Eddie Howe

[Kid Icarus]

4 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Thiago was signed to give them more control and creativity in midfield. And when fit, he started regularly. And this is Thiago replacing PL and CL winners.  
 

If Tonali is as good as we are led to believe. The coach should find a system where he’s not behind all 3 of Longstaff Willock and Joelinton

The point is that it's not about getting all the best players into the team, it's about whatever works. He does need to find a way that works with Tonali, but while the system works without him or anyone I don't think there's any reason to care in the short to medium term. Tonali has a responsibility to force Howe's hand too.

[Kanj]

Shite day in the office and the last 30 mins was utterly bizarre but thankfully he’ll study it and sort it. 

[Erikse]

Next one going to be a huge one.. If we bounce back with a win then we're still doing fine. Another bad performance against Palace would be really concerning (actively avoiding the word "worrying" for obvious reasons).

 

 

Edited November 26 by Erikse

[Geordie Ahmed]

I do think long term he needs to push to get a proper 10 and tweak the midfield to support such a player

[Kanj]

Is there a football player out there who offers willock’s ball carrying, more fit often and is better in the attacking third? That’s probably the evolution. 

[TRC]

8 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

I do think long term he needs to push to get a proper 10 and tweak the midfield to support such a player

It is frustrating he seems incredibly loyal to this 4-3-3. Playing Isak as a second striker how he does for Sweden would be interesting 

[r0cafella]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

The coach should find a winning combination, primarily.

You are absolutely right but the problem is we spent 50+m on the guy who is meant to improve us, that's 50m we needed to deploy elsewhere. 

 

It's obviously a fine balancing act but to achieve our goals we either had to cheat or be flawless. 

[Sibierski]

Howe needs to have some balls and make some changes after that awful 2nd half and get a response from the whole squad at the weekend. Needs to turn a pathetic display into something the players and him can show everyone is not their norm.

 

Big calls made, Gordon dropped. Probably say one of midfield 3 dropped too, with Tonali in as the central guy. I’d have Bruno / Joelinton either side of him personally. Defence has to stay the same as limited options there. 
 

Don’t bounce back with a win this weekend, it will start to feel it’s all on the cups for Howe to remain here next season. 

[ExiledGeordie]

He needs to find a way to get Tonali in the team and performing. We can’t have an Italian international who cost 55m sat in the bench what with our financial constraints. Barnes is an issue too, similarly we can’t really afford to have a 40m player on the bench but then that’s starting to look like a short sighted signing if you’ve already signed Gordon because so far he hasn’t shown he’s able to get both playing well at the same time.

 

Howe wiht his current players and tactics can’t break down a defensive set up. Teams know this, they’ve figured it out and unless he sorts it out and that facilitates some more consistency it’ll be his eventual undoing and he’ll get moved on. 

[KingArthur]

5 hours ago, TRC said:

It is frustrating he seems incredibly loyal to this 4-3-3. Playing Isak as a second striker how he does for Sweden would be interesting 

Problem for Isak is that in this 4-3-3 he is very isolated. When we drop deep, he is so lonely and is not exactly a player that holds up the ball.

 

Bruno does not have the legs to support, so that is required from wingers or 8s. With Longstaff it's not going to happen, so that leaves 3 players. If the right winger is Murphy or Joelinton, that really is not much of a threat. Then when opponent drops deep, we do not have the skill or combinations to break it. Just cross after cross...

[RS]

Was happy at 2-0 down but the last 30 minutes he didn’t enjoy. Gone before we relocate to Backworth. 

[Whitley mag]

2 minutes ago, RS said:

Was happy at 2-0 down but the last 30 minutes he didn’t enjoy. Gone before we relocate to Backworth. 

Slight upgrade on Camperdown.

[Sibierski]

29 minutes ago, ExiledGeordie said:

He needs to find a way to get Tonali in the team and performing. We can’t have an Italian international who cost 55m sat in the bench what with our financial constraints. Barnes is an issue too, similarly we can’t really afford to have a 40m player on the bench but then that’s starting to look like a short sighted signing if you’ve already signed Gordon because so far he hasn’t shown he’s able to get both playing well at the same time.

 

Howe wiht his current players and tactics can’t break down a defensive set up. Teams know this, they’ve figured it out and unless he sorts it out and that facilitates some more consistency it’ll be his eventual undoing and he’ll get moved on. 

This is key bit which will be part of the discussions upstairs behind closed doors, a manager that has £90m in two players on bench, who are not consistently involved or maximised ability.

 

Pin it on previous regime and WTF were they doing bringing in these players, or pin it against Howe for reason to not bring in more costly one off signings. As that £90m could stretch across 7+ squad signings, all of youthful age that can progress/resale, and the needle wouldn’t have moved too far one way or the other. I.e still no Europe, still mid table this season. 
 

I don’t know what the answer is, but Howe needs to get something going style wise that holds consistency within games. If the rest of game went like first half you hold your hands up and say not our day and blame individuals. Can’t be doing stuff like that 2nd half though, just didn’t have any need to do it. He’s a smart bloke so hopefully he learns, but he’s also surrounding himself with too many yes men it looks like. Because Tindall should not be on set pieces, and you’d like to think Bunce/Mitchell at least know they need to tell Howe we’re bringing in a set piece guy and will do that.

 

 

Edited November 26 by Sibierski

[The Butcher]

6 hours ago, Kanj said:

Shite day in the office and the last 30 mins was utterly bizarre but thankfully he’ll study it and sort it. 

He'll study it, but fix it? Not sure about that at all.

 

We've had the same problems for quite some time and nothing has changed.

 

[SUPERTOON]

The lack of goals is the real concern, 13 in total and 5 in 6 home games is really poor. 

[ExiledGeordie]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

The lack of goals is the real concern, 13 in total and 5 in 6 home games is really poor. 

Yeah it’s dreadful and a worry. Teams also know we can’t break down a defensive set up too.

[JEToon]

27 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

This is key bit which will be part of the discussions upstairs behind closed doors, a manager that has £90m in two players on bench, who are not consistently involved or maximised ability.

 

Pin it on previous regime and WTF were they doing bringing in these players, or pin it against Howe for reason to not bring in more costly one off signings. As that £90m could stretch across 7+ squad signings, all of youthful age that can progress/resale, and the needle wouldn’t have moved too far one way or the other. I.e still no Europe, still mid table this season. 
 

I don’t know what the answer is, but Howe needs to get something going style wise that holds consistency within games. If the rest of game went like first half you hold your hands up and say not our day and blame individuals. Can’t be doing stuff like that 2nd half though, just didn’t have any need to do it. He’s a smart bloke so hopefully he learns, but he’s also surrounding himself with too many yes men it looks like. Because Tindall should not be on set pieces, and you’d like to think Bunce/Mitchell at least know they need to tell Howe we’re bringing in a set piece guy and will do that.

 

 

 

I kind of get what you’re trying to say but 90 million stretching across 7+ squad signings, not so sure myself. I wouldn’t expect many of them to be at the quality we are actually needing  

 

 

Edited November 26 by JEToon

[St1pe]

These are the type of results that makes me worry for Howe long term and there’s been a few of them this season. 
 

I hope he’s our manager for years and should be left to crack on with it. Under Staveley I think he would have been. I’m not so sure how the inconsistency over the last year or so will be viewed by whoever makes the decisions now. 

[Pilko]

1 hour ago, Sibierski said:

Howe needs to have some balls and make some changes after that awful 2nd half and get a response from the whole squad at the weekend. Needs to turn a pathetic display into something the players and him can show everyone is not their norm.

 

Big calls made, Gordon dropped. Probably say one of midfield 3 dropped too, with Tonali in as the central guy. I’d have Bruno / Joelinton either side of him personally. Defence has to stay the same as limited options there. 
 

Don’t bounce back with a win this weekend, it will start to feel it’s all on the cups for Howe to remain here next season. 

 

It'll be Burn in for Kelly and otherwise same again Saturday, unless there's an injury. Convinced of it.

[ExiledGeordie]

Just now, St1pe said:

These are the type of results that makes me worry for Howe long term and there’s been a few of them this season. 
 

I hope he’s our manager for years and should be left to crack on with it. Under Staveley I think he would have been. I’m not so sure how the inconsistency over the last year or so will be viewed by whoever makes the decisions now. 

If this inconsistency continues whether it’s a combination of players letting him down and being unable to break teams down then we’ll probably finish outside Europe and he’ll be gone. I’m definitely not in the Howe out camp at all but there are some concerning signs and part of me does start to think has he reached his peak and it’s starting to become a bit stale? There’s obviously plenty factors involved too such as PSR.
 

January is going to be interesting to see what they do, could make or break the season.

[Menace]

Difficult to say considering we don't even have a long term CEO yet. I don't want him gone by any means but there has been a lot of worrying performances so far and we're approaching December.

 

 

Edited November 26 by Menace

[Lush Vlad]

2 hours ago, St1pe said:

These are the type of results that makes me worry for Howe long term and there’s been a few of them this season. 
 

I hope he’s our manager for years and should be left to crack on with it. Under Staveley I think he would have been. I’m not so sure how the inconsistency over the last year or so will be viewed by whoever makes the decisions now. 

This. 
 

Risky. But as others have said. I’d like to see him take a punt and make a few changes Saturday. It’ll be another game where we will be afforded more

of the ball and the usual team will struggle to create chances. 
 

Not all on Howe. Because he isn’t the only one scouting or asking for certain players. Plus we have PSR issues. But the fact that after 3 years. We still don’t have any decent technical passing quality high up the pitch, is a black mark against his name. 
 

3 of our 4 best passers are defenders. One has only just become a regular and is 20 years old. One seems to be on the decline this season and his passing has been sloppy. Then we have Trippier. Who is always injured/wants away/doesn’t always start. Then Bruno plays deep and isn’t impacting games in the final third as much as he could be. 
 

Joelinton and Isak have great feet. But don’t really create or assist. The team is full of try hards and athletes outside of that.

 

It has worked really well and still does up to a point. But a few games this season it has really magnified how poor we are on the ball. The build up and attempts to break teams down is often predictable and laborious.  

 

 

Edited November 26 by Lush Vlad

[Gallowgate Toon]

He has a big problem in Gordon. He's tried to continually back him but, facts laid out, I think he has 1 open play goal and 1 assist despite starting almost every game?

 

Running is all good but they are pitiful numbers for a team trying to challenge for Europe when he's meant to be our next biggest threat after Isak. 

 

I think it's become obvious in matches like last night that he needs to free Bruno up as well. That's the biggest problem with playing Longstaff, for me, you lose in-game tactical flexibility because his skillset is effectively RCM or nothing. 

 

 

Edited November 26 by Gallowgate Toon

[Holmesy]

I just think he's run out of ideas unfortunately. He's a fantastic guy and clearly a talented manager but I just don't see how he kicks us on to the next level without a fundamental change to his tactics, game management, mindset and footballing toolkit. That's a lot of change.

This isn't kneejerk - check back through my previous posts and you'll see i've had doubts for a good while. Last night was as consummate a display of our tactical limitations and lack of plan B as you're likely to see, and I am starting to think that a change of direction might be the best thing for us. 

 

Given the right tools I think he could have a team flirting with Europe most seasons but for how long? Football evolves quickly at this level but he doesn't seem to. Our aim is to be in the CL and challenging for titles every year and I just don't see that ever happening under Eddie. 

We've got a handful of players who have the talent and ambition to be playing at the top top level, and they're not going to stick around to play mid-table football for long.

I sincerely hope he proves me wrong but the signs are ominous.

[Sibierski]

2 hours ago, JEToon said:

I kind of get what you’re trying to say but 90 million stretching across 7+ squad signings, not so sure myself. I wouldn’t expect many of them to be at the quality we are actually needing  

 

 

 

That’s where you back your coach to get them to be better. If you can’t make a £55m international CM work/improve, then the argument to go elsewhere for priorities is more valid. 
 

If they got the skill set, they will improve, it’s just you got to accept there will be some bad games as part of the learning curve.