Eddie Howe

[toon25]

What's all this about then...

 

 

 

(From The Upshot)

[Shearergol]

2 minutes ago, toon25 said:

What's all this about then...

 

 

 

(From The Upshot)

 

Mackem rumour.

[Holmesy]

17 minutes ago, Cf said:

 

We got there without the demands of being there already (the extra hard games mainly) whilst a couple of other teams had a bit of an off season. 

 

Not to downplay how well we did mind. We were really fucking impressive. 

 

This season I think was likely to not be as good. The injuries make it really hard to judge where we are but just look at the squads of the "bigger" teams. I think it's fair to say we're quite a way off. 

I think that's where EH has earned the leeway. Look at our performances this season and it's easy to see who the weak links are in the squad. And yet last season every player was exceptional, performing well above levels we thought they were capable of. Based on the quality of our squad, we had no right to make it into the Champions League. It was a monumental achievement.
The likes of Longstaff, Burn and Almiron are arguably lower to mid-table PL players and they are performing to those levels this season. Last season they all tore up trees (maybe that's over-selling Burn a bit tbf ). Longstaff's replacement, a young, dynamic Italy international isn't available. Burn's long term replacement is totally unfancied by the management team and Almiron's has a life threatening toe injury.

I remain critical of what EH and JT are doing this season. We should be doing better and our performances are awful, but trying to manage a season with sub-par, very tired players who are now performing to their actual levels and who massively overachieved last season is making the situation look and feel a lot worse than it probably is

 

 

Edited January 2 by Holmesy

[Erikse]

15 hours ago, Yorkie said:

Gordon for a while looked like our only hope of getting something in the second half. He was the out-ball and he also provided a very good assist for the equaliser. If we had any hope of getting anything from the game then I think he had to play the full 90 again, sadly, such is the situation. 

 

It's true, but it's not just about looking at each game individually. It's about the bigger picture. Maybe we thought the same as what you said about playing him vs Forest, but what we will never know is whether he would've had a significantly better game against Liverpool if we rested him vs Forest. Maybe we played someone who was tired to have a slightly better chance against Luton, but then that player could not perform against Forest due to the fatigue. I could give many examples like this for december. This is the point that people are making.

 

 

Edited January 2 by Erikse

[Orphanage]

28 minutes ago, toon25 said:

What's all this about then...

 

 

 

(From The Upshot)

Theyre shagged out ?

[The College Dropout]

50 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I think that's where EH has earned the leeway. Look at our performances this season and it's easy to see who the weak links are in the squad. And yet last season every player was exceptional, performing well above levels we thought they were capable of. Based on the quality of our squad, we had no right to make it into the Champions League. It was a monumental achievement.
The likes of Longstaff, Burn and Almiron are arguably lower to mid-table PL players and they are performing to those levels this season. Last season they all tore up trees (maybe that's over-selling Burn a bit tbf ). Longstaff's replacement, a young, dynamic Italy international isn't available. Burn's long term replacement is totally unfancied by the management team and Almiron's has a life threatening toe injury.

I remain critical of what EH and JT are doing this season. We should be doing better and our performances are awful, but trying to manage a season with sub-par, very tired players who are now performing to their actual levels and who massively overachieved last season is making the situation look and feel a lot worse than it probably is

 

 

 

We knew that going into this season. We attempted to replace 1 of these players this season in the summer transfer window. That looked like a massive risk going into this season and so it has turned out a mistake.

[timeEd32]

9 hours ago, Ronaldo said:

Great post timeEd and quite right. I’ve said it before but we’re too emotional as a fanbase and, particularly, those of us who grew up, like I did, in the Keegan years are predisposed to idealism. We don’t want to buy superstar-inspired success; we want a team of uniquely talented relatable characters that functions under a likeable, forward-thinking idiosyncratic manger who grows with us. A lot of us thought we were already there and evidently (though we have many of the raw ingredients) we are not, and we’re frustrated.

 

5 points from 10 games away from home is very difficult to defend. As abysmal as we’ve been on the road, results and performances, I’d find it a lot easier to brush it off as part of the journey etc if I had confidence that the ownership will give this time. It’s a great irony that for well over a decade we all longed for a regime that wouldn’t tolerate managerial failure / mediocrity and now a lot of us fear impatience or impulsiveness from the top.

 

One thing to note on the away form that does not excuse it, but I think is important context: we've played 8 league games this season at a rest disadvantage and 6 of those were away. Overall in the first half of the season we played league games with a net of negative 17 full rest days, which breaks down as -3 at home and -14 away. On top of the injuries we've been pretty unfortunate with how the fixtures have played out.

[Groundhog63]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

 

I mean you just need to look at the investment every single team above us made in summer to answer that?

Or just not be fucking stupid 

[Tonalis Bookie]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

Who you fancying to come in and turn it around with our absolutely knackered squad? Potter? Mourinho? Pep?

 

Said start of the season Jose would be in for first game next season and still believe it. On a personal note also, id like it. Come and finish your mentors work, sir.

[Dr Jinx]

1 hour ago, Shearergol said:

Who you fancying to come in and turn it around with our absolutely knackered squad? Potter? Mourinho? Pep?

De Zerbi could be a good shout. Tactically astute and his team are extremely comfortable on the ball. He’ll end up at one of the bigger clubs soon am guessing.

 

I agree with others that Mourinho may not be a good fit compared to how we play currently.. although I still think he’s a top manager. He just suits some clubs more than others. He could well be very good here if it all clicked.. but a gamble. He’s the one attainable manager who I think has the confidence and qualities to get a club like ours to the next level.

 

Conte would fit the same mold but I think Mourinho is a better manager.

 

Anyone else who’s highly rated have seemed to have found new jobs recently so it’s not a massive pool of candidates out there.

 

 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, Tonalis Bookie said:

 

Said start of the season Jose would be in for first game next season and still believe it. On a personal note also, id like it. Come and finish your mentors work, sir.

 

You're off your bonce. 

[KaKa]

2 minutes ago, Tonalis Bookie said:

 

Said start of the season Jose would be in for first game next season and still believe it. On a personal note also, id like it. Come and finish your mentors work, sir.

 

I almost want this to happen because of how badly it is guaranteed to go.

 

Think it's what some of you fully deserve tbh.

[Orphanage]

4 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

You're off your bonce. 

Hes just another Mackem gink 

[Hovagod]

3 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

I almost want this to happen because of how badly it is guaranteed to go.

 

Think it's what some of you fully deserve tbh.

Fuck off with this. We all support the same team don’t we?

 

[Shearergol]

7 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

De Zerbi could be a good shout. Tactically astute and his team are extremely comfortable on the ball. He’ll end up at one of the bigger clubs soon am guessing.

 

I agree with others that Mourinho may not be a good fit compared to how we play currently.. although I still think he’s a top manager. He just suits some clubs more than others. He could well be very good here if it all clicked.. but a gamble. He’s the one attainable manager who I think has the confidence and qualities to get a club like ours to the next level.

 

Conte would fit the same mold but I think Mourinho is a better manager.

 

Anyone else who’s highly rated have seemed to have found new jobs recently so it’s not a massive pool of candidates out there.

 

 

 

Brighton have players who are much better with the ball technically. That's years and years of committing to that approach. De Zerbi would have nightmares with our players.

[Holmesy]

10 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

We knew that going into this season. We attempted to replace 1 of these players this season in the summer transfer window. That looked like a massive risk going into this season and so it has turned out a mistake.

I totally agree. I know there's a lot of love for Burn at the club and among the fanbase but i've never been convinced. I guess Almiron earned himself another shot after last season but it was a huge gamble. One purple patch in what, 3 years? 

 

 

[Nucasol]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I totally agree. I know there's a lot of love for Burn at the club and among the fanbase but i've never been convinced. I guess Almiron earned himself another shot after last season but it was a huge gamble. One purple patch in what, 3 years? 

 

 

Try 5 full seasons (4 end to end plus two half seasons). 

[Cf]

9 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

 

Brighton have players who are much better with the ball technically. That's years and years of committing to that approach. De Zerbi would have nightmares with our players.

 

De Zerbi is still a bit of a question mark for me. He inherited a team that was already performing really well. 

 

This season they have one more point than us. 

 

Howe inherited a Steve Bruce side that were nailed on for relegation.

[Weezertron]

Anyone think Howes post match press conference saw him act bit differently to normal? Up to this point he's refrained from using the tired players/injury excuse but he was pretty open and honest about it last night. Maybe he's just naturally being defensive, given all the chat about him. 

 

I actually appreciated his honesty. 

[Alberto2005]

That Longstaff one was never a penalty, I was surprised he thought he was.

[Zero]

I can genuinely say right now there is no manager better than Howe for us. I can also ensure you if we continue to let him manage the team, then no matter what, next season we would likely have a top 6 finish again.

 

The big IF is I ain’t sure he could survive this season. Both Howe and the team looks completely broken to be honest. He might as well take the decision himself

[Ronaldo]

16 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

It’s that he can’t play at full intensity for 70 minutes. Let alone 90. 
 

I love him. But if he improved his stamina he would be close to world class. 

You say that, but Wilson plays with even less intensity after an hour’s football and he gets immunity.

[Dr Venkman]

16 hours ago, Dokko said:

 

Yes, I'm glad he's still here but he is the reason we are where we are, both now and last season. He ran a small team of overachieving players into the ground and it worked as we were lucky with injuries.

 

This season we've had more games, but only 6. It hasn't merited the talk of not being able to train for 4 months. Do other CL teams not train anymore? You could argue villas schedule is worse playing on a Thursday night, but their manager has European experience and knows the need to rotate. We've been very unlucky this season with injuries, but his demands of players, lack of rotation and late subs cannot work with added games and injuries, but he's decided to not change a thing. Just keep going in hope he gets a break. You can't plan for injuries, but when they happen you need to rotate your way out of it. This is when new or young players are thrown into the deep end and it's sink or swim. Hall should have had 5 or 10 starts now and he on his was to being a squad player. He costs us points by playing? Well what are we protecting with all these losses?

 

It's not good enough at this level and I expected more from him and sad to see it come to this. I had no doubt he'd adapt to all that was this season, but it's continue on and compound the issues to a point were now saying it'll get worse before it gets better shite and that a loss to the mackems should just be accepted. What the actual fuck? 

 

I saw all this defend the manager at all costs under pardew, as he landed 5th and had credit in the bank, I didn't buy it then and don't now. 

 

 

 

I'm begging you to stop this line of argument 

[Tonalis Bookie]

36 minutes ago, Orphanage said:

Hes just another Mackem gink 

 

Nope, been a member on here since 2008. Had to delete my old one about 3 months ago due to the new FIFA regs! Sifu will confirm ive been saying this since summer

[jack j]

43 minutes ago, Tonalis Bookie said:

 

Said start of the season Jose would be in for first game next season and still believe it. On a personal note also, id like it. Come and finish your mentors work, sir.

Fuck me I've just spewed up