Eddie Howe

[La Parka]

I'm probably the most negative cunt on here and apart from posting mou GIFs in jest even I haven't said he should be sacked.

 

He's got a rough couple of months ahead. He needs big performances in the league or things are going to get proper squeaky 

[Erikse]

10 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

The money has been spent so now what?

 

For me the issue is the squad. It's not one another manager can greatly improve anyway imo.

 

People keep talking about the money spent and it largely doesn't matter to me. Is it a stick to beat Howe with? The money was spent poorly. Nothing can be done about it now. It's about what we can do going forward.

 

Naturally the amount of money spent will increase the expectations, especially when the manager seems to have had a large influence on who we buy. In this PSR world it has a huge impact on the growth of the club, as in PSR terms we are paying a good chunk for these players every year, so it does impact what we can do going forward. Hopefully the club acknowledge that we might need to think a little differently in the windows. Or maybe Elanga and Ramsey eventually makes me eat my words, but I'm very sceptical of that.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Erikse

[black_n_white]

2 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

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

Yeah agree, unfortunately it does seem like Howe lakes the ability to get his team ready for midweek to weekend games due to lack of training time, at Liverpool he would struggle. Maybe over time he can work this out.

[Lush Vlad]

Not really sure where to put this and I almost feel like it's thread worthy, as my feelings are quite strong on it.  It can go in here because it ties into Howe and the whole squad in general.  

 

We are really bad on here at tearing players down and making it a bit personal and OTT.  I include myself in that, as I do find some players more easy to take to than others, Gordon for example I just can't really have.  So I think I'm a bit overboard with my criticism of him.  I'm a hothead so definitely say things in anger on here and read it back when I've calmed down and think 'what a twat.'

 

These players have given us all our greatest day in supporting the club, they seem a really likeable bunch and on the whole, have performed up to and beyond their skillset for long periods of time.  But a bad game, poor run of form or if they're on the decline and we seem like we can't wait to abuse them.  It's fucking pathetic, really.

 

Go in a player thread after a win and it's usually fairly positive or quite measured.  But after a loss, forget about it.  It's not just pointing out they've had a bad game.  It's all

'fuck off you useless whatever.' 

'Get him out the team, he's shite.'  

'He's crap, his legs have gone.'

'Waste of money.  Luxury signing.'

 

There is never any nuance or balance to it and the place reads like it's bipolar week to week, game to game.

 

Whatever happened to supporting the team through the good and the bad?!  Why has it become like social media on here?  Maybe it always has been like that and I've just not paid enough attention.  Maybe it is like that for all clubs, I don't go on other forums, so I wouldn't know.  But it somehow feels worse when we're continually abusing this lot.  I'm not saying they all read the forum.  But they're human beings at the end of the day, playing for the club we all follow and love.  Yes they're well compensated for that, but it just feels a bit shan giving them dogs abuse all the while. 

 

I think it's more than fair to point out when a player needs to come out the team, they've had a bad game or they're out of form etc.  Without making it a bit personal.

 

I for one am going to try and be more calm and less abusive right up until the next game.......  

 

 

[Yorkie]

The way some go on in bad moments properly kicks you when you're down like. It's understandable in the heat of the moment but when it's in the hours, days or weeks afterwards it's absolutely miserable to read. Just the nature of the beast I guess.

[Geogaddi]

Saying we have been awful since March is simply untrue , we won 7 of our last 11 league games.

[Sibierski]

4 hours ago, KingArthur said:

Hall played against Dortmund for example, and was horrible.

So one game at an elite level, he was always going to have those at a young age, part of playing youngsters.

 

Why you then sign players for £45m+ if you don’t want that and play them like Ramsey and Elanga… oh.

[Minhosa]

I'm a huge fan of Howe. With that said, I think his in game management for the last two matches has been really poor.

 

There's huge context needed, more widely, for the start to this season though;

 

- The Isak stuff, none of it of Eddie's choosing.

- The 'replacement' mess. Felt like we were bidding on every decent european striker under the age of 24 at one point.

- The signing of Woltemade. He's completely different to any forward we've ever had. Eddie's ever had. We'll have to fundamentally change the way we approach games and the final third functions to accomodate him.

- Eddie's had barely any time on the grass with him, Ramsey or Elanga. It's literally, league game, CL game, league game Carabao game, league game, CL game. AND, when we get a decent break (international) everyone fucks off around the world. Coming back either injured or knackered.

- Injuries. Particularly to Wissa, Hall and Tino.

- Director of Football/lack of a coherent strategy. Missing out on Trafford, Pedro and the various others has almost certainly hamstrung him to some extent too. How many of these guys were his actual first choice? Not Ramsdale (Trafford), Elanga (Mbeumo), Wolte (Ekitike) afaik.

 

When you think of his overall time at NUFC, it's been nothing but pressure;

 

- Saves us from relegation. Massive pressure along the way.

- Can we make CL football?

- Can our squad cope with CL football?

- Tonali stuff

- Ashworth leaving

- Staveley and Ghoudossi leaving.

- Mitchell coming in

- Eales leaving

- Fucking Pneumonia!

- Back to work early to help us push for the CL again

- Isak 

- Two new bosses now in the CEO and DOF

 

All the while winning us our first cup and achieving the CL twice.

 

The guy has been nothing short of a miracle worker so any short term issues need to be viewed through the prism of nobody else being able to achieve what he's done with us. 

 

And I say that thinking he's made more errors this season than in any other.

 

If ever there was a time for patience, context and trust.......

[The Prophet]

18 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

Not really sure where to put this and I almost feel like it's thread worthy, as my feelings are quite strong on it.  It can go in here because it ties into Howe and the whole squad in general.  

 

We are really bad on here at tearing players down and making it a bit personal and OTT.  I include myself in that, as I do find some players more easy to take to than others, Gordon for example I just can't really have.  So I think I'm a bit overboard with my criticism of him.  I'm a hothead so definitely say things in anger on here and read it back when I've calmed down and think 'what a twat.'

 

These players have given us all our greatest day in supporting the club, they seem a really likeable bunch and on the whole, have performed up to and beyond their skillset for long periods of time.  But a bad game, poor run of form or if they're on the decline and we seem like we can't wait to abuse them.  It's fucking pathetic, really.

 

Go in a player thread after a win and it's usually fairly positive or quite measured.  But after a loss, forget about it.  It's not just pointing out they've had a bad game.  It's all

'fuck off you useless whatever.' 

'Get him out the team, he's shite.'  

'He's crap, his legs have gone.'

'Waste of money.  Luxury signing.'

 

There is never any nuance or balance to it and the place reads like it's bipolar week to week, game to game.

 

Whatever happened to supporting the team through the good and the bad?!  Why has it become like social media on here?  Maybe it always has been like that and I've just not paid enough attention.  Maybe it is like that for all clubs, I don't go on other forums, so I wouldn't know.  But it somehow feels worse when we're continually abusing this lot.  I'm not saying they all read the forum.  But they're human beings at the end of the day, playing for the club we all follow and love.  Yes they're well compensated for that, but it just feels a bit shan giving them dogs abuse all the while. 

 

I think it's more than fair to point out when a player needs to come out the team, they've had a bad game or they're out of form etc.  Without making it a bit personal.

 

I for one am going to try and be more calm and less abusive right up until the next game.......  

 

 

 

Good post. 

 

Creeping polarisation. I jest with the "hound them out" nonsense, but football fans often forget these lads are human, capable of mistakes or a bad day at the office. Take Elanga for example, he seems like a good lad who blatantly wants to do well for the club, but his confidence is shot. Surely we've all been there in some form of life? 

 

An element of entitlement has certainly crept into the fanbase following the takeover, but I do think commoditisation has come in across the board. Fans don't support or back their team, they're customers who attend to be entertained, winning is the expectation. This almost certainly links into the first point about the dehumanisation of players too.

 

Sadly, I think it's just the direction the game is going in. Capitalism has grubby hands on the working man's game and they aren't getting it back any time soon.

[Erikse]

Bit concerned about that comment saying that he didn't want to sub a tall guy (Burn) as Joelinton was already out, due to set plays. So if Joelinton is out for a while now, then Burn will have to be our starting LB, because of set plays? Hall will start next game obviously as Burn is out, but after that. If he thinks we really need 4 tall guys then it will either be Burn LB or 5 at the back. Haven't been impressed by the latter option yet either.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Erikse

[KingArthur]

3 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

So one game at an elite level, he was always going to have those at a young age, part of playing youngsters.

 

Why you then sign players for £45m+ if you don’t want that and play them like Ramsey and Elanga… oh.

Yes, but most likely Eddie saw him at training and knew he wasnt ready. He was what, 18yo midfielder turned to fullback. Now he is England International.

 

The problem here is that we have no other LB fit except Burn. Who is wayyyy to slow to be our LB. And Trippier's levels have dropped at RB.

 

And our attacking plays are weaker, by a lot. Elanga has not shown anything yet, and I didn't like that signing at all. Hopefully Eddie knows what he is doing.

[lovejoy]

5 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

I'm a huge fan of Howe. With that said, I think his in game management for the last two matches has been really poor.

 

There's huge context needed, more widely, for the start to this season though;

 

- The Isak stuff, none of it of Eddie's choosing.

- The 'replacement' mess. Felt like we were bidding on every decent european striker under the age of 24 at one point.

- The signing of Woltemade. He's completely different to any forward we've ever had. Eddie's ever had. We'll have to fundamentally change the way we approach games and the final third functions to accomodate him.

- Eddie's had barely any time on the grass with him, Ramsey or Elanga. It's literally, league game, CL game, league game Carabao game, league game, CL game. AND, when we get a decent break (international) everyone fucks off around the world. Coming back either injured or knackered.

- Injuries. Particularly to Wissa, Hall and Tino.

- Director of Football/lack of a coherent strategy. Missing out on Trafford, Pedro and the various others has almost certainly hamstrung him to some extent too. How many of these guys were his actual first choice? Not Ramsdale (Trafford), Elanga (Mbeumo), Wolte (Ekitike) afaik.

 

When you think of his overall time at NUFC, it's been nothing but pressure;

 

- Saves us from relegation. Massive pressure along the way.

- Can we make CL football?

- Can our squad cope with CL football?

- Tonali stuff

- Ashworth leaving

- Staveley and Ghoudossi leaving.

- Mitchell coming in

- Eales leaving

- Fucking Pneumonia!

- Back to work early to help us push for the CL again

- Isak 

- Two new bosses now in the CEO and DOF

 

All the while winning us our first cup and achieving the CL twice.

 

The guy has been nothing short of a miracle worker so any short term issues need to be viewed through the prism of nobody else being able to achieve what he's done with us. 

 

And I say that thinking he's made more errors this season than in any other.

 

If ever there was a time for patience, context and trust.......

Excellent post. Right on the money.

[Sibierski]

2 hours ago, stozo said:

I mean Howe is unsackable for me. But just to provide even more balance to proceedings - we've won 50%+ of our games since the last international break. We also won 50%+ of our games before the last international break. If we continue winning 50%+ of our games moving forward then we are going to either win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League. Calm down everyone.

 

Not sure how that’s being calculated, but even our best seasons we’ve just about won 50% of prem games across a season. So winning 14 from next 28 is our peak which we don’t look like getting anywhere near this season  

 

Effectively be looking at 15 wins, 6 draws and 7 defeats from next 28 to get UCL (if it’s low 60s that does it). 

[Jesse Pinkman]

The clubs transfer policy was poor in the summer but Eddie is paid handsomely to get the best out of the players at his disposal. He needs a rocket up his arse and a system change away from home otherwise things will only get worse and he will likely be gone by the end of January. 
 

I don’t have as much faith as others, not because I don’t believe Howe is a good manager but this isn’t FM or FIFA where you can just change system over night. How many top flight managers do you know who can regularly change systems and be successful? They tend to become an expert at one system and dine out on that until it becomes ineffective and they are sacked. It’s why most managers only last a few years at best. Maybe only the likes of Pep who has billions to spend can make such system changes. 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Jesse Pinkman

[Izakaya]

12 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

I'm a huge fan of Howe. With that said, I think his in game management for the last two matches has been really poor.

 

There's huge context needed, more widely, for the start to this season though;

 

- The Isak stuff, none of it of Eddie's choosing.

- The 'replacement' mess. Felt like we were bidding on every decent european striker under the age of 24 at one point.

- The signing of Woltemade. He's completely different to any forward we've ever had. Eddie's ever had. We'll have to fundamentally change the way we approach games and the final third functions to accomodate him.

- Eddie's had barely any time on the grass with him, Ramsey or Elanga. It's literally, league game, CL game, league game Carabao game, league game, CL game. AND, when we get a decent break (international) everyone fucks off around the world. Coming back either injured or knackered.

- Injuries. Particularly to Wissa, Hall and Tino.

- Director of Football/lack of a coherent strategy. Missing out on Trafford, Pedro and the various others has almost certainly hamstrung him to some extent too. How many of these guys were his actual first choice? Not Ramsdale (Trafford), Elanga (Mbeumo), Wolte (Ekitike) afaik.

 

When you think of his overall time at NUFC, it's been nothing but pressure;

 

- Saves us from relegation. Massive pressure along the way.

- Can we make CL football?

- Can our squad cope with CL football?

- Tonali stuff

- Ashworth leaving

- Staveley and Ghoudossi leaving.

- Mitchell coming in

- Eales leaving

- Fucking Pneumonia!

- Back to work early to help us push for the CL again

- Isak 

- Two new bosses now in the CEO and DOF

 

All the while winning us our first cup and achieving the CL twice.

 

The guy has been nothing short of a miracle worker so any short term issues need to be viewed through the prism of nobody else being able to achieve what he's done with us. 

 

And I say that thinking he's made more errors this season than in any other.

 

If ever there was a time for patience, context and trust.......

Great post. 

 

Club are roundly fucking him. 

[Erikse]

7 minutes ago, KingArthur said:

Yes, but most likely Eddie saw him at training and knew he wasnt ready. He was what, 18yo midfielder turned to fullback. Now he is England International.

 

The problem here is that we have no other LB fit except Burn. Who is wayyyy to slow to be our LB. And Trippier's levels have dropped at RB.

 

And our attacking plays are weaker, by a lot. Elanga has not shown anything yet, and I didn't like that signing at all. Hopefully Eddie knows what he is doing.

 

While I agree, Howe actually preferred to start Burn at LB over Livramento and Hall just 1,5 years ago. Livramento even did well that season when given the chance. I'm not sure if Howe actually see Burn at LB as a huge handicap like we do. It's not like Burn was noticeably quicker 1,5 years ago. I still believe he will move Burn away from LB though.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by Erikse

[Yorkie]

4 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

An element of entitlement has certainly crept into the fanbase following the takeover,

 

Yeah this always feels quite depressing. Words like disgrace, embarrassment and - depending on the context - 'unacceptable' being used because the team have had the audacity to play badly and lose. The reality is that you don't have to drop your levels very far to get punished in this division. It shows how brilliantly we've done if anything. 

[Chicken Dancer]

When you spend £40m on a midfielder you were probably behind signing you surely start him in one of the 3 games in 7 days?

 

You build a squad to be able to rotate and manage the volume of games, yet Howe seems really reluctant to mix things up which is killing us. I really thought we’d see more rotation this season, especially after that Bournemouth game back in September. 

 

Moving Tonali central was the spark last season, I’ve no idea what we can do this season. Maybe Wissa coming back changes things, but it’ll be a long time before he’s up to match speed that’s for sure. 
 

Any talk of folk wanting him gone is frankly crackers, but I do wish he’d be a bit more bold with his team selection. As soon as Lewis Hall was fit he should be starting LB. If you’re dead against dropping Burn then stick him CB with Thiaw. 
 

Feels like a carbon copy of 23/24, except for the fact this season we can actually rotate our players but just don’t. 

[Lush Vlad]

17 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Good post. 

 

Creeping polarisation. I jest with the "hound them out" nonsense, but football fans often forget these lads are human, capable of mistakes or a bad day at the office. Take Elanga for example, he seems like a good lad who blatantly wants to do well for the club, but his confidence is shot. Surely we've all been there in some form of life? 

 

An element of entitlement has certainly crept into the fanbase following the takeover, but I do think commoditisation has come in across the board. Fans don't support or back their team, they're customers who attend to be entertained, winning is the expectation. This almost certainly links into the first point about the dehumanisation of players too.

 

Sadly, I think it's just the direction the game is going in. Capitalism has grubby hands on the working man's game and they aren't getting it back any time soon.

 

Agree with this.  We say it about match days and how the crowd are just sat expecting us to win and the atmosphere is flat.  But certainly true in general. 

 

I rarely even bother scrolling through them.  But the comments on the club's official Instagram posts are horrendous.  Full of absolute idiots.   

[andycap]

The problem is the system teams have learnt how to nullify us by either marking tonali or bruno with two or three players all the time. Knowing we are toothless without them getting the ball in advanced areas.

We seem to be the only team that plays the same 11 week in week out which is easy to plan for. 

[KingArthur]

9 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

While I agree, Howe actually preferred to start Burn at LB over Livramento and Hall just 1,5 years ago. Livramento even did well that season when given the chance. I'm not sure if Howe actually see Burn at LB as a huge handicap like we do. It's not like Burn was noticeably quicker 1,5 years ago. I still believe he will move Burn away from LB though.

 

 

 

Yes, and clearly teams are now targeting Burn every single game. It doesn't help that there is Botman next to him, who is almost as slow. I would play Thiaw LCB if Burn has to be at LB. 

Burn is also preferred because a lot of our set plays are now targeted to him. 

[The Prophet]

Just now, andycap said:

The problem is the system teams have learnt how to nullify us by either marking tonali or bruno with two or three players all the time. Knowing we are toothless without them getting the ball in advanced areas.

We seem to be the only team that plays the same 11 week in week out which is easy to plan for. 

 

Is this true this season?

[Andy]

46 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

There is never any nuance or balance to it and the place reads like it's bipolar week to week, game to game.

 

Whatever happened to supporting the team through the good and the bad?!  Why has it become like social media on here?  Maybe it always has been like that and I've just not paid enough attention.  

 

It's always been like this to be honest, even going back to the SBR days and before. It's not an issue restricted to forums or social media, the same criticism (often worse) can be heard in the ground or in the pub. 

 

I don't think it's an entitlement thing personally or even a modern football thing, you'll see and hear this sort of stuff on every forum and in every ground, pub and office across the country, and that's been the case since I started following the sport. 

[andycap]

Just now, The Prophet said:

 

Is this true this season?

I'd say yes he seems to have reverted to type with his tried and tested players. Instead of giving fresh players a chance and resting bruno et Al. 

[r0cafella]

If our wingers were better we'd actually have the makings of a good positional play team. 

 

3-2 build up. 

 

Tino Botman Thiaw 

       Sandro Hall 

 

With Bruno pushing into a half space with Ramsay pushing into the left half space. 

 

Our wingers not being able to take players on 1 v1 make it a none starter but we could progress the ball and push up high allowing us to press.