Eddie Howe

[dcmk]

5 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

We quite clearly needed 2 strikers but Howe wanted to try and retain a blatantly finished Wilson. He then waited the whole window to get a specific replacement despite knowing he lacked match fitness and a pre-season, and we still allowed him to go run round some scrubland in Mozambique or wherever and get injured. The Isak situation was only half of the puzzle and we totally bungled the other half too.

Sorry but that is nonsense.

 

We tried to sign every top available striker around.  How long did we wait for Sesko - Reuben personally flew out to Germany to try and seal that.  

 

What about Joao Pedro?  Kalimuendo and even Sorloth.

 

How many bids were rejected for Wissa?  And Larsen.  

 

What part of his plan involved deliberately waiting the whole window to sign a suitable striker.

[dcmk]

4 minutes ago, Jagten said:

He won a power struggle against our DoF and was allowed to buy whatever he wanted with his nephew.

You've made that up to fit a narrative you want to believe.

 

 

 

 

[Jagten]

2 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Are you trying to say we'd be better off wjtg Paul Mitchell? Mitchell left on the eve of the transfer window, there's absolutely zero chance that Howe planned for that happening.

I’m not a Mitchell fan. The failure lies with PIF for allowing any of this to happen.

[lovejoy]

For the first time ever under Howe, I think we’ve got a problem.

 

 

 

 

[Jagten]

Just now, dcmk said:

You've made that up to fit a narrative you want to believe.

 

 

 

 

That is literally what happened.

[Kid Icarus]

6 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

Then why is the fact that we lost him such a gigantic deal? If he didn't have a huge impact on our success?

...because his talent, how it was used, and the success we had wasn't limited to him.

 

Howe and the other players are very much responsible for its success, and taking away the focal point of our entire attack has had a big impact - not least because it felt like we spent 80% of the summer dealing with him and trying to replace him. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[Whitley mag]

Just now, Heron said:

Our wingers have been shite and we don't have new ideas. We dotn have new ideas because we've spent 0 time strategising and devising new means to open teams up because we got our strikers around 6 games into the season and neither are the same profile as Alexander Isak.

Where not the only team who has had to change personnel and he’s had half a season now. Sky put a graphic up tonight which showed Gordon’s heat map. His starting positions are in completely ineffective areas and the same happened at the SOS.

 

The manager has to take responsibility for getting the two wide forwards playing closer to Woltemade at the very least.

[La Parka]

Seasons basically a write off now. 

Just go all in on the carabao. 

[Yorkie]

Just now, Pilko said:

 

The Wilson replacement needed to happen regardless of whether Isak stayed or went. We chose to sit and wait for Wissa who we knew was unfit and lacking a pre-season. The Isak situation kicked off and that didn't prompt us to try and act any quicker. 

 

In what world did we 'sit and wait' for anyone, let alone Wissa (who we were putting bids in for well over a month before he actually signed, btw)? 

 

Said it a bunch of times but the turning point was Pedro. He was coming here in the middle of June and then Chelsea blew us out the water with the wages offer. With that one secured out whole transfer window looks completely different.

[Erikse]

7 minutes ago, Heron said:

No mate. I ridiculed then suggestion that our success was solely down to Isak - cause it clearly wasn't.

 

Okay, maybe we read his post differently. I didn't think that he meant that we would have achieved nothing. However the margins were small last season for instance, and without a world class striker we would probably be looking at a 7th finish (at best) without the cup trophy. Not taking anything away from Howe, it was still amazing that he achieved what he did with that team. It's just impossible to deny that Isaks form periods impacted the teams form by a massive amount, and therefore gave us lots of wins on his own. As you say it was very difficult to replace that, and now he have to find different ways of winning.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Erikse

[Heron]

Just now, Whitley mag said:

Where not the only team who has had to change personnel and he’s had half a season now. Sky put a graphic up tonight which showed Gordon’s heat map. His starting positions are in completely ineffective areas and the same happened at the SOS.

 

The manager has to take responsibility for getting the two wide forwards playing closer to Woltemade at the very least.

Gordon is tasked with playing LW and his heat map showed there. It was a completely fucking stupid thing to show. Gordon has also proved to have been more effective going round the outside these recent weeks and not on the inside where he is closed out and cannot hit the target or create goals. He has created goals going round the outside and getting to the byline to deliver. Don't believe everything Gary Neville tells you.

[dcmk]

Just now, Jagten said:

That is literally what happened.

Mitchell left,  we don't actually know the circumstances why he left.  What we do know is Mitchell came in and acted a total clown in his briefings with the media and created negative media headlines for the next few weeks afterwards.

 

If we are believing everything we read then he was the person responsible for reneging on the new contract for Isak. 

 

Only tangible thing he seemed to do was totally fuck up the Guehi transfer.

[Whitley mag]

Just now, Heron said:

Gordon is tasked with playing LW and his heat map showed there. It was a completely fucking stupid thing to show. Gordon has also proved to have been more effective going round the outside these recent weeks and not on the inside where he is closed out and cannot hit the target or create goals. He has created goals going round the outside and getting to the byline to deliver. Don't believe everything Gary Neville tells you.

We play a 3 man midfield his starting positions are to defensive, I don’t need a graphic, or Neville to tell me Woltemade is isolated half the time, particularly away from home where the major problem lies.

[Heron]

1 minute ago, Erikse said:

 

Okay, maybe we read his post differently. I didn't think that he meant that we would have achieved nothing. However the margins were small last season for instance, and without a world class striker we would probably be looking at a 7th or even 8th finish without the cup trophy. Not taking anything away from Howe, it was still amazing that he achieved what he did with that team. It's just impossible to deny that Isaks form periods impacted the teams form by a massive amount, and therefore gave us lots of wins on his own. As you say it was very difficult to replace that.

@Whitley magpretty much outright suggests that we were only good because of Isak. Said suggestion was ridiculed because as you say it was amazing he achieved what he did with that team.

[SAK]

4 minutes ago, dcmk said:

He wanted Trafford, Mbeumo, Cunha and Ekitike to name a few. 

 

Stop making out they were his first choice.

 

It was pretty clear early on these were never joining us when City, Man U and Liverpool were sniffing around.  The thing is we didn’t seem to have any alternatives in mind regarding Trafford and Mbeumo and settled on a panic loan and a player that we bid for last minute in the past. The lack of a plan B 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 hour ago, oldtype said:

We live in an era where nobody other than Man City makes the CL every year and where basically everyone in the PL other than maybe 1-2 teams is competing every week.

 

The idea that as a fanbase we’d spend decades salivating over even the slightest possibility of silverware, get to the top of the mountain WAY ahead of schedule, and then immediately turn on the man who made it happen because we don’t get European football this season?

 

Now that is insane.

What is ‘way ahead of schedule’?

[Heron]

1 minute ago, Whitley mag said:

We play a 3 man midfield his starting positions are to defensive, I don’t need a graphic, or Neville to tell me Woltemade is isolated half the time, particularly away from home where the major problem lies.

Gordon is dropping into those positions because of his desire to work his way inside. He wants to cut in and score goals which frankly he is fucking shite at, at present, and has been for around a year. It's because he has a desire to play for him above playing for the team.

[Whitley mag]

1 minute ago, Heron said:

@Whitley magpretty much outright suggests that we were only good because of Isak. Said suggestion was ridiculed because as you say it was amazing he achieved what he did with that team.

Maybe the team achieved what it did because it had a world class centre forward. One man doesn’t make a team but we don’t win the League Cup without him.

[Erikse]

 

I know this stat can be a bit flawed, but it's pretty wild to see us 4th and Villa 15th when it comes to xPts. We really need to be more efficient, which is another reason as to why I don't understand how Gordon is still starting over Barnes. We're also conceding from chances that we shouldn't be conceding from.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Erikse

[Kid Icarus]

It was a symbiotic relationship like. You only need to look at how we've struggled and he's completely capitulated to see that.

[Heron]

Just now, Whitley mag said:

Maybe the team achieved what it did because it had a world class centre forward. One man doesn’t make a team but we don’t win the League Cup without him.

Iska certainly contributed and significantly so...as did every player in that squad and every member of that dressing room.

[Whitley mag]

Just now, Heron said:

Gordon is dropping into those positions because of his desire to work his way inside. He wants to cut in and score goals which frankly he is fucking shite at, at present, and has been for around a year. It's because he has a desire to play for him above playing for the team.

The same is happening on the right hand side though it’s not just down to Gordon. The two wide forwards are nowhere near the main striker away from home, at times they to run beyond and play narrower.

[Disco]

If nowt else it’s good to see the ‘stats nonces without the eye test’ in the mud and for that we can thank King Eddie.

[dcmk]

2 minutes ago, SAK said:

It was pretty clear early on these were never joining us when City, Man U and Liverpool were sniffing around.  The thing is we didn’t seem to have any alternatives in mind regarding Trafford and Mbeumo and settled on a panic loan and a player that we bid for last minute in the past. The lack of a plan B 

The point that I was arguing is this  narrative that Elanga, Ramsey and Ramsdale were his first choice for each positive.

 

Why would those players I mentioned join when we didn't even have a DoF in place?   We don't know who else was on the pool of players for each position.

 

[Heron]

Just now, Whitley mag said:

The same is happening on the right hand side though it’s not just down to Gordon. The two wide forwards are nowhere near the main striker away from home, at times they to run beyond and play narrower.

This is why Murphy has been our best winger for some time. Cause he doesn't go inside, or at least - not as often - and when he does he often hits the target.