Eddie Howe

[Displayname]

My biggest gripe isn't the results, it's that for atleast half of our games for quite a while now we just look clueless and awful with no plan and rhytm to our game.

 

Without intensity there is just so little there.

[Izakaya]

He got the control, the money and the players he wanted. He's been given a long leash and the keys to the kingdom; it's overwhelmed him and we're worse off for it. 

 

No other way to see the situation tbh. 

 

He'll clash with Wilson and Hopkinson as they try to take some power back from him, and he will decide to walk at the end of the season. 

 

It'll be a sad way to end the chapter but all managers leave eventually. 

[Nucasol]

28 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

- Put some money in

- brag about how big it’ll be

- watch as people speculate how much you’ll put in

- put it in hiatus and hope it disappears quietly

 

That’s the standard route for KSA ‘investments’.  

See LIV Golf,  “The Line” and “Neom”. All Fantasy Island bullshit.

[The Prophet]

2 hours 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?

 

You'll find very few recruitment systems in the Premier League that dont give the manager final say. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, The Prophet said:

 

You'll find very few recruitment systems in the Premier League that dont give the manager final say. 

You think Enzo Maresca has final day? You think slot has it? I can't think of any managers in the league that have the power and control over transfers that Eddie does. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

You think Enzo Maresca has final day? You think slot has it? I can't think of any managers in the league that have the power and control over transfers that Eddie does. 

Maresca handled it a bit differently TBH, he just fucked off half the playing squad and just worked with the players he liked. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Maresca handled it a bit differently TBH, he just fucked off half the playing squad and just worked with the players he liked. 

He has no say over what's bought and sold. (I'm not advocating for that either) He gets what he better get results because if he doesn't he will be binned. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

He has no say over what's bought and sold. (I'm not advocating for that either) He gets what he better get results because if he doesn't he will be binned. 

Yeah fair enough, but he also gets an infinite supply of signings and can discard whoever he doesn’t fancy. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Yeah fair enough, but he also gets an infinite supply of signings and can discard whoever he doesn’t fancy. 

Yea because that's the model they have. The manager doesn't get an input. We are the opposite end of that particular spectrum. 

[The Prophet]

28 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

You think Enzo Maresca has final day? You think slot has it? I can't think of any managers in the league that have the power and control over transfers that Eddie does. 

 

Maresca doesn't, but Chelsea's recruitment model require vast quantities of cash and results in high player turnover. It's not great.

 

I'd say ours needs tweaking to move the focus from paying Premier League premiums, but it doesn't need radical overhaul.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by The Prophet

[Keegans Export]

2 hours 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?

This extends beyond January and it's why I think suggestions that the ownership (or at least the UK-based board) won't be at least considering what happens in the summer are fanciful.

 

It's what crossed my mind when we had our poor start last season. On the assumption that one or more of our key players would move on for decent money, plus the shackles of PSR being loosened in the lead up to last summer, the question was do the club trust Howe to use that to develop post-takeover NUFC V2.0? Obviously we had a brilliant run, won the cup and finished 5th so of course he got that opportunity. 

 

The issue now is that scenario did play out (big player leaves, lots of money spent) and we look worse than we did 12 months ago, so naturally those questions are going to resurface. 

 

In the summer it seems inevitable that one or more key players are going to leave. We will have money to spend and we'll have to try and turn an upper-mid-table squad into challengers for Champions League qualification. You could say "Well, we'll just take recruitment out of Howe's hands" but is he going to accept that? We could be setting ourselves up for another summer of disruption and turmoil, this time completely self-inflicted.

[r0cafella]

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Maresca doesn't, but Chelsea's recruitment model require vast quantities of cash abd results in high player turnover. It's not great.

 

I'd say ours needs tweaking to move the focus from paying Premier League premiums, but it doesn't need radical overhaul.

I'm not saying the model they have is good. I'm merely pointing to it as example of what other clubs do. Why does turnover of players matter anyways? Especially for us when we need to be looking to improve consistently. How many players of our current squad do we look at and think these are world heaters? We'd benefit from more turnover imo. 

 

It does need a massive overhaul let's be honest about things. I do not want more 55m elanga or 40m spent on 6th choice central midfielders. It's lunacy. 

 

We need to be absolutely surgical and have a long term plan. As others clubs do, if we aren't yet elite we need a plan to get there if we have to sell players so be it but let's at least get our succession planning nailed on. If Tino is to be sold his replacement should be in the building and raring to go snapping at his heels to get his place. 

[Terrymac1966]

Our defensive line played within the back half of our own half for 60% of the game never once did it line up along halfway and put pressure on a very ordinary Sunderland side. Eddie is cautious beyond belief and losing us points by the week.

Caution does not win games time for Howe to go we should be at least 10 points further on now with that squad.

 

Love you Eddie but your time is up we cant defend our way through a season

[AyeDubbleYoo]

16 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Yea because that's the model they have. The manager doesn't get an input. We are the opposite end of that particular spectrum. 

 

Yeah I understand, it just seems like we can't supply the manager with that many signings to take his pick from. It seems like all of our signings need to work and hit the ground running because we aren't in the financial position of Chelsea. 

[Gallowgate Toon]

Some of the absolute mess involved in this 

 

[lovejoy]

2 hours ago, r0cafella said:

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. 

 

he was also 'unsupervised' in the first window, which was one of the best we've had.

 

I get the Elanga frustration, but there's not many more incoming transfer sticks to beat Howe with imo. The overwhelming majority have panned out very well.

[r0cafella]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Yeah I understand, it just seems like we can't supply the manager with that many signings to take his pick from. It seems like all of our signings need to work and hit the ground running because we aren't in the financial position of Chelsea. 

Yeah they have to, it's one of the argument used to justify the dysfunctional set up. Problem is when the wheels come off we are absolutely fucked because we have a squad full of runners who somehow don't want to run at the minute. So if Eddie's time were to be up we are in a fucking hole with a DOF Who doesn't have the CV we need to pull us out of it. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, lovejoy said:

 

he was also 'unsupervised' in the first window, which was one of the best we've had.

 

I get the Elanga frustration, but there's not many more incoming transfer sticks to beat Howe with imo. The overwhelming majority have panned out very well.

He wasn't like, he had Amanda and Mehdrad and the other crucial factor is the floor of that team was appalling. It didn't take much to improve it did it. 

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

Some of the absolute mess involved in this 

 

No surprises why we lose the ball so much on the flanks. Guardiola is choking on his coffee seeing this. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

He wasn't like, he had Amanda and Mehdrad and the other crucial factor is the floor of that team was appalling. It didn't take much to improve it did it. 

 

This is a very weird way to look at making good signings and transforming a relegation side to CL contenders, have to say. 

[et tu brute]

1 minute ago, Terrymac1966 said:

Our defensive line played within the back half of our own half for 60% of the game never once did it line up along halfway and put pressure on a very ordinary Sunderland side. Eddie is cautious beyond belief and losing us points by the week.

Caution does not win games time for Howe to go we should be at least 10 points further on now with that squad.

 

Love you Eddie but your time is up we cant defend our way through a season

That wasn't caution it was cowardly. He shit himself yesterday as he was frightened about not getting a result. Always play to win he says, well that wasn't the case yesterday against a poor Sunderland side with one of the lowest XGs in the league. 

 

[Terrymac1966]

It doesnt even look like we have a plan

What a mess

Time is up this week is pivotal

Caution and were out!

[AyeDubbleYoo]

3 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

Some of the absolute mess involved in this 

 

 

Suggests to me that some players don't have the confidence and belief to be getting into the right positions, or we lose the ball too quickly for them to really get forward. 

 

Course, these are average positions (I think?) so it could mean that the wingers track back as much as they attack, so their average is around the middle. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

This is a very weird way to look at making good signings and transforming a relegation side to CL contenders, have to say. 

He's got and deserve the credit for those achievments nobody is taking that away from him. And like anything things can come good. I've explained in detail previously why I dislike this set up. It's super high risk once the wheels come off your monumentally fucked. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, r0cafella said:

He's got and deserve the credit for those achievments nobody is taking that away from him. And like anything things can come good. I've explained in detail previously why I dislike this set up. It's super high risk once the wheels come off your monumentally fucked. 

 

FWIW I've always agreed that Howe shouldn't be too powerful when it comes to signings, no one person should. 

 

Ideally it should be a collaborative effort with data and targets identified based on the manager's needs and what the experts in the recruitment department can spot.

 

But I have no idea if we're getting closer to a proper recruitment setup or not.