Eddie Howe

[Rod]

9 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

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

This season has certainly been frustrating for whatever reason. I'm 100% convinced we have the right manager to get through this up and down period. Results just aren't going our way but the performances have been improving in my opinion. Just recently the first half against Chelsea we made them look like a Championship side. Away to Man Utd in our last game, although not finishing well, we outplayed them. So two very useful teams that we more than matched and dare I say it we were superior to them. I wouldn't dream of calling you a "bad fan" but if you are concerned because we are underachieving then you are not seeing the overall picture. In my opinion we couldn't have a better manager than Eddie Howe to circumnavigate this drop in form. Keep the faith.

[Vedder]

I think there’s a bit of confusion between the posts people are making.

 

Just to clarify IMO, the people who are criticising Howe’s tactics (especially away) are not saying they want him replaced. Also, the people defending Howe against those who are suggesting we need a new manager are not saying all is wonderful and you should never criticise him. 
 

Of course there are those who are criticising current tactics and do want Howe replaced, but those people are thick as fuck and not worth listening too 😃

[Kid Icarus]

12 hours 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.

 

Where has this myth come from? Villa haven't done better than us (if they qualify for the CL this season they'll have equaled us and still be a trophy behind from when Howe/Emery came in)

 

They also didn't start in the same circumstances at all. Emery inherented a squad that already had Martinez, Watkins, Konsa, Mings, Kamara, McGinn, Cash in it and had the Grealish money in its back pocket. Howe inhereted a squad that's only survivors are Schär, Murphy, and Joelinton - all of which are now past their peak age.

 

Also, no reason we shouldn't be where they are now? Our positions have been 4th, 7th, 5th, theirs have been 4th, 6th. 

 

They're also not in the CL this season, last season they were in our position, and were in 11th come March. They'd have stayed there without their 5 incomings in January as well.

 

I don't get how people look at Villa and immediately think they're doing better, they're not at all, and I don't think they've hit the peaks we have either. 

 

Pure grass-is-always-greener and insular thinking imo. For some reason there's this assumption that other teams never face adversity. We have it and regardless of the circumstances and the achievements of the manager, it's the manager that gets questioned.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[Rod]

8 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Where has this myth come from? Villa haven't done better than us (if they qualify for the CL this season they'll have equaled us and still be a trophy behind from when Howe/Emery came in)

 

They also didn't start in the same circumstances at all. Emery inherented a squad that already had Martinez, Watkins, Konsa, Mings, Kamara, McGinn, Cash in it, Howe inhereted a squad that's only survivors are Schär, Murphy, and Joelinton - all of which are now past their peak age.

 

Also, no reason we should be where they are now? Our positions have been 4th, 7th, 5th, theirs have been 4th, 6th. 

 

They're also not in the CL this season, last season they were in our position, and were in 11th at the end in March. They'd have stayed there without their 5 incomings in January as well.

 

I don't get how people look at Villa and immediately think they're doing better, they're not at all, and I don't think they've hit the peaks we have either. 

 

Pure grass-is-always-greener and insular thinking imo. For some reason there's this assumption that other teams never face adversity. We have it and regardless of the circumstances and the achievements of the manager, it's the manager that gets questioned.

 

 

 

👏

[oldtype]

55 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

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

Being critical about our league position and the bad form of the team is perfectly normal (I am too). But clearly there’s a large section of the fanbase that is going a great deal further than that. Those are the folks I’m calling out as ridiculous and I stand by it.

[cubaricho]

12 hours ago, stozo said:

I find it a struggle to put any criticism at Howe's door at the moment. 

 

First, you look at the achievements. Our first domestic trophy in 70 years, Champions League qualification in two out of the past three seasons, another cup final and a top 7 finish in the only other full non-CL qualification season. That's a hell of a record. And this year, he's got us into (at least) another League Cup semi-final. I don't think we could dream for much more than that.

 

Then you look at this season. Have we been consistently bad? No. Have we been regularly inconsistent? Yes. Some great performances and some bad performances. But I think if you look at the overall picture we're much better than our points tally. We've had some bad performances where frankly we could have very easily earned a point (West Ham & Sunderland - neither side deserved to beat us and both games decided by fluke own goals), inconsistent performances where we could have got more (Man U and Chelsea) and good performances where we could have picked up more points (Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal). We've had issues but we've also had terrible luck. The tragedy is that we're probably drifting away from CL qualification now, but if just a few of those had gone our way we'd be right in the mixer.

 

Then you look at why we've had issues this season. The number one reason is the attack isn't functioning as well as it has been. That is very, very clearly down to us losing one of the best strikers in the world and ultimately having to scramble to replace him. The scramble to replace left us with two players who are very different to Isak and that's left Howe trying to figure out how to make us as effective as possible with one player in particular (Woltemade) who is a very different focal point of the attack. Is it in any way strange that this is taking time? No. It was always going to and ultimately it's down to the constraints on the club, not Howe. And by constraints on the club, I mean specifically that we weren't able to line up an Isak successor or second striker a season or two before because of financial restrictions.

 

Which brings us on nicely to another issue this season, which is perceived lack of contribution of new signings. We all know that Howe has the potential to work wonders on players but that tends to take 6-18 months. Our new signings were always going to take time to bed in to Howe's system, especially when we continue to not be able to shop for truly elite players - Elanga, Ramsey, Thiaw and Woltemade all fit into the 'rough diamonds we are trying to polish up into elite players' category. The problem rests on the fact that we made no first-team signings in the 24/25 season, which means we have nobody really emerging this year to pick up some of the slack from the new group - all the expectation to deliver is on that new group right away. I firmly believe we'll look back in a year and all of the five signings will be viewed much more favourably than they are today. 

 

So to sum up, it's frustrating where we are this season but ultimately I have every confidence Howe will lead us through it and that we'll continue to benefit from his excellent work. 

Well said dude.  
 

A refreshing post to see on this forum. Cuts right through the noise the miserable and negative dudes come out with on here daily. 

[Stottie]

I don't think it has to be either/or with Howe and Emery.

 

Just on us, but with lots of things not working, I'd be tempted to play Wissa as Isak part II, play Murphy, play Pope as soon as he is capable, and set up the midfield like last season. Woltemade's done really well, but it is not up to defending from the front or working best in our current system. It'll take time and probably better players to get the most out of him. He's been a great signing but its probably easier just to stick in Wissa and play conventional Eddieball. 

 

Just last three games but Brobbie should be second yellow for four studs on ankle, the Gordon one against Chelsea is a clear penalty, and the Man U handball is only arms in a natural position from pushing somebody. I'm not saying we should demand all three, but you'd expect to be given at least one of them. It never rains but it pours etc. etc.

[Ilovetoon8788]

3 hours ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Where has this myth come from? Villa haven't done better than us (if they qualify for the CL this season they'll have equaled us and still be a trophy behind from when Howe/Emery came in)

 

They also didn't start in the same circumstances at all. Emery inherented a squad that already had Martinez, Watkins, Konsa, Mings, Kamara, McGinn, Cash in it and had the Grealish money in its back pocket. Howe inhereted a squad that's only survivors are Schär, Murphy, and Joelinton - all of which are now past their peak age.

 

Also, no reason we should be where they are now? Our positions have been 4th, 7th, 5th, theirs have been 4th, 6th. 

 

They're also not in the CL this season, last season they were in our position, and were in 11th come March. They'd have stayed there without their 5 incomings in January as well.

 

I don't get how people look at Villa and immediately think they're doing better, they're not at all, and I don't think they've hit the peaks we have either. 

 

Pure grass-is-always-greener and insular thinking imo. For some reason there's this assumption that other teams never face adversity. We have it and regardless of the circumstances and the achievements of the manager, it's the manager that gets questioned.

 

 

 

this is utter nonsense you are spouting. comparing howe with Emery. Emery is Elite and he has proven this time after time.

his tactical changes mid game is fluid & fast which Howe fails badly.

 

At chelsea yesterday, with a goal down, he threw on Onana , Watkins & sancho making a tactical switch which turned the game.

 

Howe constantly sticks to his 433 regardless of how the game is going and makes likes for likes substitutions and hoping something changes.

 

Howe is still a good manager but undermining Emery and what he has done with Villa is nonsense. Emery is a class above Howe and that's a fact.

[Vinny Green Balls]

Can you please stop adding "that's a fact." Many of you don't appear ot have any ability to differentiate fact from opinion. One could easily build an educated opinion why Emery is the better manager. He's achieved a huge amount, and overall more than Howe (mind you he's six years older). But FFS with this that's a fact nonsense. We all know Emery is great, but KI was speaking in the context of his time at Villa vs. Howe's time with us. The trajectories currently look fairly similar. It is not utter nonsense what he said at all. Jesus Christ.

[Lucky]

Rinse and repeat though. I think if we lose this next game he’ll be under all sorts of pressure if he isn’t already.

 

I think he’s run out of steam and ideas with this squad. Said all this months ago so just repeating myself but nothing has changed really.

 

Not sure if that pressure means he’ll be sacked but it won’t help with results. If the club decide to make a change, I’m in two minds. Wait until the summer and go for a manager that might be of a higher profile.

 

Or, get someone in mid season and give them a chance to evaluate the squad before what will probably be a major overhaul of the squad where we could lose quite a few purples in the summer.

 

Don’t have massive faith in Ross Wilson if he’s an Eddie pick. Can’t imagine the type of target will differ all that much.

[Zero]

No matter what, unless we drop to the relegation zone, no way we should change the manager before the end of the season. I even can’t name one manager that is available and could be better than Howe at this moment
 

 

[Menace]

People have been saying he'll be under pressure practically every single bad run we've been on. Repeat ad nauseam.

[bobbydazzla]

7 hours ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

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.

That’s what I was saying, we don’t know where his ceiling is yet.

[Andy]

4 hours ago, Ilovetoon8788 said:

this is utter nonsense you are spouting. comparing howe with Emery. Emery is Elite and he has proven this time after time.

his tactical changes mid game is fluid & fast which Howe fails badly.

 

At chelsea yesterday, with a goal down, he threw on Onana , Watkins & sancho making a tactical switch which turned the game.

 

Howe constantly sticks to his 433 regardless of how the game is going and makes likes for likes substitutions and hoping something changes.

 

Howe is still a good manager but undermining Emery and what he has done with Villa is nonsense. Emery is a class above Howe and that's a fact.

 

If you're judging them only on their performance in England, it isn't a fact. They're largely similar. 

 

Emery has won no trophies while managing two clubs in this league, his highest finish is 4th. Howe has won one trophy while managing two clubs in this league, his highest finish is 4th.

 

These are the only "facts" in the conversation, meaning if Emery frequently changes personnel and systems mid-match, it only works equally as effectively as the way Howe operates in games at best (often worse), otherwise Emery would have consistently better results, which he doesn't. 

 

Emery is just flavour of the month again, as KI says, because Villa are on a good run. It's only been a few months since their fans were questioning his job. 

[Ben]

I think we need 9 points from the next 3 league games to save this season 

[Sibierski]

4 hours ago, Lucky said:

I think he’s run out of steam and ideas with this squad.

The real alarm bells for me will be if he reverts even more to type in coming weeks to try and get something going. Someone mentioned Wissa starting over Wolte for example, because Wissa can be more like Isak.

 

If that happened, then we saw Joelinton in at LCM with Gordon / Murphy on wings, that’s a red flag. Would be a massive omission that Howe is out of ideas for me and is trying to get the blueprint from last season going again.
 

When managers slink back to previous ways in a time of crisis when those ways had their issues, it’s never a good sign. 
 

I just hope he is willing to reinvent the attack because that’s the area where we don’t have injuries (yet). Defence he’s forced into and that’s not his fault.

[Kid Icarus]

6 hours ago, Ilovetoon8788 said:

this is utter nonsense you are spouting. comparing howe with Emery. Emery is Elite and he has proven this time after time.

his tactical changes mid game is fluid & fast which Howe fails badly.

 

At chelsea yesterday, with a goal down, he threw on Onana , Watkins & sancho making a tactical switch which turned the game.

 

Howe constantly sticks to his 433 regardless of how the game is going and makes likes for likes substitutions and hoping something changes.

 

Howe is still a good manager but undermining Emery and what he has done with Villa is nonsense. Emery is a class above Howe and that's a fact.

 

As far as I can read there, your argument is that Emery is better than Howe and that you saying so makes it a fact, and that he makes tactical changes that are on-the-fly that work. 

 

I don't think you're making an argument there, let alone a convincing one. It just reads as another person who insists Emery's clearly the better option at the two clubs based on little to nothing.

 

No one's undermining Emery, it's about giving Howe the credit he deserves. For all the people that thinks the sun shines out of Emery's arse, he's done no more at Villa than Howe has here, that's the actual fact. 

 

You think when Villa were sat in 11th last season that no Villa fans were picking out his flaws? That he hasn't himself been criticised for the same things Howe has? The player selection, the tactics, the subs etc? Of course he has.

 

Or on the other side of the coin, that when we're winning our fans don't laud the tactical nous of Howe?

 

No manager is flawless, Pep has been knocked out of competitions, including losing 3 finals, with many citing his habit for overthinking knock out matches and being his own worst enemy. He and Klopp have both been criticised and had to defend not having a plan B but instead their strategy of 'making plan A work'. He couldn’t buy a win for over a year in any match Rodri didn't play in. Last season they were sat in 7th during their own transition season, before they bought nearly a whole new team in January. Klopp likewise sat in 10th in 22/23.

 

They have their flaws, Emery has his, so Howe's definitely going to have them, it's about whether you're willing to accept those flaws if the ends justify the means. 

 

4th, 7th, 5th, 1 Cup, 2 CL qualifications, 2 finals all in 4 years while playing brilliant attacking football vs 4 months of the ends not justifying the means would suggest to me that it's a deal you snap hands off for.

 

As a sidenote as well, Howe doesn't only play 433, one of the criticisms aimed at him is that he doesn't play it enough and instead plays 541. He played with 2 up front when we had Isak and Wilson too, he just hasn't done it with Woltemade and Wissa yet.

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2025 by Kid Icarus

[Optimistic Nut]

9 hours ago, oldtype said:

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.

 

Of course they would. All they've done that we haven't is to have a good CL run, and I think we're more likely to do that than finish top 6.

[Menace]

Villa fans wanted a change 2 months ago by the way - shows how fickle football fans are really.

[SUPERTOON]

Emery is a better manager or up to this point had a better career than Howe. However, Howe has done the better job here than Emery at Villa imo. So far anyway.

[Lish007]

Also for context, Villa fans all wanted Emery gone at the beginning of the season because of 5 poor games and poor form at the end of last season. 

 

They've now gone 11 games unbeaten. 

 

We just need to bide our time. Form is temporary, class is permanent. 

 

And Eddie is CLASS! 

[Optimistic Nut]

I really hope we give him a bit of a free-hit and let the transitioning squad adapt to us. We might not get where we expected this season but full faith in a freshness about us next season getting us back up there. 

[SUPERTOON]

6 minutes ago, Lish007 said:

Also for context, Villa fans all wanted Emery gone at the beginning of the season because of 5 poor games and poor form at the end of last season. 

 

They've now gone 11 games unbeaten. 

 

We just need to bide our time. Form is temporary, class is permanent. 

 

And Eddie is CLASS! 

Not sure they all wanted him gone tbh. 

[1892er]

3 hours ago, Zero said:

No matter what, unless we drop to the relegation zone, no way we should change the manager before the end of the season. I even can’t name one manager that is available and could be better than Howe at this moment
 

 

This is it. I understand the criticism to a degree but the people wanting him out, for who? 

[Kid Icarus]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Not sure they all wanted him gone tbh. 

Definitely not, but each fanbase has its percentage of people whose memories are shorter than their patience.