Eddie Howe

[Erikse]

17 minutes ago, KaKa said:

Until we are in position to start at least one of Hall or Tino, and ideally both, the team apparently cannot progress the ball forward.

 

I'm not sure Howe realised how poor we'd be with both Trippier and Burn at full back. The real worry would be if he still doesn't see the issue, and doesn't look to improve the options there in January.

 

Brentford weren't even really pressing, or playing with any real intensity and the use of the ball from Burn and Trippier was just awful, and invited so much pressure.

 

As long as those two are starting at full back, I don't see anything changing at all. 

 

It's going to be interesting because these are two guys Howe thinks highly of, but they just can't get the job done in those positions.

 

Howe is going to have to get them out of the team or change the formation to better accommodate Burn at least.

 

I agree, the fullbacks are a massive handicap. If benching Burn is the last thing he wants to do, and he doesn't want to change formation, then just bench Botman instead and play him at CB with Hall left back. I don't like benching Botman, but if that's what it takes to get Burn away from LB, then I hope it happens. Howe seems worried about having 1 less tall player for set plays, when we would still have one of the tallest lineups in the league.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2025 by Erikse

[KaKa]

Just now, Erikse said:

 

I agree, the fullbacks are a massive handicap. If benching Burn is the last thing he wants to do, and he doesn't want to change formation, then just bench Botman instead and play him at CB with Hall left back. I don't like benching Botman, but if that's what it takes to get Burn away from LB, then I hope it happens. Howe seems worried about having 1 less tall player for set plays, when we literally have one of the very tallest lineups in the league.

 

Definitely thought the set play thing played into him keeping Burn on today and he thought he could rely on him to be more careful already being on a yellow, but it didn't work out at all.

[KaKa]

7 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Agreed - the midfield hasn’t been close to good enough.  Joelinton just isn’t a particularly good midfielder - but even more importantly I think our other two are not difficult to play against at the moment. 

 

We have an all action pressing midfield ... but we don't press anymore.

 

Composure, patience, possession and decision making with the ball are not traits we have in there.

 

Watching things more closely this season, I'm also not particularly impressed with Tonali's movement to find gaps to receive the ball from the defenders to progress the ball through midfield. Much less noticeable when we have Tino and Hall able to carry the ball forward and take multiple players in the opposition team out of the game.

 

The team really needs a 6 that constantly finds room to get on the ball and play balls into the forward players feet, that can also sit in front of the defence and defend, with Tonali and Bruno then offered more freedom to push on in those 8 positions. Joe can then be a utility and situational player in the squad.

[Erikse]

12 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Definitely thought the set play thing played into him keeping Burn on today and he thought he could rely on him to be more careful already being on a yellow, but it didn't work out at all.

 

Yeah, he even said it after the game. It's hindsight, but as I said earlier I don't think having "only" 3 tall players for 30 min would be much of a risk.. Some teams play only 3 tall players for most minutes every game, and do just fine.

[Toon No9]

Howe is not the problem.

We won't get anyone better then him.

 

The problem lies with the mess that's been with Mitchell, Eales and Ashworth. New people all the time and no stability.

 

Also this preseason with the Isak situation and no new striker in before preseason started was a big problem and got us off for a bad start.

[The College Dropout]

42 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I completely agree with those pointing out that having our fullbacks out fundamentally changes the way the side operates.

 

I question how that shields Howe from culpability - presumably he knows this too, and surely he noticed that Hall was already out when the season started, and that starting the season with one FB who can operate as you need might leave you short - and it might be worth considering when you’re out spending almost a quarter of a billion quid in the transfer market?

 

This is his squad I’m looking at - the Ashley / Bruce era is a fair way into the past.  Howe needs to find solutions from the squad he built.   I think he will, but failure is on him, just as success is. 

How shouldn’t be building the squad. Thats lack of leadership from. The owners to put in a proper structure. The last sensible squad building left with Ashworth.   
 

And someone needs to manage our players better on international duty would talking to nation FA’s. The Wissa thing I think was unavoidable but Tino shouldn’t have played in the euros and Bruno shouldn’t fly all over the world playing 90 mins in meaningless friendlies. The likes of Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez get a rest, so should Bruno.  

[Erikse]

48 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I completely agree with those pointing out that having our fullbacks out fundamentally changes the way the side operates.

 

I question how that shields Howe from culpability - presumably he knows this too, and surely he noticed that Hall was already out when the season started, and that starting the season with one FB who can operate as you need might leave you short - and it might be worth considering when you’re out spending almost a quarter of a billion quid in the transfer market?

 

This is his squad I’m looking at - the Ashley / Bruce era is a fair way into the past.  Howe needs to find solutions from the squad he built.   I think he will, but failure is on him, just as success is. 

 

I agree, I actually pointed out the lack of depth at fullback before the window, as I didn't trust Trippier to be a regular with just 1 injury there. Lots of signings was needed, but we really struggled to get players over the line for a while. Who knows who we were in for, but we never seemed interested in a fullback.

 

 

Edited November 9, 2025 by Erikse

[The Prophet]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

How shouldn’t be building the squad. Thats lack of leadership from. The owners to put in a proper structure. The last sensible squad building left with Ashworth.   
 

And someone needs to manage our players better on international duty would talking to nation FA’s. The Wissa thing I think was unavoidable but Tino shouldn’t have played in the euros and Bruno shouldn’t fly all over the world playing 90 mins in meaningless friendlies. The likes of Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez get a rest, so should Bruno.  

 

Aye, but "the last sensible squad building" was routinely criticised for at least a good twelve months.

 

Tonali was banned and it was questioned if we should have been monitoring his phone activity. 

 

Barnes was behind Gordon and Tino behind Trippier, the former still gets criticised to this day.

 

Hall couldn't get a game and there were suggestions he should be sent back to Chelsea.

 

It's only in the medium term it's being viewed as a success.

[Pilko]

I still can't believe he sat back and didn't make the sub on a yellow carded Burn after that massive let off on the first penalty appeal. Or any subs, indeed, until we're facing a pen and down to ten men. I cannot fathom for the life of me what logic he applied to think keeping things the same might somehow win us the game.

[Gottlob]

Not questioning his position, he's been here long enough and done such a good job that you'd trust him to get it right over the long haul (never mind the horror of having to look for a replacement) but the past two league games have been a clusterfuck and I think it speaks in no small part to a disjointed transfer window. Like I've said previously, I doubt Howe expected to end up with a striker who seems to necessitate such a wholesale change to our style of play, nor do I think the likes of Elanga and Ramsey were the right signings or potentially the signings we would have made had we known we'd end up with Woltemade.

 

The wingers are support players who aren't good enough at cutting inside, sniffing out goalscoring positions and finishing their chances, there's nobody in the midfield who really excels at getting beyond the striker and we're just not coached to be a good side in possession. I'm sure the players at this point realise that we're lacking goal threat. Isak could break and get into the box, not to mention conjure goals of his own making in ways that Woltemade cannot. I personally think the fullbacks are a lesser issue - our best run last season came with Trippier and Livramento while Gordon enjoyed his most productive season by far largely playing ahead of Burn - but I'd absolutely play Livramento and Hall when fit, though Livramento hasn't been outstanding down the right and I'd like a more conventional left-back as backup.

 

We could probably do with bringing Keegan in for a weekly five-a-side session. We're poorer collectively than we should be with the ball. I think we have a really good squad of players on their own merits but a lack of cohesion and I don't think there's an easy fix. Wissa might look like salvation but can you get him into the team to provide what we're lacking without a big change of system?

[r0cafella]

41 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

How shouldn’t be building the squad. Thats lack of leadership from. The owners to put in a proper structure. The last sensible squad building left with Ashworth.   
 

And someone needs to manage our players better on international duty would talking to nation FA’s. The Wissa thing I think was unavoidable but Tino shouldn’t have played in the euros and Bruno shouldn’t fly all over the world playing 90 mins in meaningless friendlies. The likes of Joao Pedro and Enzo Fernandez get a rest, so should Bruno.  

Your point about international breaks is interesting, but I truly believe our players have a lot of influence and players like Bruno are extremely proud and want to play every game from Brazil. I don't see refusing that going down well at all. 

 

Tino playing in a kids tournament this summer makes no sense however and I will never understand how we allowed that. 

 

I've been saying for awhile we have structural issues which are really painful to fix and these are really showing themselves ATM. We really need Eddie to turnaround because on the football side this is his show entirely. 

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

 

Aye, but "the last sensible squad building" was routinely criticised for at least a good twelve months.

 

Tonali was banned and it was questioned if we should have been monitoring his phone activity. 

 

Barnes was behind Gordon and Tino behind Trippier, the former still gets criticised to this day.

 

Hall couldn't get a game and there were suggestions he should be sent back to Chelsea.

 

It's only in the medium term it's being viewed as a success.

Thats the point of having a Sporting Director - someone to ensure the squad is well maintained for the medium term.  
 

Ashworths last summer was bought 2 players for the future, 2ish ready made players and a marquee signing.  Hall was 19, he was never going to be a regular and anyone with sense knew that.  It cost us that season but we should see the benefits now. Tino was ready and his initial lack of minutes was bad management from Eddie. We were unlucky with Barnes and Tonali both have contributed a lot since. We also signed a RW for £8m that is better than our £55m winger and would likely start for us now. 
 

Tbat summer was always going to be insufficient to get us back into CL because of FFP but we bought players that were better than what we had or would go onto to become really good (high potential - and we paid big for that potential too, even Minteh considering where he came from). But without the Sandro suspension we probably sneak into Europe. With the possible exception of Barnes - everyone we signed had a super high ceiling. 
 

Who is the Bruno, Sandro, Isak of this window? Elanga is bad bad business. No DOF worth his salt signs that off. Ramsey?? Even Wissa who I rate, he had to hit the ground running. If he was 23 like Sandro missing a year it wouldn’t be so bad. He’s 29. This is the moment we signed him for.  It was a short term signing. The Joelinton contract was short-termism. Ramsey and Elanga premium fee was meant to come with immediate success. 
 

We sold better, younger players for less money. 
 

We came into this season with 3 dedicated fullbacks. 1 of which played in a tourney in the semi and another is 35. The third was injured and missed most of pre season. 

39 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Your point about international breaks is interesting, but I truly believe our players have a lot of influence and players like Bruno are extremely proud and want to play every game from Brazil. I don't see refusing that going down well at all. 

 

Tino playing in a kids tournament this summer makes no sense however and I will never understand how we allowed that. 

 

I've been saying for awhile we have structural issues which are really painful to fix and these are really showing themselves ATM. We really need Eddie to turnaround because on the football side this is his show entirely. 

Is Bruno the only proud Brazilian? He was the only outfield player to start and complete 2 90s in those Asia friendlies. A man that if he stays fit will start 50 games minimum for his club in the most intense league in the world and play 90%+ minutes. It’s even dumb from Brazil’s perspective they are risking burning him out. He can’t even get a direct flight to and from Brazil can he? So much travelling.  

The mess about the club was always going to impact the playing side. That transfer window was it.  It was a debacle too far. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

Thats the point of having a Sporting Director - someone to ensure the squad is well maintained for the medium term.  
 

Ashworths last summer was bought 2 players for the future, 2ish ready made players and a marquee signing.  Hall was 19, he was never going to be a regular and anyone with sense knew that.  It cost us that season but we should see the benefits now. Tino was ready and his initial lack of minutes was bad management from Eddie. We were unlucky with Barnes and Tonali both have contributed a lot since. We also signed a RW for £8m that is better than our £55m winger and would likely start for us now. 
 

Tbat summer was always going to be insufficient to get us back into CL because of FFP but we bought players that were better than what we had or would go onto to become really good (high potential - and we paid big for that potential too, even Minteh considering where he came from). But without the Sandro suspension we probably sneak into Europe. With the possible exception of Barnes - everyone we signed had a super high ceiling. 
 

Who is the Bruno, Sandro, Isak of this window? Elanga is bad bad business. No DOF worth his salt signs that off. Ramsey?? Even Wissa who I rate, he had to hit the ground running. If he was 23 like Sandro missing a year it wouldn’t be so bad. He’s 29. This is the moment we signed him for.  It was a short term signing. The Joelinton contract was short-termism. Ramsey and Elanga premium fee was meant to come with immediate success. 
 

We sold better, younger players for less money. 
 

We came into this season with 3 dedicated fullbacks. 1 of which played in a tourney in the semi and another is 35. The third was injured and missed most of pre season. 

Is Bruno the only proud Brazilian? He was the only outfield player to start and complete 2 90s in those Asia friendlies. A man that if he stays fit will start 50 games minimum for his club in the most intense league in the world and play 90%+ minutes. It’s even dumb from Brazil’s perspective they are risking burning him out. He can’t even get a direct flight to and from Brazil can he? So much travelling.  

The mess about the club was always going to impact the playing side. That transfer window was it.  It was a debacle too far. 

No he absolutely isn't but he's also not going to stand for not refusing a call up imo. This issue is probably compounded by us not being a traditional "big club" he probably thinks he starts skipping games for them he wont be getting called up. 

 

Us being where we are presents unique problems imo. 

[The College Dropout]

We’ve only got 2 proper senior CMs. 
 

We’ve got 3 hybrid midfield players in Willock, Ramsey and Joelinton. Howe likes that profile but give him 2 at the very max. If we couldn’t shift Willock, we shouldn’t have bought Ramsey and got a proper CM instead.  Or a proper 10.  
 

[Zero]

I wonder if there is some stats re the distance covered by our players, and compare it with what we have done last season.

Something doesn’t feel right to me. Especially the midfield.
 

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

No he absolutely isn't but he's also not going to stand for not refusing a call up imo. This issue is probably compounded by us not being a traditional "big club" he probably thinks he starts skipping games for them he wont be getting called up. 

 

Us being where we are presents unique problems imo. 

Literally everyone else got some type of rest. Again he was the only player to complete 2x 90s in Asia.   It’s not about rejecting a call up. It’s managing minutes and travel.  
 

If it was a one off I wouldn’t mind.  

[Magpie Mover]

1 minute ago, Zero said:

I wonder if there is some stats re the distance covered by our players, and compare it with what we have done last season.

Something doesn’t feel right to me. Especially the midfield.
 

Well Brentford out ran us today that i do know.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

Literally everyone else got some type of rest. Again he was the only player to complete 2x 90s in Asia.   It’s not about rejecting a call up. It’s managing minutes and travel.  
 

If it was a one off I wouldn’t mind.  

I don't disagree but practically how do you achieve that if the player wants to play every minute for his country?

[Magpie Mover]

I think he'll get to the end of the season and rightly so, however to get another season results will have to pick up and more importantly we need to become a much better football team not wedded to 433 and a lot more to us than intensity is our identity. 

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, Zero said:

I wonder if there is some stats re the distance covered by our players, and compare it with what we have done last season.

Something doesn’t feel right to me. Especially the midfield.
 

We actually ask too much of our midfield imo. Our defence is beyond slow, most of them would lose a foot race at sports day honestly. This causes us to drop off which means our midfield has to cover even more ground as we can't compress the space. Add in our transitional nature and we basically flog our midfield. 

 

It's probably why we've adopted more of a deeper block with less high pressing, but we are awful at playing out from the back so we struggle to exert any form of control over the game. We've always been at our best when pressing really high and getting tight and squeezing the space but one ball over the top undoes that. 

[Disco]

Saying that for all the shit posted about El Rey Eddie. We’re in pole position for a 3rd domestic cup semi in 4 years and looking good for CL qualification.

[Vinny Green Balls]

 I made the mistake of going back to comments from late November 2024. Aside from the  wild hyperbole from a few familiar culprits, a common theme was that we looked utterly disjointed and utterly incapable of scoring.  

[Zero]

No matter what, Howe fully deserve a full season for turning things around. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with this. That’s from a fans perspective.

 

 

But then, if we keep on losing league games and drop to the relegation zone, then I fully expect Howe to be fired around Xmas. The management wouldn’t want to risk another relegation to the project.

 

 

We got to get at least 3 points against Everton and Spurs.

[McDog]

26 minutes ago, Zero said:

No matter what, Howe fully deserve a full season for turning things around. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with this. That’s from a fans perspective.

 

 

But then, if we keep on losing league games and drop to the relegation zone, then I fully expect Howe to be fired around Xmas. The management wouldn’t want to risk another relegation to the project.

 

 

We got to get at least 3 points against Everton and Spurs.

 

 

I know it sounds hollow based on recent results but I highly doubt that will come to pass.

[Mountain]

38 minutes ago, Zero said:

No matter what, Howe fully deserve a full season for turning things around. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with this. That’s from a fans perspective.

 

 

But then, if we keep on losing league games and drop to the relegation zone, then I fully expect Howe to be fired around Xmas. The management wouldn’t want to risk another relegation to the project.

 

 

We got to get at least 3 points against Everton and Spurs.

 

The counter argument is that being handed hundreds of millions of pounds, you could plan to correct this.