Eddie Howe

[Ronaldo]

46 minutes ago, TRC said:

I think anyone who hasn't seen wolves play will get a shock when they absolute control the game against us.

Worse teams than Wolves have done it twice this season.

[Ronaldo]

52 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

What does that button look like?

A genuine momentum builder in front of our own fans would be nice.

 

 

Edited February 28 by Ronaldo

[TRC]

11 minutes ago, ElDiablo said:

Wish he'd consider a change of system. We look and have looked extremely poor for some time now.

100%, if we arent pressing people into mistakes, we dont have the technical ability against low blocks to break them down and we are pretty easy to counter ourselves. I think we should go for a more defensive approach and hit people on the counter when we dominate possession we are a bit useless.

[Vinny Green Balls]

1 hour ago, Dr Jinx said:

It would seem with every passing week more and more people are coming to my way of thinking when it comes to EH.. I’ve thought his goose has been cooked for months now and nothing I’ve seen, even the odd win, has changed my mind. We need a change.

 

I like him though.. maybe not quite as much as Rafa but he’s always represented us very well so I’m annoyed that this will probably drag on long enough that the good memories will be overshadowed by the pure frustration of watching the team at the moment.

You mean that you totally overreacted based on very limited data at the beginning in g of the season, and might be proven right just out of sheer luck, and nothing more? And you call me dull when you peddle out the same horse shit. 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, Pata said:

 

Deluded Geordies wasn't so far-fetched after all.

You know, I’m sick to fucking death of the number of people who think it’s alright to insult Geordies like this.  I’m a Geordie and I’d like you to knock this bollocks on the head. 

[timeEd32]

2 hours ago, Tonalis Bookie said:

The things at play here arent a rush of blood to the head. I don't think he will be here first game next year regardless of what happens from now because of a few very important moments that add up. Its not knee jerk, so just a few points:

 

• Our defence has been on a rapid decline since around February last season when the brilliant streak of not conceding ended. It has steadily declined to a point now where most attacks lead to a chance or an effort at goal
• Our lack of ability to change into new systems to deal with both in game situations and pre game tactical issues is startling
• An example of refusing to make subs to impact a game is being shown every game. Please remember Wolves away when we wre struggling, trippier was having a mare and Eddie did nothing
• We are playing player who haven't trained or who are struggling with niggles. If you want a prime example, in the Carabao against Chelsea we sent an injured gordon out after HT and allowed him to play on for about 10 minutes which furthered his issues
• Despite players coming back and being 3 goals up we do not make subs to bring on players, even a Ritchie to see out 10 relatively easy minutes

It's very much a Bielsa moment for us at the moment. Eddie did an amazing job but the injuries we receive are muscle based, exactly what was happening at Leeds when players were playing in the red. If you look at the above and some of the other instances people will raise then it isnt just a snap reaction, its the acceptance of a large list of instances and decided we do not think they will improve over the coming months and into the new season

 

I'm curious what this rapid decline is based on? From Feb. 1 through Dec. 6 we played 32 games (some others played 33) and these are the xGA leaders:

 

1) Man City       30.92

2) Newcastle.   35.78

3) Arsenal.        42.54

4) Palace          43.44

5) Liverpool.     43.50

 

In that stretch we conceded 36 goals, so right in line with the underlying stats. We kept 6 clean sheets (plus a 7th where we only conceded from a FK) in a stretch of 10 league games from mid-September through November.

 

We actually greatly outperformed our xGA in the pre-WC part of last season, so we rode our luck at times. Our defense improved by many metrics after the WC break, so what it actually looks like to me is from Boxing Day 2022 through November of this season (37 games) only the treble winners were better defensively than us. 

 

After that things have obviously fallen off a cliff for which there are many factors and much debate. But what got us to this point looks more like the chart of a famous stock market crash rather than a decline over a 12 month period.

[Pata]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

You know, I’m sick to fucking death of the number of people who think it’s alright to insult Geordies like this.  I’m a Geordie and I’d like you to knock this bollocks on the head. 

Don’t be so precious, it’s obviously said tongue-in-cheek. Although the quoted post didn’t warrant that at all.

[Zero]

4 hours ago, Yorkie said:

Any suggestions that the players didn't apply themselves to the fullest tonight is absolutely risible, like. Think I spotted someone in the match thread saying he'd lost the dressing room.  It wasn't a good technical performance but they left everything out there. Blackburn played well and had the backing of the crowd throughout; there's no way we'd have even got to ET, let alone pens, if the players hadn't given everything.

 

That’s a wild suggestion from me. The point is we are fortunate to win the game and, we field out quite a strong lineup which everyone agrees. So you are saying that we are just unfortunate that the Championship relegation fighter team (Blackburn) was playing in a lever even better than us (top half team of EPL at worst) and we shouldn’t be worried why we are having such a tough time?

 

Who are we actually? What level should we playing at? I feel very confused looking at the posts here.

[TheBrownBottle]

11 minutes ago, Pata said:

Don’t be so precious, it’s obviously said tongue-in-cheek. Although the quoted post didn’t warrant that at all.

I’ve probably overreacted, but I always felt that the ‘deluded Geordie’ shit we’d get off the London press was flavoured with regional prejudice.  I always hated it - the implication of ‘who do they think they are?’

[Pata]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’ve probably overreacted, but I always felt that the ‘deluded Geordie’ shit we’d get off the London press was flavoured with regional prejudice.  I always hated it - the implication of ‘who do they think they are?’

I thought I was implying that too in my post.
 

That dude is the Prime Minister of bad takes on N-O and I’m not good enough person to just ignore his drivel.

[TheBrownBottle]

8 minutes ago, Pata said:

I thought I was implying that too in my post.
 

That dude is the Prime Minister of bad takes on N-O and I’m not good enough person to just ignore his drivel.

Apologies mate, I should’ve known better tbf.  It’s one of those phrases that I don’t like seeing - no need to explain it.  This is a ‘it was me, not you’ one  

[Vinny Green Balls]

23 minutes ago, Pata said:

I thought I was implying that too in my post.
 

That dude is the Prime Minister of bad takes on N-O and I’m not good enough person to just ignore his drivel.

 would that we all could be Hans. There'd be no war, just a significant spike in restraining orders from nearby schools.

[Danh1]

5 hours ago, ElDiablo said:

Wish he'd consider a change of system. We look and have looked extremely poor for some time now.

This is what I was saying yday, his subs were just sticking to the same system but replacing personnel. He needs to change something, even if just in the short term until we get everyone back fit.

 

Would feel a real shame if we sacked him though, he deserves next season. There’s still a realistic world where we finish in the EL spots and get to the cup final.

[Gawalls]

5 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

You know, I’m sick to fucking death of the number of people who think it’s alright to insult Geordies like this.  I’m a Geordie and I’d like you to knock this bollocks on the head. 

You think you can knock this on the head on your own - your so fucking deluded (note - I’m also a Geordie)

[Yorkie]

4 hours ago, Zero said:

 

That’s a wild suggestion from me. The point is we are fortunate to win the game and, we field out quite a strong lineup which everyone agrees. So you are saying that we are just unfortunate that the Championship relegation fighter team (Blackburn) was playing in a lever even better than us (top half team of EPL at worst) and we shouldn’t be worried why we are having such a tough time?

 

Who are we actually? What level should we playing at? I feel very confused looking at the posts here.

 

No idea what you're on about. I'm saying it wasn't a great performance but the players gave maximum effort.

[The College Dropout]

6 hours ago, Pata said:

 

Confidence and composure have absolutely nothing to do with motivation, howay man.

Of course they are linked. 
 

There’s academic research into it.  This links to several psychology research papers  https://www.princeton.edu/~rbenabou/papers/CONFQJE2.pdf

 

It doesn’t take a scholar to realise that confidence enhances the motivation to act and that morale has an impact on someone achieving a difficult endeavour.

 

Eddie’s style of play is fairly high risk. All that pressing requires bravery and confidence and to take risks.  
 

When you’re motivated and confident you are more likely to be composed. You can make clear headed decisively and quickly and your body is ready to do it.  

[Zero]

24 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

No idea what you're on about. I'm saying it wasn't a great performance but the players gave maximum effort.

 

We field a strong squad, our players gave maximum effort, and we were just fortunate to beat a Championship team who is fighting for league survival. Yet people said Howe should not be blamed for the tough display. Some even said we did a good job.

 

A few weeks ago it’s Luton was a good team and it shouldn’t be unacceptable to lose points against them, according to some people here.

 

I am very confused. I feel like our club should be something like Luton instead of Newcastle United.

 

 

Edited February 28 by Zero

[Shearergol]

Just now, Zero said:

 

We field a strong squad, our players gave maximum effort, and we were just fortunate to beat a Championship team who is fighting for league survival. Yet people said Howe should not be blamed for the poor performance.

 

A few weeks ago it’s Luton was a good team and it shouldn’t be unacceptable to lose points against them, according to some people here.

 

I am very confused. I feel like our club should be something like Luton instead of Newcastle United.

 

We need to improve, it's pretty obvious, and I doubt anyone would argue with that.

 

Does sacking Howe improve the team? Personally I doubt it. However, it is how the modern football fan thinks these days, so it's not that surprising.

[Orphanage]

9 hours ago, dcmk said:

That we can't win another game?  Ok. Cool.

Grow up 

[Tsunami]

Something isn’t right. Whether it’s just an accumulation of extra games with fewer available fit players, lack of options within those players, refusal to try something different. 
 

It’s probably all the above and that we also over achieved last season. 
 

Eddie still has a lot of goodwill in the tank. Big summer coming up, the owners  may feel compelled to act if next season doesn’t start well. That said, the players available at that point should see us look at different side. 
 

Praying for a kind home QF draw.

 

 

Edited February 28 by Tsunami

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Tsunami said:

Something isn’t right off. Whether it’s just an accumulation of extra games with fewer available fit players, lack of options within those players, refusal to try something different. 
 

It’s probably all the above and that we also over achieved last season. 
 

Eddie still has a lot of goodwill in the tank. Big summer coming up, the owners  may feel compelled to act if next season doesn’t start well. That said, the players available at that point should see us look at different side. 
 

Praying for a kind home QF draw.

IMO if a slow start is enough to get him fired next season - he should be let go this summer.  If we trust him, let’s trust him for the season. 

[TBG]

Good morning sports fans. How good does it feel to be in the quarter finals for the first time in 5 yea....oh.

[joeyt]

The Trippier moving into midfield is a strange one. Doesn't seem to be working and means we lose our best crosser of the ball

[NWMag]

Eddie isnt immune from criticism and he isn’t helping himself with a few of the decisions he is making, but some of the comments (not necessarily on here) are way overboard.

 

we massively overachieved last season. This season, as poor as the performances have been recently, we are still fighting for a European spot, and in a fa cup QF, when you add the context of the CL draw and the injury crisis, we are not doing too bad. 
 

A lot of the problems that were evident to me last night is a lot of our squad are bang average at best; last season they overperformed but have now reverted to type. Longstaff, Murphy, Burn, Lascelles etc.

 

Howe is not in control of players decision making. He can’t control Lascelles missing the ball completely leading to their goal. Every time Murphy got the ball he didnt know what to do with it and slowed the play down. Similar with longstaff. 
 

the fact is it will take time to revamp the squad to where we want to be. 
 

I still have faith that Eddie is the man.

[Lotus]

I haven’t a clue how to fix this but an obvious thing for me is the midfield rarely creates for the striker or even support the striker and neither is the midfield sufficiently covering the defence.

So, probably the most important 3rd of the modern game, the middle 3rd is not functioning properly in either direction.

 

Obviously if you have lots of injuries and absentees from the midfield this will undoubtedly explain a lot.

But, the nagging issue for me for some time now is: is our only means of midfield advantage that we outrun other teams?