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21 minutes ago, MarkyMark said:

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.   

Once again, some of us are not getting on people for questioning the manager. And once again, in this context, it is of course reasonable to criticize Howe. that is not the issue. It's continued kneejerk responses from some of the same posters on a significant number of threads in this forum. whether people are right or not is NOT the issue. It reminds during the beginning of the pandemic, one of my exes claiming that she knew it was going to be serious. She's not a fucking epidemiologist. That she happened to be right was by pure chance, but not from her astute observations, as she believes that History Channel's Ancient Aliens is a good source of information. This is exactly how I feel with some on here. If they happen to be right, it doesn't change their very flawed processes in getting there. As a math teacher, I used to heavily mark off flawed steps even if the kid stumbled on the correct answer, because they clearly didn't know what they were doing.

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One other thing which rankles with me slightly is Howe's reluctance to express disappointment with a performance. You don't have to name names, just watching Tuchel's interview, and he was saying that his forwards needed to step up, that there was nowhere to hide in a fight for the title. Conte has done similar when demanding more from his players, both have complained about the lack of quality in some areas. I get that you want to protect your players, but at some point you need to ask for more. 

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Still behind Howe, I like him as a person. However, agree with a lot of the valid criticism in this thread. 
 

For me, replacing the center of midfield was priority, even above ST or CB, and he’s not identified that as an urgent need. That to me has been shocking and confounding to see. We’ve sent bid after bid for CB’s but haven’t pursued a list of midfield targets from Jan 1st. That tells me he may not understand, or has not been able to diagnose the glaring issue at the heart of the team. We needed one or two midfielders in before Watford, the back 4 has desperately needed not only protection but someone who can energize the space in front of them, and drive the ball forwards, retain possession. We are still starting with Sean fucking Longstaff while chasing Botman and another CB. Mindboggling. 

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1 minute ago, DJ_NUFC said:

Still behind Howe, I like him as a person. However, agree with a lot of the valid criticism in this thread. 
 

For me, replacing the center of midfield was priority, even above ST or CB, and he’s not identified that as an urgent need. That to me has been shocking and confounding to see. We’ve sent bid after bid for CB’s but haven’t pursued a list of midfield targets from Jan 1st. That tells me he may not understand, or has not been able to diagnose the glaring issue at the heart of the team. We needed one or two midfielders in before Watford, the back 4 has desperately needed not only protection but someone who can energize the space in front of them, and drive the ball forwards, retain possession. We are still starting with Sean fucking Longstaff while chasing Botman and another CB. Mindboggling. 

Spot on…I’ve been saying for months that this area is our biggest weakness…we don’t need a new CM we need a new midfield…minimum of 3 players this month(doubt it will happen)….solve this area and the defence will have cover and the forwards will have support.

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Another thing… echoing what others have said about the lack of attacking nous. It’s been 3 months now and our main attacking tactic still seems to be: pass to ASM > hope for magic. 
 

What happened to all that pass and move we saw in early training videos? Why are none of our players capable of creating a single passing triangle? Why can’t we hold the ball? Why don’t we move as a unit? Really disappointing. 
 

edit: I get that he inherited garbage, who cannot change. But we are halfway through the transfer window and haven’t bid for a single CM or DM. 

 

 

Edited by DJ_NUFC

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Face facts - theres been no new ownership bounce , no new manager bounce and so far no new players bounce - it seems as flat and flaccid as under Bruce . Todays result can only put potential signings off joining . Whatever Howe learnt in his recent sojourns needs to bear fruit asap - the fat lady is warming up

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5 minutes ago, RealGoneKid said:

Kind of scary that hes doing no better than Bruce then ...

He is but not at the level we need him to be.

If only Eddie Howe had Joe Willock in ridiculously uncharacteristic goal scoring form.

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5 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

Just out of interest do people think Emery would have done a better job (theoretically). 

Absolutely, Emory is good tactically for a start. 
 

Eddie is clearly a talented coach but I think it’s wrong place wrong time unfortunately. 

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19 minutes ago, Robster said:

Howe (at the moment) isn't being successful at what he's trying to do.
Bruce never tried to do anything.

That's the difference.

What is Howe 'trying' to do though?  I am not seeing it.  I am not defending Bruce - God No - but am struggling to see any tactical change under Howe.  We're as devoid of ideas as much we were under Bruce.  It's like it is a conundrum that neither are able to solve.

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13 minutes ago, ManDoon said:

Just out of interest do people think Emery would have done a better job (theoretically). 

IMO absolutely - he a winner for a start.  So straight away you are bring in a winning mentality to the dressing room.  I also think from a recruitment point of view we would be a more attractive proposition to players.

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14 minutes ago, Kanji said:

If we hired Gerrard would we have had Coutinho and Digne?

Coutinho for sure - in our current position having someone like Emery could have made all the difference. 

 

 

Edited by duo

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To be honest, we can attract these players it is easy. But to be clear, if we want them we have to pay them daft wages to bribe them in to coming. 
 

Remember, Coutinho stock is basically zero and Barca can’t wait to get shot. 

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We would be in a much better position had we had Gerrard here for sure. He's a far bigger name in world football than Eddie Howe is for sure. Digne & Coutinho would've been 2 cracking additions to this squad and I'd wager Gerrard would have a few more wins under his belt too.

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Idk man, I’m sat here at home watching the NFL playoffs and I’m sick to bits thinking that I actually think we need to sack Howe before he takes us down. I don’t think he’s going to do it. Maybe I’ll change my mind tomorrow or end of window when we sign new center backs and midfielders. 
 

And for the record I absolutely love the man, think he’s class and his underdog story and his mentality and human level is just first class. 

 

 

Edited by Kanji

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