Eddie Howe

[Colos Short and Curlies]

5 minutes ago, Abacus said:

 

Not that I disagree that at least some big team and maybe two will implode.

 

Personally, I think champions league is a bit of a high bar, which I also admittedly thought during the magic carpet ride of Howe's first full season and was then delighted and surprised like everyone when we got there.

 

Just genuinely curious as to what people expect. Target yes, and obviously I do hope we get there, but it would need a lot of things to fall our way.

 

I don't see why it's that high a bar tbh. In the last 2 non European seasons we've finished in the champions league spots.

 

We need to box clever this summer of course but no reason it shouldn't be a sensible aim.

[Wallsendmag]

6 minutes ago, andyc35i said:

That’s why I’m still annoyed with how things ended for us. If we didn’t give away the three points at Forest, we’d have gone into the last game with the possibility of finishing 7th. It was so tight even until the end despite how shite we were for much of the season. 

 

People expected a sudden uplift once we went out of Europe but facts were that we were out of sorts before any fixture build up could really have an impact as this graphic shows. We just weren't anywhere near good or consistent enough to have a real crack at qualifying for Europe.

 

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Wallsendmag

[r0cafella]

3 hours ago, Abacus said:

Where would people realistically expect to finish next season? I guess it depends on the summer and I do get that.

 

Right now, I think 6th and Europa would be a really good season and that's assuming Tonali might be away and a few relative unknowns in. Just curious what others think.

In line with our budget so 7-8. 

[TheBrownBottle]

36 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

In line with our budget so 7-8. 

Yep, around 7th is par

[r0cafella]

9 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Yep, around 7th is par

It stems from wanting to be fair and giving a proper crack at it. Eddie is on thin ice for me though, so if say a 9 point gap to Europe opens up I'd let go. however i would have moved on in the summer. 

[TheBrownBottle]

20 minutes ago, r0cafella said:

It stems from wanting to be fair and giving a proper crack at it. Eddie is on thin ice for me though, so if say a 9 point gap to Europe opens up I'd let go. however i would have moved on in the summer. 

Howe has to be given time to fix it - and i agree of course, I’d have parted ways in May, but we didn’t, so the best way forward is to draw a line and not continually re-prosecute last season. 
 

The worst case scenario is a few bad results in August and the crowd turns, the board panics and he’s out of the job early.  I don’t see who that helps.
 

He shouldn’t get a full season to be reevaluated for me - it has to be where we are around halfway.  If we’re in a bad place, giving the manager the January window might be doubling-down on a bad position.  
 

I’m happy to treat this summer as a ‘fresh start’, with neither the good nor the bad of what went before at the forefront - but that also means not getting forever to get things right.

[Abacus]

Yes, so I think those are fair expectations, alongside a bit of an evolution in playing style to hopefully get the best out of Woltemade in particular.

 

That might seem a low bar to some but I think there have been some reasonable arguments on both sides of the Howe debate. I'm on the Howe in side of things and am personally hoping for a much better league campaign alongside a decent cup run.

 

Any sort of European football the following season seems to me to be where we need to be aiming. So for now, I'll leave it, see where we end up squad wise after the summer, and look to see what's realistic then, and what might be over/underperformance. 

 

Such a relief not to be involved in the polarising twitter wars and have this place instead.

[ffs]

6 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Howe has to be given time to fix it - and i agree of course, I’d have parted ways in May, but we didn’t, so the best way forward is to draw a line and not continually re-prosecute last season. 
 

The worst case scenario is a few bad results in August and the crowd turns, the board panics and he’s out of the job early.  I don’t see who that helps.
 

He shouldn’t get a full season to be reevaluated for me - it has to be where we are around halfway.  If we’re in a bad place, giving the manager the January window might be doubling-down on a bad position.  
 

I’m happy to treat this summer as a ‘fresh start’, with neither the good nor the bad of what went before at the forefront - but that also means not getting forever to get things right.

 

i agree w every word of this. wherever we all were on the howe in-out axis at the end of last season, i think we've got to fresh start him

[sanyi75]

33 minutes ago, ffs said:

 

i agree w every word of this. wherever we all were on the howe in-out axis at the end of last season, i think we've got to fresh start him

Our opponents were able to prepare, they knew our style, we couldn't deal with a fully-established defense, we couldn't control the ball, we needed more creativity in midfield. Often, the too-fast pace quickly tired the team, but we can't slow down because we don't know what to do with the ball. This needs to be solved somehow.

[Wallsendmag]

Whilst it's not ideal sacking a manager mid season we can't waste another season like we did the last one. There's been examples of it paying off (Keegan for Ossie, Robson for Gullit, Roeder for Souness) and examples of it not (Souness for Robson). I think we'll have a good idea of how the season is going to play out by the October International break. If there's signs of change/improvement then great, but if it resembles last season and we're in the bottom half I see no benefit to kicking the can down the road for another 7 months and limping through to another bottom half finish.

 

What Howe needs now is a summer of rest and recuperation with his family, an 8+/10 transfer window and I wouldn't be against a refresh of his backroom staff. Some new input and ideas as it all felt a bit stale last season. We need to come out of the blocks absolutely flying in August. No ifs or buts.

 

[Interpolic]

On 19/06/2026 at 13:33, Holmesy said:

I honestly don't know why people react like this.
Eddie isn't the Messiah. He's a man and a football manager who is judged on results. Naming him in the same sentence as other men/football managers who have held the same job role isn't disrespectful unless you're saying he's no better than them, which no one in their right mind would do. 

It's this sort of nonsense that people refer to when they talk about blind loyalty. You sound like a member of a cult.
 

 

 

 

 

People wouldn't talk about Keegan or Robson in the same breath as Kinnear or Bruce, or treat them the same in any way, shape or form. 

 

You need to value and respect your club legends. Which is understood by proper football fans the world over. The fact you don't get it says a lot. 

 

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Interpolic

[Kid Icarus]

Did you treat two terrible managers who disrespected and embarrassed the club and its fans at every turn the same as the most successful manager in our lifetimes who bigs up the club, its history, and its fans any chance he gets and has represented the club brilliantly for 5 years?

 

No? Thought not. Clamped.

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Kid Icarus

[astraguy]

can't be arsed even reading this thread , but I'm guessing its all howe out shit? utterly embarrassing i'm slowly fading away from supporting us or liking football

[500bhp]

14 minutes ago, astraguy said:

can't be arsed even reading this thread , but I'm guessing its all howe out shit? utterly embarrassing i'm slowly fading away from supporting us or liking football

 

Just because a few supporters are criticising the manager? Bye then, maybe NUFC is not for you. I'm 70/30 making a change of manager for the reasons I've described in this thread since March. But I'll still sing and support the team and manager all next season. Because I want the best for my team and home city. 

 

It really is true. Some fans are more EHFC than NUFC! 

[cubaricho]

1 minute ago, 500bhp said:

It really is true. Some fans are more EHFC than NUFC! 

It’s just not though, is it?  

[Kid Icarus]

Mince for brains 

[500bhp]

11 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Mince for brains 

 

He is isn't he. There's a few reasons I'd walk away from modern day football but some people criticising the manger is not one of them. 

[Kid Icarus]

Good one!!

[nufcjb]

I wonder if Eddie would walk out of the job if his best players are sold and he doesn't get replacements in or doesn't get who he wants?

[astraguy]

Eddie howe would walk into any top team with a free following transfer spend , we are limited/getting bullied  have the summer off ffs

[Dokko]

No top team is coming in for Howe. His chance was last summer. He's 2 good seasons here now to correct last season, and to string 2 good seasons together to show the last one was a blip. Not sure we're in for a good season for 26/27, everything is already pointinf to another shitshow.

 

 

Edited 7 minutes ago by Dokko

[J7]

10 minutes ago, astraguy said:

Eddie howe would walk into any top team with a free following transfer spend , we are limited/getting bullied  have the summer off ffs

Most of the top clubs in our league were looking for a manager, and Howe hasn’t been linked with any of them. I haven’t seen a fan of any of those clubs suggest him. 

[JoeyBartoon]

13 minutes ago, astraguy said:

Eddie howe would walk into any top team with a free following transfer spend , we are limited/getting bullied  have the summer off ffs

No top team is giving him all the control that he’s has been given here. 

 

 

Edited 2 minutes ago by JoeyBartoon