Eddie Howe

[r0cafella]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

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.

I'm not painting anything man, just stating the facts. Not sure Eddie would be a coveted DOF either mind, it's one of the fallacies of his reign. We've made cracking signings of course but Alexander Isak and Bruno weren't nobodies when we signed them.  

[AyeDubbleYoo]

It's very weird looking at our results from Man City up until yesterday. Very respectable results including a couple of draws that could easily have been wins against quite good teams. Including away at Leverkusen and a thumping away win at Everton.

 

Yet the way we conceded late goals makes it feel more fragile and probably plays into this feeling of lack of confidence we all have. 

 

But I equally think if we had drawn 0-0 yesterday we could be feeling a bit more positive about the overall direction - the margins have been very fine. 

[Kid Icarus]

19 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

I'm not painting anything man, just stating the facts. Not sure Eddie would be a coveted DOF either mind, it's one of the fallacies of his reign. We've made cracking signings of course but Alexander Isak and Bruno weren't nobodies when we signed them.  

 

Stating your assumptions as facts is painting a picture imo. Just seeing a lot of 'common knowledge', 'pretty clear that...' stuff going on, when really all of the stuff we've got wind of doesn't really point to what you're presenting as fact at all. 

 

Re the bit in bold, the signings that you can realistically attribute to Howe extend beyond those players and beyond the signings he's made at Newcastle. As has been mentioned a few times, arguably the only outright certified dud in his signing portfolio is Jordan Ibe. I know people are scrambling to hoy the likes of Elanga and Ramsey in there, but it's far too early. 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[The College Dropout]

23 minutes ago, 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. 

But he was still heavily involved.

 

With Ashworth around we don't sign all of Wissa, Ramsey, Ramsdale & Elanga. There's been a clear change in transfer approach since he left. We've not signed the Minteh, Tino or Hall profiles since he left.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

But he was still heavily involved.

 

With Ashworth around we don't sign all of Wissa, Ramsey, Ramsdale & Elanga. There's been a clear change in transfer approach since he left. We've not signed the Minteh, Tino or Hall profiles since he left.

 

Ironically loads of people argued against both Tino and Hall for being Eddie's Brexit mags. 

[andycap]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’m thinking more of what Foden and Silva do at Man City.  Excellent technical players who play one-twos and fast interchanges on the ball.  Barnes is just always looking to shoot, and Gordon isn’t a particularly technical player. 

I disagree Barnes does shoot but looks for one twos on the edge of the box and is far more closer to foden than gordon is. 

[TRon]

5 minutes ago, andycap said:

I disagree Barnes does shoot but looks for one twos on the edge of the box and is far more closer to foden than gordon is. 

 

 

He looked technically the best wide forward comfortably yesterday. His only issue is lack of pace which restricts his danger going outside the full backs and on the counter. 

[andycap]

Recruitment as I've said many of times the manager should ask for a profile of players he wants and the recruitment team and scouts should find them. Not I want Elanga or nobody else etc. 

[Novocastrian]

2 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

He looked technically the best wide forward comfortably yesterday. His only issue is lack of pace which restricts his danger going outside the full backs and on the counter. 

He’s fast enough, seemingly having that extra gear (Gordon, Elanga) isn’t the be all and end all. Many of the best wingers we’ve had over the years were nippy but didn’t have electric pace.

[Ronaldo]

23 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

It's very weird looking at our results from Man City up until yesterday. Very respectable results including a couple of draws that could easily have been wins against quite good teams. Including away at Leverkusen and a thumping away win at Everton.

 

Yet the way we conceded late goals makes it feel more fragile and probably plays into this feeling of lack of confidence we all have. 

 

But I equally think if we had drawn 0-0 yesterday we could be feeling a bit more positive about the overall direction - the margins have been very fine. 

The margins were certainly fine at home to both 19th and 20th in the league. Very respectable.

[lovejoy]

1 hour ago, r0cafella said:

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?

‘Fergie’ 🤢

[lovejoy]

1 hour ago, r0cafella said:

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?

I’ve never said I’m ok with Howe picking his own players without questions, nobody would be happy with that.

 

But the fact is Howe has had the final say in every single incoming, and we’ve largely knocked it out of the park.

 

You can’t just re-write that because Elanga looks like a blooper.

[The College Dropout]

17 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Ironically loads of people argued against both Tino and Hall for being Eddie's Brexit mags. 

From memory both were seen as exciting signings. I think a decent portion didn't realise Hall would need some development time in that first season but that's it.

 

I can't prove it but I know Hall wasn't Eddie's preference. That's a DoF style transfer.

 

Edit: I'm saying preference here. If given free reign, I don't think Howe goes for 19-yo Hall first. I think Hall is brought to Eddie and pushed for - and Eddie agrees because Hall is a massive talent.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by The College Dropout

[lovejoy]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

From memory both were seen as exciting signings. I think a decent portion didn't realise Hall would need some development time in that first season but that's it.

 

I can't prove it but I know Hall wasn't Eddie's preference. That's a DoF style transfer.

The reaction to hall was similar to the one for Ramsey now imo.

 

Granted different ages, but there were so many questions about why Hall wasn’t used more with Burn being at LB etc.

 

He nailed it, which is why it’s too early to tell with Ramsey.

[andycap]

Howe has tried to make us more controlled and possession based rather than high press. 

Which is fine but surely your main focus should be on possession training to get the squad super confident on the ball. 

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, lovejoy said:

The reaction to hall was similar to the one for Ramsey now imo.

 

Granted different ages, but there were so many questions about why Hall wasn’t used more with Burn being at LB etc.

 

He nailed it, which is why it’s too early to tell with Ramsey.

The reaction to signing a 19yo with less than 25 career senior appearances can't be similar to that of signing a 24yo with 150+ games under his belt. Like that doesn't make any sense.

[lovejoy]

Just now, The College Dropout said:

The reaction to signing a 19yo with less than 25 career senior appearances can't be similar to that of signing a 24yo with 150+ games under his belt. Like that doesn't make any sense.

Makes perfect sense in terms of fan reaction. It was a waste of money then because he wasn’t playing. Ramsey is a waste of money now because he isn’t playing.

 

As I said, it’s too early to tell with Ramsey, we’ve barely seen him.

[The College Dropout]

1 minute ago, andycap said:

Howe has tried to make us more controlled and possession based rather than high press. 

Which is fine but surely your main focus should be on possession training to get the squad super confident on the ball. 

I don't think he has. We just play slower and press less. We don't do anything different in approach. Most of the players we've signed suit the high press high transition approach on paper.

[Ronaldo]

3 minutes ago, lovejoy said:

The reaction to hall was similar to the one for Ramsey now imo.

 

Granted different ages, but there were so many questions about why Hall wasn’t used more with Burn being at LB etc.

 

He nailed it, which is why it’s too early to tell with Ramsey.

What’s the point in spending a premium for a PL-based player if there’s as much (if not more) of a bedding-in period as a continental player with more talent and unpredictability who’d cost less?

[SUPERTOON]

2 minutes ago, lovejoy said:

Makes perfect sense in terms of fan reaction. It was a waste of money then because he wasn’t playing. Ramsey is a waste of money now because he isn’t playing.

 

As I said, it’s too early to tell with Ramsey, we’ve barely seen him.

The frustration with the Ramsey signing is we paid a huge fee and he’s currently 6th choice. We now don’t play the style that suits his only real attributes as well.

[The College Dropout]

Just now, lovejoy said:

Makes perfect sense in terms of fan reaction. It was a waste of money then because he wasn’t playing. Ramsey is a waste of money now because he isn’t playing.

 

As I said, it’s too early to tell with Ramsey, we’ve barely seen him.

No offence but to dumb fans - aye.

 

A 24 yo player with 137 PL appearances being behind Joe Willock at CM is a genuine concern. That's valid. It's not kneejerk. It's right that big questions are posed.

 

It was clear to most sensible fans that Hall just wasn't Howe-ready when he signed. Which is fine because he was 19 and had barely played mens football. Howe was probably a little too hesitant to throw him back in but the age and experience gap was the relevant factor. There's not an age or experience gap here.

 

A more relevant comparison is Tonali. But with Tonali we could see Howe wanted to introduce him to the team - he just wasn't fitting into the system and maybe had not accustomed to the league.

[lovejoy]

2 minutes ago, Ronaldo said:

What’s the point in spending a premium for a PL-based player if there’s as much (if not more) of a bedding-in period as a continental player with more talent and unpredictability who’d cost less?

I’d imagine his injury hasn’t helped this tbf, he started in the third game of the season didn’t he? Then went off for around 8 weeks.

Im not saying Ramsey has been a great signing, im saying it’s too early to know anything at this stage. What’s he had in the league? Two starts?

 

[lovejoy]

1 minute ago, The College Dropout said:

No offence but to dumb fans - aye.

 

A 24 yo player with 137 PL appearances being behind Joe Willock at CM is a genuine concern. That's valid. It's not kneejerk. It's right that big questions are posed.

 

It was clear to most sensible fans that Hall just wasn't Howe-ready when he signed. Which is fine because he was 19 and had barely played mens football. Howe was probably a little too hesitant to throw him back in but the age and experience gap was the relevant factor. There's not an age or experience gap here.

 

A more relevant comparison is Tonali. But with Tonali we could see Howe wanted to introduce him to the team - he just wasn't fitting into the system and maybe had not accustomed to the league.

I’ll leave this here, mate.

 

The ‘dumb’ fans thing is enough for me.

 

I’ll leave you to your baller tests 👍🏼

[Heron]

[lovejoy]

Just now, Heron said:

‘Dumb fans’, man.

 

christ 😂