Eddie Howe

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Optimistic Nut said:

 

I doubt Howe went into last summer wanting Woltemade as his main striker. Do you? I think we wanted Wissa from day one as our Wilson replacement which at the time was fair enough. Woltemade definitely screamed desperation. 

 

I think he also clearly wanted Trafford this season. If we have Trafford and one of Ekitike/Pedro or one or two others we chased, we're up with Villa, Man Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea this season. 

 

 

 

Maybe maybe not but if we believe we can sign premier league proven players and have first dibs we are utter delusional and need putting out of our misery. 

 

On Trafford, he didn't get him as we know so he had to look elsewhere. His choice was choosing garbage in Ramsdale. I'm sorry but not getting your first choice isn't a viable excuse in my books. All of the players we didn't get signed for bigger clubs so who's the problem here us or them?

[r0cafella]

Just now, lovejoy said:

I think he means the competency and speed of the deals done.

 

if we’d had that last summer it wouldn’t have panned out as it did.

 

that part isn’t on Howe.

The speed of getting deals done isn't on Eddie that's for sure. But again being at the front or the que doesn't guarantee anything mind. I wouldn't at all be surprised if clubs waited for us to agree a fee and then moved. Save them the hassle or extensive negotiations. 

 

I think it should be obvious we have to do things differently, ie target younger players with high potential (none of what we bought this summer was particularly young) or go full moneyball. I'm not saying I have the answers but getting mugged off for another summer isn't something I want to witness again. 

[SUPERTOON]

24 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

Do you think we can do enough in the summer to turn it around? 

Probably not, i am not sure we would be willing to either tbh. I don't think Howe likes to many changes at once. 

[Ben]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

Probably not, i am not sure we would be willing to either tbh. I don't think Howe likes to many changes at once. 

 

I think we can, we have the basis of a very good team, just a few tweaks here and there.

 

One thing is for sure though, with our budget getting strained by PSR we cant afford to be in 4 competitions at the same time

[lovejoy]

5 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

The speed of getting deals done isn't on Eddie that's for sure. But again being at the front or the que doesn't guarantee anything mind. I wouldn't at all be surprised if clubs waited for us to agree a fee and then moved. Save them the hassle or extensive negotiations. 

 

I think it should be obvious we have to do things differently, ie target younger players with high potential (none of what we bought this summer was particularly young) or go full moneyball. I'm not saying I have the answers but getting mugged off for another summer isn't something I want to witness again. 

I agree, it guarantees nothing. But some respected journalists have said we missed out on Trafford because we messed about, and it was suggested Joao Pedro the same.

 

those two deals make for a very different season imo.

 

All if’s and but’s of course.

[Decky]

People slate Howe for some of our signings last summer but they forget about who our main targets early on were and how the toxic six were all over every single transfer we attempted for the first two months of the window.

[Yorkie]

23 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Give him a goalkeeper and a striker even with the other weaknesses and we'll be golden. I think even this season just those two positions would have been worth 12-15 points. 

 

15 minutes ago, Optimistic Nut said:

If we have Trafford and one of Ekitike/Pedro or one or two others we chased, we're up with Villa, Man Utd, Liverpool & Chelsea this season. 

 

Yeah, agree very much with this. 

 

It's definitely extremely important that we recruit well in the summer but I don't agree with the building consensus that we need a thousand new players to replace a thousand outgoing players.

 

Like you say, literally just give him a (much) better keeper and we'll already be getting somewhere.

[r0cafella]

Just now, lovejoy said:

I agree, it guarantees nothing. But some respected journalists have said we missed out on Trafford because we messed about, and it was suggested Joao Pedro the same.

 

those two deals make for a very different season imo.

 

All if’s and but’s of course.

With Trafford I see that, obviously it's a player we chased for far too long. I've got no issues with passing on Trafford personally mind I don't think goal keepers are a position a club with our ambitions should be developing. With JP we moved early and it was said he has no interest and wanted to play for a london club so that was always a none starter. (He's also not that good  ) 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

2 hours ago, Spartan said:

It was Howe who persuaded the owners to get rid of Mitchell in the meeting after the season ended. Yes, the owners should have brought someone in sooner, but to say he doesn't have responsibility also is incorrect.

 

 

 

I don’t think we know this at all. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

46 minutes ago, lovejoy said:

I agree, it guarantees nothing. But some respected journalists have said we missed out on Trafford because we messed about, and it was suggested Joao Pedro the same.

 

those two deals make for a very different season imo.

 

All if’s and but’s of course.

Don’t know how many times we have to do Trafford. Whenever we agreed a deal for him the call would have to go in to Man City to step in if they wanted. 

[SUPERTOON]

47 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

 

Yeah, agree very much with this. 

 

It's definitely extremely important that we recruit well in the summer but I don't agree with the building consensus that we need a thousand new players to replace a thousand outgoing players.

 

Like you say, literally just give him a (much) better keeper and we'll already be getting somewhere.

Whilst I agree we desperately need a keeper, our problems run much deeper imo. We are poor in every are of the pitch imo. Defensively all over the place, a midfield that gets ran through and a really poor strike force. 

[Spartan]

6 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

I don’t think we know this at all. 

So he left two days after a meeting at the end of the season. Aye right

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, Spartan said:

So he left two days after a meeting at the end of the season. Aye right

The point is that we don’t know Howe persuaded them to get rid of him. That’s made up. 

[Sima]

17 hours ago, Gottlob said:

Wonder how much better off we'd have been had we signed Calvert-Lewin and Adam Armstrong instead of Woltemade and Wissa?

Calvert-Lewin and hanging onto Wilson maybe.

 

Armstrong is shite.

[Mattoon]

We don't need wholesale changes and a couple of astute buys would definitely catapult our fortunes, but there's still glaringly obvious weaknesses in our team that need addressing, bar a striker and a goalkeeper:

 

1. Suitable LB and RB backup

2. The damned RW position

3. A proper DM to fill that massive gap between MF and CB

4. A creative 8/10 to unlock a low block

 

We still really need to sort out that spine through the middle.

 

Having said that, the glaring gaps aren't uniquely down to personnel, our press lately has been lackluster, the times we get it right we dominate, previous seasons have seen us score so many goals from harassing a team high up the pitch and turning the ball over in dangerous areas.

 

This season I've watched us push our formation up high but with much less intensity making us so much easier to play around leaving us vulnerable on the break. Whether thats an exercise in maintaining balance with the amount of games we play, or players not committing as much, I'm not sure. We either need to play with the same intensity and accept that we're going to be tired, or be more cautious in how we distribute our attack. Because at the moment, we're toothless and wide open.

[Holmesy]

17 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Whilst I agree we desperately need a keeper, our problems run much deeper imo. We are poor in every are of the pitch imo. Defensively all over the place, a midfield that gets ran through and a really poor strike force. 

Agreed. And yet, when you look at the quality of players we have, in midfield and defence particularly, we should be much better than we currently are. Even if we're less potent at the top end of the pitch due to poor strikers, the midfield and defence we're putting out shouldn't be shipping goals at the rate they are.

[The Butcher]

We looked bad all over the pitch all season. We've always had acres of space behind our midfield under Eddie, but when our pressing worked it became less of an issue.

 

Now we've lost our identity - our pressing, our shithousery and never say die mentality. All that looks gone atm. Is it Eddie trying to adapt to a new style? Can he be successful at that? I'm not sure possession football and controlling games with the ball will ever be his game - the one thing you need to have in your locker at the very top.

 

For him to stay in the job I think he has to go back to the pressing style and will have to recruit for that style. That's why I think Woltemade especially was a poor signing and I doubt he'll ever properly work out under Eddie.

 

He's probably best as an underdog, like most other managers. 

 

A bit of a ramble, but I really hope he figures it out.

[Kid Icarus]

3 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

He shares some responsibility.  They’re his signings.

Infuriating to still be reading this stripped of the context.

 

 

Edited March 2 by Kid Icarus

[Interpolic]

1 hour ago, Decky said:

People slate Howe for some of our signings last summer but they forget about who our main targets early on were and how the toxic six were all over every single transfer we attempted for the first two months of the window.

 

Yep we were seeing the hold the richest clubs have over the transfer market play out in the clearest possible way, day after day for months. 

 

There's an argument we were too ambitious with many of our early targets that I'd partially go along with tbh and I hope we've learnt that. 

 

But our DOF had left us in an awful position, after having antagonised everyone at the club, including Isak with disastrous consequences. 

 

So that Mitchell appointment fucked us in many ways and Howe spent the summer trying to make the best of a pig's ear of a situation. 

[r0cafella]

Just now, Interpolic said:

 

Yep we were seeing the hold the richest clubs have over the transfer market play out in the clearest possible way, day after day for months. 

 

There's an argument we were too ambitious with many of our early targets that I'd partially go along with tbh and I hope we've learnt that. 

 

But our DOF had left us in an awful position, after having antagonised everyone at the club, including Isak with disastrous consequences. 

 

So that Mitchell appointment fucked us in many ways and Howe spent the summer trying to make the best of a pig's ear of a situation. 

God I sound like a Paul Mitchell defender but I don't see in what way he left us in an awful position given he actually didn't spend any of our money. To me at least leaving us in an awful position would have been pissing away all of our psr manager whilst selling our best players. 

 

He left us in a neutral position in my book as he did basically fuck all. He was a gobshite but that's it. To be it's clear he upset the apple cart and was sidelined. 

[Froggy]

1 hour ago, Decky said:

the toxic six

 

Don't you start this.  

[Interpolic]

4 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

God I sound like a Paul Mitchell defender but I don't see in what way he left us in an awful position given he actually didn't spend any of our money. To me at least leaving us in an awful position would have been pissing away all of our psr manager whilst selling our best players. 

 

He left us in a neutral position in my book as he did basically fuck all. He was a gobshite but that's it. To be it's clear he upset the apple cart and was sidelined. 

 

Leaving us in a neutral position would have been leaving that January or whenever, giving us time to replace him. 

 

We went into that window off the back of 3 barren windows, it was hugely important we had a fully functioning transfer team even before the Isak stuff (which he helped cause). 

 

Wider point is it was a messy, cobbled together setup which anyone could see was far from ideal. 

[OpenC]

11 minutes ago, Interpolic said:

 

Yep we were seeing the hold the richest clubs have over the transfer market play out in the clearest possible way, day after day for months. 

 

 

 bang on, we were kept well and truly in our box the whole window.  I try to keep paranoia at bay but I thought at the time that it was big clubs manipulating agents and deliberately working against us from every possible angle, and still think it now, and can't see it being significantly different this summer

 

 

Edited March 2 by OpenC

[Kid Icarus]

6 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

God I sound like a Paul Mitchell defender but I don't see in what way he left us in an awful position given he actually didn't spend any of our money. To me at least leaving us in an awful position would have been pissing away all of our psr manager whilst selling our best players. 

 

He left us in a neutral position in my book as he did basically fuck all. He was a gobshite but that's it. To be it's clear he upset the apple cart and was sidelined. 

 

You don't believe the stuff about his refusal to honour Isak's promised new contract or his reported dealings with Burnley then?

[Dr.Spaceman]

Just now, OpenC said:

 

 bang on, we were kept well and truly in our box the whole window.  I try to keep paranoia at bay but I thought at the time that it was big clubs and agents deliberately working against us from every possible angle, and still think it now, and can't see it being significantly different this summer

 

Was it not just a case of "Well if Newcastle are interested they must be good" knowing that they could blow us out the water in terms of transfer fee and wages offered. We need to be smarter and start making more friends, doing more in the shadows.