Eddie Howe

[Whitley mag]

Still the man for the job but today was a shocker no escaping it.

 

Said before the match our tactics are stale and we’ve been sussed by the opposition.

 

In mitigation though Howe hasn’t had the time between games to tweak things tactically and injuries have limited his options.

 

We’ve got no excuse now though, there’s full weeks between games without Europe and we’re right to expect a massive improvement in 2nd half of season.

 

Players are playing without discipline and he must tweak our attacking play, the obsession with inverted wingers cutting in without a playmaker to break down defences is to easy to read.

 

If he’s backed with money in January he must veer from wanting players who can simply run and are physical. My biggest fear for Howe is his transfer business, it undone him at Bournemouth in my opinion and appointing his brother on the transfer committee rang major alarm bells.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Whitley mag

[TheBrownBottle]

4 minutes ago, Ghandis Flip-Flop said:

Well do you think Dan Ashworth is whispering into their ears saying sack him? Or do you think anyone who is rational and dispassionate enough to look at the circumstances we find ourselves in, thinks there's a fair bit of mitigation to explain our current predicament. 
 

I mean you harp on about how successful they’ve been in investments etc, do you achieve that by being reactionary and trigger happy?

 

Genuine question, what has this ownership done that suggests they’re going to throw out our current blueprint at the first sign of adversity?

Nowt.  But we don’t hear a peep from them.  We know Staveley has to run all major decisions via PIF and - crucially - the management contract that she has for the club is entirely based on performance (PIF’s perception of performance).  So we’re in the weird position of the minority shareholder running the club on a management contract, and also being the mouthpiece.  It isn’t in Staveley’s interest to be overly critical of anything that is happening.  But we absolutely do not know anything about PIF’s views. 

[Holmesy]

7 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

We absolutely were fatigued today like. The three man midfield looked sluggish and easy to play through, the wingers were ineffective and decision making was off all over the park.

This fatigue excuse needs to stop now. Players are bound to be tired but it’s up to the manager to ‘manage’ what energy they do have. He isn’t and deserves to be called out for it. Simply saying we’re tired after getting bummed by Forest at home is letting people off the hook who should be doing a better job. They tore through us at will and we had the chance to react and make ourselves harder to play through, but didn’t. Fatigue wore thin a long time ago.

[Sandro Tonali]

Fatigue is a definite excuse. Howe drills his players non stop, physically and mentally. Intricate details day in day out. To not have that time or the squad to get those processes right is becoming detrimental. If we had players that could come in and do the exact job for that is asked of them we would be ok. It has git to a point where Eddie is asking his players to conserve energy where possible and we cannot find a balance. We need be full tilt 100% of the time with the shape we play but it's just not possible 

[The Prophet]

5 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

This fatigue excuse needs to stop now. Players are bound to be tired but it’s up to the manager to ‘manage’ what energy they do have. He isn’t and deserves to be called out for it. Simply saying we’re tired after getting bummed by Forest at home is letting people off the hook who should be doing a better job. They tore through us at will and we had the chance to react and make ourselves harder to play through, but didn’t. Fatigue wore thin a long time ago.

 

It's not an excuse if it's the reality. It's so painfully obvious we have players either playing through injuries or running on empty. I'm not saying it's the only factor at play, but it's a very significant one.

[GeordieT]

7 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

It's not an excuse if it's the reality. It's so painfully obvious we have players either playing through injuries or running on empty. I'm not saying it's the only factor at play, but it's a very significant one.

Hitherto it undoubtedly has been. But that needs to cease now, 4 matches in the next 34 days. Even with our squad that’s leisurely.

[Holmesy]

5 minutes ago, Sandro Tonali said:

Fatigue is a definite excuse. Howe drills his players non stop, physically and mentally. Intricate details day in day out. To not have that time or the squad to get those processes right is becoming detrimental. If we had players that could come in and do the exact job for that is asked of them we would be ok. It has git to a point where Eddie is asking his players to conserve energy where possible and we cannot find a balance. We need be full tilt 100% of the time with the shape we play but it's just not possible 

I’m afraid it’s shit one-trick-pony management in that case. We can’t be at full tilt all the time and what we’ve seen is that when we’re not, we’re shit and we get beaten….badly. Zero ability to adapt. Plan B is something that has been mentioned time and time again, but even tweaks to plan A would be something. 

[TheBrownBottle]

10 minutes ago, Sandro Tonali said:

Fatigue is a definite excuse. Howe drills his players non stop, physically and mentally. Intricate details day in day out. To not have that time or the squad to get those processes right is becoming detrimental. If we had players that could come in and do the exact job for that is asked of them we would be ok. It has git to a point where Eddie is asking his players to conserve energy where possible and we cannot find a balance. We need be full tilt 100% of the time with the shape we play but it's just not possible 

Then as you’ve explained it’s less of an excuse and more something Howe needs to look at.  Howe drilling his players non stop and having a playing style which is so demanding that the players are burned out before the season is halfway finished.  Howe is not blameless and it isn’t bad luck that the players are running on embers. 

[The Prophet]

1 minute ago, GeordieT said:

Hitherto it undoubtedly has been. But that needs to cease now, 4 matches in the next 34 days. Even with our squad that’s leisurely.

 

You'd hope after the post-Villa break we'll see a big improvement in performance and results. If the current form carries on much longer than that, it'll become concerning.

[Jaqen]

10 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

This fatigue excuse needs to stop now. Players are bound to be tired but it’s up to the manager to ‘manage’ what energy they do have. He isn’t and deserves to be called out for it. Simply saying we’re tired after getting bummed by Forest at home is letting people off the hook who should be doing a better job. They tore through us at will and we had the chance to react and make ourselves harder to play through, but didn’t. Fatigue wore thin a long time ago.

 

Do you think the fatigue issue has just dissapered by us having to play even more games in such a short space of time like?  

 

Mistakes were possibly made in lack of rotation and brining back players too soon earlier in the season but right now there's not a whole lot we can do. I'd love to hear what the solution is. It's Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett on the bench FFS  

 

 

 

[dcmk]

1 minute ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Then as you’ve explained it’s less of an excuse and more something Howe needs to look at.  Howe drilling his players non stop and having a playing style which is so demanding that the players are burned out before the season is halfway finished.  Howe is not blameless and it isn’t bad luck that the players are running on embers. 

Howe said today they haven't properly trained for a month, this week will be the first time that they actually can.

 

So how exactly can he burn out the players in these kind of circumstances? He's managing the best he can, a game every 3 days constantly for 2 months has broken us.

[Disco]

4 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

I’m afraid it’s shit one-trick-pony management in that case. We can’t be at full tilt all the time and what we’ve seen is that when we’re not, we’re shit and we get beaten….badly. Zero ability to adapt. Plan B is something that has been mentioned time and time again, but even tweaks to plan A would be something. 

We tried a plan B at Chelsea and at whoever else we’ve sat back against to conserve energy and it’s not gone overly well tbf.

 

Given the schedule I’d imagine if the players have been doing little more than recovery and match planning stuff either. Hasn’t been time.

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Jaqen said:

 

Do you think the fatigue issue has just dissapered by us having to play even more games in such a short space of time like?  

 

Mistakes were possibly made in lack of rotation and brining back players too soon earlier in the season but right now there's not a whole lot we can do. I'd love to hear what the solution is. It's Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett on the bench FFS  

 

 

 

This is why Howe needs time - and to show that he’s learned from this.  If I was running the club, barring complete meltdown he’d have until next Xmas.  But this can’t keep happening - we need to adapt. 

[cubaricho]

1 hour ago, midds said:

It's also very noticeable that there's a complete lack of buzz or energy about the place any more. The whole squad looks so deflated and they all look shattered both mentally and physically, which is a worry as we're only halfway through the season. Those tough fixtures every few days have well and truly caught up with the players and they're playing like they're fucked

I’ve definitely noticed this too. This time last season there were articles weekly about the latest team-bonding exercise Eddie had come up, how the players are sharing their life stories with each other, etc. But I don’t see any of that this season, we’ve just been too damn busy for any of that. 
 

I was thinking we need another one of those two weeks in Saudi Arabia deals to get the team bonded and playing for each other again because right now it definitely doesn’t feel like they are. 
 

I think this will be a tale of two halves of a season if there ever was one. My fingers are crossed we get a break, regroup, and see a much improved team in the second half. 

[cubaricho]

1 hour ago, Jonas said:

It’s a lot easier to replace the Longstaff's , Almiron's and Dubravaka's of the world than Eddie Howe.

I’m convinced the powers that be think this way as well, which is reassuring. 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, dcmk said:

Howe said today they haven't properly trained for a month, this week will be the first time that they actually can.

 

So how exactly can he burn out the players in these kind of circumstances? He's managing the best he can, a game every 3 days constantly for 2 months has broken us.

They can’t train because they were already paggered.  Other clubs have similar fixture lists and their managers aren’t in the press complaining that they can’t train - and someone like Ten Hag would absolutely have used that excuse.

 

This will happen again and again and again under Howe unless he learns from it.  I’m more than happy for him to be given the time to learn, but he absolutely is not the victim of bad luck re injuries and fatigue. 

[dcmk]

1 minute ago, Disco said:

We tried a plan B at Chelsea and at whoever else we’ve sat back against to conserve energy and it’s not gone overly well tbf.

 

Given the schedule I’d imagine if the players have been doing little more than recovery and match planning stuff either. Hasn’t been time.

Exactly.  Any Plan A, B, or whatever needs players pressuring the ball when out of possession and winning their duels.  Some players couldn't even run in recent games. 

 

No tactical genius can overcome those shortcomings.  

[huss9]

Scrape past sunderland.

have a bit of a break.

really go for the fa cup even if it means finishing 17th and get us back into europe.

[Tiresias]

If we can't press like mad all season, we need a plan for when we can't. For now the squad is still being built fair enough, but to be honest there can be no excuse for shipping 3 goals to chris wood with arguably our first choice backline. The defense isn't working and should be. 

[madras]

4 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Then as you’ve explained it’s less of an excuse and more something Howe needs to look at.  Howe drilling his players non stop and having a playing style which is so demanding that the players are burned out before the season is halfway finished.  Howe is not blameless and it isn’t bad luck that the players are running on embers. 

Look at last season, loads of in game rotation that we can't do this season through injury.

 

It's pretty basic.

 

 

[Holmesy]

3 minutes ago, Disco said:

We tried a plan B at Chelsea and at whoever else we’ve sat back against to conserve energy and it’s not gone overly well tbf.

 

Given the schedule I’d imagine if the players have been doing little more than recovery and match planning stuff either. Hasn’t been time.

Again, I pin that on the manager. This season has highlighted a glaring glitch in EH’s matrix. If he can’t execute plan A, there’s nothing. Yes, he’s been unlucky with injuries, really unlucky but I’d expect a top class manager to be able to chess game his way out of it, to a degree. 
Have we all just got to accept that because players are tired and we have an injury list, we aren’t winning games? 

[OpenC]

2 minutes ago, huss9 said:

Scrape past sunderland.

 

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, madras said:

Look at last season, loads of in game rotation that we can't do this season through injury.

 

It's pretty basic.

 

 

It is basic.  And he didn’t do it when he had the full squad available to him.  He also had a WC break coming up mid-season.

 

Howe shouldn’t be under pressure for his job at the moment, but that doesn’t mean he’s beyond criticism. 

[Gallowgate Toon]

There's absolutely no way sitting back at 1-1 against Forest would've been acceptable at home to 'conserve energy'. We went for it to try to kill the game early and we had the lion's share of possession to manage tempo and energy, as we have done in lots of matches recently. We should've resigned it in a bit but it's the right idea and served us very well at home for years.

 

Regardless of whatever tactical approach is taken, it's going to need a level of energy to win duels, territory, battles. There's no successful team around that doesn't do this, this isn't walking football.

[madras]

1 minute ago, Tiresias said:

If we can't press like mad all season, we need a plan for when we can't. For now the squad is still being built fair enough, but to be honest there can be no excuse for shipping 3 goals to chris wood with arguably our first choice backline. The defense isn't working and should be. 

It's not the defence, it's the defending and the entire team does that. Schar wouldn't be playing if Lascalles was able to start, Botman should be on the bench to be played back in but we have a small squad which we knew would take time to build. We probably started 5 or 6 players today who shouldn't have started or even played at all.