Eddie Howe

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, Stifler said:

I don’t think it’s entirely fair.

 

Howe is criticised for the same things season in season out.

The number reason being that we can’t break down team with a low block. Others are that he is too slow/reactive to making changes, won’t drop certain players despite performances, takes ages to integrate new players, and drops points/loses to the same old teams.

 

You can give Howe criticism without wanting him replaced.

Not that there is anyone out there who I think could replace him at the moment.

 

A repeated criticism isn't necessarily a valid criticism. Take for example the low block stuff.  Do we lack technical ability at times? Sure, but you'll struggle to count on one hand how many times we were successfully low blocked last season.

 

I agree he isn't perfect and has room to improve areas of his management, but let's not pretend folk haven't called for his head (or heavily implied it) at multiple points over the last couple of the seasons.

[Lucky]

Just now, Vinny Green Balls said:

People didn’t see where improvement was coming from over the last three seasons. Then it came. Perhaps you should take a step back and see the overall trends of the last few years.

 

if Howe ever sorts out our slow starts, we’ll soon be a juggernaut.

Thays exactly my point though. He’s consistently inconsistent. Well never forge on in the league if that keeps happening season after season.

[nufc123]

7 minutes ago, Scoot said:

 

 

Not wanting him out is he?

[Tiresias]

we seem to start slow every season under howe. Absolutely not going to turn on howe though, i floated getting rid of him after west ham last season and regretted it profoundly. We will improve, but I am not convinced another european tilt is that achievable I think we need a bit of a rebuild. Gordon will get back to his best tho. Not convinced by other wingers yet, like Elanga think he will get better but we need our midfield to be better. 

[KingArthur]

7 minutes ago, Dokko said:

 

Bruno hasn't been playing well for some time, not consistently. Odd moment, but not the player we are used to. Tonali has carried the team at times.

 

You can blame the manager for all that if you like, after all a lot of them are his signings, but they need to be accountable for their shit performances and terrible decisions on the pitch, and that mainly lies at the wingers and unfortunately Bruno. We need more from them. 

 

 

Bruno was one of our best players today. Everything creative came from him.

[duo]

1 minute ago, Tiresias said:

we seem to start slow every season under howe. Absolutely not going to turn on howe though, i floated getting rid of him after west ham last season and regretted it profoundly. We will improve, but I am not convinced another european tilt is that achievable I think we need a bit of a rebuild. Gordon will get back to his best tho. Not convinced by other wingers yet, like Elanga think he will get better but we need our midfield to be better. 

I think we tend to start fast - issue has been not taking our chances when on top

[LionOfGosforth]

1 minute ago, Lucky said:

Thays exactly my point though. He’s consistently inconsistent. Well never forge on in the league if that keeps happening season after season.

 

What do you consider "forging on in the league"? Finishing in the CL places 2 of the last 3 seasons not enough forging for you?

[Vinny Green Balls]

1 minute ago, Lucky said:

Thays exactly my point though. He’s consistently inconsistent. Well never forge on in the league if that keeps happening season after season.

If we were finishing 9th or 10th you’d have more of a point. But we’ve punching above well above our weight, because our squad is significantly weaker than the big 6 for the most part. We spent big, but we also lost our main focal point and are still trying to figure out how to play with the new focal point. 
 

 

[Collage]

Just now, Lucky said:

Why is he untouchable?

 

Winning something should never be an everlasting free pass.

 

If Man City had that blind loyalty, Mancini would still be there and they’d not have won even a fraction as much.

Because the job he’s done has been absolutely brilliant, exceeding all expectations. Of course, if we were to degress season after season, things would be different. But it’s still very much early doors this season.

[Vinny Green Balls]

Just now, LionOfGosforth said:

 

What do you consider "forging on in the league"? Finishing in the CL places 2 of the last 3 seasons not enough forging for you?

It just seems like the instant gratification culture. It’s all in the snapshot, and refusing to step back and see how far we’ve come. It happens this time every season. I wish Howe would get us off to a quick start mind you.

[LionOfGosforth]

1 minute ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

If we were finishing 9th or 10th you’d have more of a point. But we’ve punching above well above our weight, because our squad is significantly weaker than the big 6 for the most part. We spent big, but we also lost our main focal point and are still trying to figure out how to play with the new focal point. 
 

 

 

Made the same point earlier. When you're used to building your play and centering on a focal point that entirely changes and has completely different strengths, it's an adjustment period and a transitional season is largely to be expected.

[LionOfGosforth]

1 minute ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

It just seems like the instant gratification culture. It’s all in the snapshot, and refusing to step back and see how far we’ve come. It happens this time every season. I wish Howe would get us off to a quick start mind you.

 

Million percent. We do start slowly, as if the interruptions of international football and other changes affect us more than everyone else. Maddening and costs us points each season. 

[Ghandis Flip-Flop]

1 minute ago, LionOfGosforth said:

 

Million percent. We do start slowly, as if the interruptions of international football and other changes affect us more than everyone else. Maddening and costs us points each season. 

Think it’s affected us even more this season given "he who shalt be named" and Wissa's injury. Woltemade has done great, but I think ideally he'd be being gently eased in over a period of time, rather than effectively relied upon.

 

The fact that we got those attacking replacements in so late, has killed our early season form and something I seriously hope the club has learned from and won’t repeat.

[LionOfGosforth]

Just now, Ghandis Flip-Flop said:

Think it’s affected us even more this season given "he who shalt be named" and Wissa's injury. Woltemade has done great, but I think ideally he'd be being gently eased in over a period of time, rather than effectively relied upon.

 

The fact that we got those attacking replacements in so late, has killed our early season form and something I seriously hope the club has learned from and won’t repeat.

 

Can't really argue with any of that

[Kanj]

As soon as Wissa is ready to play I’d play him LW and play Murphy RW. Gordon, Barnes and Elanga are not firing at all for us and are costing us massively in attack. 

[madras]

Just now, Kanj said:

As soon as Wissa is ready to play I’d play him LW and play Murphy RW. Gordon, Barnes and Elanga are not firing at all for us and are costing us massively in attack. 

We dont have a target for them. Wissa has to play CF when he gets back to playing.

 

The issue then is how to play Wolt, with him or behind him or instead of.

[Kid Icarus]

23 minutes ago, Lucky said:

Thays exactly my point though. He’s consistently inconsistent. Well never forge on in the league if that keeps happening season after season.

I'd cross that bridge when we come to it. He had his Bournemouth side mid-table, he has a side with the 7th highest wage bill in and around the Champions League places, I'd expect him to have a team with players good enough to win the league, in and around winning the league. 

 

As things stand, with a full squad we're nowhere near that yet, never mind one with a few key players out injured in the one position we had real strength in depth.

 

I'd argue that if we ever got near that with these players it would be because of him, not in spite of him. I would have thought that would be obvious by now, especially considering how coveted Howe is by other club's fans.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[Lucky]

Just now, Vinny Green Balls said:

It just seems like the instant gratification culture. It’s all in the snapshot, and refusing to step back and see how far we’ve come. It happens this time every season. I wish Howe would get us off to a quick start mind you.

We had a better start to last season despite poor losses to Fulham and then Brighton at home. But again patchy.

 

It’s not about instant gratification but you’d expect after another season that he’d have fixed some of those problems from last season. We had some horrific performances against beatable teams last year (Brentford, Villa, Bournemouth - shipped 12 goals in those 3 games)

 

Yes we have come a long way since the Mike Ashley days, but if you stop to admire it, you stand still and either get left further behind or those underneath catch up.

 

Yes overall over 4 years he’s been great, but when things aren’t good he shouldn’t be immune from criticism.

[Vinny Green Balls]

The points at the beginning were fine, but we were shit, and it caught up with us by November. By December, we were in a bad place.

[Vinny Green Balls]

2 minutes ago, Lucky said:

We had a better start to last season despite poor losses to Fulham and then Brighton at home. But again patchy.

 

It’s not about instant gratification but you’d expect after another season that he’d have fixed some of those problems from last season. We had some horrific performances against beatable teams last year (Brentford, Villa, Bournemouth - shipped 12 goals in those 3 games)

 

Yes we have come a long way since the Mike Ashley days, but if you stop to admire it, you stand still and either get left further behind or those underneath catch up.

 

Yes overall over 4 years he’s been great, but when things aren’t good he shouldn’t be immune from criticism.

Not saying he shouldn't, but some on here do the same exact shit every year and then pretend that they didn't totally jump the gun when things turn around. Once again, bigger picture and patterns and all.

[LionOfGosforth]

1 minute ago, Lucky said:

We had a better start to last season despite poor losses to Fulham and then Brighton at home. But again patchy.

 

It’s not about instant gratification but you’d expect after another season that he’d have fixed some of those problems from last season. We had some horrific performances against beatable teams last year (Brentford, Villa, Bournemouth - shipped 12 goals in those 3 games)

 

Yes we have come a long way since the Mike Ashley days, but if you stop to admire it, you stand still and either get left further behind or those underneath catch up.

 

Yes overall over 4 years he’s been great, but when things aren’t good he shouldn’t be immune from criticism.

 

Immune from criticism, no. But those passive-aggressive "I'm not saying he should be fired but..." posts, where the implication is you actually think he should be, will rightly be called out for being nonsense. If you look back in this thread, they've been there in each of his seasons. Would love to know who people would prefer, be good for a laugh.

[Vinny Green Balls]

6 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I'd cross that bridge when we come to it. He had his Bournemouth side mid-table, he has a side with the 7th highest wage bill in and around the Champions League places, I'd expect him to have a team with players good enough to win the league, in and around winning the league. 

 

As things stand, with a full squad we're nowhere near that yet, never mind one with a few key players out injured in the one position we had real strength in depth.

 

I'd argue that if we ever got near that with these players it would be because of him, not in spite of him. I would have thought that would be obvious by now, especially considering how coveted Howe is by other club's fans.

 

 

 

It is fairly obvious if you are not reacting to just a block of 5-10 games or so every time.

[Vinny Green Balls]

1 minute ago, LionOfGosforth said:

 

Immune from criticism, no. But those passive-aggressive "I'm not saying he should be fired but..." posts, where the implication is you actually think he should be, will rightly be called out for being nonsense. If you look back in this thread, they've been there in each of his seasons. Would love to know who people would prefer, be good for a laugh.

It's almost been copy and paste for a few since the 21-22 season.

[Ghandis Flip-Flop]

2 minutes ago, Lucky said:

We had a better start to last season despite poor losses to Fulham and then Brighton at home. But again patchy.

 

It’s not about instant gratification but you’d expect after another season that he’d have fixed some of those problems from last season. We had some horrific performances against beatable teams last year (Brentford, Villa, Bournemouth - shipped 12 goals in those 3 games)

 

Yes we have come a long way since the Mike Ashley days, but if you stop to admire it, you stand still and either get left further behind or those underneath catch up.

 

Yes overall over 4 years he’s been great, but when things aren’t good he shouldn’t be immune from criticism.

Honest question do you think Howe is to blame for Isak fucking the club over?

 

is Howe to blame for no striker being brought in until the very end of the window?

 

And lastly is Howe responsible for Wissa getting injured on international duty?

 

If you answered no to those questions, all of which have massively impacted our start to the season, then I’m questioning why you think our indifferent form so far is fully within the gift of Howe to fix

 

[Kanj]

8 minutes ago, madras said:

We dont have a target for them. Wissa has to play CF when he gets back to playing.

 

The issue then is how to play Wolt, with him or behind him or instead of.

 

I’d play Wolt as CF, Wissa LW and Murphy RW. Murphy’s job is to get the ball to them. Wissa also running behind.