Eddie Howe

[JonBez comesock]

28 minutes ago, NUFCDoog said:

I think all the excuses people use to defend Howe, PSR, Champions League games, injuries, not adding to squad etc, are blown out by what Villa are achieving under the exact same circumstances.

 

Not just this season as they're flying, but since Emery has come in they've got better and better, should have finished above us last year, and are now flying this season.

 

No reason we shouldn't be where they are now, no excuses. It's not good enough, and he won't be here this time next season.

Yet Howe has won a trophy and very similar records 

 

both top class managers despite what people say on here 

[Solitude20]

I think it’s time Howe looks at a 3-5-2 given how underwhelming our wingers have been. It suits Hall and Tino as wing backs and lets us play two up top with Wissa along with Nick. Gordon can then come on around 60 minutes as a striker and run at tired defenders, or he could be the second striker in case others get injured. 

[Heron]

5 minutes ago, NUFCDoog said:

I think this where some confuse entitlement with ambition to be honest.

 

I dont think its unfair to think, after what we've achieved so far, that we should build on it and improve year on year. 

 

Not to diminish what we achieved but just because he won a cup doesn't mean we should suddenly accept mediocrity because before he came we were nowhere near. Good managers and good teams build on success, thus far I dont think we are .

It's not accepting mediocrity to accept that we're going through a transitional phase as a squad. Obtaining CL football and winning trophies isn't mediocre.

[Mattoon]

It speaks volumes that the two Man U fans that I know would take Howe in an instant, we have a very good manager that is going through a difficult spot is all, he will navigate us through this.

[Heron]

1 minute ago, Solitude20 said:

I think it’s time Howe looks at a 3-5-2 given how underwhelming our wingers have been. It suits Hall and Tino as wing backs and lets us play two up top with Wissa along with Nick. Gordon can then come on around 60 minutes as a striker and run at tired defenders, or he could be the second striker in case others get injured. 

I'd be keen to see this trialled as well. Allows us to slip into a more defensive 5 3 2 as well against better opposition or opposition that gets on top. I even suggested this to Mr Howe

[black_n_white]

1 minute ago, Mattoon said:

It speaks volumes that the two Man U fans that I know would take Howe in an instant, we have a very good manager that is going through a difficult spot is all, he will navigate us through this.

As I said after last night Howe must stay in charge this season and beyond. We will come good again.

[Ronaldo]

1 minute ago, JonBez comesock said:

Yet Howe has won a trophy and very similar records 

 

both top class managers despite what people say on here 

You can’t compare them. Emery showed last season what he can do against top quality opposition. He’s shown that for well over a decade managing squads nobody could call great.

[JonBez comesock]

Just now, Ronaldo said:

You can’t compare them. Emery showed last season what he can do against top quality opposition. He’s shown that for well over a decade managing squads nobody could call great.

You can compare both since they both took over 100%

[Thumbheed]

2 hours ago, NUFCDoog said:

I think this where some confuse entitlement with ambition to be honest.

 

I dont think its unfair to think, after what we've achieved so far, that we should build on it and improve year on year. 

 

Not to diminish what we achieved but just because he won a cup doesn't mean we should suddenly accept mediocrity because before he came we were nowhere near. Good managers and good teams build on success, thus far I dont think we are .

 

Ambition isn't measured by success, it's measured by the steps you take on the path to success. 

 

Entitlement is when you think that path should be smooth sailing and without discourse which seems fit the feelings of a lot of unhappy fans at the moment.

 

Yes, we're having some difficulties this season, but which ultimately successful club hasnt? 

 

I'd be far more worried if we werent turning up at all at this stage of the season, than I am with the inconsistent performances we're experiencing. 

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by Thumbheed

[Novocastrian]

10 minutes ago, Mattoon said:

It speaks volumes that the two Man U fans that I know would take Howe in an instant, we have a very good manager that is going through a difficult spot is all, he will navigate us through this.

Speaks volumes about how bad Amorim has been.

[Thumbheed]

My favourite type of football fan is the 'born winner' types. 

[Mills and Boon]

1 hour ago, JonBez comesock said:

Yet Howe has won a trophy and very similar records 

 

both top class managers despite what people say on here 

 

Fucking right?

 

Worth remembering that some Villa fans thought Emery had taken them as far as he could during their shitty form at the start of the season. Every club has those type of "supporters"

[oldtype]

Growth is not linear All managers have ups and downs depending on external circumstances and/or dumb luck. The goal is to find someone who you know can produce something truly special when the external factors align.

 

We already know Howe can do that and it’s genuine insanity to conclude that he’s “hit his ceiling” the moment we have a down (half) season. How is this his ceiling when he’s already achieved far better with us multiple times? That kind of impatience and short-termism is exactly how certain clubs with far greater resources than us have ended up perennially struggling with a revolving door of managers over the past few years.

[oldtype]

1 hour ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

as people didn't last year, and the year before. And there was even discussion about us not having what it took to win regularly in 22-23. The problem with so many of you is that you have Memento memories.

 

This is the entitlement I feared because of a little success under him.

 

And obviously, it's not guaranteed that he'll go on a major winning streak. But his precedent of it should at least give him time this season to turn it around.

 

 

 

“Entitlement” is exactly right. After being run by one of the shittiest owners in the history of pro sports for over a decade and a season where we looked like bang on favorites to go down we’ve finished 4th, 7th, 5th, and won a cup. The idea that we haven’t already overachieved massively and should be expecting regular silverware and European football every year as a minimum baseline for fan satisfaction is completely nuts.

 

Certain segments of the fan base are acting like Man City supporters circa 2010.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by oldtype

[bobbydazzla]

9 minutes ago, oldtype said:

Growth is not linear All managers have ups and downs depending on external circumstances and/or dumb luck. The goal is to find someone who you know can produce something truly special when the external factors align.

 

We already know Howe can do that and it’s genuine insanity to conclude that he’s “hit his ceiling” the moment we have a down (half) season. How is this his ceiling when he’s already achieved far better with us multiple times? That kind of impatience and short-termism is exactly how certain clubs with far greater resources than us have ended up perennially struggling with a revolving door of managers over the past few years.

Also, we’re in the semi final of the league cup as defending champions and some daft cunts are saying the season is already a massive failure and unsalvageable

 

The utter fucking morons 

 

 

[The Prophet]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo said:

You can’t compare them. Emery showed last season what he can do against top quality opposition. He’s shown that for well over a decade managing squads nobody could call great.

 

So did we to be fair. We took out Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool on the way to winning a trophy.

[Wallsendmag]

6 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

So did we to be fair. We took out Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool on the way to winning a trophy.

 

And Brentford and Forest both of whom finished top 10 in the PL last season. It was a brutal run to the final.

[Jonas]

2 Champions League qualifiations and a cup win is better than 1 (about to be 2) Champions League Qualifications and no cup win.

The folk that have been using them as a stick to beat us with for years would be exactly the same if they were Villa fans about us.

In that greener grass their fans were morose about their prospects a few months ago, how it was all over for them at the top, how PSR had done them in how they were back to being the same old Villa. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

12 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

So did we to be fair. We took out Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool on the way to winning a trophy.

not to mention putting PSG to the sword in a CL match.

[Geordie Ahmed]

2 hours ago, Solitude20 said:

I think it’s time Howe looks at a 3-5-2 given how underwhelming our wingers have been. It suits Hall and Tino as wing backs and lets us play two up top with Wissa along with Nick. Gordon can then come on around 60 minutes as a striker and run at tired defenders, or he could be the second striker in case others get injured. 

I think if we didn't have the CB injuries we have that we might have seen this already, if not for a full game but at least for parts of it 

[oldtype]

Villa haven’t won a cup in thirty years. The idea that most of their fans wouldn’t trade their last four seasons for our last four seasons is ridiculous.

[Pilko]

A frequent defence of Howe is that he learns from his mistakes, tends not to make the same mistakes twice etc. The difference this season to the last difficult patch we encountered is it doesn't feel like this is happening. This season, whilst there are many mitigating factors like key injuries & Isak/the summer as two huge ones, I feel like it's a lot of the same stale stuff over and over and a lot of "we'll look at that and learn from it" interviews afterwards, before the same thing happens within days.

 

Eddie really could do with seeing some progress on some of the longer term issues - not pissing away winning positions all the time & creating jack shit away from home particularly, quite quickly. Then there's the flat midfield three that teams run through at will and have been on a fairly regular basis for a few years now. A calendar year of Gordon doing nowt in the league but still being #1 pick and talked up by the manager. The lack of footballing plan when "run hard all over them" isn't a viable game plan due to PSR not allowing us a squad size/quality to keep that going. Other managers making early, proactive subs to impact games while he sits on his hands and waits for us to concede before summoning a bunch of subs to the touchline. There's a lot of clear patterns or things that are frustrating or worrying that don't seem to be going away.

 

I did read a lot of "it was this time last season when it clicked!" posts a month or so ago and still see a lot of "we're still x points off y position" posts. Both of which are valid arguments, but as the season ekes on longer and longer without a clear upturn in performance both gradually start to lose clout. Ultimately if he wins another league cup or has a deep run in one of the other two it's hard to argue that he can potentially bring success like that in any given season. I just wish he could iron out some of these problems a bit faster.

 

I wouldn't sack him and I really hope he delivers a successful season, which is still very possible, but I feel like the powers that be can't be far from starting to have at very least a tentative look around the manager market. Not that one game makes a season but imagine we roll out the same insipid shite away dross at Burnley and lose? The knives will start to come out then and being one game away from that situation isn't good for him or us.

[duo]

2 hours ago, Mattoon said:

It speaks volumes that the two Man U fans that I know would take Howe in an instant, we have a very good manager that is going through a difficult spot is all, he will navigate us through this.

I don't think it speaks volumes as Amorim is an awful manager.  Eddie would definitely be an upgrade from him - it doesn't detract that we are regressing, the team looks flat and Eddie looks out of ideas.

[TheEntertainer]

40 minutes ago, oldtype said:

“Entitlement” is exactly right. After being run by one of the shittiest owners in the history of pro sports for over a decade and a season where we looked like bang on favorites to go down we’ve finished 4th, 7th, 5th, and won a cup. The idea that we haven’t already overachieved massively and should be expecting regular silverware and European football every year as a minimum baseline for fan satisfaction is completely nuts.

 

Certain segments of the fan base are acting like Man City supporters circa 2010.

 

 

 

I really hate the constant commentary that anyone who expresses any concern or thinks we maybe aren't doing brilliantly is seen as an entitled brat. We've been taken over and are one of the the richest clubs in the world (even if we can't spend it all, you expect to do better than relegation fodder in that scenario), as you say we've finished 4th,7th and 5th and had Champions league football 2 seasons out of the last 3, the expectation has now been set that we are battling for European spots. I don't think anyone is claiming we deserve Champions league every season by default, but based on investment, the owners vision when they came in and past performances, it's reasonable to expect us to be battling for Europe. We're currently 13th. Doesn't mean that's where we'll finish and doesn't mean Howe needs to be immediately taken out back and shot, but it does mean we're underachieving this season (based on the last 3) and I don't think the owners, the fans, or the players are happy with a bottom half finish as us reverting to type after 3 seasons of overachievment. It's reasonable for people to have concerns and completely unreasonable to just try and shout them down as entitled 'bad' fans because they have a different opinion to you

[AyeDubbleYoo]

4 hours ago, bobbydazzla said:

Well that’s the conundrum.

 

Give peak era Mourinho, Fergie, Pep, Ancelotti, Wenger etc a squad like ours plus 5 or 6 world class players and you’ll win things consistently. 
 

But Howe isn’t in that elite group of managers. He’s won one trophy in his career and his achievements are doing an amazing job getting lowly Bournemouth up into the top flight and doing a brilliant job resurrecting NUFC.
 

So do you stick, or twist ?
 

If he’s not at his ceiling yet, great. He’s stepped up a level.

 

If he’s at his ceiling, then throwing more expensive players at him won’t make him a better manager and you’re just delaying the inevitable.

 

 

Sure, but the point is you need the tools to find out where your ceiling is. Just because his previous job was at a lower level, I don't see any reason to use that to conclude where his level is. He's proven already he can qualify for the CL with a pretty limited squad.

 

Presumably if we get a new manager we will probably go for someone else who is also not proven to be in that elite group of names you mention.