Eddie Howe

[Guest reefatoon]

9 hours ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

 

You've said the target is a European spot so how on earth is the season over if we lose on Saturday? 

 Exactly. We are 4 points off 6th. Absolute flappers all over the place.

[gbandit]

Lost the support of the players? Pretty sad the lens some people view us through. What possible scrap of evidence could be used to go towards that theory? Are we pressing less than last season? Yes. Is there a good reason for it? The players have largely been fucked. Is there another possible conclusion? Yes, the players hate Howe very very much and they’re planning to poison him

[Kid Icarus]

10 hours ago, Smal said:

I’m not even slightly Howe out or anything but I guess my counter to that point would be why on earth is he playing? It was obvious he couldn’t run weeks ago, let alone after the first half today. That he played the full game today seems absolutely mad to me.

 

That we haven’t really got anyone else doesn’t really change that point either imo. He’s (same applies to Miggy) been struggling for ages… just take him out and play Ritchie for a game and sacrifice that area of the field/adapt to suit. The season is long, and especially this season you can’t just take each game as it comes like we did last season.

 

I would think it's that there's no one else. If the aim is to win, who are you playing left wing instead of him? The only alternative I can think of is the one that's been possible for the last 2 weeks - putting Joelinton out there and having Longstaff, Bruno, and Miley in midfield which means there's no player with Willock or Gordon pace to dovetail with him and defensively the midfield is weakened as well. 

 

The Ritchie point I dunno if I can accept tbh. It's definitely an option but any criticism Howe gets for overplaying Gordon and others would be more than negated by the criticism  he'd get if he played Ritchie.

 

 

Edited January 2 by Kid Icarus

[The College Dropout]

We still have a great attitude imo. It’s one of the reasons we haven’t had the spankings we probably deserve.  
 

But I also think players have lost belief in recent weeks. That goes hand in hand with the loss of confidence. 

 

 

Edited January 2 by The College Dropout

[Miggys First Goal]

Interesting that the fan support amongst certain sections seems to have turned last night against Liverpool of all teams and not when we lost to Forest or Luton. 

[gbandit]

Just now, Miggys First Goal said:

Interesting that the fan support amongst certain sections seems to have turned last night against Liverpool of all teams and not when we lost to Forest or Luton. 

Have fans actually turned in certain sections following last night’s game? There are some cretins and imbeciles on Twitter and a couple on here but they were shouting loudly since Luton. I don’t really pay much attention on Twitter but has it changed at all? 

[TRon]

Just watched his post match interview in the press conference and as usual handled himself brilliantly. He gave Liverpool the credit they deserved for giving us problems all over the pitch, but also refused to blame his players for the result. I did detect a bit of despondency about not being able to compete on a level playing field yet, partly down to injuries, but mostly just being restricted by FFP. Look at the players we had out there man, Miley and Longstaff against the likes of Sbozlai and and TAA. It's so frustrating to know we could have fixed this last summer if we weren't hamstrung by the inherent class system woven deep into English football.

[Nucasol]

1 minute ago, TRon said:

It's so frustrating to know we could have fixed this last summer if we weren't hamstrung by the inherent class system woven deep into English football.

Ironic as Liverpool, like their entitled protectionist red shirted brethren Arsenal, have shown zero class this season.

[ATB]

There is every reason to love everything Howe has done for us. But cant understand this denial that is going on. It has been a tough season in many ways, but Howe has been able to do many things differently. Maybe not always the most fun options, but they are still choices his done that dont sit well with me.

 

However, the biggest and most worrying thing for me is how it looks, not the results. As many have been aware of, everything that was last year is gone and the lates games has looked like a team from the past. Last night was quite frankly embarasing. It´s very very worrying.

 

I take it for granted that the management is looking for alternatives if things don't get better quickly. Howe has made so many mistakes and I am also not impressed with the squad process.

[TRon]

6 hours ago, timeEd32 said:

 

Amen. I know this is not new information, but I feel like people have lost some perspective on where we sit largely due to how quickly we closed the gap in the table last season and our very rich owners.

• Our wages are the 9th highest in the Premier League, behind the six you'd expect plus Villa and West Ham.
  • We are as close to Everton in 10th as we are to West Ham.
  • Our wages are about £50m higher than Sheffield United's (19th), which is roughly the same gap from us to Liverpool. Chelsea's are another £16m higher from there and then Arsenal takes it another £16m higher. The Manchester clubs are another £35m+ above them.
• Our last officially reported revenue was less than the wages paid by the Manchester clubs. Even with the increases over the last couple years Manchester United's and Manchester City's wages are still closer to our revenue than our wages. The gap is astronomical.
• There are ~42 players in the Premier League on higher wages than Bruno, our highest paid player.
  • There are another ~23 before our next highest paid (Isak)
  • That means you can create almost six starting XI's of the highest paid players and we'd only have one player included.
• We have gotten 450 or less league minutes from Tonali, Targett (despite Burn being injured), Willock, Murphy, and Anderson. Just those players account for 21% of our wages and as everyone knows that is far from the end of our injury problems.

 

All of the above is not to absolve Eddie of any blame. He's made some mistakes and I think he'd be the first to recognize that. But so much of the angst in this thread and elsewhere seems driven by ballooning expectations. We overachieved last season based on our revenue, wages, talent, and depth, plus a very good injury record. We are now (currently) underachieving in the midst of a horrific injury record and compounding fatigue problems (and we were still moments from the CL knockout round and a second straight LC semifinal). It's frustrating and the derby is huge, but some patience is in order.

 

 

Great post that.

[Wallsendmag]

6 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Interesting that the fan support amongst certain sections seems to have turned last night against Liverpool of all teams and not when we lost to Forest or Luton. 

 

Fans will turn more after every defeat in a bad run of form regardless of opposition. It's been that way as long as I can remember. In isolation a defeat at Anfield is neither here nor there as we nearly always lose there, but following on from dismal performances v Luton and Forest, and with it being our 7th loss in 8, it just builds the pressure further.

 

He needs to win on Saturday. A win, even against dross like, that could well be the springboard to kick on again in the league. A loss however is unthinkable.

[Miggys First Goal]

2 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

A loss however is unthinkable.

I keep seeing people post this or variations of, and I ask, if we do lose, what do they want to happen exactly?

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, ATB said:

There is every reason to love everything Howe has done for us. But cant understand this denial that is going on. It has been a tough season in many ways, but Howe has been able to do many things differently. Maybe not always the most fun options, but they are still choices his done that dont sit well with me.

 

However, the biggest and most worrying thing for me is how it looks, not the results. As many have been aware of, everything that was last year is gone and the lates games has looked like a team from the past. Last night was quite frankly embarasing. It´s very very worrying.

 

I take it for granted that the management is looking for alternatives if things don't get better quickly. Howe has made so many mistakes and I am also not impressed with the squad process.

 

Unless a manager is going to come in and implement a completely different style, I'm not sure what switching it up will achieve.

[Scoot]

29 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

My main issue, other than the obvious results and performances is that we don't appear to have any style of play or game plan anymore apart from let the opposition have the ball and hope they've left their shooting boots at home.

 

Everything that defined our team last season has gone. The high press, high intensity, shithousing, the super organised defence, the never say die attitude. We seem to have lost everything.

 

We're 2nd bottom of the league on away form. 19th out of 20! It's pitiful.

 

 

Sat at work with the lads having this exact conversation. We don't have any plan whatsoever. We used to be a high pressing side with lots of energy, now we just a team who just hasn't got a clue.

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

I keep seeing people post this or variations of, and I ask, if we do lose, what do they want to happen exactly?

I don't think the board will care as much about the Sunderland game as the fans will.

 

It might be make or break with some fans but not leadership.

[TRon]

1 minute ago, Scoot said:

 

Sat at work with the lads having this exact conversation. We don't have any plan whatsoever. We used to be a high pressing side with lots of energy, now we just a team who just hasn't got a clue.

 

If we'd pressed yesterday we would have been raped to death on the breaks, our turgid back four would have had no chance. I thought the plan yesterday was to cut off the space behind, which we tried to do, but then couldn't play the ball out to counter ourselves. I don't think the plan was bad, just the execution. A lot of our players couldn't cope.

[Scoot]

1 minute ago, TRon said:

 

If we'd pressed yesterday we would have been raped to death on the breaks, our turgid back four would have had no chance. I thought the plan yesterday was to cut off the space behind, which we tried to do, but then couldn't play the ball out to counter ourselves. I don't think the plan was bad, just the execution. A lot of our players couldn't cope.

 

This conversation doesn't just apply to yesterday's game, we've had no plan away from home all season. We've been fucking disgraceful.

[Pilko]

I do wonder what he'll do for Saturday. I know the mackem manager isn't meant to be a genius but surely he looks at how knackered our lads are and winds his team up into coming out all guns blazing, loads of graft and energy, a full stadium (for once) and try to beat us that way? We've obviously got far superior quality all over the pitch but that's the way lower league teams typically upset the odds in a cup tie and it feels like the most obvious route for them to win.

 

I think that the local lads & those who've been here a wee while will find that little bit extra in the tank for the derby, especially knowing there are longer gaps between games coming up and the importance of the game to the fans.

 

I've already gone on a hell of a journey myself from being absolutely gutted at the Emery bungle to completely getting Howe's abilities as a manager and a figurehead wrong, and it's not one I want to have to repeat with another manager anytime soon having got to the correct point of realising how brilliant the bloke is. I don't think Staveley et al will make any knee-jerk decisions after the derby or even the other two tough games in January, because we should be through the worst of it regarding fixture pile-up and injuries, but I do worry the crowd and the atmosphere will start to turn if we do lose the derby. 

 

Ironically if our record had been better when Ashley and his various mouthpiece managers brow beat everyone into a feeling of numbness and expecting to lose every since derby I think a loss wouldn't have the impact that it will; 2011 since we last beat them as well as the change in backdrop since we last played them in 2016 means that we really, really need to win - for the sake of the fans, for the morale of the players, and to give Eddie a real fillip and help him kick us on in the second half of the season.

 

I'm worried for Saturday but then again I also have a calm feeling that Eddie's got it and we will be absolutely fine. Let's go and beat those cunts down the road and suddenly the world will feel rosy again.

[soyt]

6 hours ago, Kanji said:

Needs to fix the counter attacking vulnerability ASAP. Needs to sign a 6 and he needs to give minutes to Krafth and Hall. 

This is obvious yes, but im starting to think that he would not deploy anyone at 6, no matter who we sign. The flat midfield 3 is very strange, and no one seems to be told to protect the back 4. I know we dont have a natural player to do that, but we are not even trying.

[The Prophet]

It was always going to be a rough January. Carrying a fatigued, half-injured squad, bereft of confidence onto fixtures against three of the top four.

 

It's shite at the moment, but I expect things will begin to improve after the international break. 

[Wallsendmag]

4 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

I keep seeing people post this or variations of, and I ask, if we do lose, what do they want to happen exactly?

 

A large proportion of the crowd will turn, that's what. Howe will come under massive pressure. Losing to them with the gulf in quality between the 2 teams wouldn't be on. We lost to Cambridge in his first year. Nobody was arsed. We had more important things to worry about like staying in the league. We lost to Sheff Wed last year. Nobody was arsed because we were concentrating on the League Cup.

 

This game takes on so much more significance. Obviously because it's against them but also because we haven't got the League Cup to concentrate on, and we haven't got a top 4 place to go after. Can't really see us getting top 6 unless we can do something with our away form. Teams sat 19th/20 in the away form table don't generally make top 6.

 

We need to put these to bed and use that as a springboard to kick on this season. Nothing else will be acceptable.

[SUPERTOON]

Just now, The Prophet said:

It was always going to be a rough January. Carrying a fatigued, half-injured squad, bereft of confidence onto fixtures against three of the top four.

 

It's shite at the moment, but I expect things will begin to improve after the international break. 

International break isn’t until march is it ? Or do you mean the winter break ?

[The Prophet]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

International break isn’t until march is it ? Or do you mean the winter break ?

 

Aye, my bad.

[Kid Icarus]

Just to repeat it again. If a large proportion of the crowd turn - in the context of that barely happening at all when Pardew was letting them pull our pants down - they either have collective amnesia or their support isn't worth much.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

Just to repeat it again. If a large proportion of the crowd turn - in the context of that barely happening at all when Pardew was letting them pull our pants down - they either have collective amnesia or their support isn't worth much.

The club was a literal zombie during that era. I get your point though.