Eddie Howe

[Dr Jinx]

8 minutes ago, Rod said:

That Viilla game we won 5-1?  Yeah it was shocking from us.

The score line flattered us in that game.. we were ruthless with our chances though.

 

So what about being knackered against a 10 man Liverpool? Or do we just accept that they are a better team with a better manager?

[Lush Vlad]

Just now, Holmesy said:

When will fatigue cease to be a reasonable reason/excuse for poor performances in your eyes? (and other people’s eyes as well). 
Our next few games are nicely spaced out, so next few weeks, until the injury crisis completely clears up, end of the season? 
 

For the record, I’m not being antagonistic. I’m genuinely curious. 

Hard few games to really gauge where we are. But I think if Barnes, Willock, Murphy etc come back in Jan. Then we perhaps get a couple of new players in. Then from Feb onwards. We really should be seeing some results and decent winning/unbeaten streaks again. Seems a fair starting point. 
 

Of course it would be nice to see some green shoots over the next 3 league games. Even if the results don’t go our way.

I want to see some of the intensity back, at least. The shithousing. The antagonistic stuff that fucks off the opposition and their fans.
 

We’ve lost our way a bit with this lack of rotation and our identity with it. 

[dcmk]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

When will fatigue cease to be a reasonable reason/excuse for poor performances in your eyes? (and other people’s eyes as well). 

You can't tell the difference between a team out on their arse physically and mentally and a team that's up for it the whole 90 minutes?

 

 

[cubaricho]

3 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

I want to see some of the intensity back, at least. The shithousing. The antagonistic stuff that fucks off the opposition and their fans.

This 100%. We were a fucking unit last season. A team that everyone hated playing against. We’ve lost that completely. 
 

How many yellow cards did Lacelles get on the sideline last season? More of that please. Us against them. Fuck everyone else. 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2023 by cubaricho

[Holmesy]

5 minutes ago, dcmk said:

You can't tell the difference between a team out on their arse physically and mentally and a team that's up for it the whole 90 minutes?

 

 

Eh?! What’s that got to do with the question? 

[Kid Icarus]

5 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

When will fatigue cease to be a reasonable reason/excuse for poor performances in your eyes? (and other people’s eyes as well). 
Our next few games are nicely spaced out, so next few weeks, until the injury crisis completely clears up, end of the season? 
 

For the record, I’m not being antagonistic. I’m genuinely curious. 

 

Until I watch them and they look like they have enough energy back to win matches.  I know what it looks like when they're full of energy and what it looks like when they don't. Until they give me a reason not to, I trust those players enough to know that when they don't look like they're full of energy it's not because of a lack of effort or application. 

 

Having upto 14 players out over a lengthy period is season defining, for some teams just having 1 or 2 players out can be.

[Rod]

5 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

The score line flattered us in that game.. we were ruthless with our chances though.

 

So what about being knackered against a 10 man Liverpool? Or do we just accept that they are a better team with a better manager?

No, we were the better team that day.  The scoreline flattered Liverpool, they were rutheess with their chances though.  Yes I'm being sarcastic.

[Rod]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

 

Until I watch them and they look like they have enough energy back to win matches.  I know what it looks like when they're full of energy and what it looks like when they don't. Until they give me a reason not to, I trust those players enough to know that when they don't look like they're full of energy it's not because of a lack of effort or application. 

 

Having upto 14 players out over a lengthy period is season defining, for some teams just having 1 or 2 players out can be.

I read somewhere that Tottenham Hotspur were struggling lately due to TWO important players being missing.  This puts our predicament into perspective.

[nufc123]

10 minutes ago, Dr Jinx said:

So what about being knackered against a 10 man Liverpool? 

Dont think we looked knackered. We just went out second half with a totally wrong approach. Taking Tonali off didnt help either. 

[Kid Icarus]

4 minutes ago, Rod said:

I read somewhere that Tottenham Hotspur were struggling lately due to TWO important players being missing.  This puts our predicament into perspective.

100%. Some Arsenal fans claim they didn't win the league because of Jesus being injured, Man City are regularly undone when they're without Rodri or KDB, we've essentially had to play nearly the same depleted 11 for 2 months.

[Holmesy]

1 minute ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

Until I watch them and they look like they have enough energy back to win matches.  I know what it looks like when they're full of energy and what it looks like when they don't. Until they give me a reason not to, I trust those players enough to know that when they don't look like they're full of energy it's not because of a lack of effort or application. 

 

Having upto 14 players out over a lengthy period is season defining, for some teams just having 1 or 2 players out can be.

I totally agree. The injuries have been mental and it’s clear our intensity is nowhere near the expected levels. I do think the fatigue argument has papered over some poor management, but EH has earned a shitload of leeway so as long as we come back strong and he and JT learn from it, it could end up being a long term blessing. 

[nufc123]

6 minutes ago, Rod said:

I read somewhere that Tottenham Hotspur were struggling lately due to TWO important players being missing.  This puts our predicament into perspective.

They dont have 12 out, but its more than two. Maddison, Van de Ven, Romero, Bissouma, Bentancur, Sessegnon, Perisic, Solomon. Udogie been out with injury and susp.

[Dr Jinx]

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting EH should be sacked, far from it at this point in time but I think it’s fair to ask questions over a larger sample pool of games.. we’ve had some good results during our “fatigued period”.. but the ones against lesser opposition where we’ve been bullied and out worked raise many doubts.

 

First he needs to sort that back line out again. We’ve been shocking there recently.

 

Going forward, if we’re still in roughly the same boat without any massive improvment, then what? Just continue as is? Yeah it’s still a far cry from the dark days but do we actually want to win something? If we do, then we need to make logical and possibly ruthless decisions.

[High Five o]

10 hours ago, Minhosa said:

It would be a hugely concerning move in respect of the ownership groups understanding/plan imho.

 

Mourinho would represent a 'win today and fuck tomorrow' type of appointment whereby the desire to be seen as successful outweighs any thoughts around sustainability or coherent long-term plan.

 

And I say that as someone that really likes Mourinho.

 

You'd have to say though, it would appear a hugely out of character appointment given everything they've preached since they joined around 'the journey' etc and also a long way away from their two final candidates when Bruce got the heave-ho. That they reached an Emery/Howe conclusion last time is a massive positive imho and indicated they know what they're doing.

 

On the subject of Howe, it blows my mind how anybody could even countenance him leaving/being fired at any point in the foreseeable future.

 

The fella has been nothing short of incredible and sadly, for him, it appears he's becoming a victim of his incredible success here in some eyes.

 

For me, he's got an absolute minimum of into the first quarter of next season before there'd even be a discussion around his future.

 

Did anyone seriously ever think this journey, post takeover, would just be a 'sunshine and roses' meander to the top of the footballing pyramid without any hiccups, poor form or crisis?

 

Mental if so.

 

I'd not be at all surprised if he pulls us a result from nowhere in the next few games and the Howe Out brigade on social media disappear back under whatever the fuck rock they've been hiding until the next blip comes along.

 

They just need our support for a while man. Christ, he's done more than enough for us fans since he joined, let's just give the bloke some faith.

Poetry. Great post!

[Away Toon]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/dec/30/eddie-howe-newcastle-sunderland-fa-cup-champions-league

 

[Away Toon]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/29/howe-pledges-to-stick-by-newcastles-high-energy-approach-despite-struggles

[Erikse]

3 hours ago, Rod said:

I read somewhere that Tottenham Hotspur were struggling lately due to TWO important players being missing.  This puts our predicament into perspective.

 

They were missing 10 players against Brighton, 7 of them could've played a role. Maddison, both of their main centrebacks and Bissouma was missing.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Erikse

[madras]

Just now, Erikse said:

 

They were missing 10 players against Brighton, 7 of them could've played a role.

We've had that for 2 months.

[Erikse]

5 minutes ago, madras said:

We've had that for 2 months.

 

Did you even read what I was replying to? Saying that they are struggling because of 2 players missing and comparing it to our total amount of injuries is just misleading without context.

 

And btw key players such as van de Ven, Bentancur, Romero and Maddison has been out for large parts of their season. They have had a lot of abstent players in general since that Chelsea game 2 months ago.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Erikse

[madras]

7 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

Did you even read what I was replying to? Saying that they are struggling because of 2 players missing and comparing it to our total amount of injuries is just misleading without context.

 

And btw key players such as van de Ven, Bentancur, Romero and Maddison has been out for large parts of their season. They have had a lot of abstent players in general since that Chelsea game 2 months ago.

 

 

 

They haven't constantly had the numbers down we've had, similar with Man Utd, they've had a week or two where the numbers have been similar but it hasn't been as consistent for so long. I'd also add with a smaller squad in more games.

[Erikse]

9 minutes ago, madras said:

They haven't constantly had the numbers down we've had, similar with Man Utd, they've had a week or two where the numbers have been similar but it hasn't been as consistent for so long. I'd also add with a smaller squad in more games.

 

It's still wrong to say that they have been struggling lately by having just 2 important players out in this context. Nothing to do with whether we have had bigger problems than them in the last 2 months.

 

Also, they have not really been struggling. Won 3 out of their last 4. Against Brighton they didn't have a single centre back available. When did that happen to us?

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Erikse

[Geordie Ahmed]

Tbf they did have Eric Dier available, as well Phillips who they bought from Blackburn 

 

He just doesn't seem to trust them so would rather play Royal and Davies at CB

 

However, they've definitely been impacted by injuries, not to the extent we have but it's certainly more than two 

[Erikse]

4 minutes ago, Geordie Ahmed said:

Tbf they did have Eric Dier available, as well Phillips who they bought from Blackburn 

 

He just doesn't seem to trust them so would rather play Royal and Davies at CB

 

However, they've definitely been impacted by injuries, not to the extent we have but it's certainly more than two 

 

Eric Dier has been struggling with a groin injury all season. That's why he is not playing much at all.

[Erikse]

There has been so many injuries in general in the PL this season. Read somewhere that it was probably partly a hangover from games being moved from last season (WC and the death of the Queen), but also because of the new stoppage time rules.

 

And yes, we have probably had the worst injury nightmare out of every club in the PL. Not denying that. Chelsea, Spurs and Man Utd are other contenders, but Chelsea has a very big squad to compensate for it. Also Chelsea and Spurs were not in Europe, so they didn't have the same fatigue issues. Without Europe we could atleast field the same strong 11 that we had available each game, without the massive fatigue issue.

 

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Erikse

[madras]

33 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

It's still wrong to say that they have been struggling lately by having just 2 important players out in this context. Nothing to do with whether we have had bigger problems than them in the last 2 months.

 

Also, they have not really been struggling. Won 3 out of their last 4. Against Brighton they didn't have a single centre back available. When did that happen to us?

 

 

 

We'd no Centre forward at Bournemouth, look at our centre halves at Man Utd in the league cup.

 

For us it's been as much yeah we've 11 fit players..... but that's it for 2+months with games every 3 or 4 days.