Eddie Howe

[buzza]

We have been poor this season, It is true. 

A lot of our players look worse than previously; Bruno, gordon, willock, Joe, Murphy, pope

2 of Our signings have had a bad start (Wissa & elanga).

It all adds up

[bobbydazzla]

31 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

As always, xG is just a stat used for making observations about trends and performances. I don't know why you always criticise it as if people are equating it with stuff like goals and points. Honestly man, just embrace xG and its whole inoffensive existence.

Some people (I’m looking at you @Rod ) give me shit and say I’m a weirdo for fancying Michelle Collins. I’m not offended by that. I love her, other people think she’s a munter and that’s their opinion. It’s the spice of life. 

 

I say people are weirdo virgin nerds for quoting mumbo jumbo stats. And whenever the xG noncesense pops up some cad usually tags me into the thread, so I mooch on down to see why I’m needed, I spot that it’s about xG and I can’t resist reminding people it’s mumbo jumbo because nerds quote xG like it’s the elixir of footballing triumph. 
 

And as I’ve explained before, I know what xG is, I know how it works, I know how it and other predictive stats can be used by professional data analysts to assess performance and inform decisions.
 

But I also think the overuse of predictive statistics and wanky modern phrases like “duels” makes for shite football discussion. 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2025 by bobbydazzla

[Lucky]

1 hour ago, OoOGazOoO said:

He's got just under 2 weeks to get things analysed as much as poss and pinpoint where we are going wrong.

 

I'm not sure if it is a good thing or not that our next game is City. They are in cracking form at the moment, and well, we're not. Yes we are at home and we tend to go better at SJP, but given how low on confidence we seem, we cannot let them get out the blocks early in the game otherwise it might not be a great evening.

He had 2 weeks to sort it out a month ago. We got worse.

 

I commend the optimism about the City game, but really, you know what will happen, we’ll give them a great game for all of 25 mins, they score and we’ll just be chasing shadows. Then we play away.

 

Is it really going to take losing the derby for some of you to realise this is a rot that’s started?

[Kid Icarus]

On 05/01/2025 at 16:04, Ronaldo said:

I’m a believer now. We’re playing well enough to convince me we can get to 66+ points. 

 

See you then. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

 that was a solid prediction on his part mind you

[Ronaldo]

Bizarre quote when I’ve been defending Howe all day. Yes, I think we’re playing shit, and we are.

[elbee909]

5 hours ago, Lucky said:Is it really going to take losing the derby for some of you to realise this is a rot that’s started?

 

 

 

Someone get this guy the razorblades ffs

[macphisto]

Are we not just at the end of the road with this team? A lot of our key players have been here since Howe arrived, some before his arrival. 

 

Almost like a perfect storm with the Isak dibacle, lack of leadership at the club, aging players, and injuries to key positions. 

 

Whatever happens this season, Howe deserves the time to build a new team. 

[Mattoon]

It's been long enough now for the dust to settle on last weekend and the emotions to be replaced by facts. It's been a tumultuous start to the campaign and which ever way you fold it, it's been largely unacceptable. 

 

Having said that, there are mitigating factors to our current malaise,  a rudderless summer transfer window where we were thwarted at every turn by the cartel, PSR doing some heavy lifting in order to maintain balance and the Isak ordeal really adding damage to our plans. It's not a surprise that we've fallen back, but throw in the injury to Wissa and you can see how we've fallen back so hard.

 

This team was built around maximising Isak's abilities and it's less than surprising that both he and we have struggled now he's gone, he's not as good as we think he is as a player but he was perfect for our system and as good a footballer as Woltemade is, he has potential elite skills, we don't have the ability to maximise his use with the players and tactics we employ, it's a bit of a mismatch, but a player that can be elite in the future for us as we build the squad over time.

 

We are pinning our hopes on Wissa for this season, when he comes back he is the exact type of player that will benefit massively from our style and our style will benefit massively from his inclusion and I think we can still salvage a lot from this season once he returns, he will get goals in this team and those rough draws and late losses will be turned into wins.

 

Having said that, Howe does have some questions to answer also, it was very telling that the majority of the forum was screaming for Burn to be subbed at the weekend as he was targeted by Brentford and it was inevitable what happened, make the Hall sub and we draw that game at worst, Howe either failed to see that or was so blinkered by his love for Burn that it skewed his thinking and cost us the game in the most dramatic way.

 

Howe has a LOT of credit in the bank, he took us from a soft, relegation threatened team into a solid, aggressive side that has gained CL football twice in 3 years and won its first domestic trophy in most of our lifetimes, he deserves patience and time but he has to use it wisely and turn this ship round. I know he wants us to change how we approach games, move away from the intensity and dark arts, but I wonder if its time for that yet, we don't have the players to play possession based football and wear down teams, we don't have the capacity for slick passing and intricate ball play. I'd like to see some of that intensity come back into the team, press higher up the pitch and be more aggressive again.

 

Its hard to pinpoint exactly where we're going wrong as it seems we can't even do the basics right at the moment, but I trust Howe to get it right again, to find a way for us to play that suits our players and ultimately win games again, I think the clock is ticking now though and scrutiny is rising, how he deals with that pressure and the lead up to Christmas will shape the season and ultimately his position at the club also, I want him to succeed and I think and hope that he can.

[Sibierski]

I’m confident we won’t be in a relegation battle as Tino / Hall are massive game changers, attackers will only get better and Wissa should know where the net is even with one knee.

 

It’s just once again our away form is poor. Last season it was against anyone in top 10, this season it’s against everyone. It’s the reluctance to move away from certain players. It’s the limitations often shown up by the flat midfield three, where it’s either amazing or overrun, rarely a middle ground. 
 

It’s parts we are routinely told Howe will learn and improve, but managers often don’t. He’s got plenty of time as he won’t be told to go during season unless we are legit in bottom 3 (then no-one can complain really), but he really does need to show progress by the season end. If we’re ending season with Elanga / Ramsey / Miley as peripheral players, Wolfe / Wissa rotated all the time in a 4-3-3, then it wouldn’t strike me as anything has changed and similar issues will be encountered next season. 

[bobbydazzla]

Wasn’t sure where to put this, I feel like I spend way too much time posting in the Pet Hates thread…
 

I cannit fucking wait for the current trend for every team to play Stoke-ball to be confined to the annals of history and marked down as an embarrassing shameful period in the history of the sport. 

 

Tiki-taka possession for possessions sake was dull as fuck, but the new obsession with long throws and set penis routines is utterly rancid.

 

AIDS for both the eyeballs and the soul. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2025 by bobbydazzla

[Gola]

this sacking shit can't be serious. we need to stick by him through thick and thin. a couple of shit performances doesn't mean we're shit forever. it's be a dark day if we decided to do that, up there with Bobby, and i'd be really embarassed if they did it.

[RS]

on standby 

[Interpolic]

8 hours ago, Lucky said:

He had 2 weeks to sort it out a month ago. We got worse.

 

I commend the optimism about the City game, but really, you know what will happen, we’ll give them a great game for all of 25 mins, they score and we’ll just be chasing shadows. Then we play away.

 

Is it really going to take losing the derby for some of you to realise this is a rot that’s started?

 

You can't stand the manager and have been wishing him into unemployment since your previous username, which was presumably laughed off the forum. What was it, out of interest? 

[80]

I think everyone who seems to be shocked and frightened by our recent games should do themselves a favour. 

 

Go back and watch 3 games from November and December last season - West Ham at home, Crystal Palace away and Brentford away, along with Eddie's post match interviews. I was really concerned he himself thought he was at the end of the road - our performances were worse in those games than they are now.

 

Against Palace we registered no shots on goal. Not no shots on target, literally no shots at all. Guehi scored an early own goal for us and that was it.

 

Then watch any number of games that came later. Arsenal away in the League Cup Semi 1st leg was precisely one month after the Brentford game. Maybe Aston Villa at home - a 3-0 win three weeks after Brentford. Finish it off with the League Cup final along with the celebrations, which was three months after Eddie looked like a dead man walking.

 

It should give perspective. History seems to be getting rewritten that we've never seen anything like this before.

[Zero]

1 hour ago, Gola said:

this sacking shit can't be serious. we need to stick by him through thick and thin. a couple of shit performances doesn't mean we're shit forever. it's be a dark day if we decided to do that, up there with Bobby, and i'd be really embarassed if they did it.

odds are Howe just behind Farke for the next manager to be sacked. I can only say outsiders do think it’s not entirely a joke.

 

I personally don’t want him go. In fact I think he is the perfect one if we really decide it’s time for an overhaul. Just think, if the players are really good enough or still has potential to improve a lot, then a change of manager MIGHT improve the performance. However as said, our core players (Pope Joe Schar Trippier, in a way BG, Burn, Gordon and Botman as well) might even have passed their best. A change of manager will just make things worse.

 

The loyalty to those core players are holding Howe back. Howe and the club  need to be brutal to have a major clearout. It’s perfectly fine to me to give up this season if Howe can make good use of it to rebuild the team.

 

We have some good young players that can become our new core (Tino Hall Thiaw Miley WTMD). If it’s rlly the time, just do it Eddie. 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2025 by Zero

[Zero]

Just to add, I think Howe’s tactics requires  the whole team to run and give their all. As long as the players are willing to follow the instructions and cover the grounds then we can dominate the game. Vise versa. The willingness to run and fight is Howe’s lifeline. 
 

so if the core players really passed their best and lost their ability / willingness to give their all, then they have to leave or be  demoted to the bench. And the club should bring in new players that are able to / willing to do the job.
 

I genuinely hope the management can realize what the problem is and don’t make the wrong decision 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2025 by Zero

[Myleftboot]

I can’t believe sacking Eddie is even getting mentioned,it’s only November FFS. 😂.  

[Checko]

Fuck me, if we'd won that last game convincingly everything would be fine. 

 

We're definitely not playing well. That can happen. Didn't Man City under Pep lose 6 in a row last year or something. 

 

We've never been good as posession football under Howe when a team puts us under any kind of pressure. That's basically the only thing he hasn't managed to do. He needs to sort that out and come up with some kind of plan cause most teams can cope with our press now and without that forcing turnovers and pressure we struggle.

 

The whole's team's kind of lacking in swagger a bit as well. Do wonder if we're trying to be a bit too cerebral sometimes and just need to worry a bit more about kicking some fucking arse.

 

The wanky kick to the corner from the kick-off needs to go too. I understand why they do it and I'm surprised teams don't do it more in general play - it's hard to clear a deep throw in securely - but from a kick off it's basically sending the message that we're shit in posession so we need to boot it into your half.

[mayubeproud]

I do think xG provides some meaningful insights. I think we are not performing as bad as the current table suggests.

 

Yes, we were poor against West Ham and Brentford, but I do feel like all the 3 games we won are fully deserved. In several games that we drew or lost (e.g. vs Villa, Liverpool, Brighton), there is a feeling that we deserved a better outcome based on our performance, which is also confirmed by xG.

 

Indeed I also think last season wasn't as great as our achievements suggests. We were quite poor for most of the season, other than the two mini-runs where we won 6 consecutive games between Dec-Jan and another 5 games between Mar-Apr, a lot of our performances were like what we have seen against Wham & Brentford recently. But we got lucky last year because 1) there's an extra place to qualify for CL; 2) we got a few more points than the xG table suggests.

 

And of course, people are more tolerant when we have won the cup, which we performed excellently and fully deserved. But it still doesn't change the fact that we were poor for about half of the season.

 

I would say in terms of performance, we didn't really changed a lot for the last 2 years. Last year wasn't as good as what we achieved, this season isn't as bad as the table suggests. We stayed almost the same.

[kingxlnc]

On 09/11/2025 at 19:46, BUJ said:

I'd lose no sleep if Eddie departed. He just can't get a tune out of them. 

Be careful what you wish for

[Theregulars]

Real misunderstanding and misuse of the world unacceptable in here 

[bobbydazzla]

8 minutes ago, mayubeproud said:

I do think xG provides some meaningful insights. I think we are not performing as bad as the current table suggests.

 

Yes, we were poor against West Ham and Brentford, but I do feel like all the 3 games we won are fully deserved. In several games that we drew or lost (e.g. vs Villa, Liverpool, Brighton), there is a feeling that we deserved a better outcome based on our performance, which is also confirmed by xG.

 

Indeed I also think last season wasn't as great as our achievements suggests. We were quite poor for most of the season, other than the two mini-runs where we won 6 consecutive games between Dec-Jan and another 5 games between Mar-Apr, a lot of our performances were like what we have seen against Wham & Brentford recently. But we got lucky last year because 1) there's an extra place to qualify for CL; 2) we got a few more points than the xG table suggests.

 

And of course, people are more tolerant when we have won the cup, which we performed excellently and fully deserved. But it still doesn't change the fact that we were poor for about half of the season.

 

I would say in terms of performance, we didn't really changed a lot for the last 2 years. Last year wasn't as good as what we achieved, this season isn't as bad as the table suggests. We stayed almost the same.

 

 

If my nana had a massive veiny purple headed throbber she'd be my granda.

 

 

 

[STM]

Theres virtually no scenario whereby id consider sacking Howe. Thats because hes a class manager whos side is going through turbulence, just like most sides do. 

 

Criticism is fine, but thats not what's going on, its thinly veiled insinuation, which ironically has been happening since he arrived, despite incredible success.

 

Even if we finish bottom half, he should still stay, because hes an outstanding manager and who better to get us going again.

 

Its also worth remembering that whilst we are flatlining in the league, hes also bouncing us through cup competitions with ease, unlike pretty much any other manager weve had in a long time.

 

It will come good but I suspect he will have to upset a few in the process.

[Abacus]

I think a lot of this is driven by media / social media. Definitely think a few bad results bring out the vultures in the press looking for fan discontent.

 

I'm not having it, nor should anyone that's seen what we've had before as some of our managers 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2025 by Abacus