Eddie Howe

[r0cafella]

Just now, Andy said:

 

I don't think Pilko is on the wind up, like. It's just different perspectives on how the window went, which stories you choose to read and believe, how you think the actual signings have performed etc. 

 

The actual wider point of whether we failed to replace Wilson until right at the end of the window, despite knowing he'd need to be replaced for two seasons, is binary. Regardless of reasons or mitigating factors, there was a failure there that deserves a critical post mortem. 

 

I also agree with Pilko that the Wissa transfer was a complete mess. That is obviously subjective, but we signed him for the fee that Brentford allegedly wanted 4 or 5 weeks earlier. By all accounts it could've just been done, same as Trafford before City knew Ederson was leaving, we acted way too slowly. The likes of Sesko and Ekitike fall under a different debate as they were clearly prospective Isak replacements. Pedro and Delap went early, so there was still plenty of time at that point. 

 

The thing about Wissa is pretty clear like. Obviously Mitchell's work if he did any was promptly thrown in the bin the moment he was kicked to the curb leading to us having very few options. We had no intentions of paying daft money for Wissa because it is and was a horrible financial deal, ultimately like always with Nufc the can got kicked all the way down the road until we had no choice but to bend over. Almost harks back to Guehi the summer before... Remember the stories Guehi was the only one the gaffa wanted. 

[KennyUtd]

41 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

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.

Maybe but it's still absolutely woeful. I want nothing more than to see Howe stay for years and be successful but he looks a little lost to me. We all know how it goes don't we. The manager carries the can and  is the 1st to go when things go pear-shaped. He's struggling to change the way we play, like not wanting to play 2 up front when chasing a game. Nobody knows better than him how ruthless football can be. I'm hoping he turns our form around but I'm honestly not confident. 

[Heron]

12 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

For context...

 

22/23 - 3rd in the away table

23/24 - 11th in the away table 

24/26 - 10th in the away table (but 6th to 10th all finished level on points)

None of which are bad when performing so well at home as evidenced by our final league positions

[SUPERTOON]

7 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

The job who he had a hand in hiring? You see the issues yesterday  

Aye, it’s a bit of a mess.

[jack j]

28 minutes ago, wyn davies said:

I dont get why people are so protective of Howe, 

Cos hes been a bloody good manager for us and he's a good fucking bloke

Why would people not want to show him some support and respect him?

 

Its like the whole players come and go shite and its all about the badge on the front bollocks.

I feel more affinity with the likes of Bruno and Eddie Howe than I do with half the whoppers who get into sjp on a matchday and 90% of those on twitter.

 

 

He is under pressure and could be out of a job shortly if it carries on but isn't it plain to see after the job he has done for 4 years why people would be "protective" ?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by jack j

[Kid Icarus]

8 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

The job who he had a hand in hiring? You see the issues yesterday  

Still waiting on where anyone reputable has said this. 

[Ash]

The biggest question mark next to Howe’s name was always how far he could take us and it would come down how good he could be from a tactical point of view. This job was a huge step up from Bournemouth where his shortcomings became apparent, but he went away and studied other managers to try and improve. Whether that was ever going to be enough to move him into that elite category would always come to the fore one day and I think we’re seeing it now unfortunately. He can produce a game plan to win any one-off game but I just don’t think he has it in him to do it consistently and lacks the ideas to stop the rot, be it game-to-game or in-game. 
 

I love the bloke and will forever appreciate what he’s achieved for us but there have been worrying signs for a long period now that he’s taken us as far as he can. I know he didn’t get a great deal of support from the hierarchy over the past few years and it perhaps isn’t fair to judge him after the summer we’ve had but he also hasn’t helped himself by his stubbornness. The current formation doesn’t work with the players we have. The way we play doesn’t work. We’ve become passive with no real identity and in truth, we haven’t produced one convincing 90 minute performance since the League Cup final. Man City at home was probably the best this season but even then we rode our luck in that one. 
 

There have been too many games in which we’ve looked poor and struggled to create chances but he won’t change anything and it’s infuriating. One thing you could never level at Howe was that we were a poorly coached team but we look like that this season. We don’t create enough chances but also don’t defend well enough either so what are we actually good at? I can’t recall the last time I came away from a game thinking how well we’d played and enjoyed the performance we’d produced. 

 

Substitutions are often later than they need to be but always like for like, rather than trying to catch a team out with something different. He doesn’t seem to know how to change the course of a game when it isn’t going well and it’s hugely concerning that it’s been going on so long now. 
 

I know he likes his plan A and his plan B is to do plan A better but it just doesn’t cut it when we’ve become so predictable. Teams are happy to give us the ball because they know we can’t break them down. This has been evident for a while and many have screamed to sign some more creative players to help break down a low block but it hasn’t been addressed in our recruitment. We’ve got four wingers that can’t take a man on other than for pace. We have a group of six CMs that all possess similar attributes with only one being able to unlock a defence. We had a chance to really elevate our starting XI this summer but we went for players, largely, that were never going to raise the floor or ceiling. 
 

The way we play just baffles me and has done for a while. Our off the ball shape is horrible and it’s criminal how often we are torn to shreds on the counter by a simple ball between the lines. It isn’t healthy to continually have numerous players running at your defensive line but he hasn’t fixed it and has shown no indication that he actually wants to which is that stubbornness again. The way our wingers continually drop in to receive and don’t stretch the defence has to come from Howe. The passing across the board is slow and laborious, we’re so easy to play against but we just churn out the same every game. We’re apparently “learning lessons” but then just rinse and repeat the following week. It isn’t healthy to make it so easy for opposition teams to know how you’re going to set up game after game, same formation and largely the same way of playing too, knowing we’ll either press intently or sit back in a flat 4-5-1 . The coaching staff has stayed the same since Howe arrived (set-piece coach aside) - why not get in a new coach to offer some fresh ideas? I know he has trust issues but something has to give; the players need to hear new voices every now and again, it happens at pretty much every other club but we just continue as we are, even if we’re struggling.  

 

I actually think that there are signs that the players are losing faith or have lost faith in his methods, the game against the mackems being a prime example of it. We shouldn’t have sat back in that game and I don’t think the players think we should have. Howe will always be credited for how he can improve a player on the training pitch and rightly so but we’re starting to see big drop offs in performance levels and at the minute, he doesn’t look like he knows how to address it. The way he manages players has always been top notch but even that is starting to look questionable now. Gordon’s numbers over the past year are nothing short of disgraceful yet no matter what Barnes does, he’s the first choice LW. Things like that don’t go down well with the one it impacts but it causes others to question the decision making too. 
 

I really hope he can turn things around as I want him to be our manager and to lead us successfully for years to come but he has to learn and fast. I know he’s overcome slumps before but this one feels very different and at least previously, it looked like there was a way to turn things around. This time, I fear the writing is on the wall and it will mostly be down to his inability to adapt which really highlight his limitations. 

[Yorkie]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

7 minutes ago, Sir Joel Inton said:

How does that impact solely our away form? Do the players care more about who the DoF is when they get on a coach?

Does Howe make nonsensical substitutions on Boxing Day because Isak asked to leave in June?

 

This excuse is as laughable as Liverpool fans claiming Isak’s poor form was due to his lack of pre-season. 

 

Our 11 yesterday was more than good enough to turn up and put 3 or 4 past an extremely poor Man Utd/Sunderland/West Ham/Brentford side. We didn’t due to the poor team selection, tactics and apparently low morale/confidence in the squad - all sits firmly with the manager.

Expand  

Mitigating circumstances effect everything because they take away time and resources from your ability to do or prepare your own job properly. I think it's something a lot of us will have experienced in our own jobs.

 

If you don't think a huge squad turnover, selling the focal point of your attack, having no CEO, no DoF, and being told to sort out the transfer window isn't going to have an impact on the time, thought, and effort you can put into your own job, then I have a bridge to sell you.

 

There's definitely a bit of a chain reaction too. I'll remove last night as the final link because we were alright and worth a point imo, but it's a fair point that we shouldn't have been as awful as we were against Sunderland, regardless of mitigation.

 

However, the executive upheaval, the PSR limitations and then the Isak saga impacted our ability to reshape the squad as intended, which is a fundamental 'why' in terms of our league struggles. Even getting all the same players - but much earlier in the summer - would have helped and made us far less dysfunctional. 

 

The other mitigation you haven't mentioned is injuries. We've been hammered again injuries-wise; Tino, Hall and especially Wissa all sharing the treatment room at the same time has been a nightmare for us, and we still can't get all of them on the pitch together. 

 

It doesn't excuse everything, like I say, but there's definitely mitigation. I don't believe it would happen but if, say, we lost at Burnley and we pulled the trigger, it would be desperately harsh.

[Andy84]

10 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

The job who he had a hand in hiring? You see the issues yesterday  

Who says this is true? Seems to be said and repeated and it has became true 

[r0cafella]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Still waiting on where anyone reputable has said this. 

Pretty sure the athletic said it.

[Jesse Pinkman]

Howe has achieved a lot but he’s never once in his career used a system that plays technical, possession based football with creative players that can beat the low block of lower quality teams. Now we are the higher quality team this type of manager is required.
 

I was hoping Howe could still be this manager and he could adapt his style as he moved up the league, as we moved up into the upper echelons. But I am slowly coming to the realisation that athletic counter attacking team is the only way he can play or the only way he thinks works. He wouldn’t have a clue what to do with a David Silva and Bernardo Silva and they would likely be dropped over a 38 game season for not being tall enough or not covering enough grass.

 

He wants runners first and foremost to suit his system but his system is unwinding as other managers work out the perfect counters. 

 

Unfortunately I just don’t think he can take us to the next level long term. In the best case scenario he may scrape us 5th with good cup runs every other season. This would be great for me but does it really align with the clubs ambitions and what we are selling the players to be a truly elite club? 
 

I think the club have a huge decision to make in the Summer with this season likely a write off save for a cup run. It may be time for the project to go in a different direction. 

 

 

[Cf]

3 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

Maybe but it's still absolutely woeful. I want nothing more than to see Howe stay for years and be successful but he looks a little lost to me. We all know how it goes don't we. The manager carries the can and  is the 1st to go when things go pear-shaped. He's struggling to change the way we play, like not wanting to play 2 up front when chasing a game. Nobody knows better than him how ruthless football can be. I'm hoping he turns our form around but I'm honestly not confident. 

 

And how well does this go for teams who adopt this philosophy and chop and change their manager after every run of bad results?

 

Is this the club we want to be?

 

Sticking with a manager can massively pay out assuming it's the right manager and I think Howe has done more than enough to show that he's one of the best. 

[Kid Icarus]

3 minutes ago, KennyUtd said:

Maybe but it's still absolutely woeful. I want nothing more than to see Howe stay for years and be successful but he looks a little lost to me. We all know how it goes don't we. The manager carries the can and  is the 1st to go when things go pear-shaped. He's struggling to change the way we play, like not wanting to play 2 up front when chasing a game. Nobody knows better than him how ruthless football can be. I'm hoping he turns our form around but I'm honestly not confident. 

It needs to improve, but it's Howe that's set the standard in the first place.

 

I'm incredibly confident Howe will turn it around providing he's given the time to, as he well should be.

[Kid Icarus]

2 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Pretty sure the athletic said it.

Link?

[Heron]

On 27/12/2025 at 10:10, Gawalls said:

Then after this post I'll stop posting after negative as well, to be honest mentioned this once and don't want to do it again but step daughter died not so long ago and football forums aren't that high up in my worries where my head is at. Don't need this shit 

Ner. You can post as you feel.

 

I'm sure @Ghandis Flip-Flop isn't wanting to be hurtful towards you it's just that everyone is passionate about NUFC and Eddie Howe as a result and it overspills after a game on here. If here is your release then release away.

 

I also get frustrated by negative takes (and especially unfair ones - that I perceive on here), and try to debate them with great passion to try and help the other side see what I see (hey - that's what we all do...right?) But alternative opinions and perceptions are what make us all collectively learn.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2025 by Heron

[Guybrush]

2 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It needs to improve, but it's Howe that's set the standard in the first place.

 

I'm incredibly confident Howe will turn it around providing he's given the time to, as he well should be.

Aye this. 

 

Our form is poor, and there needs to be some introspection from Eddie, but seeing the guy in interviews I'm sure that introspection is there. 

[Andy]

On the subject of away form, it's obviously a league-wide issue that teams drop off away from home, but I can't think of many other teams that have such a wide gap in their intensity, energy levels and control of a game as we do relative to our home performances. That's more the thing for me - the performances rather than the form.

 

It's annoying as fuck watching the players go through the motions and look consistently shell-shocked away from home when we know how good they can be when they're up for it. 

 

Most of the points we've dropped at home, you can brush off by saying we at least played alright, Liverpool and Chelsea being the main ones that spring to mind. But away from home, I think we've deserved to lose almost every game, even the ones where we got something. Last night was the most on top we've looked but I think it was mainly due to Man Utd playing with a back 8. 

[Sir Joel Inton]

10 minutes ago, Heron said:

Disagree.

 

Losing a striker whom is considered "world class" at the very end of a transfer window where we'd been claiming we weren't going to sell and then trying to reinvent your team (squad?) around changing alternatives (tactically) is NOT the same as one individual player gaining match fitness.

 

If Howe wasn’t planning for Isak to go long before he did, he’s failed himself. 

 

16 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Mitigating circumstances effect everything because they take away time and resources from your ability to do or prepare your own job properly. I think it's something a lot of us will have experienced in our own jobs.

 

If you don't think a huge squad turnover, selling the focal point of your attack, having no CEO, no DoF, and being told to sort out the transfer window isn't going to have an impact on the time, thought, and effort you can put into your own job, then I have a bridge to sell you.

 

You'll have had absolutely no problem with Howe's same methods when he had us winning. Now that we're not winning, that same person's methods are inexcusable? Right oh.

 

 

 

 

Howay

 

I did have some issue with Howe’s methods when we were successful. I think his limitations we see now were present there too.

 

What would cause you to change your position on Howe? I saw one ridiculous comment that someone would be okay if he relegated us. At what point this season does Howe take the blame rather than the summer?

[KennyUtd]

3 minutes ago, Cf said:

 

And how well does this go for teams who adopt this philosophy and chop and change their manager after every run of bad results?

 

Is this the club we want to be?

 

Sticking with a manager can massively pay out assuming it's the right manager and I think Howe has done more than enough to show that he's one of the best. 

I'm honestly not pushing for Eddie to be sacked but it's a distinct possibility unless our form improves. That's all I was saying. Nothing new, I know, but definitely a worry.

[KennyUtd]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It needs to improve, but it's Howe that's set the standard in the first place.

 

I'm incredibly confident Howe will turn it around providing he's given the time to, as he well should be.

Fair enough but I'm not so confident. Absolutely hoping and praying he gets us back on track though.

[r0cafella]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Link?

Can't be fucked going through the atheletics archive but I do recall reading it was ran past him. 

[Cf]

Just now, KennyUtd said:

I'm honestly not pushing for Eddie to be sacked but it's a distinct possibility unless our form improves. That's all I was saying. Nothing new, I know, but definitely a worry.

 

I don't think it is. The words I've heard from Wilson and Hopkinson suggest they know Howe is their man. Their job is to help him sort a squad out with a more big picture view. They'll be well underway with that process and changing the manager because of a bad run of form is a good way to undermine it. 

[Yorkie]

1 minute ago, Sir Joel Inton said:

What would cause you to change your position on Howe? I saw one ridiculous comment that someone would be okay if he relegated us. At what point this season does Howe take the blame rather than the summer?

 

This isn't what is being argued at all as far as I can see. It's not "who is to blame, Howe or the summer?" It's an observation of the whole. Howe isn't getting us going this season for various reasons, but factoring-in the mitigating factors of the summer and injuries, you can afford some leeway. Even regardless of 'credit in the bank.'

[Heron]

3 minutes ago, Sir Joel Inton said:

 

If Howe wasn’t planning for Isak to go long before he did, he’s failed himself. 

 

 

Howay

 

I did have some issue with Howe’s methods when we were successful. I think his limitations we see now were present there too.

 

What would cause you to change your position on Howe? I saw one ridiculous comment that someone would be okay if he relegated us. At what point this season does Howe take the blame rather than the summer?

I totally get business continuity planning but if you're being told something is specifically not going to happen and then all your alternatives might happen and don't then it's not really Howes fault.

[KennyUtd]

2 minutes ago, Cf said:

 

I don't think it is. The words I've heard from Wilson and Hopkinson suggest they know Howe is their man. Their job is to help him sort a squad out with a more big picture view. They'll be well underway with that process and changing the manager because of a bad run of form is a good way to undermine it. 

Would they say otherwise though. Certainly not publicly. We'll wait and see. Fingers crossed he's supported in Jan and we start again.