose of quality this time. 

 

I mentioned this last week, most of this team need out as much as we need them out, they're brow beaten, shot to pieces, I don't think there's much left to motivate, as soon as they come under pressure they retreat and it inevitably leads to conceding. A blank cheque book is the only thing that can save us now but it's a massive risk that doesn't guarantee rewards.

[Gallowgate Toon]

We're not actually that easy to beat though. We've drawn a lot of games and are often 'competitive'.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Mad that Villa have lost more than us 

[duo]

5 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

We're not actually that easy to beat though. We've drawn a lot of games and are often 'competitive'.

What's cost us all season is throwing away the lead.  Got to see games out.

[TRon]

1 minute ago, duo said:

What's cost us all season is throwing away the lead.  Got to see games out.

 

Agreed, but those points for the draws might be the difference between staying up and going down at the end of the season. 

[Whitley mag]

6 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

Agreed, but those points for the draws might be the difference between staying up and going down at the end of the season. 

Yeah, despite the disappointment today it was always a must not lose for me. 
 

We can still turn it around, though Watford will undoubtedly now have a boost for their 2 games this week. 
 

The best we can hope for is a couple of draws to keep us in striking distance.