Eddie Howe

[Yorkie]

Listened to his press conference this evening and for once I don't feel particularly comforted by what he's had to say. Not because I'm losing faith in him or disliked what he had to say - I think he spoke with great composure and professionalism as he always does - but I think he gave a bit of a peak behind the curtain and it doesn't sound like the happiest of camps.

 

He obviously felt Bruno's comments needed dealing with, and other questions about (proportionate) disharmony weren't exactly batted away. That stuff about mentality was quite telling and sounded like a repeat of some home truths delivered to the players themselves. You get the impression there's a lot of angst throughout everyone at what feels like another false start/abrupt halt. It's a lot better than them not giving a fuck, I suppose.

 

We're certainly in the choppiest waters since he's been here. It was always likely this season, just got to hope everyone holds their nerve and we come out the other side.

 

Lose tomorrow and it'll feel like the wheels are coming off, certainly the season if not his tenure. 

[Mattoon]

In the cold light of the dawn succeeding the derby day defeat it's understandable to be frustrated, disillusioned and angry at the "effort" of the day. It's also OK to see the signs that built up to this derby, the pattern of poor away performances and the lack of any serious plan or dimensions to our play, a lack of identity.

 

However, we've been in a hole before, questioned Howe's methods, felt like maybe he'd reached his ceiling, been found out, etc... but every single time he has fixed it, he's reinvented us in some way and found a way to win games. Now is no different, he will get us out of this, my guess is around the time we drop out of the CL.

 

Yes, it's pretty grim right now, we're a tough and nervy watch, it's just not clicking, but it will and Howe deserves the chance to make it happen and I have no doubt that he will.

[geordiesteve710]

I thought he looked like a man under pressure for the first time. His eyes seemed twitchy and although he spoke well, he seemed a little nervous.

 

The season has been shite so far, but I think he deserves better if he is getting pressured about his job behind the scenes.

[TheBrownBottle]

16 minutes ago, J7 said:

Yeah, there’s a lot of rewriting history from around that time. I see I joined this forum in July 2005, so it must have been on another one, but the general consensus from what I remember was that he should have gone at the end of the season before. We were about on par with Liverpool around that time and there certainly wasn’t the gulf in finances. It wasn’t good enough for them and they replaced Houllier with Benitez. We hung on, sacked Bobby at a ridiculous time and appointed Souness to get a grip of the dressing room. It destroyed us a challenging team and in reality, we’ve probably never recovered. The situation now is nothing like what it was then.

100%.  

[Andy]

1 minute ago, Mattoon said:

In the cold light of the dawn succeeding the derby day defeat it's understandable to be frustrated, disillusioned and angry at the "effort" of the day. It's also OK to see the signs that built up to this derby, the pattern of poor away performances and the lack of any serious plan or dimensions to our play, a lack of identity.

 

However, we've been in a hole before, questioned Howe's methods, felt like maybe he'd reached his ceiling, been found out, etc... but every single time he has fixed it, he's reinvented us in some way and found a way to win games. Now is no different, he will get us out of this, my guess is around the time we drop out of the CL.

 

Yes, it's pretty grim right now, we're a tough and nervy watch, it's just not clicking, but it will and Howe deserves the chance to make it happen and I have no doubt that he will.

 

To be honest the biggest concern I have with Howe is that we seem to find ourselves in this position each season, it always seems to need fixing rather than just being right to begin with. 

 

The worry is that sooner or later, he might not be able to fix it or find the answer, or he might not continue to have the buy-in from the players even if he has the answers. 

 

I'm worried that we're seeing signs of that at the moment. If we're trying to reinvent ourselves as he says, there really aren't any signs of it on the pitch. At least not convincing signs, anyway. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

Just now, Andy said:

 

To be honest the biggest concern I have with Howe is that we seem to find ourselves in this position each season, it always seems to need fixing rather than just being right to begin with. 

 

The worry is that sooner or later, he might not be able to fix it or find the answer, or he might not continue to have the buy-in from the players even if he has the answers. 

 

I'm worried that we're seeing signs of that at the moment. If we're trying to reinvent ourselves as he says, there really aren't any signs of it on the pitch. At least not convincing signs, anyway. 

yes, but the signs weren't particularly clear in his first 10 games here. Go back to the comments from people on here. We look clueless. There is no shape. Etc. Many of us couldn't see signs of improvement until there was.

 

Eddie's next test is to see if he can get us actually starting a season strong. 22-23 was the closest, but we still had nearly as many draws as wins at this time (and were 8 points better off). We were just not losing (the unlucky Liverpool result aside), even though we probably should have lost by at least 2 goals at Brighton.

 

We probably don't have the squad to challenge for the top 3 consistently overall yet. But it would be nice to come out of the blocks.

[The Prophet]

It would be nice for us to come into the season off the back of a stress free summer. The last couple have been bin fires and put us on the back foot from the off.

[Yorkie]

Just now, The Prophet said:

It would be nice for us to come into the season off the back of a stress free summer. The last couple have been bin fires and put us on the back foot from the off.

 

Don't picture that ever happening for us unless we deliberately target less coveted players in the first place. Like Elanga I suppose.

[TheBrownBottle]

13 minutes ago, Mattoon said:

In the cold light of the dawn succeeding the derby day defeat it's understandable to be frustrated, disillusioned and angry at the "effort" of the day. It's also OK to see the signs that built up to this derby, the pattern of poor away performances and the lack of any serious plan or dimensions to our play, a lack of identity.

 

However, we've been in a hole before, questioned Howe's methods, felt like maybe he'd reached his ceiling, been found out, etc... but every single time he has fixed it, he's reinvented us in some way and found a way to win games. Now is no different, he will get us out of this, my guess is around the time we drop out of the CL.

 

Yes, it's pretty grim right now, we're a tough and nervy watch, it's just not clicking, but it will and Howe deserves the chance to make it happen and I have no doubt that he will.

The last two seasons this happened, there was an injury crisis which cleared up, and then the return of Tonali and switch with Bruno at CDM the following season were the big factors in a form change.  What will it be this season?  Wissa coming back maybe?  
 

I don’t remember Howe coming out and having a go at his players like he just did.   It doesn’t look or sound like a happy camp.  

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, The Prophet said:

It would be nice for us to come into the season off the back of a stress free summer. The last couple have been bin fires and put us on the back foot from the off.

This keeps being said as if Howe was a mere passenger on both occasions 

[Vinny Green Balls]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

The last two seasons this happened, there was an injury crisis which cleared up, and then the return of Tonali and switch with Bruno at CDM the following season were the big factors in a form change.  What will it be this season?  Wissa coming back maybe?  
 

I don’t remember Howe coming out and having a go at his players like he just did.   It doesn’t look or sound like a happy camp.  

I'm sure the stress of the derby and how we played magnified everything for everyone. It was an utterly embarrassing performance, and I'm sure everyone in the club is a bit prickly right now.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2025 by Vinny Green Balls

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Vinny Green Balls said:

I'm sure the stress of the derby and how we played magnified everything for everyone. 

It seemed to for Bruno.  I also think that the local press actually grew some bollocks and asked some challenging questions for a change.  Howe - for the first time - seems to have been a little taken aback by the criticism.

 

Howe shouldn’t be fired, but he absolutely should be under pressure at this point.  Hopefully that gets funnelled positively into an ‘us against the world’ mentality in the squad.  

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

This keeps being said as if Howe was a mere passenger on both occasions 

 

Summer 23/24 was down to the PSR nonsense.

 

This season was down to the lack of executive leadership and the Isak saga.

 

He's not blameless, but it's a reach to suggest he's at fault for either. 

[Andy]

12 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

It seemed to for Bruno.  I also think that the local press actually grew some bollocks and asked some challenging questions for a change.  Howe - for the first time - seems to have been a little taken aback by the criticism.

 

Howe shouldn’t be fired, but he absolutely should be under pressure at this point.  Hopefully that gets funnelled positively into an ‘us against the world’ mentality in the squad.  

 

This defeat definitely feels like a critical moment not just in Howe's tenure here but possibly in his career. I can't remember him ever being under a serious level of scrutiny even when things went wrong at Bournemouth; not that it's exactly Ange or Amorim levels of criticism at the moment, but it's enough to see what he and his players are made of. 

 

As you say, hopefully the reaction to the derby is what we need to get some of our fighting mentality back. 

[Abacus]

42 minutes ago, midds said:

Feel like this Newcastle side is like watching the first hour of Rocky 3. Edge and hunger has all but disappeared and it needs to return asap 

 

If Hulk Hogan turning up in a charity match and a coach dying in the process is the solution, then I'm weirdly OK with it.

[Lazarus]

Writing off signings after 6 months....and not even that actually is classic forum knee jerk. 

 

If Howe can find a way to make Almiron and Murph useful he can absolutely find a way for Elanga and Ramsey. 

 

Remember, Howe and his staff will be looking at how he can make the SQUAD a more rounded threat not just individual players.

[et tu brute]

1 minute ago, Lazarus said:

Writing off signings after 6 months....and not even that actually is classic forum knee jerk. 

 

If Howe can find a way to make Almiron and Murph useful he can absolutely find a way for Elanga and Ramsey. 

 

Remember, Howe and his staff will be looking at how he can make the SQUAD a more rounded threat not just individual players.

Looks like Jesus was not right in everything he did

[Guillaume]

Big month ahead, all winnable games IMO and could be in a champion league spot by new year. 

No time for bad results any more now.

 

 

Edited December 16, 2025 by Guillaume

[Keegans Export]

48 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

The last two seasons this happened, there was an injury crisis which cleared up, and then the return of Tonali and switch with Bruno at CDM the following season were the big factors in a form change.  What will it be this season?  Wissa coming back maybe?  
 

I don’t remember Howe coming out and having a go at his players like he just did.   It doesn’t look or sound like a happy camp.  

Well it was going to be getting a CF on the pitch. Then it was getting Tino and Hall back. So I guess yeah, Wissa is the next logical choice 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Andy]

15 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

Writing off signings after 6 months....and not even that actually is classic forum knee jerk. 

 

If Howe can find a way to make Almiron and Murph useful he can absolutely find a way for Elanga and Ramsey. 

 

Remember, Howe and his staff will be looking at how he can make the SQUAD a more rounded threat not just individual players.

 

Got no doubt they could both become good for us given time, but people are judging them on what they're contributing in games here and now, which is what they were signed for. 

 

We aren't really in a position where we can afford to spend £95,000,000 on two players in their mid 20s who both need to be "Howe'd" before they're able to contribute literally anything worthwhile to the first team whatsoever.  

[Lazarus]

8 minutes ago, Andy said:

 

Got no doubt they could both become good for us given time, but people are judging them on what they're contributing in games here and now, which is what they were signed for. 

 

We aren't really in a position where we can afford to spend £95,000,000 on two players in their mid 20s who both need to be "Howe'd" before they're able to contribute literally anything worthwhile to the first team whatsoever.  

 

What player hasnt been 'Howe'd'?

[Sibierski]

2 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

 

 Why are we consistently shit before NY?  I’m not sure a corner will be turned this time around  

Sunday was our Brentford moment…

 

(repeat again after Burnley A).

[AyeDubbleYoo]

14 minutes ago, Andy said:

We aren't really in a position where we can afford to spend £95,000,000 on two players in their mid 20s who both need to be "Howe'd" before they're able to contribute literally anything worthwhile to the first team whatsoever.  

 

I'm sure the plan was they would be good when they signed like.

[Andy]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

I'm sure the plan was they would be good when they signed like.

 

Well exactly Ian, therefore their performances are open to criticism based on what they've done so far. 

 

We can't have a mentality of refusing to judge players until they've been at the club long enough for Howe to wave a magic wand at them. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, Andy said:

Well exactly Ian, therefore their performances are open to criticism based on what they've done so far   

 

I mean so far they've been crap, surely nobody disputes that.