Eddie Howe

[Sibierski]

Like if we are to dare talk about a future manager, that will be the main argument for upstairs. A guy that works well with seasoned pros, or a coach that will improve players. Depending on what the vision of the club is in next 1-3 years, will determine that. If the latter, there’s a valid argument that Howe is still the main guy because of how likes of Hall etc have improved, and he needs backing with more of them in future seasons because there’s only so much and such a short window, you can improve likes of Longstaff / Almiron etc to get the desired results.

[JEToon]

16 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

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.

That sounds great but, I’m not convinced it’s really probable 

 

90 million over 7+ player, wages, signing on feee, agent fees by the time the cash is spread I would expect a few of them to fail rather than all be a great success 

 

We were and are a club trying to raise our ceiling not our floor, the logic of Tonali and Barnes made complete sense over a raft of squad players. 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by JEToon

[Smal]

8 hours ago, Kanj said:

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. 

Eze

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, Smal said:

Eze

£££££££

[ExiledGeordie]

24 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

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.

I agree to a point and there is a stale feeling creeping in. Have to say however I don’t really see us becoming a top four team with current PSR handcuffs. 

[CallumG6]

9 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

Like if we are to dare talk about a future manager, that will be the main argument for upstairs. A guy that works well with seasoned pros, or a coach that will improve players. Depending on what the vision of the club is in next 1-3 years, will determine that. If the latter, there’s a valid argument that Howe is still the main guy because of how likes of Hall etc have improved, and he needs backing with more of them in future seasons because there’s only so much and such a short window, you can improve likes of Longstaff / Almiron etc to get the desired results.

If Howe does get the boot at the end of the season (I'm not saying he will/should), I'd like to see Edin Terzic brought in if that's realistic. Felt he was done dirty at Dortmund despite getting them to a CL final. Young manager with solid foundations and a good knowledge of the game, that was blindingly obvious in our two matches against them last season where we were tactically outclassed both home and away.

Ideally Howe get's his shit together and figures out a way to turn it around.

[r0cafella]

2 minutes ago, ExiledGeordie said:

I agree to a point and there is a stale feeling creeping in. Have to say however I don’t really see us becoming a top four team with current PSR handcuffs. 

Depressing right? I took absolutely zero pleasure in ringing the ffp alarm bell way back, it stinks. 

[TRon]

2 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

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

 

When you look across the players we are starting with it shouldn't really be that much of a surprise though. Longstaff, Joelinton and Bruno have never been prolific, and neither has Willock since his loan season where everything he touched went in. Gordon was great last season, but Miggy had one great season as well, he needs to prove he's not a one season wonder. Barnes can score goals, but opponents know how he scores them now, they'll just show him outside every time.

 

We really are relying on Isak mostly and it shows. Very risky throwing players forward if we don't have end product, it just gives opponents loads of space to punish us on the counter.

[joeyt]

For all the criticism he's got we haven't replaced Trippier's assists either

 

I like Tino but his attacking output isn't anywhere near Trippier's for us

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, joeyt said:

For all the criticism he's got we haven't replaced Trippier's assists either

 

I like Tino but his attacking output isn't anywhere near Trippier's for us

I'm wondering what's happened to him, he was an aggressive wingback now he looks more like a limited fullback albeit excellent defensively. 

 

Was watching him quite closely and their were a couple of occasions when I expected him to sprint and he just didn't

[ExiledGeordie]

7 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Depressing right? I took absolutely zero pleasure in ringing the ffp alarm bell way back, it stinks. 

The cartel have won for the time being, our hands are completely tied. We’ll be occasionally 4th down to 8th for the time being I think with a tilt at cups. It’s great to actually have ambition again but I’ve downgraded expectations completely with the current premier league set up.

[Pablo123]

Really frustrating match, which I thought we'd win comfortably. Hopefully we can bounce back on Saturday 

[Lush Vlad]

Just now, joeyt said:

For all the criticism he's got we haven't replaced Trippier's assists either

 

I like Tino but his attacking output isn't anywhere near Trippier's for us

Yep. Tino is outstanding 1 v 1 and at winning the ball back. Nearly as good as Joelinton on that score. 
 

But every time he gets near the box. He looks like he’s panicking and rushed or worse. He just doesn’t make a decision and carries on running with the ball, straight into an opposition player. 
 

Difficult balance with how strong he is defensively compared to Trippier vs the attacking output the latter brings. 
 

It is sort of a similar argument for Barnes starting on the left. As he would bring more goals/chances. But isn’t anywhere near as good at covering the left back as others. 

[joeyt]

Just had a look.  Trippier got 10 assists from 28 PL games last season which is pretty incredible. 

 

7 the season before

 

Tino hasn't got any for us yet I don't think in the league

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I’m disappointed by Tino’s attacking in general, maybe I assumed he’s a different type of player. He seems to prefer to slow the game down and take his time. I was expecting more of a flyer. 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by AyeDubbleYoo

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, joeyt said:

Just had a look.  Trippier got 10 assists from 28 PL games last season which is pretty incredible. 

 

7 the season before

 

Tino hasn't got any for us yet I don't think in the league

Any idea how many be got in the second half of the season from open play? 

 

Tripps also cost us a ton of goals so I'm not sure he's the answer mind. 

[SUPERTOON]

Tino has always looked better on the left for us, never been great on the right.

[Erikse]

8 minutes ago, joeyt said:

Just had a look.  Trippier got 10 assists from 28 PL games last season which is pretty incredible. 

 

7 the season before

 

Tino hasn't got any for us yet I don't think in the league

 

Trippier was literally atleast half of our attacking play when we were at our best. Probably more like 75% tbh, like our play revolved around him. I think that's the biggest factor of them all in terms of not being able to reach the same heights. It makes you wonder what we would've been without him in our best times since the takeover.

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Erikse

[Yorkie]

I still can't entertain any notion of replacing the manager, not least because I feel like the pool of people who would represent an improvement is incredibly small.

 

There some concerning signs for sure this season, but I still think we look a good team on the whole, and the identity of the side is still recognisable: we're still a team which is set up to press and create lots of chances. The biggest issue all season has been that we haven't been clinical enough; that's a recipe for dropped points when every opponent apart from Southampton has a lot of quality. 

 

As long as the players still believe in the manager's ideas then we shouldn't even be considering changing. We've had two great seasons on the bounce (bollocks to you if you think last season wasn't class) so he's earned the right to find the solutions, or keep at plan A until it works. 

 

And like I keep saying, it's a season that could be defined by the cups. It would be heartbreaking if he wasn't at least given another shot at the Carabao Cup.

[joeyt]

5 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Any idea how many be got in the second half of the season from open play? 

 

Tripps also cost us a ton of goals so I'm not sure he's the answer mind. 

 

I'm not saying he's the answer but taking out that amount of assists and not replacing them can certainly be a reason we aren't scoring many

 

Our set pieces are pretty dreadful and our crossing yesterday was absolutely abysmal. 

 

[r0cafella]

Just now, joeyt said:

 

I'm not saying he's the answer but taking out that amount of assists and not replacing them can certainly be a reason we aren't scoring many

 

Our set pieces are pretty dreadful and our crossing yesterday was absolutely abysmal. 

 

Oh without a doubt couldn't agree with you more. 

 

I went through our side a month ago or so and really couldn't see where the goals and assist were coming from. We are one dimensional and stagnant imo. 

[Holmesy]

2 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

I still can't entertain any notion of replacing the manager, not least because I feel like the pool of people who would represent an improvement is incredibly small.

 

There some concerning signs for sure this season, but I still think we look a good team on the whole, and the identity of the side is still recognisable: we're still a team which is set up to press and create lots of chances. The biggest issue all season has been that we haven't been clinical enough; that's a recipe for dropped points when every opponent apart from Southampton has a lot of quality. 

 

As long as the players still believe in the manager's ideas then we shouldn't even be considering changing the manager. We've had two great seasons on the bounce (bollocks to you if you think last season wasn't class) so he's earned the right to find the solutions, or keep at plan A until it works. 

 

And like I keep saying, it's a season that could be defined by the cups. It would be heartbreaking if he wasn't at least given another shot at the Carabao Cup.

This is the bit that concerns me. The intensity seems to have returned but Gordon looks like a headless chicken, Isak isn't getting the service he needs, Barnes is confined to the bench, Tonali can't get a start. How long will the players be happy with the status quo? 

[Ikon]

We definitely haven’t been clinical enough. Having said that we definitely aren’t creating enough clear cut chances overall either. 

[Erikse]

I don't think Trippier will be the same at all, which is no surprise given that he's 34. It's just that the last couples of season prove how much we used to rely on Trippier.

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Erikse

[AyeDubbleYoo]

If we’d won last night we would’ve been 6th. We’re 4 points behind 3rd. 
 

The last third of the game last night was terrible, but we put ourselves in a stupid position by letting in two soft goals and not finishing any of our chances. 
 

We don’t need to soul search after every defeat.