Eddie Howe

[BShearer]

losses to Bournemouth, Everton, Luton and Forest are really bad. these are teams from the worse half of the lower table generally.

if we dont get the points in vs these means we need to get the points in vs better clubs which will be hard imo.

 

home form was something to rely on but today a shit Forest gave us no chance and tactically I cannot see what have we worked on before the Luton game or today game. what was the plan...

 

we do need to qualify for CL to be able to afford higher fees and salaries to players which is now very unlikely. without that our catch up to other will be lot slower, harder...

 

 

we also need to stop the rot in the form, and now comes a streak of  3 very hard PL games, Pool will go hard at Anfield, City maybe about to hit form and KDb is back for them, and Villa want to repay us for the 5-1 win in very first round.

 

dont think we will lose all three but very easily could end up as 1 point out of 9.

if we play anything like vs Luton or Bournemouth than it will be ugly.

 

form and momentum can change quickly if we get a draw at anfield and beat Sunderland we may even trouble City...

but Howe needs to find answers to the serious questions our recent form brought up.

I bet Spurs and Villa cannot believe last two results we had they have a very underperforming Chelsea and Man U and also Castle currently. thats all they need when potentially 4th and 5th can worth CL.

 

dont think Howe is in immediate danger, but we need to see the January window if we dont get anyone in or anyone who can add quality in first 11 that means money is tight due to FFP. then reaching CL/EL is crucial otherwise next summer window will be lot less exciting than previous one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Decky]

I’m 100% for Howe being here next season no matter what happens but all this talk of top ten is ok is madness. We finished 4th last season, are people seriously saying 10th is ok after that? We’re not Mike Ashley’s club anymore lads, even Howe himself would say 10th or 9th was a bad season. Howe would want to forget that asap and move on but if we went and had a bad start next season off the back of 10th he’d be gone and that’s it.
 

That’s where the club is now, we’re not midtable anymore we’re a club that wants to be in Europe. Tenth would be a disaster and Howe has enough credit to be given another shot but he’d be on the ropes. Our owners aren’t putting this kinda money into the club to be midtable. 

[Holmesy]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

I wouldn't trust Rafa to do that tbh. I spent a lot more time on here defending Rafa because of the mitigating circumstances he was in with player availability than I ever have Howe. And Howe has had it way worse but done much better imo.

 

Rafa could get us keeping a good defensive shape and galvanised a kind of triumph over adversity style, but we still lost plenty and the football was often poor.

The football was crap, but he was managing a championship squad in the PL. Look at the team he won the Champions League with as well though, not exactly stellar.

My point is his squad management was superior, his tactical flexibility was superior, his ability to change games was superior.

When we’re in full flow under Eddie we’re a joy to watch. But if we’re not at 100%, we’re not just below par, we’re fucking terrible! 

[Jonas]

I dont think losing to the mackems should be the key in whether we keep Eddie Howe or not.  Sir Bobby lost to them once and Eddie's already lost at home to Cambridge.

Souness on the other hand beat them every time he faced them but I wouldn't have minded sacking him on the full-time whistle of the Emre game.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Jonas

[NE27]

5 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

Any supposed top class manager should be able to find a way to get results even if conditions are far from optimal.

 

I mean we looked pretty fucked a couple of seasons ago and he somehow got that team playing in a way to keep us up?

 

He's going to have bad games, even the very best have poor runs.

 

Eddie howe is not world class, but he's very near the best of the rest and has potential if can learn how to grind out results during times of weakness like this.

 

I'm still 100% behind them all, but second half today was as grim as it's been since the dark days.

[Dokko]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

I'll hate it if they beat us, but if he was sacked on the back of that I'd view it as a bigger win for them than in the match. I'd be absolutely gutted and totally embarrassed of the club to throw away everything because of a loss to fucking Sunderland.

 

Fair enough, I just cannot for the life of me accept it. I'll hate every fucker on that pitch until the leave as well. 

[SUPERTOON]

I find it mad that there even needs to be a conversation about Howe’s future after losing a few games, considering what he’s achieved here so far.

[Deuce]

They’re our historic rivals and whatnot, but losing to Sunderland really doesn’t matter much these days. Certainly not something that should automatically trigger the manager’s sacking.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Deuce

[Mahoneys Tache]

This is the first big test for the new owners. They either stand by him, accept that this season is a result of the perils of thinking big or they are arseholes. 

[Lordshola]

1 minute ago, Dokko said:

 

Fair enough, I just cannot for the life of me accept it. I'll hate every fucker on that pitch until the leave as well. 

Come off it man ? 

[Holmesy]

Just now, NE27 said:

 

I mean we looked pretty fucked a couple of seasons ago and he somehow got that team playing in a way to keep us up?

 

He's going to have bad games, even the very best have poor runs.

 

Eddie howe is not world class, but he's very near the best of the rest and has potential if can learn how to grind out results during times of weakness like this.

 

I'm still 100% behind them all, but second half today was as grim as it's been since the dark days.

The grinding out result is the key. If he can add that to his toolkit I think he’ll belong at the very top table. From what he’s saying though, I don’t think he wants to - front foot all the time regardless of the circumstances 

[MagMal]

We need to stop trying to win each game 4 nil, we need some boring 1 nils and get the shape back to the team.

[gbandit]

3 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

Constructive!

I’ve already made a bunch of comments. The idea that you’ll never see him as a top manager again made me laugh. He’s been forced in the last month to play almost exclusively the same lineup until the last couple of games when he has been able to make slight alterations. 
 

I agree that things look very poor at the moment, the team is very disjointed and we’re leaking goals. What that says about Howe is very little, I’d be worried if we’d been this poor with our best line up or even if it was half of our best line up. However, Miggy is fucked, Gordon is fucked, Isak has been playing with an injury until he looked like himself today. Burn  has just come back from an injury. Joelinton’s been in and out of the team with injuries. No one knows exactly what’s going on with Trippier but whatever it is, he’s been fucked mentally. Longstaff always plays poorly for a run of games after coming back from an injury. 
 

These are all reasons why we look so incoherent and shite. Howe’s job is to come up with a plan B but coming up with different tactics when players are half match fit or exhausted isn’t easy

[Amir_9]

1 minute ago, Deuce said:

They’re our historic rivals and whatnot, but losing to Sunderland really doesn’t matter as much these days. Certainly not something that should automatically trigger the manager’s sacking.

 

To be honest with you although it would be nice to get a win against them again by this point it's like trying to get one over an ex who is in a sad current state of saggy tits, bad teeth and a drug problem.

 

Even if they win these are destined to be shit for quite the time to come going by their recent trajectory.

[LiquidAK]

Giving Sunderland way too much relevance in 2023. They're just a non-entity as far as markers of success. They win and it'll be their best result in the last decade. We win and I'm not convinced it makes our top 2 results for this season - PSG & Manchester United at Old Trafford both much better results.

[Orphanage]

5 minutes ago, BShearer said:

 

 

home form was something to rely on but today a shit Forest gave us no chance and tactically I cannot see what have we worked on before the Luton game or todays game. what was the plan ?

 

5 minutes ago, BShearer said:

 

Perhaps the worn out players are no longer listening ?

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Orphanage
cos

[Shadow Puppets]

In my eyes, it’s quite simple what is happening. An incredibly fatigued squad leads to poor results which leads to a loss of confidence. It was completely evident today. I don’t think fatigue played any part, but damaged confidence certainly did.

 

It’s a difficult rut to get out of, but Eddie will manage it.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Shadow Puppets

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, Holmesy said:

The football was crap, but he was managing a championship squad in the PL. Look at the team he won the Champions League with as well though, not exactly stellar.

My point is his squad management was superior, his tactical flexibility was superior, his ability to change games was superior.

When we’re in full flow under Eddie we’re a joy to watch. But if we’re not at 100%, we’re not just below par, we’re fucking terrible! 

A lot of those players are still here and have just been playing in the Champions League because of Howe tbf.

 

I loved Rafa and will always defend him, but in terms creating a team bigger than the sum of its parts, there's no comparison between him and what Howe's done.

 

In a way Howe's set a rod for his own back - now he's got us in the Champions League with a lot of Rafa era players, rather than thinking of it as a remarkable achievement, those players are reimagined as better players. So then when the bad results come it's less "these are Championship level players" and more "Howe should be doing better"

[Holmesy]

1 minute ago, gbandit said:

I’ve already made a bunch of comments. The idea that you’ll never see him as a top manager again made me laugh. He’s been forced in the last month to play almost exclusively the same lineup until the last couple of games when he has been able to make slight alterations. 
 

I agree that things look very poor at the moment, the team is very disjointed and we’re leaking goals. What that says about Howe is very little, I’d be worried if we’d been this poor with our best line up or even if it was half of our best line up. However, Miggy is fucked, Gordon is fucked, Isak has been playing with an injury until he looked like himself today. Burn  has just come back from an injury. Joelinton’s been in and out of the team with injuries. No one knows exactly what’s going on with Trippier but whatever it is, he’s been fucked mentally. Longstaff always plays poorly for a run of games after coming back from an injury. 
 

These are all reasons why we look so incoherent and shite. Howe’s job is to come up with a plan B but coming up with different tactics when players are half match fit or exhausted isn’t easy

As has been touched on plenty of times, he had the players to rotate fullbacks and rest the likes of Trippier, but chose not to. Trippier then went on to make a series of costly errors and everyone cried ‘fateeeg’. I say poor squad management.

 

We’ve been wide open in midfield for weeks. It doesn’t take a lot to tell Longstaff to hang on the halfway line when we go forward or at set pieces. It also doesn’t take much to know that Forest are full of pace and would try and hit us on the counter. Once you see it a couple of times, fucking react and stop it happening again. It’s basic stuff that isn’t happening. How many times do we have to get hit on the counter this season for Eddie to do something about it?! 

[Jonas]

5 minutes ago, LiquidAK said:

Giving Sunderland way too much relevance in 2023. They're just a non-entity as far as markers of success. They win and it'll be their best result in the last decade. We win and I'm not convinced it makes our top 2 results for this season - PSG & Manchester United at Old Trafford both much better results.

Heck if we beat Liverpool the week before it'll be not even top that.

[Kid Icarus]

Incidentally Steve McManaman just said in his summary of our match that we look out on our feet. You hear it fairly regularly so it's not like we're just imagining it or being biased.

[BennyBlanco]

I hope he’s got enough in his locker to dig us out of this slump. I’ll echo a few others and reiterate the need to be brave to drop some of the stalwarts from last year. Been painfully obvious to us laymen that Burn and Almirons limitations have started to impact directly on results. Livramento should be playing as a starter, simple as that, dunno why he’s been dropped the last few games. Amazing what’s happened when he’s come on though.

 

If January comes and goes and we haven’t strengthened then I’ll be very worried and wary of our future under Eddie. 

[Holmesy]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

A lot of those players are still here and have just been playing in the Champions League because of Howe tbf.

 

I loved Rafa and will always defend him, but in terms creating a team bigger than the sum of its parts, there's no comparison between him and what Howe's done.

 

In a way Howe's set a rod for his own back - now he's got us in the Champions League with a lot of Rafa era players, rather than thinking of it as a remarkable achievement, those players are reimagined as better players. So then when the bad results come it's less "these are Championship level players" and more "Howe should be doing better"

I agree to an extent. He’s definitely improved individual players through coaching, but for me Rafa is the master at making a team better than the sum of its parts. 
Rafa never had the likes of Botman, Pope, Trippier, Bruno, Isak, Gordon, Wilson? Joelinton etc. They are a world apart from what Rafa was working with.

 

Anyway, moot point and totally off track

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Holmesy

[Dokko]

8 minutes ago, LiquidAK said:

Giving Sunderland way too much relevance in 2023. They're just a non-entity as far as markers of success. They win and it'll be their best result in the last decade. We win and I'm not convinced it makes our top 2 results for this season - PSG & Manchester United at Old Trafford both much better results.

 

I agree to an extent. Winning doesn't mean that much, it's the losing. 

[Decky]

Losing to Sunderland is an embarrassment and a disaster lads I’m sorry. It’s not just another game to the local fans and that is largely what football is about. Losing to them is worth losing 5 games in a row and the lads deserve the shite coming their way to lose to a side vastly inferior to them know the implications of it.