Eddie Howe

[greydos]

9 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Generally speaking the stronger your squad is the more chance you have of accumulating the 70-80 points required for Champions League football.

 

You can't predict the future, but using this logic, with a half a season remaining there was absolutely no guarantee additional signings would have sealed a top four finish this season. 

 

Other than being a bit short in midfield there weren't any short term-problems to fix. 

 

Long term, the club will have identified a number of targets for the summer. Clearly we do a lot of due diligence. We'll an idea if the players are keen, how much their clubs wants, along with all the other background checks. It guarantees nothing, but it puts us in a strong position. 

 

With FFP, along with Profit and Sustainability still important factors to considered, splashing out on a short term term signings seems less appealing. Of course, the club will know a lot more about this than us lot.

 

Putting all that aside, given we have no idea if our recent dip in form is driven by long term causes or if it's just a minor blip, it's hard to know how much impact a short term signing would of had. Especially given Howe's reluctance to start new recruits.

 

So lots of ifs, buts and maybes. Naturally that won't stop certain fans whining on about January every, single time we drop points. That definetly isn't tedious at all. Similarly the fans that were gasping to say "I told you so" after having a moan about the summer window are in dreamland.

 

A lot of this makes sense. But doesnt address the argument that Shelvey shouldn't have been released, or to apply your logic in full to this scenario, with Shelvey our squad would be stronger than it is without him, and so we'd be more likely to accumulate the 70-80 points needed for champions league this year. And i can't imagine the long term signings we want to sign in the summer who we think are so pivotal to our future, are going to turn their noses up at signing for us now because we reached champions league too early. 

[bobbydazzla]

14 years of a zombie club then within 18 months we’re in a champions league spot and a cup final. With largely the same players. 

 

Yet the angry mob still want to piss and moan.

 

I’ve got no issue with a bit of constructive criticism as the new regime aren’t infallible, but just do it in the context of the amazing things they have achieved.

Some of our fanbase are screaming bloody murder about every little issue they perceive and these

daft clampits need to wise up sharpish as they’re an embarrassment.

 

 

[Coffee_Johnny]

[Theregulars]

8 minutes ago, Theregulars said:

A lot of “bairns” his age get regular PL minutes, because they’re good enough. Howe’s as good as admitted in the summer that the ideal scenario was to loan him out, but lack of squad depth meant he stays. 
 

I repeat that I very much hope I’m wrong, but the times I’ve seen him in person and on the telly I’ve not thought that there’s anything there.

Including Gordon, I might add.

[Theregulars]

44 minutes ago, STM said:

 

You are absolutely correct. What was our squad like circa December 2021? Should have kept Isaac Hayden and Jeff Hendrick around for squad depth IMO.

But that isn’t his point, is it? 

[OverThere]

The problem we have in strengthening the midfield is that to make a noticeable difference we will have to spend a lot, which we can't do. We could buy bodies but that would only add to the problem we already have. I think Eddie has said countless times he doesn't want to add talent that is not as good as he already has, and by that I assume he means the Bruno level.

[Coffee_Johnny]

1 minute ago, OverThere said:

The problem we have in strengthening the midfield is that to make a noticeable difference we will have to spend a lot, which we can't do. We could buy bodies but that would only add to the problem we already have. I think Eddie has said countless times he doesn't want to add talent that is not as good as he already has, and by that I assume he means the Bruno level.

Good luck with that EH! 

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, greydos said:

 

A lot of this makes sense. But doesnt address the argument that Shelvey shouldn't have been released, or to apply your logic in full to this scenario, with Shelvey our squad would be stronger than it is without him, and so we'd be more likely to accumulate the 70-80 points needed for champions league this year. And i can't imagine the long term signings we want to sign in the summer who we think are so pivotal to our future, are going to turn their noses up at signing for us now because we reached champions league too early. 

 

There's a whole host of reasons that a player may not be available January, but available in the summer.

 

I commented in January that we were short in the middle, but all being well Shelvey or whoever was brought in as a stop gap wouldn't feature too much regardless. 

 

With the information it has available, the club opted to not sign a stop gap. I think it's too early to know if that's going to have an adverse effect on the team. Regardless, I'll enjoy the rest of the season, taking the rough with the smooth. Banging on about the transfer window being a "missed opportunity" when we don't actually know if it was seems like a fruitless exercise.

[Yorkie]

Howe said a couple of pressers ago that Anderson had had fitness issues and, to me, also seemed to indicate that his head wasn't right; based on a comment (from memory) like "he's in a much better place now."

 

I concur that he's looked out of his depth on a couple of occasions and was worryingly poor against Sheff Wed in particular, but his cameos early doors showed a lot more promise. I thought he looked alright yesterday too whilst, physically, he looks ready to compete. 

 

He's definitely gonna get a chance now and I can't see too much harm (in terms of his personal development) in him getting a small number of minutes with us instead of a lot in the Championship.

[The Prophet]

I'm not sure why selling Shelvey has become an issue after drawing with West Ham and Bournemouth when he was only declared fit this weekend and played all of half an hour.

[gbandit]

People like to dig deep after some disappointing results

[Hanshithispantz]

8 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

I'm not sure why selling Shelvey has become an issue after drawing with West Ham and Bournemouth when he was only declared fit this weekend and played all of half an hour.

 

I think @joeyt succulently spelled it out a couple pages back

 

 

We're doing great, but our striker and midfield situation is a pretty big fuckup.

 

EDIT: Unless I've missed people saying he was a problem with the West Ham and Bournemouth games specifically like? Sorry if that's the case.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Hanshithispantz

[The Prophet]

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

 

I think @joeyt succulently spelled it out a couple pages back

 

 

We're doing great, but our striker and midfield situation is a pretty big fuckup.

 

I touched on this on the previous page. I don't feel we need another striker and while we could have done with an extra body in the middle, at this stage it's tough to know how detrimental that'll be.

 

[Scotty66]

1 hour ago, STM said:

 He's a bairn man. Spurs fans had Harry Kane written off too. 

 

Thank fuck Ashworth and Howe are making these decisions and not reactive fans.

 

Hard to believe this bloke could become the PL record goal scorer 

 

 

[Hanshithispantz]

@Ronaldo touched on it yesterday I think like, but we lack a target up top to hit when we need to bypass midfield. Wood, as shit as he is allowed that last year.

 

Obviously the money we got for him was too good to turn down, but losing both him and Shelvey will have a much bigger effect on the squad than people realise imo. Howe had no way to change the game yesterday once Gordon was forced on, both would have played a decent part (not saying we would have won like).

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Hanshithispantz

[The Prophet]

Shelvey and Wood get better with every point dropped.

[SUPERTOON]

Literally no one has said that once.

[huss9]

6 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

@Ronaldo touched on it yesterday I think like, but we lack a target up top to hit when we need to bypass midfield. Wood, as shit as he is allowed that last year.

 

Obviously the money we got for him was too good to turn down, but losing both him and Shelvey will have a much bigger effect on the squad than people realise imo. Howe had no way to change the game yesterday once Gordon was forced off, both would have played a decent part (not saying we would have won like).

he really didnt.

(imho of course).

[Hanshithispantz]

12 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Shelvey and Wood get better with every point dropped.

You're completely missing the point. Shelvey is massively underrated but Wood is obviously a shit Premier League striker, as I said in my post.

 

However Howe never gave him 18 appearance this season for a laugh. If Wilson picks up another injury (or this one is worse than expected) we're left with Isak alone, nobody at all to tactically change things up top (think Keifer Moore vs USA) and an injury away from playing Anthony Gordon as a 9.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Hanshithispantz

[Hanshithispantz]

2 minutes ago, huss9 said:

he really didnt.

(imho of course).

His statistics tell us otherwise though, he won loads in the air. 20p head or not Howe clearly wanted us to target him.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Hanshithispantz

[Choppy Chop Chop]

The comment's here remind me why I steered clear of NUFC forums for a few years, except I'm now on the `HappyClappers` side now.  Just be happy even if its just for this season, we are not getting sucked into a relegation fight 

[keegshields]

2 hours ago, arnonel said:

I deliberately don't come on this forum now after a bad result. The knee jerk entitlement is so bad for the mental health.

 

Not sure what people expect. Destroy every team every week with our robots? 

 

This team. This team is challenging top 4 and it the final of a cup. This team filled with so many seemingly average players are absolutely smashing it.

 

Seriously WTF 

 

Can't we just enjoy the nice things for 1 season!?

This right here, this right here.

 

Sorry just watched a old freestyle on Charlie Sloth, Charlie said this BTW, not the rapper.

 

Start of the season top 8th would be the building block of what looks like a bright future ahead. Everyone happy after years of neglect. Yet we are now well within a top 4 finish and a cup final ffs. Sounds silly baring the amount we have spent, pales next to alot but football hey, but it feels alot more organic with a plan in place (not Chelsea). We're going places big time and I'm of the feeling this season will be the best mentally for alot of our hard-core suffering as, within time, it will become diluted naturally as we will be up there year in year out. This season We're punching well above our weight and that's all down to Howe. One loss, which was a robbery on all fronts, no way anyone could have predicted this. Give Howe is dues, who else could have done this and fits so right?

[Jaqen]

I don't think people are suddenly overrating Shelvey it's just we legit don't have another midfielder to play at the moment. When you play a 3 man midfield with a high intensity style only having 4 options in the whole squad is crazy. We are going into the Liverpool game with only 2 available and one is one card away from a 2 game suspension. 

[The Prophet]

2 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

You're completely missing the point. Shelvey is massively underrated but Wood is obviously a shit Premier League striker, as I said in my post.

 

However Howe never gave him 18 appearance this season for a laugh. If Wilson picks up another injury (or this one is worse than expected) we're left with Isak alone, nobody at all to tactically change things up top (think Keifer Moor vs Holland) and an injury away from playing Anthony Gordon as a 9.

 

 

 

 

Wood offers absolutely nothing that Wilson doesn't offer. The only reason he got a sniff I'd because Isak has been injured. It's perfectly normal for a team who play one up top to have two strikers and a number of players who can fill in up there.

 

I agree we could use an extra body in the middle, but with the passing range of Botman and Schar, Shelvey's role in the side became a bit redundant.

[Dr Venkman]

17 minutes ago, Hanshithispantz said:

@Ronaldo touched on it yesterday I think like, but we lack a target up top to hit when we need to bypass midfield. Wood, as shit as he is allowed that last year.

 

Obviously the money we got for him was too good to turn down, but losing both him and Shelvey will have a much bigger effect on the squad than people realise imo. Howe had no way to change the game yesterday once Gordon was forced on, both would have played a decent part (not saying we would have won like).

 

 

 

Promise I’m not just being a contrarian, and I agree with the point in general. However, Wood never looked a competent hold up striker during his time here, nowhere near.