Eddie Howe

[The Butcher]

Rather we want back to our pressing game and rotated more for each game.

 

 

[Optimistic Nut]

8 hours ago, midds said:

I just feel results can be turned around if the performances are there, I don't think the performances are actually there but we've got some results regardless??

 

Last season we tweaked one thing (Sandro for Bruno) and it clicked and we went on an amazing run. This season it feels like the entire thing needs ripping up and putting back together with changes to formation, attitude and players and I think it's too big a problem to fix to get an instant change and go on the same kind of run. We've played so poorly for so long (despite getting the odd good result) that the issues are too ingrained and systemic to fix quickly

 

We also had Isak who went on a goal a game run for months on end. Asking a helluva lot for Woltemade & Wissa to have that sort of form. 

[Lush Vlad]

8 hours ago, Wullie said:

The really worrying thing with the away form is how daunting the rest of the away fixture list looks, just a big list of places we never win.

I was thinking this last night when I couldn’t sleep. Due to that gutless shitfest yesterday. I feel like I’ve not been to bed. 
 

Considering for the most part we barely muster a shot on target away from home. And in a lot of games, struggle to actually get out of our half. I’m really not sure where the points are coming from?! 
 

Not played any of the traditional Sky 6 away yet have we? Only Villa out of the current top 6, I think. 
 

Arsenal, City, Liverpool, Chelsea. All nailed on losses in a good season. Never mind one where our away performances and results have us looking like a relegation side. 

[astraguy]

35 wackos ffs

[Sibierski]

9 hours ago, Pablo123 said:

Out of curiosity, who would you want instead of Howe? General question after reading the poll.

The one I’d want if we had to make a change in summer would be Tuchel. Not a huge fan of his football, but it’s a elite coach that’s still in his good years, point to proven and the name to say we want to push on (plus experience of juggling competitions). Also, comes with recent added bonus of working with England players we are keen on still as a market, and could be an added tip to eventually getting back Anderson.

 

England approaching us for Howe later in 2026 I do think could be a good move for all involved if we’re still on similar up and downs. Howe is able to take on a role that’s less demanding, heading into a home Euros, he leaves us with everyone in love with one another, and the door firmly open for a return in years to come in a positive nature. 
 

We’re then able to steer squad in a new direction under a new guy without it being a ‘turmoil situation’. 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by Sibierski

[r0cafella]

Question for everyone. 

 

We obviously know the recruitment structure is Eddie has final say, in reality this means we sign who Eddie wants. 

 

With that preamble out of the way, say we have 85m to spend in January are you giving it to him?

[Nucasol]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

Question for everyone. 

 

We obviously know the recruitment structure is Eddie has final say, in reality this means we sign who Eddie wants. 

 

With that preamble out of the way, say we have 85m to spend in January are you giving it to him?

We may have to if the injuries stack up.

[Optimistic Nut]

Tuchel, Glasner, Iraola are the standout 3 if Howe left, imo..

[Novocastrian]

10 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Question for everyone. 

 

We obviously know the recruitment structure is Eddie has final say, in reality this means we sign who Eddie wants. 

 

With that preamble out of the way, say we have 85m to spend in January are you giving it to him?

Not for more PL fodder.

[lovejoy]

21 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Question for everyone. 

 

We obviously know the recruitment structure is Eddie has final say, in reality this means we sign who Eddie wants. 

 

With that preamble out of the way, say we have 85m to spend in January are you giving it to him?

Absolutely. He’s had the final say this whole time and look at the recruitment, it’s been excellent overall. Elanga looks rank, but the rest has been pretty flawless (too early to know on Ramsey).

 

 

[Pablo123]

Question for everyone - would you get that Blades lass at the training ground today to give the players a goth gobble to boost morale? (Clothes optional).

[Virtua Stiva]

For Ramsey to be signed for £40 million and then be left behind Willock in selection preference suggests some serious buyers remorse, like. Unless we’re trying to show potential buyers for Willock that he can actually stay fit for longer than 5 minutes 

[PauloGeordio]

2 minutes ago, Virtua Stiva said:

For Ramsey to be signed for £40 million and then be left behind Willock in selection preference suggests some serious buyers remorse, like. Unless we’re trying to show potential buyers for Willock that he can actually stay fit for longer than 5 minutes 

That was my hope!

 

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, lovejoy said:

Absolutely. He’s had the final say this whole time and look at the recruitment, it’s been excellent overall. Elanga looks rank, but the rest has been pretty flawless (too early to know on Ramsey).

 

 

To be fair. Last summer was when he was unsupervised and this is what we've ended up. Not a good look imo. 

 

Would be a bit mad to let him repeat the trick to be honest. And don't get me wrong what we've got last season may come good but this football. We don't have 6-12 months to wait before a player comes good mind. Expectations scale with investment and all that. 

[ExiledGeordie]

6 minutes ago, Virtua Stiva said:

For Ramsey to be signed for £40 million and then be left behind Willock in selection preference suggests some serious buyers remorse, like. Unless we’re trying to show potential buyers for Willock that he can actually stay fit for longer than 5 minutes 

To spend 40m on Ramsey and then not play him is very concerning. Either Howe isn’t coaching him well enough to get him into the side or the lad isn’t doing it in training/behind the scenes. But you can’t sign players for 40m and not end up playing him, we can’t afford that (literally).

[r0cafella]

Another major concern is we still look absolutely hopeless in possession as well. I know we thought we'd improve with Tino and Hall back but it was rancid again. It's as if we don't do any in possession work at all. It was a bit of a red flag when Long staff mentioned it when he joined Leeds, but it's alarm bells now and it shows. We must spend our time working on the high press we barely use, as a lot of our chance creation came from high turnovers so it's not at all surprising we are struggling to create anything. 

[Casey]

[Collage]

2 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Another major concern is we still look absolutely hopeless in possession as well. I know we thought we'd improve with Tino and Hall back but it was rancid again. It's as if we don't do any in possession work at all. It was a bit of a red flag when Long staff mentioned it when he joined Leeds, but it's alarm bells now and it shows. We must spend our time working on the high press we barely use, as a lot of our chance creation came from high turnovers so it's not at all surprising we are struggling to create anything. 

I’ve missed this. Leeds do much more possession work than us?

[Jewel]

Without pictures or a link to pictures, this question is impossible to answer.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Collage said:

I’ve missed this. Leeds do much more possession work than us?

Yes but it's a bit of Rafa blanket situation. Training time is obviously limited and when we were playing to our strength we pinned most teams back and negated the need for excessive possession based stuff. Obviously we aren't doing that nowadays and we having more of the ball deep in our own half and that's where the cracks are showing. 

[Lush Vlad]

1 hour ago, r0cafella said:

Question for everyone. 

 

We obviously know the recruitment structure is Eddie has final say, in reality this means we sign who Eddie wants. 

 

With that preamble out of the way, say we have 85m to spend in January are you giving it to him?

I don’t think so. But then surely Wilson will have more input and control now? He was running the show on his own in the summer. 
 

I said similar after Brentford away last season. As I couldn’t see him turning it around. I’m not going to doubt him again regarding turning the performances around. No matter how much I’m struggling to see it.
 

But in this world of PSR. Wissa, Elanga and Ramsey for £150m does seem negligent the more you look at it. 

 

Although that is with the benefit of hindsight and there are mitigating circumstances with Wissa, TBF. 

[Collage]

6 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Yes but it's a bit of Rafa blanket situation. Training time is obviously limited and when we were playing to our strength we pinned most teams back and negated the need for excessive possession based stuff. Obviously we aren't doing that nowadays and we having more of the ball deep in our own half and that's where the cracks are showing. 

For me it comes down to Howe's unwillingness to rotate. If we did that properly we should be able to maintain our pressing game, even with more games.

[r0cafella]

Just now, Lush Vlad said:

I don’t think so. But then surely Wilson will have more input and control now? He was running the show on his own in the summer. 
 

I said similar after Brentford away last season. As I couldn’t see him turning it around. I’m not going to doubt him again regarding turning the performances around. No matter how much I’m struggling to see it.
 

But in this world of PSR. Wissa, Elanga and Ramsey for £150m does seem negligent the more you look at it. 

 

Although that is with the benefit of hindsight and there are mitigating circumstances with Wissa, TBF. 

Wilson is a nobody. He will be doing what he's told to do after all, for some bizarre reason Eddie had a hand in his appointment. 

 

 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Collage said:

For me it comes down to Howe's unwillingness to rotate. If we did that properly we should be able to maintain our pressing game, even with more games.

I was also under the impression this is why we bought some players who don't immediately improve us. I've harped on in the past about signing players who improve your first team and not dedicated squad players as you put that fire under those old players and keep them hungry. Do you think Bruno goes in to those team announcement meetings thinking he's going to be dropped?

 

It's all very odd honestly, my hunch is the players have a lot of influence over things. 

[Whitley mag]

It’s pretty clear we don’t spend much time training with the ball, maybe it’s a reason it’s gone stale and players look sick as fuck.

 

Our attacking play is solely based on the wide players creating, we appear to have adopted the Mourinho approach of flogging our wingers as back up fullbacks, particularly away from home.

 

There’s a reason we didn’t sign a Trincao, or the Monaco lad in the summer to play wide.

 

God forbid we ever play with 2 midfielders the defence would be fucked.