Eddie Howe

[Mountain]

2 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

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.  
 

 

 

The issue is the tactics and philosophy. We can't just rely on one player changing everything, Eddie has had a lot of money to change things as he wishes.

 

 

 

 

[et tu brute]

3 hours ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

 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.  

You're going on ignore. All you have done is try and call out posters with genuine concerns at the shit show currently being presented. Hyperbole , you must be an expert on that word, the amount of shit what comes out again and again from your mouth. I usually just ignore what you say anyway, until you included me with your moronic post about Chelsea's ownership and their six managers. Now I don't have to try.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by et tu brute

[Lucky]

I just watched his interviews on the various tv networks he was obliged to.

 

He thought we were good in the first half.

 

Thats seriously troubling. He’s either bullshitting the press which is something on its own or he genuinely does believe that which is far worse.

 

At the end of the day, he’s built something and he’s going to be fiercely protective of it, which includes not taking constructive criticism.

 

How many musicians or artists do you know who are open to the suggestion that they should change something they’ve worked on, it’s no different here.

[Lucky]

6 hours ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

Like Mourinho? Good luck in finding one who will come, especially with PSR restraints..  And what would really give them a boost is if they knew Howe was a dead man walking until the summer. Maybe they should see how we do instead and then decide in the summer.

 

Can we try to be more realistic here?

 

 

 

No, not Mourinho.

 

But someone like Ancelotti who’s at Brazil now. Just don’t think that’s a good fit and I can certainly see Madrid going back in for him if they have anything less than a spectacular year, so why not get in there first.

 

He must have had 2 or 3 stints there at this point.

 

Zidane is out of work. He’d have the draw to keep people like Tonali at the club even if we don’t qualify for Europe and would raise our profile globally.

 

Mancini was apparently on a shortlist last year if Howe had been offered or taken the England job.

 

There’s not many out there that would be a genuine upgrade, but they are out there.

[Vinny Green Balls]

46 minutes ago, Lucky said:

No, not Mourinho.

 

But someone like Ancelotti who’s at Brazil now. Just don’t think that’s a good fit and I can certainly see Madrid going back in for him if they have anything less than a spectacular year, so why not get in there first.

 

He must have had 2 or 3 stints there at this point.

 

Zidane is out of work. He’d have the draw to keep people like Tonali at the club even if we don’t qualify for Europe and would raise our profile globally.

 

Mancini was apparently on a shortlist last year if Howe had been offered or taken the England job.

 

There’s not many out there that would be a genuine upgrade, but they are out there.

I was hoping that it was clear that I was being facetious about Mourinho. Can’t stand the has been clown.

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Vinny Green Balls said:

I was hoping that it was clear that I was being facetious about Mourinho. Can’t stand the has been clown.

He was making the sex eyes at us again before the Benfica match.  I wouldn’t be tempted, and I hope the owners wouldn’t be either 

[Vinny Green Balls]

5 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

He was making the sex eyes at us again before the Benfica match.  I wouldn’t be tempted, and I hope the owners wouldn’t be either 

That would be an eventful 4 months

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

That would be an eventful 4 months

It would feel very much like the pre-Ashley NUFC again.  Appoint a ‘name’, have piss taken out of us by the rest of the country, give ‘name’ loads of money to waste, watch him fail, sack him relatively early into his tenure, rinse and repeat.  

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by TheBrownBottle

[Vinny Green Balls]

14 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

It would feel very much like the pre-Ashley NUFC again.  Appoint a ‘name’, have piss taken out of us by the rest of the country, give ‘name’ loads of money to waste, watch him fail, sack him relatively early into his tenure, rinse and repeat.  

 

 

 

 I obviously think that talk of replacements just six months after the cup final is wildly premature anyway. They certainly got the appointment of Howe right. He’s given us concrete success over four years. I’d prefer stability right now rather than risking chopping and changing somewhat regularly. If he can’t pull us out of it, that’s one thing. But he certainly has earned more leeway than a few on here are bothering giving. I do wish we’d get rid of these spells where we look the least capable football team in the league before we go on a massive unbeaten run though. We certainly suffered it a year ago. But I’d much rather have Howe than a cunt like Klopp or Arteta, who wouldn’t be guaranteed to reproduce what Howe did anyway. The soul is being completely ripped out of the game and turned into an Ayn Rand fetishizing neoliberal’s giant wet dream spreadsheet through puppy farms, countless pointless revenue increasing games, and financial shackles for the also rans; he is one of the few positives left tbh. There are obviously more. That cup final was something I’d never thought I’d experience. And we generally have a set of likable players. But it’s hard not to be a little worried about the future of the game.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Vinny Green Balls

[Jewel]

6 hours ago, HawK said:

 

Don't think anyone has said he needs sacking 

It's the favourite straw man of people who believe Eddie Howe is beyond any criticism whatsoever.

[Vinny Green Balls]

“Dead man walking” and listing potential appointments suggests more than an observation. It’s also gaslighting every time posters claim that no one is insinuating it, even if it’s only a handful of people. But Froggy‘s claim that it was half the forum after a Chelsea game is an exaggeration 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Vinny Green Balls

[TheBrownBottle]

6 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

 I obviously think that talk of replacements just six months after the cup final is wildly premature anyway. They certainly got the appointment of Howe right. He’s given us concrete success over four years. I’d prefer stability right now rather than risking chopping and changing somewhat regularly. If he can’t pull us out of it, that’s one thing. But he certainly has earned more leeway than a few on here are bothering giving. I do wish we’d get rid of these spells where we look the least capable football team in the league before we go on a massive unbeaten run though. We certainly suffered it a year ago. But I’d much rather have Howe than a cunt like Klopp or Arteta, who wouldn’t be guaranteed to reproduce what Howe did anyway. The soul is being completely ripped out of the game and turned into an Ayn Rand fetishizing neoliberal’s giant wet dream spreadsheet through puppy farms, countless pointless revenue increasing games, and financial shackles for the also rans; he is one of the few positives left tbh. There are obviously more. That cup final was something I’d never thought I’d experience. And we generally have a set of likable players. But it’s hard not to be a little worried about the future of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

I agree generally, though I have to say I’d absolutely have a massive weapon in charge if they guaranteed us trophies.  Given who owns us, the manager being a wanker in the least of my worries in terms of moral scruples.

 

All talk of axing Howe is hugely premature - as ever, he needs time and should get it.  How long will be different for everyone - for me, he’s got his squad and spent the money, so getting rid of him would be daft from a financial as well as a footballing perspective - unless of course things stay like this for an extended period.  I have to say though that if current performances continue into the derby and he then loses that in a similar fashion, then the mood music could turn very quickly.

[Groundhog63]

26 minutes ago, Jewel said:

It's the favourite straw man of people who believe Eddie Howe is beyond any criticism whatsoever.

 

Clown. There's literally no one, ever, suggested Howe's "beyond criticism" 😂😂😂

 

For my part I'm just constantly astounded at the arrogance of the people on here who, genuinely, think they see things Eddie and his team don't. It's hilarious 😂😂😂

 

Is it playing FM? Not sure?? 

 

Never mind the entitlement, disrespect and lack of appreciation 😉

[Sibierski]

9 hours ago, Andy said:

 

but if we're consistently this poor and showing no signs of improvement by the end of the season then questions will likely be asked. 

All comes back down to owners and what their actual vision is moving forward. If they’re content just being owners of a prem club, then Howe has a job for life regardless of what we do. If they’re serious about wanting to challenge the elite, then no Europe and he’s gone.
 

Tuchel will be wanting a club job and if the owners want a named manager that’s won the big stuff, he will be front of line. 

[Sibierski]

8 hours ago, The Prophet said:

 

Aye, but Hall took twelve months to bed in. During that time plenty discussed sending him back to Chelsea.

He didn’t take 12 months to bed in, he just wasn’t favoured early on. And despite all us screaming for him to play, we had to endure Burn being torn at LB over Dec/Jan before Hall did play and he looked great and it was all “Howe knew when to play him”.

 

He would’ve been up and down if he started earlier on, but he was a kid so it be expected. It’ll be like now if Ramsey comes in after break and starts playing well, it’s not “Howe knew when to play him / bed him in”, it’ll be he’s a good player who’s finally got a run ahead of someone who’s not great anymore in that position (Joelinton). 
 

The one criticism I’ve always had of Howe, is his reluctance to bring new players into the XI unless it was a forced change. Let’s be honest, Thaiw would not have got this run if Schar wasn’t forced out. 

[Heron]

8 hours ago, Erikse said:

 

As good as our last season was, our away record was on par with or worse than Palace, Brounemouth, Fulham, Forest and Brighton. This season we are currently 15th in the away table from 6 games when half the league has played 5, and the strongest team that we have faced so far is Villa (who was far from their best). Only 3 other teams has 0 away wins. I don't know about you, but I expect us to have a better away record than most of the regular mid table teams, given our spending power compared to them. Even mid table teams gets some wins in these "tough" away from home games. No reason to dress it up.

 

 

 

It's not dressing it up, it's being realistic. Draws away from home at relatively tough destinations isn't so bad when you're winning a lot at home. 19 home wins and 19 draws would see you on 76 points which would see you comfortably CL and/or challenging titles.

 

Of course that is an ideal world and we are some way off that at present. That I am not denying. There are 4 away games this season I'd have expected better from us results wise. West Ham, Brentford and Leeds as outlined previously, but also a draw at Brighton ideally for where we want to be. However, there is also some rhyme and reason for the likes of Leeds.

 

It is important to look at some of the context rather than just the statistical summary. Despite our away form last season we finished 5th. We weren't competing on 4 platforms either. We are only 12 games in this season.

 

Ultimately, as is always the case both on here, on WhatsApp discussions and in life I just choose to see the positives to be honest rather than dwell on negatives. It has nowt to do with 'dressing up'. It is about perspective, because both what you AND I say is a reality.

[Optimistic Nut]

Will always back Howe. My only worry is if Liverpool became available for example, he'd be near the top of the list of the elite clubs now, which may not have been the case a year ago. 

[KingArthur]

19 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

He didn’t take 12 months to bed in, he just wasn’t favoured early on. And despite all us screaming for him to play, we had to endure Burn being torn at LB over Dec/Jan before Hall did play and he looked great and it was all “Howe knew when to play him”.

 

He would’ve been up and down if he started earlier on, but he was a kid so it be expected. It’ll be like now if Ramsey comes in after break and starts playing well, it’s not “Howe knew when to play him / bed him in”, it’ll be he’s a good player who’s finally got a run ahead of someone who’s not great anymore in that position (Joelinton). 
 

The one criticism I’ve always had of Howe, is his reluctance to bring new players into the XI unless it was a forced change. Let’s be honest, Thaiw would not have got this run if Schar wasn’t forced out. 

Hall played against Dortmund for example, and was horrible.

[Lucky]

3 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Will always back Howe. My only worry is if Liverpool became available for example, he'd be near the top of the list of the elite clubs now, which may not have been the case a year ago. 

Liverpool wouldn’t be in for him, not based off this season. And if Slot ever finds himself being shown the door, I reckon Klopp would go back.

 

Man Utd would have been the main culprit before they sort of turned things around.

[TheBrownBottle]

14 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Will always back Howe. My only worry is if Liverpool became available for example, he'd be near the top of the list of the elite clubs now, which may not have been the case a year ago. 

I wouldn’t worry about it at all.  Liverpool would not be interested.  

[McCormick]

The fact that we don’t have enough time to do full-on training sessions with Eddie is hurting us, I feel. We seem a bit jaded from having so many games back to back too.

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, McCormick said:

The fact that we don’t have enough time to do full-on training sessions with Eddie is hurting us, I feel. We seem a bit jaded from having so many games back to back too.

We bought a squad to rotate though, we have 200m less excuses when it comes to tiredness this time around. 

[McCormick]

Considering how many new players are still finding their feet and haven’t had a full dose of proper training, it’s hardly shocking that we look a bit flat imo. Rotation only gets you so far when there’s still so many learning what’s expected of them tactically etc. 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by McCormick

[Froggy]

1 hour ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

“Dead man walking” and listing potential appointments suggests more than an observation. It’s also gaslighting every time posters claim that no one is insinuating it, even if it’s only a handful of people. But Froggy‘s claim that it was half the forum after a Chelsea game is an exaggeration 

 

Like you said, there's a lot of gaslighting going on. It wasn't half the forum saying "get Eddie out." and I've already admitted to hyperbole with my original statement. It was easily half and more expressing concern though at whether or not he could turn it around, and a lot of posters were afraid to say what they were really thinking.

 

Howe is treated like a God by many on here and if you even suggest he might not be elite you're called an idiot and hounded. He's been brilliant for the majority of his tenure, but there are glaring mistakes being made now and I'm genuinely just interested in the reaction.

[sparkzter]

We are about a third of a way through the season now. Players need to ‘find their feet’ sharpish if that’s the issue.