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I was sure he was going to go for the hybrid 3-5-2 that he's wheeled out a few times this year considering how much they love to find pockets.

 

He went way more aggressive which I was surprised at. They had 2 really pressurised periods but I thought we were fairly controlled aside from that and competed OK.

 

He's not infallible at all - I do think he should've switched Tonali and Bruno earlier on - but he's once again been let down by some really shite play from senior players.

 

 

Edited by Gallowgate Toon

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Feels a cup defeat is bigger than a league defeat. Go out midweek, question would be for upstairs, do you give Howe the January backing? If not, then you may as well start talking to new managers. 

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1 minute ago, Holmesy said:

Today was one of the most disjointed performances I’ve seen from us. Where specifically did you see an improvement?
It’s a genuine question because maybe you’re seeing something I’m not. Watching that, I can’t think of a single thing I saw that gave me much optimism about the run coming to an end soon.

I said before today was a bit of a backwards step and it was, but not to such a great extent. Overall we were competitive away to an in form side and were a bit of composure away from taking a point. Our press and general play has also been improved against City, Everton & Brighton compared to earlier in the season. I'm not trying to be disingenuous here, having watched all 4 games (albeit missed the first 25m of today) we've played better than we had the 5 games before that overall, the results have just gone the opposite way primarily imo due to sloppy individual errors from players who should do better.

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5 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Speaking for just myself, it's not just about today. It's 18 months of away showings. Loyalty and awarding of contracts to players that aren't going to get you into Europe regularly. Lack of a discernible strategy behind some signings from summer 2023. The performances throughout this season. Regression and lack of any real identity in possession this season. Dreadful set pieces. Weird subs.

 

All combine to me losing a lot of faith in him. I don't want him sacked, I'm desperate for him to turn it around. He's given me my favourite ever days following us. But what we've been watching this season just isn't all there. A lot of which will be down to him.

I can't really argue with how you see it beyond just saying that I largely disagree, either because I don't think it's as much of a concern as you're saying, or that I don't put the blame at Howe's door to the extent that I'm questioning him specifically.

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3 minutes ago, The Butcher said:

We'll probably lose the next two, but fail to beat Forest and I think he's in big, big trouble.

 

I actually think the failure to put away the lesser teams is doing his reputation more damage than games like this one.

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33 minutes ago, Heron said:

It's absolutely fair to critique Howe by the way and he does need to change things up and find a solution, but the way some folk go on, on here is nothing short of ridiculous. You'd think he hadn't dragged a championship side to almost the top ten and then into the CL and a cup final...

I’m not arsed about what he HAS DONE, I’m arsed about what he IS DOING. You rest on your laurels in the PL and others will overtake you. Not fully his fault with the board also to blame but howay it’s so fucking stale atm. Same failings every week too. 

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19 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

I think the big problem Eddie has is that he's never really been a big tactical manager. He's a motivator and he coaches teams to play with intensity. 

 

It seems like that motivation just isn't working this season, particularly away from home. There were signs of it fading last season too. We don't have a tactical setup to fall back on so we end up looking incoherent.  

 

The season we finished top 4 we were extremely well drilled to be fair. The way we pressed, had players rotating covering for each other etc whilst playing with that intensity had clearly been coached very well. We had a lot of clear patterns of play in attack in too. 

 

To me it seems more like we had a really great formula that just wasn't a sustainable way of playing long term and we've struggled to try and change/ evolve our game. 

 

Probably what separates the elite mangers, Pep and Klopp constantly evolved their sides and could either maintain or improve their level. Fergie was brilliant at it with Man United too. 

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1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

I can't really argue with how you see it beyond just saying that I largely disagree, either because I don't think it's as much of a concern as you're saying, or that I don't put the blame at Howe's door to the extent that I'm questioning him specifically.

 

I think it's quite a big concern as I don't see things improving barring just hoping "I hope we're not shit this time" when the next game comes around. Can just agree to disagree in that regard. 

 

I'm at all 3 of the next few games and will do as always whenever setting foot into a stadium where we're playing and supporting us and him. But I just can't see how we improve under him now. I don't know what we're trying to do with the ball these days anymore.

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The most frustrating part of today was how rattled we got after gifting them their 2nd. Proper "what if" but I wish I knew how the game would have gone if that hadn't happened. It just immediately put us on the back foot and it took 20 minutes or so to get over it and start working our way back into the game. 

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Isak, Bruno & Gordon have let him down massively this season. To have all 3 misfiring at the same time is strange though, and you'd think he'd be able to sort at least one out. Joelinton doesn't look the same player pre injury, Willock and Pope the same and Barnes cannot start a game, is at best a sub against tired legs. Tonali's return has been meh whilst the RW turn outs (Murphy, Almiron & Gordon) have been dire. Throw in Trippier destroying his career and marriage for a bit of classless fanny, 2 young FB's who need protecting, whilst the slowest CB pairing in the league being the only fit options, you can comfortably say, the project is on its arse. I'm not sure how much is his fault, but he doesn't help himself at times, and eventually the manager will take the bullet for it all. That's football.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, The Butcher said:

We'll probably lose the next two, but fail to beat Forest and I think he's in big, big trouble.


Totally agree. Lose the next 3 and they'll pull the trigger.

 

Part of the decision making process will be whether they want to give him money in January and the whole Paul Mitchell saga.

 

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1 minute ago, LiquidAK said:

The most frustrating part of today was how rattled we got after gifting them their 2nd. Proper "what if" but I wish I knew how the game would have gone if that hadn't happened. It just immediately put us on the back foot and it took 20 minutes or so to get over it and start working our way back into the game. 

 

Even then we only did so because Chelsea went into their shell and let us have the ball. And still we couldn't build any actual momentum. 

 

Limp as fuck, same as the league fixture there last season. 

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Remember that one of the reasons that we didnt get anything in the summer market is because Eddie thought there were very few available players who were better than our current lot. Having Almiron/Murphy on the RW options and Schär and Burn as starter CBs was his decision, the money were available to replace them. But he thought they were good enough so that he could wait for the perfect replacements. 

 

Im all for giving him more time, but there is no excuses if he cant turn the ship around this season imo.

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2 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Why are people so keen to change manager mid season? Give him the season. Assess at the end. 

 

 

That's what will happen. I don't really get the gone by Xmas talk, we aren't about to make such a rash decision with a manager who's largely overperformed if anything.

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10 minutes ago, Joelinton7 said:

I’m not arsed about what he HAS DONE, I’m arsed about what he IS DOING. You rest on your laurels in the PL and others will overtake you. Not fully his fault with the board also to blame but howay it’s so fucking stale atm. Same failings every week too. 

You could say the same about any potential impending replacement though. That would all be based on what they HAVE DONE and not even here.

 

I don't really see that many obvious and available options who would a) massively improve us given other contraints and b) want to be here at the moment and fonally c) I don't think what he has done for us warrants him being replaced.

 

 

Edited by Heron

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1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

I think it's quite a big concern as I don't see things improving barring just hoping "I hope we're not shit this time" when the next game comes around. Can just agree to disagree in that regard. 

 

I'm at all 3 of the next few games and will do as always whenever setting foot into a stadium where we're playing and supporting us and him. But I just can't see how we improve under him now. I don't know what we're trying to do with the ball these days anymore.

I've said this before but I think our results don't align with our performances.

 

For me we've been much better performance-wise in the last 4 in which we've picked up 2 points than in the previous 5 when we picked up 10 points. 

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3 minutes ago, Dokko said:

Isak, Bruno & Gordon have let him down massively this season. To have all 3 misfiring at the same time is strange though, and you'd think he'd be able to sort at least one out. Joelinton doesn't look the same player pre injury, Willock and Pope the same and Barnes cannot start a game, is at best a sub against tired legs. Tonali's return has been meh whilst the RW turn outs (Murphy, Almiron & Gordon) have been dire. Throw in Trippier destroying his career and marriage for a bit of classless fanny, 2 young FB's who need protecting, whilst the slowest CB pairing in the league being the only fit options, you can comfortably say, the project is on its arse. I'm not sure how much is his fault, but he doesn't help himself at times, and eventually the manager will take the bullet for it all. That's football.

 

 


Actually think this is probably the best summary of the whole situation. Pretty much nailed it.

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Just now, Kid Icarus said:

I've said this before but I think our results don't align with our performances.

 

For me we've been much better performance-wise in the last 4 in which we've picked up 2 points than in the previous 5 when we picked up 10 points. 

Overall we still have gotten more points than we have deserved tbh.

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2 minutes ago, Displayname said:

Remember that one of the reasons that we didnt get anything in the summer market is because Eddie thought there were very few available players who were better than our current lot.


You don’t actually believe that he thinks that way do you? :lol: 

 

He has to say that stuff publicly so our players still want to play for him and continue to buy into the system/club. 

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6 minutes ago, Dokko said:

Isak, Bruno & Gordon have let him down massively this season. To have all 3 misfiring at the same time is strange though, and you'd think he'd be able to sort at least one out. Joelinton doesn't look the same player pre injury, Willock and Pope the same and Barnes cannot start a game, is at best a sub against tired legs. Tonali's return has been meh whilst the RW turn outs (Murphy, Almiron & Gordon) have been dire. Throw in Trippier destroying his career and marriage for a bit of classless fanny, 2 young FB's who need protecting, whilst the slowest CB pairing in the league being the only fit options, you can comfortably say, the project is on its arse. I'm not sure how much is his fault, but he doesn't help himself at times, and eventually the manager will take the bullet for it all. That's football.

 

 

 

 

Thought Joelinton was one of our best players today mind, far more involved than Tonali, although I do think Tonali moving the ball on quickly means you don't notice him as much.

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Just now, cubaricho said:


You don’t actually believe that he thinks that way do you? :lol: 

 

He has to say that stuff publicly so our players still want to play for him and continue to buy into the system/club. 

The fact that we didnt get anyone suggest that he does think that way to some extent. The money was available.

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