Eddie Howe

[KingArthur]

Just now, nufc123 said:

Wont say dead man walking but there are so many question marks over us now.

Yea, long season to go. But I don't see how our play is going to improve radically. We lack talent upfront and from midfield, but we also don't have a system now that creates chances. 

[joeyt]

We've been debating all season if we should play Gordon or Barnes on the left wing and we end up playing neither of them there  Baffling 

 

We play Joelinton as a left wing back marking Munoz, who has never scored a Premier League goal,  and he should have scored a hat trick

[Decky]

3 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

When it’s the same problems week in week out I’d say it’s mainly on him. No shot on target against a palace side is pretty bad.

 

Didn't even have one off target either according to BBC Sport. 

[nufc123]

1 minute ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

First time I feel more frustration than faith today, sad to admit. 

Same. First time under Howe im thinking this is not fixable.

[Jackie Broon]

 

1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

We regularly absolutely reek and I see no discernible attempts to try and change it or rectify it outside of putting different pegs in different holes.

 

Even if we held on, that was an absolutely pitiful showing in possession.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I just can't see him turning this around, it's been one step forward and two back for over a year now. I think the only way he will survive is if we somehow win a cup, otherwise he'll be gone when we inevitably fail to qualify for Europe.

[Andy]

It's hard to quantity how poor we've been for large parts of this season. Even in our worst performances over the last few years, I can't remember ever feeling like we were this toothless and unlikely to score.

 

We have absolutely no aim when we attack whatsoever. No patterns of play. 

 

I have a feeling we'll see a different performance on Wednesday, raising it against a big club again. But it's very apparent at this point that something isn't right. The performances in this type of game are unsustainable. 

[Menace]

Just now, nufc123 said:

Same. First time under Howe im thinking this is not fixable.

 

Aye. It's been the same story every week. He's got a full squad to choose from, we're approaching December and 90% of the performances have been dross. I don't want him out but I can understand if the club decides to go a different way in the summer - PS who even makes that decision since Eales is leaving?

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Just now, joeyt said:

We've been debating all season if we should play Gordon or Barnes on the left wing and we end up playing neither of them there  Baffling 

 

We play Joelinton as a left wing back marking Munoz, who has never scored a Premier League goal,  and he should have scored a hat trick

This is really confusing me as well, Joey doesn’t have what it takes to be a PL attacker. That’s been proven, that’s why he was playing in midfield. 
 

Seeing Gordon moved but not to accommodate Barnes is very hard to grasp. 

[TRon]

1 minute ago, HaydnNUFC said:

We regularly absolutely reek and I see no discernible attempts to try and change it or rectify it outside of putting different pegs in different holes.

 

Even if we held on, that was an absolutely pitiful showing in possession.

 

 

 

 

 

Our passing is so disjointed it's hard to work out what we do on the training pitch. Might be a confidence thing but I don't see how. We were 6th a couple of games ago.

[KaKa]

The refusal to buy a right winger and a reliable backup striker has ended up leading to so much indecision and rotating in those positions it's unsettled a lot of players. No rhythm or consistency or a reliable first team at the moment.

 

Add on top of that this Tonali confusion and not finding a way to get the best out of him in the team, despite him being involved and training with the squad the past year.

 

The season is looking a disaster at this point. Failure to get into Europe with the fewer commitments we have this season, and a league that really is quite open bar the top 3, is just so terrible, and will mean we start losing key players.

[Sibierski]

I just can’t see how Mitchell and co watch that again, and think “Yep, he’s the guy to back further”, when he’s not their guy or others.

 

Howes safety net isn’t there, and so it comes down to results business. Needs a league cup run (even win) to stay for 25-26 IMO if we don’t get Europe through league. 
 

Keep wanting him to pull it around, but he’s not helping himself. 

[black_n_white]

It’s increasingly obvious the wins against Arsenal and Forest were abnormal results this season. For some reason this team has regressed massively.

[JoeyBartoon]

It’s woeful stuff tbh. Always want Howe to succeed but he doesn’t look like he knows how to take this team forward. 

[Andy]

Gordon going up top was a crazy decision, for me. Even if Wilson isn't fit, I refuse to accept (from what we've seen) that Osula wouldn't offer enough in that role to help us maintain our balance. 

[J7]

We’ve played well three or four times, and one of them was against Chelsea reserves. Even Wimbledon was shite. If the manager wants to stay, he needs to figure out what we’re trying to do. Given the money spent and the players in the squad, this is far from good enough. Im not saying ‘Eddie Out’ but the board wouldn’t be doing their job if they weren’t starting to look elsewhere.

[ponsaelius]

Still think the biggest issue is the stagnation off the pitch and the inability to mix things up/refresh the squad. Given the constraints we really needed to be more ruthless and proactive in the transfer market to build a more balanced squad. Some of the blue chip players we've retained and banked on building our season around (Bruno, Gordon) have been atrocious tbh.

 

I think Howe deserves a fair amount of criticism for the way we're playing but I also honestly don't think changing manager is going to make a huge amount of difference given where the club/squad level is at right now. Indeed I think there's just as much chance the inadequacies would be exposed even more under a different coach.

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by ponsaelius

[Sibierski]

It’s just routinely how shit we are with the ball, despite clearly some good players. We lack a few to be truly great with the ball, but our level with what we’ve got is abysmal. 
 

To get to top, that needs improving. You have a style and you improve the result with the quality. But we don’t, so get two better players at CB / RW, are we going to see an uplift? It’s doubtful.

[Gawalls]

6 minutes ago, KingArthur said:

I think he is done after this season. No matter the FFP/PSR problems and all that, our play has not improved (the opposite), we are easy to play against, offer no threat. Players are being played out of position.

 

He is a dead man walking now.

Waiting that long might want some of our better players to move on by then - of course they might want to move on if we get rid of him. Tough choices to be made.

[Lush Vlad]

We won’t get much Wednesday. Then the two games against Brentford and Leicester are massive. 
 

I don’t think he is under much pressure from above or match going fans just yet. But the second half against West Ham followed up by that isn’t really acceptable. Not like the bad, toothless performances have been rare this season, either.
 

I hope we can turn it around. But an injury to Isak in a team already lacking goals and creativity means I have my doubts. 

  

[Nepharite]

I’d like to see Eddie replaced in the Summer. Thanks for everything you are not the man to take us to the promised land. 

[HaydnNUFC]

Obviously there was no aid in the summer but this squad even as disjointed as it is is far, far better than what it's been producing this season and for 18 months away from SJP.

[SiLvOR]

We looked back to our old selves pre-International Break. Not our best, but much more dynamic and aggressive. Since coming back we've looked more like we have for most of the season. Insipid, clueless, lacking any nous or "dark arts". I've no doubt we'll raise our levels for Liverpool, but fully expecting another defeat. Which is weird to say, because I used to expect us to challenge against literally everyone. Failing to beat West Ham and Palace in the same week is shit, no two ways about it. Failing to have a shot on target in 3 halves of football is utterly abysmal, and that needs to be resolved immediately.

[Bunk Moreland]

 

[mighty__mag]

I'm not enjoying the way we play anymore, the system was better when we had wingers like Almiron and ASM, this whole Barnes or Gordon headache, likewise Tonali or Longstaff, is just irritating, there's a massive sway from the manager to use Gordon anywhere no matter what, it's what I think anyway, not sure if anyone else does? Similar with Bruno he's undroppable for Howe, I also think making Bruno captain hasn't helped at all, it's totally upset the squad harmony, we were captained better under Trippier. 

 

Feel Eddie has given the newer bunch of players the power over the grafters that saved us from relegation, and contributed hugely to our qualifying for the UCL. 

 

I'm always backing Eddie Howe, I believe in him, but he's a bit stubborn, and he has his favorites.  I'd not really want him out for the sake of it, especially for someone like Jose Mourinho, however if Thomas Frank was able to be convinced to come here, that would be appealing. 

 

 

Edited 3 hours ago by mighty__mag

[mouldy_uk]

Find it hard to know what to write about him. Not just today but I find myself bouncing between two points of view:

 

If I’m feeling kind - He’s a great ambassador for the club, has a pretty decent record (overall) and was dealt a dreadful hand in the summer window. I desperately want success with him in-charge.  
 

If I’m being cruel - Injuries are no longer excuse and we have an 11 that should be beating most teams. Tactically we are just rubbish. Beyond the high press, I just don’t see any plan and most of our players have gone backwards this season. Set pieces are shocking. Should we expect much else from a manager who has never won anything and looks well off the elite level?

 

Overall, I’d still back him in the January window but I’d be looking at other options if we aren’t top 6 at the end of the season.