Eddie Howe

[Coffee_Johnny]

Thought it might be helpful to compare EH’s record, to date, with our most successful PL era managers. League games only. 

Season by season breakdown in the spoiler (*end of season position shown in italics/brackets for partial seasons).

Spoiler

 

 

 

Edited February 19 by Coffee_Johnny
Corrected

[Kid Icarus]

50 minutes ago, Coffee_Johnny said:

Thought it might be helpful to compare EH’s record, to date, with our most successful PL era managers. League games only. 

 

Season by season breakdown in the spoiler (apols formatting gone to pot).

  Hide contents

 

 

Think it's won 11 lost 10 this season mate

[Dr Jinx]

On 18/02/2024 at 08:03, Lush Vlad said:

Jinx is desperate for Howe to fail and get moved on. Been consistent and got in early with his dislike of Howe, at least. So can’t even call him knee jerk. 

You’re way off there. I like Howe and I want him to succeed, I’m just not seeing improvement.. he’s getting basic stuff wrong week on week now.

 

Teams have figured out that just passing the ball through our flat midfield gives an opportunity to run at our defence. It happens multiple times every game now.. have we adjusted for it? Nope..

 

Got a pacey forward or winger? Boot it up to the left back position and watch Dan Burn curl up in the fetal position. Have we adjusted for it? Nope.

 

They say even Jose Mourinho is only good for 2 seasons at a club before it goes pear shaped.. why does that not apply to Eddie Howe when the signs are there?

 

Just because he’s not having a pop at journos, referees and other managers (or even our players) doesn’t mean he’s not mentally and emotionally spent after the achievements of the previous 2 seasons.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

That's only two mistakes TBF, and it's without a whole team of players in crucial positions. 

[Dr Jinx]

5 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

That's only two mistakes TBF, and it's without a whole team of players in crucial positions. 

Same mistakes week in week out. We have gotten worse with the players that are out there.

 

No way that team should be losing to Bournemouth 

[OverThere]

9 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

You’re way off there. I like Howe and I want him to succeed, I’m just not seeing improvement.. he’s getting basic stuff wrong week on week now.

 

Teams have figured out that just passing the ball through our flat midfield gives an opportunity to run at our defence. It happens multiple times every game now.. have we adjusted for it? Nope..

 

Got a pacey forward or winger? Boot it up to the left back position and watch Dan Burn curl up in the fetal position. Have we adjusted for it? Nope.

 

They say even Jose Mourinho is only good for 2 seasons at a club before it goes pear shaped.. why does that not apply to Eddie Howe when the signs are there?

 

Just because he’s not having a pop at journos, referees and other managers (or even our players) doesn’t mean he’s not mentally and emotionally spent after the achievements of the previous 2 seasons.

I'm about at the same position. I really hope to see some evolution in terms of reacting to obvious issues.  Even just to confuse the opposition, changing  this LB situation would seem to be an obvious tweak. I hope he can be a bit more adaptable, and fingers crossed he can otherwise that elite level will be beyond him IMO.

 

 

Edited February 19 by OverThere

[kingxlnc]

Seriously. Too much knee-jerk. While Howe can certainly learn a thing or two and being more adaptable and flexible, no-one can deny that when the team was not injured, they were up there in terms of dominating games etc. In fact, I think NUFC would be a dark horse for the title next year providing the recruitment is right, as we can see with the team available, Howe is capable of getting them to perform at an excellent level. Even some of the losses earlier in the season were highly unlucky (e.g Liverpool). With the amount of bad luck this season, that will even out next season I'm sure. They'll get 60+points this season, and I think 80+ next year. 

 

[Yorkie]

I honestly find it mind-blowing that anyone has changed their perception of Howe - and whether or not he is 'elite' or whether or not he's capable of evolving - based on one very specific matter, i.e. his continued selection of a LB who's been an ever-present in a team which: soared into 4th, got to a cup final, performed admirably in the Champions League, and is in contention for European places again. 

 

I appreciate that the context has changed and a good idea isn't a good idea forever, but you can surely at least recognise that continuing to pick him isn't 'a basic error.' It's a tactical choice designed to benefit our structure when we're in possession and/or attacking. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I wanted Burn and Longstaff dropped even when we were flying, I don't rate them. But it's not a factor in whether I think Eddie Howe is an amazing manager or not. He is, he's proven to be, he's proven to be a student of the game and someone who never stops learning. I would swap him for Pep and that's it.

 

I don't expect the manager to make the same decisions that a fan would make. 

 

We had impossible fixtures followed by impossible injuries, that is the story of this season. 

 

 

Edited February 19 by AyeDubbleYoo

[Gallowgate Toon]

Howe is tweaking things in-game every game at the minute, like. I'd actually suggest he's potentially overdoing it with the midfield more than anything - Bruno/Miley/Longstaff all played one another's positions for decent chunks on Saturday, as an example. Sometimes 3-2/2-2/3-1 defensive to midfield structures etc. Switching Up front, Gordon/Barnes/Murphy all played at striker for decent chunks too 

 

There isn't a magic formation bullet while keeping the current style of play imo - the short blanket will always remain and fan frustrations come to the fore in other ways. His options are to regress approach for a short-term so we're closer to 21/22 where we sit deeper as a team and break or look for solutions based on the system he's been evolving for 18+ months & beyond but accept it'll be messier while we're down on personnel.

 

 

Edited February 19 by Gallowgate Toon

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Yep, changing to parking the bus is an option, but then he can't mix the messages and jeopardise the overall philosophy because of a bad spell.

[OverThere]

19 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

I honestly find it mind-blowing that anyone has changed their perception of Howe - and whether or not he is 'elite' or whether or not he's capable of evolving - based on one very specific matter, i.e. his continued selection of a LB who's been an ever-present in a team which: soared into 4th, got to a cup final, performed admirably in the Champions League, and is in contention for European places again. 

 

I appreciate that the context has changed and a good idea isn't a good idea forever, but you can surely at least recognise that continuing to pick him isn't 'a basic error.' It's a tactical choice designed to benefit our structure when we're in possession and/or attacking. 

That last point should be the case. However, I'm seeing BDB being caught way upfield in the opposition box. If he is supposed to be part of the three when we attack, then why the heck is he way out on the LW or in their box. Also, given we now have the second to worst defensive record since December, wouldn't that trigger a review or evolution?

 

 

Edited February 19 by OverThere

[OverThere]

3 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Yep, changing to parking the bus is an option, but then he can't mix the messages and jeopardise the overall philosophy because of a bad spell.

Why wouldn't you alter depending on the opposition? I understand the philosophy, but you have to be pragmatic with it sometimes.

[TRon]

10 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Yep, changing to parking the bus is an option, but then he can't mix the messages and jeopardise the overall philosophy because of a bad spell.

 

I don't think he needs to park the bus. But by sitting a bit deeper, we could look to draw teams in then release the front three, all of whom have some pace on the counter. It would only be a temporary tactic to suit the players we've got available, once we have the more mobile midfielders like Willock back you could revert to type.

[Lush Vlad]

I was thinking about the Arsenal game and looking further ahead, the Chelsea game, whilst out walking the hound this morning. I wonder if he might go to a back 5 or change the formation and style a bit, at least? 
 

Not exactly spoilt for choice with bench options in the midfield and forward areas. Yet fairly stacked at the back on comparison.
Arsenal are free scoring and even if Willock and Isak are available. How long can they realistically play and how sharp will they be? Certainly can’t be risking them yet AGAIN in this. 
 

Chelsea are not great but recently played us off the park at their place when we had a similar team out and should have scored a lot more. 
 

Just concerning how easily we have been played through and how wide open we are against far worse teams. Pretty much been the case since mid-December and surely there has to be some give at some point. 
 

The few tweaks at Forest give me some hope he might alter things. 

 

 

Edited February 19 by Lush Vlad

[Coffee_Johnny]

I’ve added Keegan’s second spell to his overall record as our manager. Still leaves him best overall performer, points per game (PPG) wise but only just. Should Howe’s team accumulate 31 points from the remaining games this season (title winning form admittedly…) he would become our, relatively speaking, best ever performing PL manager with a PPG of 1.77. Unlikely, but point is he is already outperforming Robson and it is easy to forget how good a job he is doing overall. 

 

 

 

Edited February 22 by Coffee_Johnny

[RS]

I don’t think there is anyone who could do a better job with our squad and ffp restrictions.  Amazes me when I see veiled comments about changing him based on who is available, Assworths replacement putting him at risk etc. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

On 19/02/2024 at 11:42, Dr Jinx said:

Same mistakes week in week out. We have gotten worse with the players that are out there.

 

No way that team should be losing to Bournemouth 

You should lose your rotating manager idea to Amanda

[Dan Gleebals]

On 19/02/2024 at 16:49, kingxlnc said:

Seriously. Too much knee-jerk. While Howe can certainly learn a thing or two and being more adaptable and flexible, no-one can deny that when the team was not injured, they were up there in terms of dominating games etc. In fact, I think NUFC would be a dark horse for the title next year providing the recruitment is right, as we can see with the team available, Howe is capable of getting them to perform at an excellent level. Even some of the losses earlier in the season were highly unlucky (e.g Liverpool). With the amount of bad luck this season, that will even out next season I'm sure. They'll get 60+points this season, and I think 80+ next year. 

 

Agree, he can make the team perform at a very high level. I would just like him to be a bit more unpredictable in his management, team setup, tactics etc.  It's the same most weeks, same formation, subs at 62-63 minutes etc.  I know that it has not be possible due to injuries, and with a bigger squad and more options, maybe he would be a better tactical manager.  He is obviously prepared to try stuff (Bruno higher up against Palace) but overall, his "system" seems pretty much the only one we consistently stick to.

[Gawalls]

On 19/02/2024 at 16:42, Dr Jinx said:

Same mistakes week in week out. We have gotten worse with the players that are out there.

 

No way that team should be losing to Bournemouth 

No way a team with Dummett starting should be beating Man City, Man Utd either - talk about cherry picking a result to prove a point 

[TheBrownBottle]

On 20/02/2024 at 03:42, Dr Jinx said:

Same mistakes week in week out. We have gotten worse with the players that are out there.

 

No way that team should be losing to Bournemouth 

Bournemouth has won seven and drawn seven PL games this season.  It’s just plain odd to think that there is ‘no way’ NUFC should be losing (or drawing) to Bournemouth.  

[El Prontonise]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Bournemouth has won seven and drawn seven PL games this season.  It’s just plain odd to think that there is ‘no way’ NUFC should be losing (or drawing) to Bournemouth.  

 

While true, they had just gone 5 games without a win.

[Chris_R]

12 minutes ago, El Prontonise said:

 

While true, they had just gone 5 games without a win.

So you're saying they were due a win?

[Holmesy]

On 19/02/2024 at 19:42, Lush Vlad said:

I was thinking about the Arsenal game and looking further ahead, the Chelsea game, whilst out walking the hound this morning. I wonder if he might go to a back 5 or change the formation and style a bit, at least? 
 

Not exactly spoilt for choice with bench options in the midfield and forward areas. Yet fairly stacked at the back on comparison.
Arsenal are free scoring and even if Willock and Isak are available. How long can they realistically play and how sharp will they be? Certainly can’t be risking them yet AGAIN in this. 
 

Chelsea are not great but recently played us off the park at their place when we had a similar team out and should have scored a lot more. 
 

Just concerning how easily we have been played through and how wide open we are against far worse teams. Pretty much been the case since mid-December and surely there has to be some give at some point. 
 

The few tweaks at Forest give me some hope he might alter things. 

 

 

 

I’d really love that to be the case, but I can’t see anything other than Dan Burn at left back getting dry bummed by Saka, us conceding another 3 goals and Eddie doing exactly the same the following game. He just seems determined to keep Burn in the starting lineup regardless of consequence. 3 CBs, with Livra in at LB would make so much sense, but I fear it’s wishful thinking. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

2 hours ago, Gawalls said:

No way a team with Dummett starting should be beating Man City, Man Utd either - talk about cherry picking a result to prove a point 

And this is the least bonkers thing he’s said recently.