Eddie Howe

[Doctor Zaius]

I'm not sure it was a case of Mitchell walking out unexpectedly and Howe being left to pick up the pieces. 

 

I reckon it was a difference on strategy. Howes ideas for the window were different to Mitchell's, so Mitchell walked. Howe essentially won the power struggle and I suspect got the level of control over transfer strategy that he wanted.  The 100m he's spent on Elanga and Ramsay are out and out Howe decisions. Players with good physical attributes, relatively young, PL proven experience. 

 

Mitchell was the wrong appointment and those making decisions should face appropriate scrutiny like, but I don't feel like that exonerates Howe for this mess of a window. 

[HalloNUFC]

On 28/09/2025 at 23:14, HalloNUFC said:

Gone by Christmas.

 

This time it's written in stars.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Guess you have to quote yourself since nobody else is dealing with that opinion. 

[Doctor Zaius]

3 minutes ago, HalloNUFC said:

 

Christmas has been and gone you divvy

[AyeDubbleYoo]

3 minutes ago, Doctor Zaius said:

I'm not sure it was a case of Mitchell walking out unexpectedly and Howe being left to pick up the pieces. 

 

I reckon it was a difference on strategy. Howes ideas for the window were different to Mitchell's, so Mitchell walked. Howe essentially won the power struggle and I suspect got the level of control over transfer strategy that he wanted.  The 100m he's spent on Elanga and Ramsay are out and out Howe decisions. Players with good physical attributes, relatively young, PL proven experience. 

 

Mitchell was the wrong appointment and those making decisions should face appropriate scrutiny like, but I don't feel like that exonerates Howe for this mess of a window. 

Think you also factor in the fact that NUFC didn’t seemingly have a fully staffed recruitment department that could do what the likes of Brighton do.
 

And we can’t afford to miss with transfers (although looks like we have) so known quantities seem like a better bet. 

[LiquidAK]

Yesterday was dispiriting as fuck. Dominated away at OT which is great, looked completely toothless in the final third. Got fucked over by a penalty shout but should've had enough to win the game regardless. Not sure how I feel about it. Feel like we were set up right to control the game but the players fluffed their lines multiple times. Disappointed Howe kept Gordon on and shunted Barnes out right again. 

 

Overall I'd give the manager a 6/10 and the players a 3/10 last night. Was pleased to see the improvement after half time but it wasn't close to enough. 

 

Just want this season to be over, as poor as we've been in patches absolutely nothing is falling for us. Exhausting watch at the moment.

[Doctor Zaius]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Think you also factor in the fact that NUFC didn’t seemingly have a fully staffed recruitment department that could do what the likes of Brighton do.
 

And we can’t afford to miss with transfers (although looks like we have) so known quantities seem like a better bet. 

 

Since when? Our better signings have been abroad. 

 

He's obviously willing to sign players from abroad, but it's quite obvious he prefers players with PL proven experience with the view that they'll adapt quicker. With Elanga and Ramsay that's been proven misguided. 

 

It's not like we don't have a scouting department either. We might not be able to pick and unknown gem from Ecuador like Brighton, but there will still have been a list of known players for Howe to choose from to spend the Elanga and Ramsay money, but he's made the wrong choice. 

 

[Holloway]

Why would anyone want this season to be over when we're in the semi final of the league cup, have a reasonable chance of making the CL knockout stage and the FA cup hasn't even fucking started ? Jesus man !

[Zero]

What concerns me most is the Elanga deal. I mean, I can accept that recruitment is not Howe’s primary responsibility but I can’t accept the fact that Howe doesn’t know how to bring out the best of him. This is his top target since the 2024 summer. Elanga is also exactly the type of player that fit Howe’s requirements. I admit I got it totally wrong back in May when I said this is a certain success. 
 

in contrast, I also think Howe did exceptionally well re fitting in Nick, a player that does not fit Howe’s original requirement for a ST.

 

which leads to my question: does Howe really know what players he (or the team) really need?

[OoOGazOoO]

I do think it is fair to question the summer window, the likes of Elanga and Ramsey have been very poor considering we went for PL experience.

 

I noted from one of Howe's recent press conferences that he referred to Ramsey's stats/metrics in game as 'Elite'. Sometimes too many stats can be a deceptive thing, because currently, going on visual performances, nothing is elite at present.

[Doctor Zaius]

Either way, the signings over the summer are by the by right now. 

 

We don't move the ball quick enough. We can't break teams down. We don't create enough chances. Were fragile defensively and we have seem to have moved away from the intense counter press to a way of playing that simply isn't working. 

 

If he can't get a system working that yields more than one win away from home in half a season, he'll be gone sooner or later. 

[The College Dropout]

13 hours ago, dcmk said:

We can't effectively counter press with Nick.

 

Isak stopped pressing at the end of last season and our form dove tailed.  We are having to adapt

Agreed. That’s the biggest issue with Wolte.  He can rarely get the press right.  With a half press we are half the team. 

[LiquidAK]

8 minutes ago, Holloway said:

Why would anyone want this season to be over when we're in the semi final of the league cup, have a reasonable chance of making the CL knockout stage and the FA cup hasn't even fucking started ? Jesus man !

I was talking specifically about the league fwiw. Obviously very pleased with our progress in the cups, I've been saying for weeks that this could still be a cracking season and that's not changed. I'm just completely exhausted by the league, and I think fairly so.

[The College Dropout]

Think most of us knew the summer was we insufficient 

[TheEntertainer]

36 minutes ago, Shadow Puppets said:

This 10000x

It's not short term bad form though, it's been 9 months now with a couple of bright sparks (appreciate some of that was the offseason), I honestly don't know what the answer is and I definitely don't advocate making a change now, but it's been a long time that we've looked rudderless. 

[Holloway]

6 minutes ago, LiquidAK said:

I was talking specifically about the league fwiw. Obviously very pleased with our progress in the cups, I've been saying for weeks that this could still be a cracking season and that's not changed. I'm just completely exhausted by the league, and I think fairly so.

Well yeah, but it's all about momentum and gaining confidence from any win or encouraging performance. We're in a bit of a muddle for sure,but I think the defeats are taking greater magnitude than the wins. We've just almost handed Chelsea a battering,it's almost been forgotten

[Cf]

2 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

It's not short term bad form though, it's been 9 months now with a couple of bright sparks (appreciate some of that was the offseason), I honestly don't know what the answer is and I definitely don't advocate making a change now, but it's been a long time that we've looked rudderless. 

 

https://www.football365.com/premier-league/table/table-between-two-dates

 

Put the start date as 16th March (the cup final everyone says we've been shit since). 

 

6th in the form table. 1 point behind Liverpool. Maybe not quite where we want to be but it's not bad by any means. 

[alexf]

I don't believe any of our signings in the summer were our first choices.

 

It felt like we were down to 4th/5th choice every time when it came to signings.

 

There was enough media noise over the last few windows to make you believe that we wanted people like Cunha, Mbeumo, Kudus, Ekitike, Gueye, Trafford, etc etc. ahead of the players we eventually got in. 

 

There was a desperation about our transfer business. Brought about by the handling of the Isak shit show and the fact that teams were able to exaggerated their asking prices because they knew we were about to come in to money and were also desperate. Not to mention the classic "top 6"  seemed to hoover up all the best talent and we were left with whatever scraps were left. 

 

Not deflecting any blame from current performances not being good enough  and in-game management could do with a big improvement. But there is no doubt the team went backwards in terms of recruitment and we always seem to struggle when Howe doesn't have time on the training ground like we did in the last season we were in CL.

[Doctor Zaius]

17 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Agreed. That’s the biggest issue with Wolte.  He can rarely get the press right.  With a half press we are half the team. 

 

We tried to sign forwards all summer that aren't pressing machines. Sesko, Woltemade, Strand Larsen, Ramos. Ekitike is hardly Bellamy when it comes to pressing either. 

 

Our wingers are deeper and our full backs higher too. I think it's been a conscious decision to make us less of a counter pressing, intense team. Howe probably seen how we fell off last time we were in the CL and has tried to alter our style and I don't think it's worked. 

[TheEntertainer]

5 minutes ago, Cf said:

 

https://www.football365.com/premier-league/table/table-between-two-dates

 

Put the start date as 16th March (the cup final everyone says we've been shit since). 

 

6th in the form table. 1 point behind Liverpool. Maybe not quite where we want to be but it's not bad by any means. 

No true, away form is shocking, only Wolves worse than us of the teams who have been in the league the entire time so maybe it's just that, that makes it feel so bad. 6th is roughly where I would expect us to be based purely on expectation. Interesting that only 3 teams have been consistently good for that period. 

[The Prophet]

42 minutes ago, LiquidAK said:

Yesterday was dispiriting as fuck. Dominated away at OT which is great, looked completely toothless in the final third. Got fucked over by a penalty shout but should've had enough to win the game regardless. Not sure how I feel about it. Feel like we were set up right to control the game but the players fluffed their lines multiple times. Disappointed Howe kept Gordon on and shunted Barnes out right again. 

 

Overall I'd give the manager a 6/10 and the players a 3/10 last night. Was pleased to see the improvement after half time but it wasn't close to enough. 

 

Just want this season to be over, as poor as we've been in patches absolutely nothing is falling for us. Exhausting watch at the moment.

 

Agree overall, but not so much on the less point. Still got a cup semi final and the Champions League play off to look forward to.

[Erikse]

How much power do we think Howe will get in future windows, with Wilson as DOF? Surely he will still play a big role in what players we try to sign?

[Menace]

Christ imagine if we'd signed Sesko.

[LiquidAK]

10 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Agree overall, but not so much on the less point. Still got a cup semi final and the Champions League play off to look forward to.

 

Yeah I said in another post after that I'm talking specifically about the league

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, LiquidAK said:

 

Yeah I said in another post after that I'm talking specifically about the league

 

My bad, missed that.