Eddie Howe

[lovejoy]

31 minutes 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. 

Ah so Staveley and Mehrdad picked the players?

 

got you!

 

 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Ah yeah, well they're another level again. Not sure there are any other examples of players that good outside of the top few teams in the world. 

 

I just think Barnes and Gordon are both more wide forwards than wingers and in theory they should be able to play OK off Woltemade. 

 

 

 

There’s plenty of players who are technical kicking about, Foden and Silva are just the highest quality examples of it.  I don’t think Barnes nor Gordon have the football brains to do it. 

[Vedder]

13 minutes ago, Heron said:

We're all laughing about Isak but I personally think there's a reality that, that debacle has really dampened our squad tbh.

 

How many of our fans though Isak was one of the top 3 strikers in the world? He probably was tbf. He was on like a goal a game consistently for a while. The players would have thought that too. Then he hoys his toys out the pram and us being the side we aspire to be goes somewhat out the window.

 

It is purely speculative on my behalf but I reckon Woltemade wasn't the desired replacement and instead we've got a super talented kid in a system that, without top wingers won't work. We don't have top wingers. Murphy who has been the most consistent form wise for the last 18months or so and then Gordon and Barnes who occasionally have odd, good games. Elangas confidence is shot to bits.

 

I also reckon players like Botman and Gordon aspire to be like Isak and get their big moves to bigger clubs and they'll feel that NUFC is holding them back rather than their own lack of fitness or performances.

 

Again, it is purely speculative, it's just the vibe I get and I think this is a very transitional season as a result, next season will be more of the same as your Burns and Schars inevitably slide away and there's a real desire for the likes of City to buy Tino and/or Hall.

 

PSR stuff and Isaks cuntery have really put a spanner in our works for me and whilst we all laugh at Isak, myself included, perhaps we're just being somewhat delusional about the positives and negatives of that whole scenario and how it panned out.

 

 

 

We always get told we need to be better sellers and getting decent money in for Gordon is a prime example of this. I think his reputation is still strong from Champs League performances and that he gets in the England team. If we can get decent money for him, we should sell. I really like Botman but his injury record tells me he’ll want a better deal than we’ll be willing to give. I’d sell him too. 
 

In terms of buying we have to get much better and more confident with buying from abroad. We did brilliant with Isak, Tonali, Bruno etc then haven’t followed this up, instead going for expensive  Premier League players. There’s far more value in Europe and a strong desire by many to come and play in the premier league at a champions league club. We need to capitalise on this more. 

[Heron]

5 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Gordon's natural game isn't constantly going outside on his weaker foot though. It's not even really getting to the byline. 

What is Gordon's game nowadays?

[r0cafella]

2 minutes ago, lovejoy said:

Ah so Staveley and Mehrdad picked the players?

 

got you!

 

 

No but I'm sure they had guidance in terms of what we could and couldn't do. And as I said, letting him choose his sweets was a risky proposition and oh look, tooth decay. 

[lovejoy]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

No but I'm sure they had guidance in terms of what we could and couldn't do. And as I said, letting him choose his sweets was a risky proposition and oh look, tooth decay. 

 

Very selective way of looking at it imo, but all about opinions.

[BrickTop]

It's very doom and gloom this morning for obvious reasons. Both sides just cancelled each other out. A freak goal the difference. My only gripe is the lack of pressing and intensity in the first half. I understand a more measured approach this season when we're playing 2 games a week but if there's ever a game to roll out our trademark high press no room to maneuver approach it was this game.

 

Having said that, my belief in Howe hasn't wavered. It isn't easy battling on 3 fronts and this is probably the most competitive PL campaign in recent seasons. I still don't think anyone else would be doing a better job. He'll turn it around, he always does. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, lovejoy said:

 

Very selective way of looking at it imo, but all about opinions.

Not really when I've held this view stated it on many occasions and got the flak for it when things were going well. 

 

For me, the posterboy for the style of management Eddie wants is Fergie and the alarm bells for me always were look at what happened to them when he hung it up. 

 

You ok with Eddie picking his own players without questions?

[Pablo123]

4 minutes ago, Heron said:

What is Gordon's game nowadays?

Wearing a headband and doing over-exaggerated blinks?

[Dr Venkman]

On 12/11/2025 at 03:19, Lucky said:

If things don’t massively improve I can see us only getting another 3-5 points before the end of 2025. We have a tough run of games after the break. Burnley at home is the only one I’m looking at thinking we have a chance there.

 

Maybe Wissa will change the dynamic completely but I just think, where is the service going to come from if the rest of the side doesn’t transform.

 

If we don’t sort it out this could be a likely set of results.

 

City (h) - L: WRONG, W (+3)

Everton (a) - L: WRONG, W (+3)

Spurs (h) - D: RIGHT, D (-)

Burnley (h) - W: RIGHT, W (-)

Mackems (a) - D: WRONG, L (-1)

Chelsea (h) - L

Man Utd (a) - L

Burnley (a) - L

Overall point differential (how wrong): +5

 

 

[Gallowgate Toon]

I do have to say that I'm worried about him now.

 

I feel like as we've gotten more 'quality', we've become just generally more cautious. I think in his mind, we have better players so we can tune the gameplan to be more balanced & the quality will pull through but what's happened is just a load of mid. We don't do anything well anymore with any consistency, we are just very meh with a couple of really nice footballers.

 

I worry that he looks to the likes of Arteta/Pep and their obsession with control & fine margins and he wants to emulate their boring as sin football. The risk & aggression in our game has eroded and so has the confidence. The fact we line up in this boring 4-5-1 mid-block shape a lot of the time with no pressure is so disappointing, it shows exactly what our intentions are - to contain. It's middle of the road crap, nothing like the football he often talks about. If it was the best plan available for the squad we have then I'd be more accepting of it but I don't think it is.

 

To me, we bought more squad players to be able to play Plan A more consistently but we've not done that this season, whether that's because of key injuries or PTSD from last time, who knows, but it's rendered the summer purchases useless so far. 

 

The biggest worry I have now is about the next transition. His old guard are on the way out and there's a concern they were an absolutely massive part of our success and are therefore leaving a giant vacuum. Wilson's gone, Trippier's days are numbered, Schar & Burn are getting on, Joelinton looks knackered. Bruno aside, the front 6 just looked like a bunch of nice lads yesterday. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

16 minutes ago, Heron said:

What is Gordon's game nowadays?

 

Well nowadays it's not great. But in theory it's about movement, unpredictability, taking up clever spaces, moving the defenders around etc.

 

I don't think his bad form means he's permanently finished though. 

[Heron]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Well nowadays it's not great. But in theory it's about movement, unpredictability, taking up clever spaces, moving the defenders around etc.

 

I don't think his bad form means he's permanently finished though. 

It's attitude with me. He isn't doing any of the above anywhere near enough and hasn't been for over a year (last couple of games before the derby aside) and then blames everyone else.

 

Folk have said repeatedly for ages that Murphy was simply having a purple patch and all that and he's been consistently better than Gordon for 18months.

 

I just think he needs to get his head out his arse and start doing the basics/above again and keep his head down tbh, otherwise he's gonna upset the balance fo the team and need fucking off.

 

We need a left footed winger ASAP imo.

[Kid Icarus]

3 pages of chat based on a completely baseless premise of him having final say.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Nah that's all right, I'm just saying that in theory Gordon has a lot to his game. He's been rated at the top level at all age groups really. 

 

You're right he needs to find a way to deliver now, but TBF our team needs to find a way to play well from back to front. 

[r0cafella]

9 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

3 pages of chat based on a completely baseless premise of him having final say.

He does have final say. This is known why is it baseless?

[Doctor Zaius]

55 minutes ago, Heron said:

 

I also reckon players like Botman and Gordon aspire to be like Isak and get their big moves to bigger clubs and they'll feel that NUFC is holding them back rather than their own lack of fitness or performances.

 

 

The pair of them are off their tits then. One cant stay fit and the other has been largely fucking shite for ages. Happily see the back of the pair of them for a decent fee and they can be some other mugs problem. 

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, r0cafella said:

He does have final say. This is known why is it baseless?

Everything I've ever read is that in its proper format (ie not the summer just gone where we had no DoF) we have a transfer committee that runs in same way many other clubs have them.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

Everything I've ever read is that in its proper format (ie not the summer just gone where we had no DoF) we have a transfer committee that runs in same way many other clubs have them.

And he has final say. This is common knowledge. 

 

You think Steve Nickson and his nephew are telling who he can and can't buy? 

[Displayname]

45 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Well nowadays it's not great. But in theory it's about movement, unpredictability, taking up clever spaces, moving the defenders around etc.

 

I don't think his bad form means he's permanently finished though. 

Can it really be considered bad form when it has been lasting for one and a half season?

 

You rarely see this from great players, until proven otherwise I'm just going to assume that his first full season with us was the outlier and what we are seeing now is mostly what we are going to get. 

It has been what he showed at Everton, its been what he showed at us when he first arrived, and it's been what we"ve been seeing the last year and a half.

 

A talented player with glimpses of excellency, but for the most part, an unproductive one.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by Displayname

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, r0cafella said:

And he has final say. This is common knowledge. 

 

You think Steve Nickson and his nephew are telling who he can and can't buy? 

Steve Nickson and Andy Howe aren't permanent DoFs and the setup in the summer wasn't how it should have been, as I said.

 

In its proper format, we have a transfer committee and while Howe might have a deciding vote in some situations, that's not the same as final say. 

[TRon]

4 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?

 

Absolutely not. 

 

He should still have the final say, but we are seeing the result of not having a proper DOF in charge this summer. Mitchell got panned for saying that the recruitment process was not fit for purpose, but however much a cunt he was, it's showing this season. 

 

Howe has been brilliant in getting us to this level but without a clear view of how we are meant to be playing, the recruitment looks confused at best. We need someone at the top who will put less emphasis on PL experience unless we are going to play Moyes football. 

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Steve Nickson and Andy Howe aren't permanent DoFs and the setup in the summer wasn't how it should have been, as I said.

 

In its proper format, we have a transfer committee and while Howe might have a deciding vote in some situations, that's not the same as final say. 

Yeah the last DOF Got seen off without buying a player

 

The one before that wasn't a transfer buy and ran road as soon as possible. 

 

Now we have the guy who also isn't a transfer special who Eddie had a hand in hiring. 

 

I'm not one for knocking without cause but it's pretty evident who's in charge when it comes to transfers and it's had its upside right? We can't take away the good ones but as I've said with the upside comes the massive risks which I won't labor as I've explained it. 

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, r0cafella said:

Yeah the last DOF Got seen off without buying a player

 

The one before that wasn't a transfer buy and ran road as soon as possible. 

 

Now we have the guy who also isn't a transfer special who Eddie had a hand in hiring. 

 

I'm not one for knocking without cause but it's pretty evident who's in charge when it comes to transfers and it's had its upside right? We can't take away the good ones but as I've said with the upside comes the massive risks which I won't labor as I've explained it. 

It's your assumption. Howe being on the transfer committee and having equal power within that is perfectly normal - Howe would be one of the most coveted DoF's going if he was just that and not also a coach.

 

Painting that setup as some kind of dictatorship just because Ashworth and Mitchell left doesn't have anything supporting it.

[TRon]

56 minutes ago, BrickTop said:

It's very doom and gloom this morning for obvious reasons. Both sides just cancelled each other out. A freak goal the difference. My only gripe is the lack of pressing and intensity in the first half. I understand a more measured approach this season when we're playing 2 games a week but if there's ever a game to roll out our trademark high press no room to maneuver approach it was this game.

 

Having said that, my belief in Howe hasn't wavered. It isn't easy battling on 3 fronts and this is probably the most competitive PL campaign in recent seasons. I still don't think anyone else would be doing a better job. He'll turn it around, he always does. 

 

 

It's a very simplistic take to say both sides just cancelled each other out. We looked listless like we have most of the season. They had a bunch of players who had far less PL experience than us, but you wouldn't know it looking at them. 

 

I'm honestly concerned we are going backwards at this point. The manager might believe he has the squad to turn this round, but the players don't look like they believe it. Either that or they don't believe in the way he is setting us up this season. It doesn't look good whichever way you look at it.