Eddie Howe

[London Mag]

10 minutes ago, RUHRLYASLEEVESUP said:

Agent ?

Yes, Walter Mittee .com

[RUHRLYASLEEVESUP]

42 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

General expectancy I think, club… players… fans… media.
 

I mean, it’s evident on this forum all year round. Even if Eddie can’t sign a single player before the end of the window, there’d be people on here calling for his head if we’re not in the top 6 come Xmas. 

 

 

 

I think your spouting shite 

[RUHRLYASLEEVESUP]

Just now, London Mag said:

Yes, Walter Mittee .com

Just no point man ffs

[oldtype]

1 hour ago, Shadow Puppets said:

According to one of the agents I speak to, the reason the list appears to lean heavily to PL experience is because we can’t really afford a “miss”. PSR means we pretty much have to buy guaranteed hits if we can.

This seems like a reasonable guess as to why we’re going in this direction. It’s just unfortunate that we’re learning in real time that that strategy comes with its own downsides in terms of inflated prices and missing out on targets without many alternatives.

 

I think being forced to fire sell Minteh and Anderson and not being able to sign anyone for three windows because we didn’t have our PSR ducks in a row scarred decision makers at the club more than we know.

[RUHRLYASLEEVESUP]

"Agents I speak to" one million percent bollocks 

[oldtype]

59 minutes ago, Shearergol said:

there’s probably only 4 clubs in the league who can afford a miss, but none of the others are chasing overpriced unattainable players.

There are 4-6 clubs who can afford a miss because they can just spend more money.

 

Then there are another 10 or so clubs who can afford a miss because they don’t particularly care as long as they stay in the league.

[Weezertron]

Does he hold his hands up at the end of the window if we get no one in from his transfer lists? 

 

Eddie isn't to blame for the shambolic club set up. But his transfer lists haven't worked, and at this point they're ropey at best. 

 

Am I allowed to say that?

 

[The College Dropout]

59 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Again this from the same agent… we’re in a peculiar position whereby we’re now expectant to be challenging for CL football every year, the players and coaches are expectant of it too, but the financial position of the club doesn’t even remotely come close to levelling with those ambitions, so each purchase HAS to work. There’s zero room for error.

 

Smaller clubs can take more chances, generally because their ambition and expectation levels are significantly different, and more in line with their financials.

I’ve been saying this for about a year now. Our transfer approach suggests we need results immediately. That’s why Howe wants prem proven players. The season we finished 7th was seen as a failure by PIF and Howe was closer to the sack than he should’ve been.  PIF are demanding owners but are not providing the necessary infrastructure and finances to justify it.  
 

it’s not a surprise it aligns with what Eales has communicated. The aim was Europe. But our finances don’t dictate Europe every season. 
 

The strategy from the club top to bottom hasn’t made sense for a long time. 
 

Positively - it’s another reason why I don’t think we’ll sell Isak this summer.  

[Shadow Puppets]

13 minutes ago, RUHRLYASLEEVESUP said:

I think your spouting shite 

Plenty of people on here already know who my sources are privately, mate, and why I know them. I’m not about to broadcast it publicly.

 

As always, just sharing what I hear. Don’t have any skin in the game.

[The College Dropout]

9 minutes ago, Weezertron said:

Does he hold his hands up at the end of the window if we get no one in from his transfer lists? 

 

Eddie isn't to blame for the shambolic club set up. But his transfer lists haven't worked, and at this point they're ropey at best. 

 

Am I allowed to say that?

 

No I don’t blame him.  I think his job remit is now too wide and the ambitions too high for what he is provided.  
 

Howe can’t survive another Hall situation. A player that needs development to be ready.  He can’t even afford another Tonali - no time to adjust and close enough that we can talk to people in the town about his personal life.  
 

We should be taking gambles on elite talent 1-2 years before most of the big clubs will go for them.  They might require those 1-2 years to develop and in the mean time we may slip a position or two. 

[The College Dropout]

Eddie isn’t an idiot.  He was happy to gamble on developing young talent at Bournemouth because he knew they couldn’t attract proven players and he had some leeway on results to bring them on. It’s fucked up but another Lewis Hall or Tonali situation could end up losing him his job.  

[oldtype]

4 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Plenty of people on here already know who my sources are privately, mate, and why I know them. I’m not about to broadcast it publicly.

 

As always, just sharing what I hear. Don’t have any skin in the game.

I don’t know why anyone would consider it particularly implausible that we have a poster here who “knows an agent.” There are plenty of agents out there. Obviously doesn’t mean that everything they say is gospel, but it’s fun to speculate and that’s what this forum is for.

[dcmk]

1 hour ago, Shadow Puppets said:

Again this from the same agent… we’re in a peculiar position whereby we’re now expectant to be challenging for CL football every year, the players and coaches are expectant of it too, but the financial position of the club doesn’t even remotely come close to levelling with those ambitions, so each purchase HAS to work. There’s zero room for error.

 

Smaller clubs can take more chances, generally because their ambition and expectation levels are significantly different, and more in line with their financials.

Appreciate your posts here.

 

Inevitable that you're going to cop some flak considering the vast majority here aren't happy about the way this transfer window is going.  

 

With the info you get, do you get the sense the trajectory in terms of our budgets and transfer wiggle room is closing with the teams ahead of us.

[Mike]

@Shadow Puppets I mentioned in another thread that I would like to be a foreign scout for NUFC, since it's a do-nothing gig. If I send you my linkedin, can you hook me up?

[oldtype]

3 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

No I don’t blame him.  I think his job remit is now too wide and the ambitions too high for what he is provided.  
 

Howe can’t survive another Hall situation. A player that needs development to be ready.  He can’t even afford another Tonali - no time to adjust and close enough that we can talk to people in the town about his personal life.  
 

We should be taking gambles on elite talent 1-2 years before most of the big clubs will go for them.  They might require those 1-2 years to develop and in the mean time we may slip a position or two. 

This is exactly why it’s insane to have the manager running transfers for an extended period of time. You can’t have your manager feeling like one mistake on the transfer market will get him fired, *in addition to* the possibility that mistakes on the pitch will get him fired.

 

People who feel like their job is constantly at risk screw up. It’s inevitable.

[Holloway]

41 minutes ago, The Butcher said:

Atm we're bottom half at best. We've no striker.

Has he been sold like 

[Shadow Puppets]

5 minutes ago, Mike said:

@Shadow Puppets I mentioned in another thread that I would like to be a foreign scout for NUFC, since it's a do-nothing gig. If I send you my linkedin, can you hook me up?

😁 I doubt I’d have any sway in any sense. My communications with people in and around the club are purely social.

[Mike]

Just now, Shadow Puppets said:

😁 I doubt I’d have any sway in any sense. My communications with people in and around the club are purely social.

 

I've learned in my rapid ascendance in the non-janitorial world that connections are everything. Let them know I want to work in Tijuana.

[Shadow Puppets]

7 minutes ago, oldtype said:

I don’t know why anyone would consider it particularly implausible that we have a poster here who “knows an agent.” There are plenty of agents out there. Obviously doesn’t mean that everything they say is gospel, but it’s fun to speculate and that’s what this forum is for.

Exactly. I’m not taking anything they say as gospel, but more of a view from within the industry. There’s a fans view, the media’s view, and an industry view. I’d argue, but don’t know for sure, that industry people are more likely to know what’s happening at the club, but it’s never going to be 100%.

[Shadow Puppets]

9 minutes ago, dcmk said:

Appreciate your posts here.

 

Inevitable that you're going to cop some flak considering the vast majority here aren't happy about the way this transfer window is going.  

 

With the info you get, do you get the sense the trajectory in terms of our budgets and transfer wiggle room is closing with the teams ahead of us.

It feels like we’re closing the gap, but slowly. Still a long way to go to be able to fully compete with Liverpool, Arsenal etc.

[PauloGeordio]

10 minutes ago, oldtype said:

This is exactly why it’s insane to have the manager running transfers for an extended period of time. You can’t have your manager feeling like one mistake on the transfer market will get him fired, *in addition to* the possibility that mistakes on the pitch will get him fired.

 

People who feel like their job is constantly at risk screw up. It’s inevitable.

It's not right that he doesn't have the correct support above him atm, but don't underestimate (not saying you are) the amount of pressure Eddie can work under, and work under productively.

 

He eats pressure 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2025 by PauloGeordio

[Weezertron]

27 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Eddie isn’t an idiot.  He was happy to gamble on developing young talent at Bournemouth because he knew they couldn’t attract proven players and he had some leeway on results to bring them on. It’s fucked up but another Lewis Hall or Tonali situation could end up losing him his job.  

Makes sense, but then whats the solution for him. Fucked. 

[James]

IMO he has done enough such that top ten finishes are all he needs to be allowed to see out his contract such that we can take some market risks.

[Optimistic Nut]

1 hour ago, The Butcher said:

Atm we're bottom half at best. We've no striker.

 

Fucking idiot.. l

 

 

Edited July 26, 2025 by Optimistic Nut

[nemtizz]

This man has carried us on his back since coming in and made the owners look far more competent than they are. They're absolutely taking advantage of him which how lackadaisical they've been this summer.