Eddie Howe

[Whitley mag]

Don’t see why it’s so unreasonable to think Howe would be under pressure if we missed out on Europe and had another disappointing season next year.
 

A few on here go way over the top after he beats Burnley and Sheff Utd, the truth lies somewhere in between and though overall he’s got a lot of credit in the bank, next season with Tonali and new signings on board there will be targets set internally by PIF, that unless there is serious mitigation such as Isak being crocked all season he will need to hit.

 

The recent interview with Neville clearly confirms he has veto over transfers, so this summer is on him and he needs to get it right.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 16 by Whitley mag

[The College Dropout]

5 hours ago, Pata said:

 

I think they saw Gordon as a 50/50 LW/RW in the summer. Problem is that he's been so good at left this season that moving him to the other side is simply out of question. I'm certain the hole at RW gets solved this summer, could even be a new purple and Minted in the squad while Almiron and Murphy both get moved on.

He’s started maybe 2 games at RW. There’s no proof he was considered a viable RW option.  
 

The evidence suggests Barnes is a like for like replacement for ASM who Howe used primarily as a LW. 

 

Barnes has been good when playing. 

[Newcastle Fan]

There was very little reason to not start Pope and Joelinton yesterday considering the importance of the game and the fact that they've been on the bench for the previous two, its really annoying as Europa would've been a good finish but now it seems like its either Confrence league or no Europe at all.

[Lush Vlad]

Yeah. It is easy to say in hindsight. But the last transfer window has not been great. 
 

Tonali barely played.
Tino has had niggly injuries and not fully trusted to get minutes even when he was playing brilliant football.
Hall has taken an age to get a game. But is now looking decent, at least. 
Barnes has spent months injured and as others have said. Looks like he’s the backup LW option. Desperately need some quality in the final third and he can’t buy a start. 
 

Plenty said last season we needed a RW option that could perhaps cover up top if needed. Yet we’ve had Miggy and Murphy there. With Wilson missing half the season (again). 

[Displayname]

8 hours ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

You know you’ve lost when you refer to someone as a sheep like incels and conspirituality nuts regularly do.

Not going to go in to whatever discussion you guys have here, but sheep is a perfectly valid description of some people. 

 

There are those who simply doesnt deviate from what their group or leader says. Look at the maga people for instance, im sure you would agree. 

 

I am not saying it applies here, but it sure as shit isnt exclusive to the Trump cult.

[LiquidAK]

5 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

He’s started maybe 2 games at RW. There’s no proof he was considered a viable RW option.  
 

The evidence suggests Barnes is a like for like replacement for ASM who Howe used primarily as a LW. 

 

Barnes has been good when playing. 

I think the thinking at the start of the season was likely that Gordon and Barnes would rotate for the LW spot, with Gordon able to pick up minutes on the RW as well as needed, with Miggy & Murphy primarily rotating for that spot. Barnes' injury and Gordon having such a good season has changed that, but the signing was generally quite a logical one at the time. I still think it will come good as well next season in a similar setup, but hopefully with a better RW as the main starter that side.

[KaKa]

30 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Don’t see why it’s so unreasonable to think Howe would be under pressure if we missed out on Europe and had another disappointing season next year.
 

A few on here go way over the top after he beats Burnley and Sheff Utd, the truth lies somewhere in between and though overall he’s got a lot of credit in the bank, next season with Tonali and new signings on board there will be targets set internally by PIF, that unless there is serious mitigation such as Isak being crocked all season he will need to hit.

 

The recent interview with Neville clearly confirms he has veto over transfers, so this summer is on him and he needs to get it right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the outset of your comment you have already got the premise of the whole discussion wrong, which is typical.

 

You've added on if he has a poor season next season, which was never what we were talking about.

 

Regarding his transfers they have mostly been excellent, and with another summer to continue to build the squad and with Tonali also coming back in, and the right wing finally getting addressed, I'm betting on Howe making all the nagging naysayers look impossibly dumb.

 

I'm really really looking forward to it.

[Mikky]

It’s massively important we finish 7th now and hope Man Ciry can do us a favour so we have some form of football.

 

Then in the summer regroup and take a collective view of where we are and what we need to challenge for at least the top 6 next season 

 

We have lost 11 out of 18 away games - that’s unacceptable in my view - yes you can point at injuries, but tactically we’ve been ordinary and at times been a soft touch 

[SUPERTOON]

We came back after Howe’s first pre season with a completely different style of play. I’m confident after this upcoming one we will come back again a better side and sort out the away issues. 

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, Mikky said:

 

We have lost 11 out of 18 away games - that’s unacceptable in my view - yes you can point at injuries, but tactically we’ve been ordinary and at times been a soft touch 

 

It's unacceptable in your view because of your arrogance.

 

You think we have a right to get a result in these games just because we came 4th last season.

 

This isn't a video game. You can keep dismissing the injury situation all you want, but at the end of the day, most of this season we've ended up playing Bruno in midfield (the most impactful part of the pitch) with some combination from Longstaff, Anderson and Miley.

 

And you really think this is no big deal and 'tactics' can simply sort this out, so we can go to these away games and just beat these teams, because it's just that easy, and everyone else is doing it.

 

It's this kind of thinking that means I cannot take you guys that 'keep it real' seriously.

 

 

[Decky]

57 minutes ago, Whitley mag said:

Don’t see why it’s so unreasonable to think Howe would be under pressure if we missed out on Europe and had another disappointing season next year.
 

A few on here go way over the top after he beats Burnley and Sheff Utd, the truth lies somewhere in between and though overall he’s got a lot of credit in the bank, next season with Tonali and new signings on board there will be targets set internally by PIF, that unless there is serious mitigation such as Isak being crocked all season he will need to hit.

 

The recent interview with Neville clearly confirms he has veto over transfers, so this summer is on him and he needs to get it right.

 

 

 

 

 

The simple fact is we have to kick on. This season has been a write off but it didn’t need to be. Performances against Palace, Brighton and Man Utd haven’t been good enough. We got away with it against Fulham as well. First half against Sheffield United too. It’s been piss poor for weeks and if it continues into next season Howe is in trouble. I love the man but this can’t continue, it’s not even about us fans it’s the owners who won’t accept it. 

[Matt1892]

Somebody posted yesterday evening how we don’t seem to control games any more and to me it feels like we have moved from a team that could score and hold on to a 1-0 comfortably to getting pulled in to games of end to end football on a constant basis.

We have suffered badly with injuries but it is our away form that has hurt us and will continue to hurt us unless we can dictate the play and tempo better.

 

[Jack27]

Hard to control games with no consistency and a third string back five

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, Jack27 said:

Hard to control games with no consistency and a third string back five

 

If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that we are not controlling any games with Longstaff playing the way he has been in midfield. Especially when we also have had to use the inexperienced Anderson/Miley in there so much too.

 

Apparently this is surprising to some people though. And they think some revolutionary tactic should sort it out.

 

The truth is though, most other managers would most likely have us looking far worse than we have with these options.

[Mikky]

18 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

It's unacceptable in your view because of your arrogance.

 

You think we have a right to get a result in these games just because we came 4th last season.

 

This isn't a video game. You can keep dismissing the injury situation all you want, but at the end of the day, most of this season we've ended up playing Bruno in midfield (the most impactful part of the pitch) with some combination from Longstaff, Anderson and Miley.

 

And you really think this is no big deal and 'tactics' can simply sort this out, so we can go to these away games and just beat these teams, because it's just that easy, and everyone else is doing it.

 

It's this kind of thinking that means I cannot take you guys that 'keep it real' seriously.

 

 

What’s wrong with saying 11 defeats in 18 is a poor return? It’s a fact - got nothing to do with us finishing 4th - in those 11 defeats, which matches can we say we were unlucky not to get anything?

 

And yet at home we look a totally different team - EH has had the same tools home and away or is it just away from home where we suffer more with injuries?

 

 

Edited May 16 by Mikky

[The Prophet]

Howe won't be under pressure this summer, we'll finish in acceptable position considering the mitigating factors at play. He'll definitely be expected to improve on that next season though, particularly if we're not in Europe. I have every faith we will.

[Matt1892]

4 minutes ago, Jack27 said:

Hard to control games with no consistency and a third string back five

We haven’t all season though and need to accept that we are going to have injuries, like all clubs do. Tripper, Schar and Botman have played the majority of Premier League games and on top of that as a club we decided to commit a lot of money to 2 more fullbacks as priority signings last summer.

 

So we can’t use that as an excuse for our poor away form that has gone on pretty much all season.

 

 

[Decky]

4 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

If there's one thing I know for certain, it's that we are not controlling any games with Longstaff playing the way he has been in midfield. Especially when we also have had to use the inexperienced Anderson/Miley in there so much too.

 

Apparently this is surprising to some people though. And they think some revolutionary tactic should sort it out.

 

The truth is though, most other managers would most likely have us looking far worse than we have with these options.

Our midfield has proven itself to be more than capable. We’ve 57 points, we’re not just about scrapping survival here. The fact is that performances haven’t been good enough. This team as a whole needs to be more clinical. We should have beaten Brighton and Man Utd but we’ve walked away with just a point.
 

Man Utd had a makeshift defence, does their injuries not factor into this? The entire country has been laughing at them for weeks now and they’ve beaten us when Europe was on the table. The players have to do better, that seems clear to me. I can guarantee you we’ll be poor again this weekend too. It’s been happening for weeks now. 

[KaKa]

6 minutes ago, Mikky said:

What’s wrong with saying 11 defeats in 18 is a poor return? It’s a fact - got nothing to do with us finishing 4th - in those 11 defeats, which matches can we say we were unlucky not to get anything?

 

And yet at home we look a totally different team - EH has had the same tools home and away or is it just away from home where we suffer more with injuries?

 

 

 

 

Players, particularly the ones that aren't as good, absolutely tend to play with much more confidence at home, yes!

[Mikky]

1 minute ago, KaKa said:

 

Players, particularly the ones that aren't as good, absolutely tend to play with much more confidence at home, yes!

Look I am not saying get rid of Howe and there’s reasons for why we haven’t been as strong this season, of course there is.
 

My stance has always been let’s learn from this season regardless - EH has effectively been on a seasons secondment where everything has been thrown at him  - search deep into what hasn’t worked, what we need to improve on - box clever in the market with clever signings (Tosin/Kelly)

 

If it is to be the Europa Conference then I am more than happy with it - it’s a chance to win something 

[KaKa]

5 minutes ago, Decky said:

Our midfield has proven itself to be more than capable. We’ve 57 points, we’re not just about scrapping survival here. The fact is that performances haven’t been good enough. This team as a whole needs to be more clinical. We should have beaten Brighton and Man Utd but we’ve walked away with just a point.
 

Man Utd had a makeshift defence, does their injuries not factor into this? The entire country has been laughing at them for weeks now and they’ve beaten us when Europe was on the table. The players have to do better, that seems clear to me. I can guarantee you we’ll be poor again this weekend too. It’s been happening for weeks now. 

 

Our midfield has absolutely not proven to be more than capable.

 

The story of the season has been Bruno having to carry the whole unit, while Gordon and Isak have had standout performances higher up the pitch to win us games.

[The College Dropout]

56 minutes ago, LiquidAK said:

I think the thinking at the start of the season was likely that Gordon and Barnes would rotate for the LW spot, with Gordon able to pick up minutes on the RW as well as needed, with Miggy & Murphy primarily rotating for that spot. Barnes' injury and Gordon having such a good season has changed that, but the signing was generally quite a logical one at the time. I still think it will come good as well next season in a similar setup, but hopefully with a better RW as the main starter that side.

So…. It’s Barnes and Gordon competing for one spot. And Almiron and Murphy competing for the other. 
 

2 LW options that both have more ability and higher ceilings than any RW option. 
 

 

That doesn’t make sense.

[Decky]

Just now, KaKa said:

 

Our midfield has absolutely not proven to be more than capable.

 

The story of the season has been Bruno having to carry the whole unit, while Gordon and Isak have had standout performances higher up the pitch to win us games.

Longstaff has frustrated the life out of me this season but to suggest our midfield isn’t capable at this level is laughable. Again, we’ve 57 points after the worst injury hit season in our history. Bruno didn’t do all that by himself. Our midfield has been absolutely fine in plenty of games. Last night, Brighton, Palace, all those games was the whole team underperforming. Our midfield has had its problems all season but you don’t get this many points in the Premier League with players that aren’t capable of being good at this level. 

[KaKa]

4 minutes ago, Mikky said:

Look I am not saying get rid of Howe and there’s reasons for why we haven’t been as strong this season, of course there is.
 

My stance has always been let’s learn from this season regardless - EH has effectively been on a seasons secondment where everything has been thrown at him  - search deep into what hasn’t worked, what we need to improve on - box clever in the market with clever signings (Tosin/Kelly)

 

If it is to be the Europa Conference then I am more than happy with it - it’s a chance to win something 

 

This season is the aberration. I fully expect us to return to what we showed last season come August.

 

The reality is that we have been missing Tonali, Joelinton and Willock for large chunks of the season. It is very unlikely this will be the case again.

 

Just by virtue of that alone, we are going to be back to business. Especially with a right winger coming in too.

[Mikky]

3 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Our midfield has absolutely not proven to be more than capable.

 

The story of the season has been Bruno having to carry the whole unit, while Gordon and Isak have had standout performances higher up the pitch to win us games.

Yep totally agree with this - the whole right side needs fixing in my view and that should in theory be our summer priority - whether it’s attainable or not I don’t know but a RCM, RW and CF (with Minteh) should be our business with the likes of Miggy and Wilson departing with one of Longstaff and Murphy (if not both at risk) - there’s no other way forward