Eddie Howe

[The College Dropout]

18 minutes ago, Zero said:

I don’t get it. I mean you are right that we have a top 7-8 squad and we should finish around there, assuming that every coach’s quality of work are the same. But if that’s the case then why continue to hire Eddie? 
 

We should have a better than average manager / coach and hence we should be aiming for Euro / top 6 finish every season. If we failed to do it, it just mean Eddie / the manager / the coach we hired ain’t good enough.

You can follow the same line. Shouldn't the top 6 have a better coach as well?

 

We need to eek out advantages everywhere, not just the manager.

[The Prophet]

50 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Maybe you do.

 

I'm far less emotional and up and down than most fans. I never rated Gordon as highly as most did after his breakout season, i'm also probably one of the least eager to see him leave.

 

I look at the squad - it's not stacked with quality. Maybe half a dozen would get moves to top 7 clubs and become key players for them. Without any European football, I would expect us to fight for Europe. For a non-European squad it would have a lot of depth in some areas.

 

I wasn't talking about you.

[The College Dropout]

30 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

You can follow the same line. Shouldn't the top 6 have a better coach as well?

 

We need to eke out advantages everywhere, not just the manager.

And we had it with the positive atmosphere, getting the likes of Isak Bruno etc.  

 

Howe was ahead of the curve at a point too 

 

 

Edited May 7 by The College Dropout

[Wallsendmag]

3 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Depends on the summer transfer activity for us, for others and if Spurs go down. And who gets into Europe.

 

I'd say now 6th-8th. With no Europe and some of the likes of Bournemouth, Brighton & Brentford in Europe, 8th is the floor. Forest and Palace may be in it too. Below Top 6 + Villa (better run club) is acceptable. Anything else is not.

 

Rocking up with Barnes/Gordon - Woltemade/Wissa/Osula - Elanga/Murphy we could finish 10th.

 

How are Villa a better run club? Haven't they had to sell off loads of top players over the past few years just to scrape into the right side of PSR/FFP and their wage to turnover is about the highest in the league?

[Andy84]

They are definitely getting CL but I don’t think Villa are in a great place squad wise.  Loads of work is needed with that squad ahead of a brutal league and CL campaign 

[NUFC91]

3 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Based on what?

 

Who of Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man U, Spurs, Chelsea, Villa wouldn't expect to finish above us if they got their houses in order?

 

If they all have a good summer, good managers in place - the top 6 should get top 6. Villa got 66 points the last time they were in the CL - that's CL 90% of the time.

 

Villa have been restricted by PSR and we finished about them 2 of the last 3 seasons, Spurs are 4th bottom and Chelsea have a transfer ban.

 

We have finished 4th, 7th and 5th the last 3 seasons, why would be happy with mid table because we have had 1 bad season. Man utd are going to likely get champions league after finishing 16th and Bournemouth will likely get some form of Europe.

 

 

Edited May 7 by NUFC91

[The College Dropout]

8 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

How are Villa a better run club? Haven't they had to sell off loads of top players over the past few years just to scrape into the right side of PSR/FFP and their wage to turnover is about the highest in the league?

Sold loads of top players?
Douglas Luiz - replaced him with a younger player / a free transfer. 

Duran - ticking time bomb

 

Legit who else have they sold as a top/key player?

 

The likes of the winger and Ramsey - got good fees for middling talents.

 

Villa have done everything they can to be competitive. They've largely avoided selling their very best players. Got good players in when doing FFP malarky. Quick to do FFP hacks. Ended up building a very strong squad when in the CL from January and unlucky to miss out on B2B CL finishes. Heading into their 4th consecutive season of European football. Owner puts public pressure about FFP/PSR. Academy investment is paying off. Announced plans to expand Villa Park to probably more capacity than SJP. Agreed expansion to training ground. Obviously maxxed investment into the squad and likely beyond.

 

9 minutes ago, Andy84 said:

They are definitely getting CL but I don’t think Villa are in a great place squad wise.  Loads of work is needed with that squad ahead of a brutal league and CL campaign 

I agree with this. They need that CL spot and even then I think they might have to sell to be compliant again.

 

Emery really needs to win that Europa League though. They choked against Palace last season in the FA Cup. This is another huge opportunity.

[The College Dropout]

11 minutes ago, NUFC91 said:

 

Villa have been restricted by PSR and we finished about them 2 of the last 3 seasons, Spurs are 4th bottom and Chelsea have a transfer ban.

 

We have finished 4th, 7th and 5th the last 3 seasons, why would be happy with mid table because we have had 1 bad season. Man utd are going to likely get champions league after finishing 6th and Bournemouth will likely get some form of Europe.

We are also restricted by PSR and Villa will have finished above us 3 out of the past 5 seasons at the end of the month. They have accumulated more points than us over 3-5 seasons.

 

Man u are going to finish 3rd in the league. I expect us to finish above Bournemouth next season.

 

Our 4 full-season average under PIF/Howe will be something like 7th. 

 

You are being entitled. 6th-8th is fair. Let's see how the summer goes for everyone. If Spurs go, Man U keep Carrick and buy dross, Chelsea do Chelsea and we buy quality I can see us finishing high up the league.

[TRon]

24 minutes ago, Andy84 said:

They are definitely getting CL but I don’t think Villa are in a great place squad wise.  Loads of work is needed with that squad ahead of a brutal league and CL campaign 

 

 

They are in a similar position to us in that every time they take two steps forward they are forced to take two steps back. They look on the brink of tottering sometimes but then seem to pull off a series of wins to get them back on track. Quite like us last season. 

[NUFC91]

8 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

We are also restricted by PSR and Villa will have finished above us 3 out of the past 5 seasons at the end of the month. They have accumulated more points than us over 3-5 seasons.

 

Man u are going to finish 3rd in the league. I expect us to finish above Bournemouth next season.

 

Our 4 full-season average under PIF/Howe will be something like 7th. 

 

You are being entitled. 6th-8th is fair. Let's see how the summer goes for everyone. If Spurs go, Man U keep Carrick and buy dross, Chelsea do Chelsea and we buy quality I can see us finishing high up the league.

 

How am I entitled for wanting us to aim for Europa league?

 

I can't understand the logic how Spurs are deemed to be in a better position to finish above us next season? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 7 by NUFC91

[SUPERTOON]

30 minutes ago, Andy84 said:

They are definitely getting CL but I don’t think Villa are in a great place squad wise.  Loads of work is needed with that squad ahead of a brutal league and CL campaign 

Whilst I agree, it’s kind of how Emery works. He’s always had a high turnover of players.

[Wallsendmag]

15 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Sold loads of top players?
Douglas Luiz - replaced him with a younger player / a free transfer. 

Duran - ticking time bomb

 

Legit who else have they sold as a top/key player?

 

The likes of the winger and Ramsey - got good fees for middling talents.

 

Villa have done everything they can to be competitive. They've largely avoided selling their very best players. Got good players in when doing FFP malarky. Quick to do FFP hacks. Ended up building a very strong squad when in the CL from January and unlucky to miss out on B2B CL finishes. Heading into their 4th consecutive season of European football. Owner puts public pressure about FFP/PSR. Academy investment is paying off. Announced plans to expand Villa Park to probably more capacity than SJP. Agreed expansion to training ground. Obviously maxxed investment into the squad and likely beyond.

 

I agree with this. They need that CL spot and even then I think they might have to sell to be compliant again.

 

Emery really needs to win that Europa League though. They choked against Palace last season in the FA Cup. This is another huge opportunity.

 

Also Malen, Coutinho, Bailey, Diaby, Diego Carlos, all had to be shipped out for nowt, or next to nowt because either their wages were going to put them in breach of PSR or they were poor signings in the first place.

 

I don't think Villa have been an example of a well run club at all. They recruited an excellent manager however, I'll give them that.

[SUPERTOON]

21 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

Also Malen, Coutinho, Bailey, Diaby, Diego Carlos, all had to be shipped out for nowt, or next to nowt because either their wages were going to put them in breach of PSR or they were poor signings in the first place.

 

I don't think Villa have been an example of a well run club at all. They recruited an excellent manager however, I'll give them that.

Well run maybe not the true, but they have more invested owners imo.

[Dr Venkman]

23 hours ago, gdm said:

Doesn’t sound like he’s in favour of the big rebuild we are much needing. 

I’m shocked.

[Tiotes Witch Doctor]

Anything to keep the jobs for the boys going as long as possible.

[The College Dropout]

35 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

Also Malen, Coutinho, Bailey, Diaby, Diego Carlos, all had to be shipped out for nowt, or next to nowt because either their wages were going to put them in breach of PSR or they were poor signings in the first place.

 

I don't think Villa have been an example of a well run club at all. They recruited an excellent manager however, I'll give them that.

Got their money back for Diaby - i'm not counting Gerrard era signings. Bailey is literally still there.

 

Villa have a high turnover of players. But they've done enough to finish top 6, 4 years in a row. That is impressive and has required investment (including time, quick decisions) from owners to achieve it. Academy, stadium, training ground, PSR hacks - doing all they can.

 

Our Owners don't do all they can. They actually do a lot less. But it's still relatively early days for them. PIF to their credit haven't had a Gerrard era. But Summer 2025 was a massive waste of resources.

[Robster]

38 minutes ago, Tiotes Witch Doctor said:

Anything to keep the jobs for the boys going as long as possible.

Please try to remember pre-October 2021 and realise how good we have it now and try to avoid being so cynical.

We can be frustrated of course, but come on, man. Stuff like this feels way over the top.

[Myleftboot]

1 hour ago, Tiotes Witch Doctor said:

Anything to keep the jobs for the boys going as long as possible.

I did wonder wether that was true.Eddies back room staff is like a family to him so if he leaves that’s a lot of people out of a job and he would be responsible for that. 

[Wallsendmag]

2 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Got their money back for Diaby - i'm not counting Gerrard era signings. Bailey is literally still there.

 

Villa have a high turnover of players. But they've done enough to finish top 6, 4 years in a row. That is impressive and has required investment (including time, quick decisions) from owners to achieve it. Academy, stadium, training ground, PSR hacks - doing all they can.

 

Our Owners don't do all they can. They actually do a lot less. But it's still relatively early days for them. PIF to their credit haven't had a Gerrard era. But Summer 2025 was a massive waste of resources.

 

We've literally won a trophy and qualified for the CL twice in that time. They might be able to say the same in a few weeks time. Our net spend over the last 5 years is around £450m and theirs is around £100m so there's been far more investment in our squad than theirs.

 

We've also invested £millions in the training ground, hopefully a new one on the horizon, and our commercial revenue has rocketed.

[The College Dropout]

7 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

We've literally won a trophy and qualified for the CL twice in that time. They might be able to say the same in a few weeks time. Our net spend over the last 5 years is around £450m and theirs is around £100m so there's been far more investment in our squad than theirs.

 

We've also invested £millions in the training ground, hopefully a new one on the horizon, and our commercial revenue has rocketed.

Yeh we had great leaders for 2/2.5 years. They built that team and staff but they've long gone. Another 2 years of poor leadership and decisions is in large part why we are fighting to be top half.

 

Net spend is rubbish. Villa's squad cost is similar to our own (think ours is higher) but their wage bill has been bigger.

 

Most importantly, their owners have done everything in their power to make Villa competitive. That is a major reason why Villa will have had sustained success. Ours have not.

[Wallsendmag]

38 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Yeh we had great leaders for 2/2.5 years. They built that team and staff but they've long gone. Another 2 years of poor leadership and decisions is in large part why we are fighting to be top half.

 

Net spend is rubbish. Villa's squad cost is similar to our own (think ours is higher) but their wage bill has been bigger.

 

Most importantly, their owners have done everything in their power to make Villa competitive. That is a major reason why Villa will have had sustained success. Ours have not.

 

Net spend is the best indication of how much the owners are prepared to invest in the squad. It's what we used to slate Mike Ashley for. Balance sheet champions and all that. Our average league position since the takeover is 6th/7th and there's is 7th/8th and we've won a trophy and played 2 seasons of Champions League in that time.

 

Never understood why people use Villa as a stick to beat us with for some reason.

 

We are fighting to be top half because we wasted £250m on rubbish last summer.

 

 

Edited May 7 by Wallsendmag

[Ronson333]

5 hours ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

How are Villa a better run club? Haven't they had to sell off loads of top players over the past few years just to scrape into the right side of PSR/FFP and their wage to turnover is about the highest in the league?

Fuck Villa, they had the chance to relegate a so-called top six club and bottled it. Don’t want to

hear any excuses for them, fuck them.

[OoOGazOoO]

On 06/05/2026 at 16:46, gdm said:

Doesn’t sound like he’s in favour of the big rebuild we are much needing. 

 

Well that's a bit crap because we have too many players currently who aren't good enough to get us where we want to be, and that includes some of those that were signed last summer. What do we do? Keep them and continue average performances because we don't want big changes?

 

Didn't he also say in a press conference 2 or 3 weeks ago that he thought there would be more changes than needed because you have to take stock of what you are seeing in performances, or something (intimating that it wasn't good enough)?

[SteV]

3 minutes ago, OoOGazOoO said:

 

Well that's a bit crap because we have too many players currently who aren't good enough to get us where we want to be, and that includes some of those that were signed last summer. What do we do? Keep them and continue average performances because we don't want big changes?

 

Didn't he also say in a press conference 2 or 3 weeks ago that he thought there would be more changes than needed because you have to take stock of what you are seeing in performances, or something (intimating that it wasn't good enough)?

The (Twitter) poster has conveniently cut off the last ten seconds of the that presser to cause maximum outrage. Worked a treat for them tbf.

[OoOGazOoO]

4 minutes ago, SteV said:

The (Twitter) poster has conveniently cut off the last ten seconds of the that presser to cause maximum outrage. Worked a treat for them tbf.

 

What was the next 10 seconds?