Eddie Howe

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, Fenham Mag said:

The summer window of 2025 has proved the worst of the Howe regime so far, but this is based from a very high base, before that they had struck gold  in almost every signing (Kelly does not count as a free and sold for an unbelievable profit). 

Eddie did not help himself at all by saying any new signings have to improve the first team, he could have just said we want to strengthen our squad. That has been used as a huge stick to beat him with by fans and journalists.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think buying ‘squad players’ at first team prices would’ve let him off the hook - and I also don’t think buying ‘squad players’ is a good strategy in any case.  

[The College Dropout]

1 hour ago, The Prophet said:

The number one take away from the summer should be that we aren't in a place to be paying a premium for Premier League players. Not only does that market bring you into competition with bigger clubs who will offer more generous wages, but it's far from being a guarantee.

 

Having said that, previous transfer markets demonstrate that it's probably still too early to be coming to any firm conclusions about the summer business. Granted, it's not delivered in the short term.

A lot of the business was meant to pay for immediately though. 

[Spartan]

6 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I don’t think buying ‘squad players’ at first team prices would’ve let him off the hook - and I also don’t think buying ‘squad players’ is a good strategy in any case.  

No you buy new first team players, who will then replace current first team players, who will then revert to squad players. The weakest current squad players will then be sold/loaned out. Amongst that you will also bring in younger talent to be developed. 

[TRon]

10 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Fair enough, but we know why we had shit windows during that period - this time isn’t the result of miserly ownership.  Based on our current PL form it’s probably lucky we did get some points in the bag at home earlier in the season because at present we don’t look any better than we did in 15/16 - we are toothless up front and leaking goals at an insane rate.  Our form against top half sides tells us where we are - and we don’t have a cheap squad nor a low wage bill.  I don’t buy that matches against some of the shittest sides I can remember us playing against in Europe has that much of an impact.  We’ve looked poor this season in pretty much every match we’ve played.  It’s nowhere near good enough. 

 

Our football has been bad in just about every area of the pitch. We don't look solid in defence, our midfield can't hold possession, and we end up with 3/4 strikers on the pitch on some occasions and still don't look like scoring. Maybe just playing one striker in a coherent system would be more effective. 

[500bhp]

Its been a few years and my memory of it is fading, and there are people on here with more knowledge of other PL teams than me, but it does feel a bit like Bournemouth all over again. I remember watching that Howe team when they got promoted to the PL and they were great to watch. Full of energy, intensity and attacking. Remember watching them tear us apart at SJP under Maclaren. Then they made some poor transfers and faded, all the intensity was gone and they went backwards very quickly. Even a Bruce team won 4-1 at their place.

 

We've gone backwards this season, but the important question is whether Howe has it in him to turn it around. Is he still up for that challenge. Plus whether the board still believe in him. He's publicly doubting himself in interviews and some of his answers such as 'I've no idea' don't sound good. He also looks shattered and not as confident as a few years ago. He's what, third longest serving PL manager? Maybe both parties will decide a change is needed. 

[Coffee_Johnny]

I may be oversimplifying things, but do we need any other explanation than we don’t have strikers who are contributing what we bought then to contribute, we have played more games than any other team in Europe’s top leagues, we have injuries to key players in an already limited squad (size wise at least). Unless you blame the manager for all of the above, who would do better? 

[Tiresias]

25 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

I may be oversimplifying things, but do we need any other explanation than we don’t have strikers who are contributing what we bought then to contribute, we have played more games than any other team in Europe’s top leagues, we have injuries to key players in an already limited squad (size wise at least). Unless you blame the manager for all of the above, who would do better? 

 

This, i am getting a bit turned off football at now i just can't feel the sputtering rage. I was angry after of course, can't be losing these home games of course, but it's a dud season, no we aren't going to get into europe, the squad is tired, we recruited badly, what you going to do? Under previous regimes you thought things could only get worse, here, meh we'll absorb it and then go again next year. I can't get angry at Howe, it happens.

[Yorkie]

33 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

I may be oversimplifying things, but do we need any other explanation than we don’t have strikers who are contributing what we bought then to contribute, we have played more games than any other team in Europe’s top leagues, we have injuries to key players in an already limited squad (size wise at least). Unless you blame the manager for all of the above, who would do better? 

 

Yep, well said. The manager isn't without accountability of course, but getting rid of him would be like flying through turbulence and sacking the pilot.

[Minhosa]

2 hours ago, Tiresias said:

 

This, i am getting a bit turned off football at now i just can't feel the sputtering rage. I was angry after of course, can't be losing these home games of course, but it's a dud season, no we aren't going to get into europe, the squad is tired, we recruited badly, what you going to do? Under previous regimes you thought things could only get worse, here, meh we'll absorb it and then go again next year. I can't get angry at Howe, it happens.

FWIW I absolutely wouldn't be looking to lose Howe.

 

In fact, if we can fix the clusterfuck of last summer this next window, I'd even back him to win us a cup next season.

 

One game per week, loads of time on the grass and a fitter, less stretched squad would make us favourites for a domestic cup imho.

 

I sincerely hope he stays and is given a chance to right last summers wrongs.

 

I still think he's a class act and has done nothing but work his bollocks off and represent us with real dignity.

 

Having said that, I cannot wait for this season to be over. Never thought I'd say it but I'm fucking sick of going to the games, sick of our boring performances and sick of watching some of the shite that we should never have signed.

 

Bring on next year, ship out the shite and go again and win more silverware.

[TRC]

3 hours ago, Yorkie said:

 

Yep, well said. The manager isn't without accountability of course, but getting rid of him would be like flying through turbulence and sacking the pilot.

I get the point but a striker issue isn’t just us. Villa have had a massively out of form and likely injured Watkins playing all season, Everton have two shocking strikers, Fulham are rolling out a 35 Raul Jimenez, all these teams are above us.

 

The summer transfer window was a disaster, we are unable to play two games a week due to poor rotation or lack of signings in January.

 

This season feels like every bad decision is coming back to haunt us and all of Eddies weaknesses are even more exposed than they normally would be.

[Minhosa]

1 minute ago, TRC said:

I get the point but a striker issue isn’t just us. Villa have had a massively out of form and likely injured Watkins playing all season, Everton have two shocking strikers, Fulham are rolling out a 35 Raul Jimenez, all these teams are above us.

 

The summer transfer window was a disaster, we are unable to play two games a week due to poor rotation or lack of signings in January.

 

This season feels like every bad decision is coming back to haunt us and all of Eddies weaknesses are even more exposed than they normally would be.

Thought Watkins was excellent at our place tbf. Chalk and cheese in terms of quality of movement, holding the ball up and his pressing. He was a real nuisance all game. 

[TRC]

1 minute ago, Minhosa said:

Thought Watkins was excellent at our place tbf. Chalk and cheese in terms of quality of movement, holding the ball up and his pressing. He was a real nuisance all game. 

Hes been very poor all season though, Villa fans aren’t happy with him. That performance probably says more about our performance than anything else.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

25 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

FWIW I absolutely wouldn't be looking to lose Howe.

 

In fact, if we can fix the clusterfuck of last summer this next window, I'd even back him to win us a cup next season.

 

One game per week, loads of time on the grass and a fitter, less stretched squad would make us favourites for a domestic cup imho.

 

I sincerely hope he stays and is given a chance to right last summers wrongs.

 

I still think he's a class act and has done nothing but work his bollocks off and represent us with real dignity.

 

Having said that, I cannot wait for this season to be over. Never thought I'd say it but I'm fucking sick of going to the games, sick of our boring performances and sick of watching some of the shite that we should never have signed.

 

Bring on next year, ship out the shite and go again and win more silverware.

 

Exactly. It's a bad season, things have gone wrong. But sacking arguably your greatest ever manager in the prime of his career over it would be absolutely nuts.

 

Only possible scenario I can see is if he was to throw a tantrum in the boardroom about anyone else helping him with transfers. But that's fairly fanciful and even the idea is based on assumptions about Howe which have very little basis in evidence. Or if he can't be bothered anymore, but I would hope that's unlikely given he's looking at a much less demanding season next year. 

 

Eddie is the man for summer and next season, has to be. 

 

 

Edited March 3 by AyeDubbleYoo

[TRC]

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Exactly. It's a bad season, things have gone wrong. But sacking arguably your greatest ever manager in the prime of his career over it would be absolutely nuts.

 

Only possible scenario I can see is if he was to throw a tantrum in the boardroom about anyone else helping him with transfers. But that's fairly fanciful and even the idea is based on assumptions about Howe which have very little basis in evidence. 

 

Eddie is the man for summer and next season, has to be. 

I think people aren’t factoring in the support he is relying on from Wilson and co.

 

If Wilson drops the ball then it’s a really tough job for Howe and he’s probably borderline burnt out at this point.

[TRon]

29 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

FWIW I absolutely wouldn't be looking to lose Howe.

 

In fact, if we can fix the clusterfuck of last summer this next window, I'd even back him to win us a cup next season.

 

One game per week, loads of time on the grass and a fitter, less stretched squad would make us favourites for a domestic cup imho.

 

I sincerely hope he stays and is given a chance to right last summers wrongs.

 

I still think he's a class act and has done nothing but work his bollocks off and represent us with real dignity.

 

Having said that, I cannot wait for this season to be over. Never thought I'd say it but I'm fucking sick of going to the games, sick of our boring performances and sick of watching some of the shite that we should never have signed.

 

Bring on next year, ship out the shite and go again and win more silverware.

 

 

I've always maintained that Howe needs to get next season as well, and pretty sure he'll get it. I'm not convinced he'll do much better though. The game has changed in the PL, and we've not been able to adapt. We've kept trying to play the same way despite not having the players to implement it, and the football has lacked any coherence for most of the season. 

 

The club has a decision to make in the summer as well. Howe has the final say on transfer targets, but how do we decide what type of player we are targeting? Do we stick with the players we bought last summer or trade them in at a loss in order to rebuild? 

 

The rest of the season is a write off for me, but I'm hoping we can use it to get a tune out of the players we brought in so there's at least something to look forward to next season. 

[Weznufc]

He should 💯 get next season after all the bs in the summer but if he still fails, then questions need to be asked 

[SUPERTOON]

41 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

FWIW I absolutely wouldn't be looking to lose Howe.

 

In fact, if we can fix the clusterfuck of last summer this next window, I'd even back him to win us a cup next season.

 

One game per week, loads of time on the grass and a fitter, less stretched squad would make us favourites for a domestic cup imho.

 

I sincerely hope he stays and is given a chance to right last summers wrongs.

 

I still think he's a class act and has done nothing but work his bollocks off and represent us with real dignity.

 

Having said that, I cannot wait for this season to be over. Never thought I'd say it but I'm fucking sick of going to the games, sick of our boring performances and sick of watching some of the shite that we should never have signed.

 

Bring on next year, ship out the shite and go again and win more silverware.

Agree with this, although im not confident ahead of the summer window.

[Minhosa]

13 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

Agree with this, although im not confident ahead of the summer window.

There's going to have to be an uncomfortable level of player turnover for Howe's liking is my feeling.

 

Was told yesterday that Tino to Man City is a 'done deal' from a reliable source. If that's the case, we're going to need to have deals lined up before every club knows we have that fee burning a hole in our pockets like they did with the Wissa/Woltemade fee's.

 

Hopefully Wilson will have the sense to get the bodies in first and then let the big outgoings happen...

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

1 minute ago, Minhosa said:

There's going to have to be an uncomfortable level of player turnover for Howe's liking is my feeling.

 

Was told yesterday that Tino to Man City is a 'done deal' from a reliable source. If that's the case, we're going to need to have deals lined up before every club knows we have that fee burning a hole in our pockets like they did with the Wissa/Woltemade fee's.

 

Hopefully Wilson will have the sense to get the bodies in first and then let the big outgoings happen...

Doesn’t the fact you know suggest it’ll be well known like? 

[Mattoon]

1 hour ago, Minhosa said:

FWIW I absolutely wouldn't be looking to lose Howe.

 

In fact, if we can fix the clusterfuck of last summer this next window, I'd even back him to win us a cup next season.

 

One game per week, loads of time on the grass and a fitter, less stretched squad would make us favourites for a domestic cup imho.

 

I sincerely hope he stays and is given a chance to right last summers wrongs.

 

I still think he's a class act and has done nothing but work his bollocks off and represent us with real dignity.

 

Having said that, I cannot wait for this season to be over. Never thought I'd say it but I'm fucking sick of going to the games, sick of our boring performances and sick of watching some of the shite that we should never have signed.

 

Bring on next year, ship out the shite and go again and win more silverware.

 

I'd go one further and say Howe would have us up and around the top 3 with one game a week and fully fit and organised, well trained squad, maybe even the outside chance of a title push if the recruitments are right, we weren't far off last season.

[The College Dropout]

The project is going into an entirely new phase or a ‘restart’. 
 

With the possible exception of Bruno G, I expect all of our purples to leave over the next 16 months and the older guard to be phased out. How do we rebuild? 
September 2027 I don’t expect to have or start:

Pope

Schar

Burn

Tino

Hall (maybe)

Gordon

Tonali

Trippier

[TRon]

18 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

There's going to have to be an uncomfortable level of player turnover for Howe's liking is my feeling.

 

Was told yesterday that Tino to Man City is a 'done deal' from a reliable source. If that's the case, we're going to need to have deals lined up before every club knows we have that fee burning a hole in our pockets like they did with the Wissa/Woltemade fee's.

 

Hopefully Wilson will have the sense to get the bodies in first and then let the big outgoings happen...

 

 

Thought the writing was on the wall when the new contract talks were shelved tbh. But we can't help that, just need to actually get ahead of it this time. Same goes if Tonali decides he's done here. 

[Mattoon]

40 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

I've always maintained that Howe needs to get next season as well, and pretty sure he'll get it. I'm not convinced he'll do much better though. The game has changed in the PL, and we've not been able to adapt. We've kept trying to play the same way despite not having the players to implement it, and the football has lacked any coherence for most of the season. 

 

The club has a decision to make in the summer as well. Howe has the final say on transfer targets, but how do we decide what type of player we are targeting? Do we stick with the players we bought last summer or trade them in at a loss in order to rebuild? 

 

The rest of the season is a write off for me, but I'm hoping we can use it to get a tune out of the players we brought in so there's at least something to look forward to next season. 

 

I'm not convinced this is the case, I still think Howe's way of playing still has a place in the game, we've just not implemented it properly, whether that's through fatigue or conservation of energy I'm not sure. But that's what leaves us so vulnerable and why we look so disjointed in midfield and defence, we're pushing up but not committing to the press as aggressively as we usually would so we're easier to play through.

 

Given fresh legs and one game a week next season I think we see that intensity at full volume again and we will roll teams over.

[wyn davies]

18 minutes ago, Mattoon said:

 

I'd go one further and say Howe would have us up and around the top 3 with one game a week and fully fit and organised, well trained squad, maybe even the outside chance of a title push if the recruitments are right, we weren't far off last season.

Unfortunatley thats not what PIF want, they want PL and Champs league with min Eufa league to bring in dosh every season and thats the isdue with Howe, he canot cope with those vsriables.

[OoOGazOoO]

53 minutes ago, Minhosa said:

There's going to have to be an uncomfortable level of player turnover for Howe's liking is my feeling.

 

Was told yesterday that Tino to Man City is a 'done deal' from a reliable source. If that's the case, we're going to need to have deals lined up before every club knows we have that fee burning a hole in our pockets like they did with the Wissa/Woltemade fee's.

 

Hopefully Wilson will have the sense to get the bodies in first and then let the big outgoings happen...

 

If this is the case then I am gutted.

 

Tino offers so much for us and I cannot think of a replacement off the top of my head that is anything/anywhere near him.