Eddie Howe

[Whitley mag]

If you see evolution then you give Howe more time and next season. 
 

I see evolution at Man U for example with the signings they’ve made and they’re giving Amorim time to get it right.

So far this season i see regression under Howe and his buys have taken us backwards at great cost.

 

I can understand why people think he should be given time, nowt wrong with that and he’s probably earned the benefit of doubt.

 

However, it’s a results based business and it’ll require some strong holding of nerve if we don’t win at Burnley and Wolves in upcoming away games. We’ve got some tricky home fixtures against Leeds and Palace that people will expect us to win as well.

The question nobody knows the answer to at the moment is, has Howe ran his course as he did at Bournemouth, some of his recent comments re Elanga and progress just don’t stack up with what we are seeing on the pitch. 
 

Personally think the football is turgid currently and don’t think we’ll ever evolve into a true possession based team under him. I’m not wanting tippy tappy football but would like movement, incisive passing in final third and the ability not to constantly cough up possession of the ball.

 

I don’t want him sacked currently as it would be a bad look and knee jerk. Need to see some evolution though and think even the signing of a technician like Smit in January might be transformative for him and the team.

 

 

 

 

 

[Sibierski]

29 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

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. 

I think he will, but I suppose it comes down to trade offs. If it’s a ‘we will sign the players, you work with them’ then sure, but if it’s Howe wanting the sway/say over the players, he will have less leeway surely if things don’t improve?

 

We all said last season he may not hold cards in a power battle, but then he won the cup and gave him the killer card. Think same will be again this summer giving what’s required to the squad. Any competent DoF will realise the squad lacks a balance across the ages and different technical ability. So sales are needed for players that are well regarded and different types brought in.

[Lish007]

13 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

If you see evolution then you give Howe more time and next season. 
 

I see evolution at Man U for example with the signings they’ve made and they’re giving Amorim time to get it right.

So far this season i see regression under Howe and his buys have taken us backwards at great cost.

 

I can understand why people think he should be given time, nowt wrong with that and he’s probably earned the benefit of doubt.

 

However, it’s a results based business and it’ll require some strong holding of nerve if we don’t win at Burnley and Wolves in upcoming away games. We’ve got some tricky home fixtures against Leeds and Palace that people will expect us to win as well.

The question nobody knows the answer to at the moment is, has Howe ran his course as he did at Bournemouth, some of his recent comments re Elanga and progress just don’t stack up with what we are seeing on the pitch. 
 

Personally think the football is turgid currently and don’t think we’ll ever evolve into a true possession based team under him. I’m not wanting tippy tappy football but would like movement, incisive passing in final third and the ability not to constantly cough up possession of the ball.

 

I don’t want him sacked currently as it would be a bad look and knee jerk. Need to see some evolution though and think even the signing of a technician like Smit in January might be transformative for him and the team.

 

 

 

 

 

Evolution is definitely life after Isak no? Or becoming a counter attacking team to a possession based team... a very difficult transition to make IMO. 

[Whitley mag]

Just now, Lish007 said:

Evolution is definitely life after Isak no? Or becoming a counter attacking team to a possession based team... a very difficult transition to make IMO. 

To compete at the very top in all competitions we need to evolve into a possession based team as Arsenal have done. Klopp played high intense football but they didn’t cough up possession like we do.

 

It’s very difficult to evolve when you double down and sign physical/running power in Elanga and Ramsey instead of technically better players.

 

 

[Nucasol]

1 minute ago, Whitley mag said:

It’s very difficult to evolve when you double down and sign physical/running power in Elanga and Ramsey instead of technically better players.

Watching Cherki yesterday showed the value of someone who can pick a lock when the defence is banked up. We’ve got no one who can do that bar the occasional pass from Bruno.

[Whitley mag]

1 minute ago, Nucasol said:

Watching Cherki yesterday showed the value of someone who can pick a lock when the defence is banked up. We’ve got no one who can do that bar the occasional pass from Bruno.

Exactly and look what they paid for him, as opposed to what we did for Elanga.

 

 

Edited December 28, 2025 by Whitley mag

[Begbie]

9 minutes ago, 1892er said:

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

I would say no mather how good or bad we are doing its the boards job to have a list of potenional managers ready. I dont want him replaced but we need to evaluate where we are and if we are reaching our goals, and imo needs to be done on a regular basis. 

 

If we are to replace Howe I really hope we are not doing like the past and go for a defencive manager after an attacking one(keegan - Dalglish, Sir Bobby - Souness). For me I would look at someone like Pochettino, Ancelotti or Gasperini.

 

If replaced or not I would love us to have a set up like Bayern Munich, we find our identity and how we want to play, and that the club appoint coaches that are the best out there and not just the ones the manager wants. When the manager leaves then the setup is still there for the next one.

 

 

[Kid Icarus]

Probably says a lot that we all think the problem is different but I think our problem is much more with players being on the same wave length for the final ball (particularly Woltemade and Gordon) and being in the right place to finish chances than it is with creating them in the first place. We break the lines way more often than you think, only for Murphy or whoever to cut it back to an opposition player, put in a good ball and there's no one there, or dink it to the back post and it gets cleared.

 

If we can sort that out it'll make a huge difference. Chelsea first half looked like it was there, we just can't seem to keep hold of these things. 

[Lucky]

50 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

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. 

The problem is that some of the new players adapting to this rigid system is that it makes those players less than what they could be.

 

You don’t replace Isak with a totally different player and expect to play the same way. That’s what it seems like he’s trying to do.

[The Prophet]

10 hours 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

 

There has been...

 

Reasonable criticism of Howe

Unreasonable criticism of Howe

Those who want Howe to be sacked 

Those who have become entitled or spoilt 

Those who love to moan, all of the time, regardless of circumstance

 

The dissent has varied quite widely. I'm not sure why you've grouped it all together to turn yourself into some kind of e-martyr.

[Wallsendmag]

We're just suffering from a really poor summer transfer window. Simple as that. £100m wasted on Elanga and Ramsey and the jury still out on £55m Wissa. A club like ours simply can't afford to make mistakes like that. The goalkeeper we brought in is poor and we lost our striker who was pretty much averaging 20 goals a season. Yes Thiaw has been a success but then there's the likes of Pope, Joelinton, Burn, Trippier and Schar who are clearly on the decline now. Less said about Gordon the better.

 

In short our team is worse than last season. In fact it's the worst team we've had in the past few seasons. Not sure how or if we can correct it. If Wissa turns out to be a flop that's £150m wasted on those 3, plus agents fees, plus wages. I'd imagine that would leave us hamstrung for quite a while.

[Lush Vlad]

@Whitley mag odd to use Man U as a comparison. No Europe so only one game a well. They’ve still spent a lot of money over the years and from a higher floor than us. They have bought well at times, yet also wasted money like we have. They have spent a large amount on an underperforming attacking player this summer. Much like we have. 
 

I’m sure Froggy will be on to tell us how great they are. But are they really looking that good or like they’re close to figuring it all out? They still look incredibly easy to play through whenever I watch them. 

[Holmesy]

14 minutes ago, Nucasol said:

Watching Cherki yesterday showed the value of someone who can pick a lock when the defence is banked up. We’ve got no one who can do that bar the occasional pass from Bruno.

I think the more concerning thing is we’ve never been linked with that kind of player under Eddie or showed any interest in having one. It’s 4-3-3 only and on the rare occasion, 5 at the back. We are absolutely toothless against a low block and we’re vulnerable on the counter attack. Having a disciplined deeper lying midfielder, with a crafty #10 who can pick locks further ahead would give us so many more options, and more than the one dimension we have now.

[Wallsendmag]

Just now, Lush Vlad said:

@Whitley mag odd to use Man U as a comparison. No Europe so only one game a well. They’ve still spent a lot of money over the years and from a higher floor than us. They have bought well at times, yet also wasted money like we have. They have spent a large amount on an underperforming attacking player this summer. Much like we have. 
 

I’m sure Froggy will be on to tell us how great they are. But are they really looking that good or like they’re close to figuring it all out? They still look incredibly easy to play through whenever I watch them. 

 

A decent team with any sort of offensive fluidity and attacking threat would have beaten them with room to spare on Boxing Day. I thought they were dreadful.

[Yorkie]

Find it really depressing that players are just being written off so flippantly. The whole team isn't really performing and there are systemic tactical and mental issues. Can we not afford the new lads a bit of grace on the basis that it's all just a bit dysfunctional atm? 

 

[Lush Vlad]

2 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

A decent team with any sort of offensive fluidity and attacking threat would have beaten them with room to spare on Boxing Day. I thought they were dreadful.

TBF, I didn’t reference our game on purpose. As we were shite and they had so many players missing. But yes, I agree. 

[GOTONEW]

The Emery chat is interesting. But besides all that...I just don't like him and find him weird  So there's that

We've had such a rush of success, some just need a bit of patience back (me included, at times).

I do believe the people wanting change are way fewer than it seems. It's just the social media affect. When a small group's opinion gets discussed by a larger group...making it seem a massive issue. 

[The Prophet]

5 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Find it really depressing that players are just being written off so flippantly. The whole team isn't really performing and there are systemic tactical and mental issues. Can we not afford the new lads a bit of grace on the basis that it's all just a bit dysfunctional atm? 

 

 

Was about to post something similar. The whole attacking unit looks dysfunctional, regardless of personnel.

[Holmesy]

2 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Find it really depressing that players are just being written off so flippantly. The whole team isn't really performing and there are systemic tactical and mental issues. Can we not afford the new lads a bit of grace on the basis that it's all just a bit dysfunctional atm? 

 

When they cost £40m plus, they are always going to be afforded less time to adjust than players like Osula for example. 
I think there’s been a collective concern about the obsession with PL-proven players for a while, and this is the first time it has come back to bite us, but it has bitten us hard.

They might come good in time but the one benefit of buying players like Elanga and Ramsey is they should need less time to bed in, and can hit the ground running. 

 

[Yorkie]

12 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

When they cost £40m plus, they are always going to be afforded less time to adjust than players like Osula for example. 
I think there’s been a collective concern about the obsession with PL-proven players for a while, and this is the first time it has come back to bite us, but it has bitten us hard.

They might come good in time but the one benefit of buying players like Elanga and Ramsey is they should need less time to bed in, and can hit the ground running. 

 

 

I totally get that and I was massively sympathetic to the logic of buying PL players, and it's disappointing that the reality hasn't matched the theory. But it's all the more reason to assume they'll come good in the end. 

 

If you add all Elanga's minutes together so far he's played just shy of 11 full matches; for Ramsey it's 8. It's not much of a sample size to confidently declare them shit and wastes of money, particularly when the whole team is off it.

 

The 'obsession' with buying from the PL is totally over-egged as well. We're no different to literally every other team with hefty budgets where this is concerned. The mid-table and lower teams were absolutely ravaged by the higher/CL-hopeful teams this summer.

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, Yorkie said:

 

I totally get that and I was massively sympathetic to the logic of buying PL players, and it's disappointing that the reality hasn't matched the theory. But it's all the more reason to assume they'll come good in the end. 

 

If add all Elanga's minutes together so far he's played just shy of 11 full matches; for Ramsey it's 8. It's not much of a sample size to confidently declare them shit and wastes of money, particularly when the whole team is off it.

 

...and all of those games haven't been exclusively poor.

[Erikse]

17 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

A decent team with any sort of offensive fluidity and attacking threat would have beaten them with room to spare on Boxing Day. I thought they were dreadful.

 

They were also missing Mbeumo, Diallo, Bruno and Mount second half.. There's not much goal threat left. Their CB pairing was also pretty bad. Heaven and a rusty Martinez.

[Holmesy]

9 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

I totally get that and I was massively sympathetic to the logic of buying PL players, and it's disappointing that the reality hasn't matched the theory. But it's all the more reason to assume they'll come good in the end. 

 

If you add all Elanga's minutes together so far he's played just shy of 11 full matches; for Ramsey it's 8. It's not much of a sample size to confidently declare them shit and wastes of money, particularly when the whole team is off it.

 

The 'obsession' with buying from the PL is totally over-egged as well. We're no different to literally every other team with hefty budgets where this is concerned. The mid-table and lower teams were absolutely ravaged by the higher/CL-hopeful teams this summer.

That’s the hierarchy though isn’t it, and as much as we’d love to be playing at the top, we’re just not. When we can pick up underrated gems and take the best players from clubs below us, it’s a sound policy. But the cartel hoovered up the best ones and we were left shopping in the next tier down, where it would probably have been more sensible to look overseas. 
Semenyo is a perfect example - top player playing for a club we have a good relationship with and are above in the hierarchy but we’d have no chance of getting him because of City, ManUre and Chelsea’s interest. So our only PL-proven option would be the next tier down. If we’re looking to compete for honours with the cartel, which we are, we need to be more creative and imaginative in the transfer market than we have been. Our policy got us to where we are but it won’t get us to where we want to go next.

[Interpolic]

3 hours ago, Andy said:

 

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. 

 

Flavour of the month is right. Funny how the Areola patter has died down. 

[Interpolic]

52 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

@Whitley mag odd to use Man U as a comparison. No Europe so only one game a well. They’ve still spent a lot of money over the years and from a higher floor than us. They have bought well at times, yet also wasted money like we have. They have spent a large amount on an underperforming attacking player this summer. Much like we have. 
 

I’m sure Froggy will be on to tell us how great they are. But are they really looking that good or like they’re close to figuring it all out? They still look incredibly easy to play through whenever I watch them. 

 

Using Man Utd as an example of better player recruitment when we've just seen player after player choose them over us is some incredibly flawed criticism like. People seem to forget the deck is stacked in the favour of a few clubs, you'd think the summer just gone would have been a reminder.