Eddie Howe

[Miggys First Goal]

Said it before, but come the summer they need to stick or twist. Either let him go and bring someone new in or commit to giving him the entire season and let him rebuild in the summer. But the decision needs to be made at the end of the season one way or the other. We can’t go into next season with him at the helm only for the owners to give him the push six games in if things haven’t improved having let him loose with the transfer kitty. 

[Chicken Dancer]

When the same things keep happening over and over there comes a point where you have to point the finger at the coaching staff. 
 

Surely that’s not even in question. 

[SUPERTOON]

5 minutes ago, Miggys First Goal said:

Said it before, but come the summer they need to stick or twist. Either let him go and bring someone new in or commit to giving him the entire season and let him rebuild in the summer. But the decision needs to be made at the end of the season one way or the other. We can’t go into next season with him at the helm only for the owners to give him the push six games in if things haven’t improved having let him loose with the transfer kitty. 

It needs making now really tbh, plans shouid be already in place.

[Jesse Pinkman]

Would love for the Howe FC lads to explain how it’s the board’s fault our defence which comprises experienced and international players such as Livramento, Botman, Burn, Schar, Thiaw, Hall and Trippier has been soo bad this season. 
 

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by Jesse Pinkman

[Virtua Stiva]

We finish bottom half, which is pretty likely considering the sludge we’ve served up in the league this season, and the “rebuild” happens without him tbh. Hopkinson basically admitted as much in his latest bout of gobshitery 

[QBG]

Becoming increasingly hard not to point the finger at him as defeats like these stack up. 

 

The thing that was most frustrating for me was just how late the subs were. It was obvious early in the second half that the game was beginning to pass Joelinton by, and they knew if he got booked he'd be banned two games. The game was crying out for Ramsey to replace him, instead he's left on too long and he gets booked. Ramsey then doesn't come on until the 82nd minute when Palace have all the momentum.

 

Similarly, it was easy to see quickly after Mateta came on how many problems he was causing. Obviously you'd hope our centre-backs would be strong enough to deal with that, but why not bring on Burn to shore things up against him?

 

That might be me oversimplifying things a little in that example, but in the end the hesitation to change things has cost us at least a point. I love Howe for everything he's done, but sometimes he's painfully slow in assessing the game situation and reacting to it.

 

 

[dcmk]

3 minutes ago, Virtua Stiva said:

We finish bottom half, which is pretty likely considering the sludge we’ve served up in the league this season, and the “rebuild” happens without him tbh. Hopkinson basically admitted as much in his latest bout of gobshitery 

Behind the scenes he's reportedly been saying the opposite.

[Miggys First Goal]

Francis is right tbh. Howe needs peddling tonight. 
 

 

[ryanegg]

9 minutes ago, Chicken Dancer said:

When the same things keep happening over and over there comes a point where you have to point the finger at the coaching staff. 
 

Surely that’s not even in question. 

This is it. If there were any signs of any intent to change, I'd give him some more time. It's just so frustrating atm as our squad on paper is very good. The tactics and in-game management are so poor.

[Kid Icarus]

19 minutes ago, Jesse Pinkman said:

Would love for the Howe FC lads to explain how it’s the board’s fault our defence which comprises experienced and international players such as Livramento, Botman, Burn, Schar, Thiaw, Hall and Trippier has been soo bad this season. 

 

Go on then, I'll humour you.

 

On 25/03/2026 at 20:05, Kid Icarus said:

Our xGA is the xG that the opposition has had against us in our matches. Ours is the 5th best in the league - so we're quite good in comparison to the rest of the league at not giving away really clear cut chances often in matches.

 

The fact that in terms of actual goals conceded we're 14th and our actual position being 12th would suggest that the problem is with the opposition either being freakishly good at converting chances against us, and/or we have a goalkeeper problem.

 

 

And that's just by focusing solely on the defence and ignoring how threat up front=defensive solidity. The failures in the market there, particularly with Isak shouldn't need explaining.

 

 

Edited April 12 by Kid Icarus

[Heron]

1 hour ago, Jesse Pinkman said:

Would love for the Howe FC lads to explain how it’s the board’s fault our defence which comprises experienced and international players such as Livramento, Botman, Burn, Schar, Thiaw, Hall and Trippier has been soo bad this season. 
 

 

 

 

 

Because the midfield isn't protecting it the way it should and our forwards aren't doing enough at the other end. Gordon should have done better with his opportunity and other than our goal absolutely nothing was created. Howe needs to get that balance right and/or change tactics.

 

That, I will concede.

 

I'm not gonna go over the same things I've gone over a million times before. Howe should have had them at the races against S*nderland and today and they weren't. But you cannot blame Howe for Gordon fucking up that chance or Botman inexplicably dragging someone over last minute (today).

 

I think there's division in the squad and that's been an underlying issue that's now resurfacing as agents and players and media speculate.

 

I think there are many contributory factors to why we're now at why we're at.

 

My stance remains the same as pre match regarding Howe.

 

 

 

Edited April 12 by Heron

[Abacus]

First time I've heard Howe's position be questioned out in the real world.

 

For what it's worth I think it would be a terrible mistake, but I'm wobbling a bit myself today.

[Andy84]

12 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Go on then, I'll humour you.

 

 

 

And that's just by focusing solely on the defence and ignoring how threat up front=defensive solidity. The failures in the market there, particularly with Isak shouldn't need explaining.

 

 

 

I wouldn’t entertain him tbh 

[nufc4eva]

Some of it is players, some of it is coaching and management. The sheer unwillingness to adapt and the fucking shocking in game management has led us to this position. Relying on defined patterns of play, static football and no fluidity makes us fucking rank to watch. Our so called high press gets cut open and Howe doesn't step back and think through what could be changed. Whatever style we try to have has barely worked for the last season and he won't try anything else. I loved the bloke but this season has been rank and we should blame players but his job is to organize them, put an effective team together and adapt to opposition and he's done none of that all season 

[Mole]

13 minutes ago, Heron said:

Because the midfield isn't protecting it the way it should and our forwards aren't doing enough at the other end. Gordon should have done better with his opportunity and other than our goal absolutely nothing was created. Howe needs to get that balance right and/or change tactics.

 

That, I will concede.

 

I'm not gonna go over the same things I've gone over a million times before. Howe should have had them at the races against S*nderland and today and they weren't. But you cannot blame Howe for Gordon fucking up that chance or Botman inexplicably dragging someone over last minute (today).

 

I think there's division in the squad and that's been an underlying issue that's how resurfacing as agents and players and media speculate.

 

I think there are many contributory factors to why we're now at why we're at.

 

My stance remains the same as pre match regarding Howe.

 

I am very much in the "Howe deserves at least until Christmas after hopefully a more positive summer" camp. But I haven't hesitated to display my displeasure with how this season has gone from this standpoint and how little signs of improvement there has been.

 

Not sure why some are trying to paint it as you're either all the way in or all the way out, there's context to be had considering how last summer went and how Howe managed the team prior to last summer. You can be concerned about how this season has gone without the need to nail your colours to the mast just yet.

[The Prophet]

30 minutes ago, Jesse Pinkman said:

Would love for the Howe FC lads to explain how it’s the board’s fault our defence which comprises experienced and international players such as Livramento, Botman, Burn, Schar, Thiaw, Hall and Trippier has been soo bad this season. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a bit more multifaceted than it being the fault of one individual.

 

Firstly we've defended the box really poorly this season. While some of that is of course on Howe and his coaches, it's been a season riddled with individual errors, particularly from our goal keepers who've been really poor. As a result, confidence is low and we look brittle as fuck.

 

Then there's the injuries. Long stints out for Tino, Schar, Botman and Hall have meant we haven't had a settled defence all season. Thiaw has been the only ever present and he's had to play far too much as a result of the other a absentees.

 

Finally there's been recruitment. The future planning at the back has generally been pretty poor with Trippier, Schar and Burn all heading into their twilight years at the same time. This was obviously recognised the summer before last, but we decided to pivot from Thiaw to Guehi and managed to piss Burnley off re Trafford. Again there's a question mark how much of that is down to Mitchell, Howe or PSR constraints (perhaps a bit of everything), but it's been a factor.

[TRC]

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

It's a bit more multifaceted than it being the fault of one individual.

 

Firstly we've defended the box really poorly this season. While some of that is of course on Howe and his coaches, it's been a season riddled with individual errors, particularly from our goal keepers who've been really poor. As a result, confidence is low and we look brittle as fuck.

 

Then there's the injuries. Long stints out for Tino, Schar, Botman and Hall have meant we haven't had a settled defence all season. Thiaw has been the only ever present and he's had to play far too much as a result of the other a absentees.

 

Finally there's been recruitment. The future planning at the back has generally been pretty poor with Trippier, Schar and Burn all heading into their twilight years at the same time. This was obviously recognised the summer before last, but we decided to pivot from Thiaw to Guehi and managed to piss Burnley off re Trafford. Again there's a question mark how much of that is down to Mitchell, Howe or PSR constraints (perhaps a bit of everything), but it's been a factor.

I get this but all clubs go through bad luck, players injured etc but you have to adapt not just bring out the same old 433 every game.

[Heron]

5 minutes ago, Mole said:

I am very much in the "Howe deserves at least until Christmas after hopefully a more positive summer" camp. But I haven't hesitated to display my displeasure with how this season has gone from this standpoint and how little signs of improvement there has been.

 

Not sure why some are trying to paint it as you're either all the way in or all the way out, there's context to be had considering how last summer went and how Howe managed the team prior to last summer. You can be concerned about how this season has gone without the need to nail your colours to the mast just yet.

It's because the way social media and the modern world now operates - everything has to be binary and not actually using some degree of conversation and consideration. It is possible to be Howe In and unhappy with some of his flaws or Howe Out and appreciative of his ability to at least coach individuals.

[The Prophet]

4 minutes ago, TRC said:

I get this but all clubs go through bad luck, players injured etc but you have to adapt not just bring out the same old 433 every game.

 

Point taken, but how does switching to 3-4-3 or 4-2-3-1 fix poor box defending, low confidence and injuries?

 

I agree there's a training ground element to it, but I don't think a change in formation is a quick fix.

[TRC]

6 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Point taken, but how does switching to 3-4-3 or 4-2-3-1 fix poor box defending, low confidence and injuries?

 

I agree there's a training ground element to it, but I don't think a change in formation is a quick fix.

Or maybe just try a few different things, not just formation.

 

He hasn’t had much time on the training pitch and that has been an excuse all season for Wissa and Wolte, now he has had 2 full weeks with them and doesn’t even use them and the team puts in a dud performance. It’s just frustrating to take.

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, TRC said:

Or maybe just try a few different things, not just formation.

 

He hasn’t had much time on the training pitch and that has been an excuse all season for Wissa and Wolte, now he has had 2 full weeks with them and doesn’t even use them and the team puts in a dud performance. It’s just frustrating to take.

 

He has. We've tried different stuff both on and off the ball, it’s just not particularly successful.

 

Howe not being able to fix the slump is one of the reasons I have a hunch he might walk.

 

 

[Robster]

1 hour ago, Jesse Pinkman said:

Would love for the Howe FC lads to explain how it’s the board’s fault our defence which comprises experienced and international players such as Livramento, Botman, Burn, Schar, Thiaw, Hall and Trippier has been soo bad this season. 
 

 

 

 

 

How dare we try and support our manager during a difficult time.

Go and support Arsenal, man.

[TRC]

17 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

He has. We've tried different stuff both on and off the ball, it’s just not particularly successful.

 

Howe not being able to fix the slump is one of the reasons I have a hunch he might walk.

 

 

I don’t think he would walk but I don’t think he tried a lot of things fans thought would be nice to see.

 

reverting Gordon back to LW was a mistake too

 

 

[black_n_white]

Even after today I’d like to think he gets a shot at turning it around next season.

[Miggys First Goal]

What I’d hate to see happen is for things to turn toxic against Howe. He doesn’t deserve that. Has this season been shit? Absolutely. Have we ran out of ideas? Looks that way. But he’s given us so much since he arrived. So many great memories. He still deserves our respect even if we’re annoyed and disappointed with how things have gone this season.