Eddie Howe

[Ghandis Flip-Flop]

45 minutes ago, 500bhp said:

Agree with all that. It does feel like the beginning of the end unfortunately. As has been mentioned before PIF didn't buy us to finish mid table with Bruce like performances away from home. 

 

He gets until the end of the season definitely, but if he has to go then make sure it happens in May. If we are serious about being top of the pile in five years, or whatever the CEO said, then I can only see one outcome unfortunately. 

Well then PiF need to keep up their end of the bargain then, I’d argue it was them dragging their heals with sorting out a CEO and replacing Mitchell that landed us in this situation in the first place. A competent executive team being in place could’ve stopped this summer being the disruptive nightmare it became.

[nufc4eva]

We are already 6 points worse off at same stage on season compared with last 2 seasons (29 points at this stage) and 11 worse than season we finished 4th.

 

We are struggling more than last time played Champions League and can't see how it improves without different types of signings to improve how we attack teams.

[Kid Icarus]

1 hour ago, SUPERTOON said:

It shouldn’t drop yet, but surely that’s the job of Wilson.

I think this applies with players because of how many are out there, but I think it's stretching it a bit when people have a very detailed and thought out opinion on Howe, all of his perceived faults, what he should be doing differently, and whether we should keep him or not, turning the club upside down in the process - then right at the point when it's time to make a suggestion on who else we could go for, they suddenly don't have an opinion and its the DoF's job. 

 

It's 'I don't know, but I'm guessing there's someone better and available based on nothing, so I'll just excuse myself' really.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[Sibierski]

29 minutes ago, Menace said:

 

 

Not to say he's got a lot right this season, but Pep was doing a lot of odd things last season too, and I'd wager they'll probably win the league this season.

They also have two proper superstars in Foden / Haaland, but more importantly signed players that have no Pep input. Vianna has took them in a different direction, and its meant Pep’s had to evolve the squad. Like Cherki / Rjiendeers are not Pep players. But they’re talented so Pep has been giving tools and needed to make them work.

[KennyUtd]

Winning only 6 from the last 20 league games is absolutely shocking like. Any manager would get stick for that record.

[nufc4eva]

Oh and won 3 less than those seasons and scored 10 less goals.

[Wallsendmag]

33 minutes ago, Menace said:

There's no guarantee a replacement hits the ground running. Look how long it took Glasner/Iraola to stamp their mark on the team. Which begs the question - is it actually worth looking at a replacement considering this is Howe's team? No doubt the upper management will get a bit itchy if we're still shite this time next year but I absolutely do not want to entertain the idea of looking for a new manager until its beyond saving.

 

Not to say he's got a lot right this season, but Pep was doing a lot of odd things last season too, and I'd wager they'll probably win the league this season.

 

There's literally no point in making a change now, or anytime soon unless something catastrophic happened and our home form collapsed like our away form has and we found ourselves in a relegation scrap.

 

As things stand we are 10 points above the relegation zone and I don't foresee our home form dropping off a cliff so I'd just leave things are until the end of the season. If by then he still hasn't found answers to our problems as soon as we play anywhere but SJP, I'd let him go in the summer.

[Gawalls]

11 minutes ago, Ghandis Flip-Flop said:

Well then PiF need to keep up their end of the bargain then, I’d argue it was them dragging their heals with sorting out a CEO and replacing Mitchell that landed us in this situation in the first place. A competent executive team being in place could’ve stopped this summer being the disruptive nightmare it became.

We have spent £545m on players since they took over so you could argue they're getting some things right.

[Heron]

The next 4 games will really identify where we'll likely be come the end of the season for me. Away games versus the two worst sides in the league which are entirely winnable if we get our shit together, as are home games versus Leeds and to a lesser degree - Palace.

 

If we can take 10-12 points from those games then all of a sudden things are looking a lot healthier.

[JoeyBartoon]

*All away PL games

1 win in 9 (this season)

8 win in 19 (24/25)

6 win in 19 (23/24)

8 win in 19 (22/23)

5 win in 13 (21/22)

Overall: 28 wins from 79 games (36% win) 

 

Given that we’ve barely faced any strong opponents away so far, it’s increasingly likely that this will be our worst set of away results since Howe took over. With an away win rate of around 12%, we’re currently among the poorest performers in the league.

 

 

[Vedder]

8 minutes ago, Ghandis Flip-Flop said:

Well then PiF need to keep up their end of the bargain then, I’d argue it was them dragging their heals with sorting out a CEO and replacing Mitchell that landed us in this situation in the first place. A competent executive team being in place could’ve stopped this summer being the disruptive nightmare it became.

Exactly, truth is we have the 7th biggest budget. The club aren’t maximising current revenue opportunities nor are they setting us up for long term success. Players used to join us because we pushed the narrative that we’ll be one of the biggest clubs in the world with the financial backing behind us. Those words ring hollow now.
 

Combine a poor summer transfer window, drop off in form, the Isak situation and a stall in major infrastructure decisions, there’s a danger that the project is losing all momentum, and it’s not all Eddie’s fault. 

[Heron]

2 minutes ago, JoeyBartoon said:

*All away PL games

1 win in 9 (this season)

8 win in 19 (24/25)

6 win in 19 (23/24)

8 win in 19 (22/23)

5 win in 13 (21/22)

Overall: 28 wins from 79 games (36% win) 

 

Given that we’ve barely faced any strong opponents away so far, it’s increasingly likely that this will be our worst set of away results since Howe took over. With an away win rate of around 12%, we’re currently among the poorest performers in the league.

 

 

Out of curiosity what would 5/6 away wins make you by the end of the season? Around mid table (for away wins)?

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Heron

[Kid Icarus]

8 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

Winning only 6 from the last 20 league games is absolutely shocking like. Any manager would get stick for that record.

Bit selective to include 2 matches from a previous season where we got into the Champions League mind.

 

We definitely need to sort ourselves out, I just don't really buy this idea that despite all of the mitigating circumstances that the root cause of our situation is the manager that until now has been continuously successful and had us punching above our weight.

[Sibierski]

41 minutes ago, Thumbheed said:

 

 

With Woltemade, I like him as a player and he's done well to score the goals he has, but he's extremely static and his naturally positioning condenses the pitch in key areas, and because we have to get closer to him we end up leaving spaces that the opposition exploit if/when he loses the ball. 

 

 

 

 

 

We don’t help him and so we are worse for it. Like how hard is it to have one of the wingers sit more central and make inside runs, so there’s someone for him to play off? Likewise one of the CMs pushing up further, instead of remaining a flat three.

 

We’ve not properly tweaked things to support him consistently, despite having him since September. 
 

Mentioned few months back, but people are going to be shocked when form doesn’t improve if we go with Wissa upfront. Issues all around will remain, and whilst he will have better movement inside the box, we’ll then lose the link up when dropping off which Wolte gives (and Isak offered too). 

[Gawalls]

1 minute ago, JoeyBartoon said:

*All away PL games

1 win in 9 (this season)

8 win in 19 (24/25)

6 win in 19 (23/24)

8 win in 19 (22/23)

5 win in 13 (21/22)

Overall: 28 wins from 79 games (36% win) 

 

Given that we’ve barely faced any strong opponents away so far, it’s increasingly likely that this will be our worst set of away results since Howe took over. With an away win rate of around 12%, we’re currently among the poorest performers in the league.

 

 

Coupled with teams are basically getting the first goal and shutting up and it seems to be that easy at the moment as man U and Sunderland showed. Other teams that's come behind when we're winning just hit us in the second half, especially straight after kick off or last ten minutes. We seem to be so transparent at the minute. 

[Heron]

3 minutes ago, Sibierski said:

We don’t help him and so we are worse for it. Like how hard is it to have one of the wingers sit more central and make inside runs, so there’s someone for him to play off? Likewise one of the CMs pushing up further, instead of remaining a flat three.

 

We’ve not properly tweaked things to support him consistently, despite having him since September. 
 

Mentioned few months back, but people are going to be shocked when form doesn’t improve if we go with Wissa upfront. Issues all around will remain, and whilst he will have better movement inside the box, we’ll then lose the link up when dropping off which Wolte gives (and Isak offered too). 

I said to my mate last night I felt we were missing Cunha and Mbuemo types that operate better on the inside.  I'm not saying it's the silver bullet but I'd like to see us doing it.

 

However, I dotn think our wingers are doing anything consistently well. For me I'd have Barnes and Murphy in consistently for 2 or 3 weeks now which, ironically might not make us better on the inside (Barnes would - Murphy wouldn't) but both would offer at least more than what is being displayed currently.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Heron

[wiseman]

Definitely starting to feel that the attitude towards Howe is shifting. For me I think hes got the credit in the bank to see out the season, but id also be expecting the directors to start putting together a short list for his replacement.

 

The last off season seems like its going to continue to trouble him, and its easy to say the players he brought in were his choices, but I think the bigger problem is the club let him down with the executive appointments not providing stability behind the scenes, multiple poor windows where we have not raised the squads ceiling, l Isak throwing his toys out of the pram, and a string of rejections that left us with players down the pecking order.

 

I dont know the point I'm trying to make, and things aren't going to run perfect all the time, each manager will always need to make the most of what they have, which historically Howe has always done above and beyond.

 

I guess it just feels like its a shame to see it unfolding this way for him, when he's loved by almost the entirety of our fan base and I hope he finds a way to pull another rabbit out of the hat before the seasons done as it would be gutting to see him shown the door.

 

[Cf]

9 hours ago, Erikse said:

 

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.

 

 

 

 

Usual caveat to stats but to me this shows how tight the PL is this season in terms of quality between teams. 

 

In a lot of cases there's not much in it so games are coming down to fie margins. 

 

Yesterday we concede a rocket from an unexpected player (keeper maybe could have done better but still) against the run of play. Decent number of chances ourselves not converted and a decent penalty shout turned down. 

 

Chelsea we concede an excellent free keep (keeper maybe could have done better - pattern here - we clearly need to strengthen but for now have what we have) from a very soft foul against the run of play, concede a goal where our defender slips, and have a stone wall penalty denied. 

 

I could go further back but the point is whilst I think we are a better team overall than many in the league there's not a great deal in it which means many games will come down to these individual moments that can swing either way. 

 

In that sense outside of one or two exceptions (City springs to mind) we just haven't had the rub of the green this season. 

 

Not to say there aren't things to work on - of course there are. But the fact we're 4th in that table suggests to me there isn't necessarily anything fundamentally wrong. Somethings Maths just gets you. If you flip a coin 18 times looking for heads you can have it land on tails 14 times instead. 

[JoeyBartoon]

2 minutes ago, Heron said:

Out of curiosity what would 5/6 away wins make you by the end of the season? Around mid table (for away wins)?

Mid table teams usually hover around 25-30% away wins rate. 
For context, Bournemouth and Brentford both had 7 away wins last season. Granted their home form won’t be as strong as ours.

 

Still to go:

burnley

wolves 

liverpool

spurs 

city 

chelsea

palace 

arsenal

fulham 

[Gawalls]

3 minutes ago, wiseman said:

Definitely starting to feel that the attitude towards Howe is shifting. For me I think hes got the credit in the bank to see out the season, but id also be expecting the directors to start putting together a short list for his replacement.

 

The last off season seems like its going to continue to trouble him, and its easy to say the players he brought in were his choices, but I think the bigger problem is the club let him down with the executive appointments not providing stability behind the scenes, multiple poor windows where we have not raised the squads ceiling, l Isak throwing his toys out of the pram, and a string of rejections that left us with players down the pecking order.

 

I dont know the point I'm trying to make, and things aren't going to run perfect all the time, each manager will always need to make the most of what they have, which historically Howe has always done above and beyond.

 

I guess it just feels like its a shame to see it unfolding this way for him, when he's loved by almost the entirety of our fan base and I hope he finds a way to pull another rabbit out of the hat before the seasons done as it would be gutting to see him shown the door.

 

It is a shame and I truly hope he can turn it round but if he doesn't the hard truth is everything ends badly otherwise it wouldn't end.

[Ghandis Flip-Flop]

10 minutes ago, Gawalls said:

We have spent £545m on players since they took over so you could argue they're getting some things right.

Which is still less than most of the teams everyone expects us to be beating, heck Man Utd spent about 50% of that this summer alone.

 

our spend and wage bill is about 7/8th in the league so we've overachieved since they’ve been here. There is still massive lag in decisions being made and the infrastructure that could see us kick on further is in limbo.

[La Parka]

Also feels like some of the players still have beef over the Isak saga and it's affecting morale/cohesion. Guess they don't want to feel like informal agreements are under threat. 

[Gawalls]

2 minutes ago, Ghandis Flip-Flop said:

Which is still less than most of the teams everyone expects us to be beating, heck Man Utd spent about 50% of that this summer alone.

 

our spend and wage bill is about 7/8th in the league so we've overachieved since they’ve been here. There is still massive lag in decisions being made and the infrastructure that could see us kick on further is in limbo.

And for the others like the Brentford's, Leeds getting a draw, Sunderland, West ham, Bournemouth getting a draw, Brighton?

[Gawalls]

2 minutes ago, La Parka said:

Also feels like some of the players still have beef over the Isak saga and it's affecting morale/cohesion. Guess they don't want to feel like informal agreements are under threat. 

Could well be - to us were removed from the situation, by that I mean he was a work colleague and a friend took them. We don't know their feelings on the whole saga.

[wyn davies]

I dont get why people are so protective of Howe, its like no one can touch him or say anything against him.

No doubt people will spout he won us a trophy and all this credit in the vank nonsense. Joe Harvey won the us a Eueopean Trophy, but got the bullit, Keegan knew when it was time to depart with the depart when he realised time was up, Rannereri got the bullet after winning the PL, whats special about Howe?.