Eddie Howe

[Lucky]

1 minute ago, LionOfGosforth said:

 

No I meant the implication that we signed them with no idea as to why we did. Ramsey will be a top signing in time, he offers a lot with ball carrying and getting in goal scoring positions, just needs to stay fit. The wingers need to improve and I think they will.

As long as Gordon is here regardless of his form, Barnes will be on the bench.

 

55m for Elanga looks terrible business.

 

I ageee Ramsey has potential but he’s a luxury player when the rest of the team is this dysfunctional (at this time).

 

No idea he knows what his strongest team is if or when everyone is fit?

[LionOfGosforth]

5 minutes ago, Lucky said:

As long as Gordon is here regardless of his form, Barnes will be on the bench.

 

55m for Elanga looks terrible business.

 

I ageee Ramsey has potential but he’s a luxury player when the rest of the team is this dysfunctional (at this time).

 

No idea he knows what his strongest team is if or when everyone is fit?

 

Aye, I think he does like. He's been shafted by injuries, huge player upheaval, international disruptions. Things will improve, they always do.

[Ben]

5 minutes ago, Lucky said:

As long as Gordon is here regardless of his form, Barnes will be on the bench.

 

55m for Elanga looks terrible business.

 

I ageee Ramsey has potential but he’s a luxury player when the rest of the team is this dysfunctional (at this time).

 

No idea he knows what his strongest team is if or when everyone is fit?

 

Elanga will come good, Eddie has form for bringing players on, he'll probably bench him for Murphy for yhe next few games.

[Pilko]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Considering the end result I'd say we definitely do yeah. One man's slow start is another man's target too.

 

Look at Liverpool, they've been shit for a team challenging for the league but are 1 point off if they win tomorrow, we've been poor for a team looking to get in the Champions League, but are 5 points off.

 

I'd take a Howe slow start similar to Liverpool's. 

 

Agree that you definitely can't agitate about it too much given the end result each time. I'm still just waiting for the game where we see it start to come together. Wouldn't be surprised if it's early December again like last year which coincides with our best fullbacks being available again & Wissa into the mix.

 

Let's say next year we had a good window where we don't lose any key players that we don't want to, add 2-3 first XI players, plus any cover we need, and go into the season without any major key injuries. Do we then start to wonder why it takes Eddie so long to get us going? Not even from a "get him out!" perspective but more from a "if we could start well, we could actually be in the title mix" angle.

[Vinny Green Balls]

40 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

 

We beat Arsenal and drew with Liverpool (should have won) at home last season so that's not really relevant unless you're admitting we're on the downturn.

 

We aren't the feeble little underdog like in the Ashley days. 

It is absolutely relevant, because they are still better teams and should probably beat us at home 25-30% of the time currently. I am not asuggesting a downturn at all.  We played with ten men against Liverpool this season. Two years ago we lost 2-1 when up a man. We seem to do better against such teams later in the season. It's like Memento on here sometimes.

[Vinny Green Balls]

11 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

Agree that you definitely can't agitate about it too much given the end result each time. I'm still just waiting for the game where we see it start to come together. Wouldn't be surprised if it's early December again like last year which coincides with our best fullbacks being available again & Wissa into the mix.

 

Let's say next year we had a good window where we don't lose any key players that we don't want to, add 2-3 first XI players, plus any cover we need, and go into the season without any major key injuries. Do we then start to wonder why it takes Eddie so long to get us going? Not even from a "get him out!" perspective but more from a "if we could start well, we could actually be in the title mix" angle.

absolutely. We need to start better.

[Lucky]

3 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

absolutely. We need to start better.

Where do you rank Howe in terms of current PL managers?

[Kid Icarus]

12 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

Agree that you definitely can't agitate about it too much given the end result each time. I'm still just waiting for the game where we see it start to come together. Wouldn't be surprised if it's early December again like last year which coincides with our best fullbacks being available again & Wissa into the mix.

 

Let's say next year we had a good window where we don't lose any key players that we don't want to, add 2-3 first XI players, plus any cover we need, and go into the season without any major key injuries. Do we then start to wonder why it takes Eddie so long to get us going? Not even from a "get him out!" perspective but more from a "if we could start well, we could actually be in the title mix" angle.

Totally depends I think. You can still have a poor start performance wise and pick up results before hitting form. We could have done that last season, but then weirdly had better performances and bad results for a bit.

 

December's turn around last year was still from a base of 23 points because of our good start. In 23/24 we picked up in September, in 22/23 it was from about now in the season, so it's hard to tell. In a nutshell I think the bad starts will come with better results over time. 

[Vinny Green Balls]

4 minutes ago, Lucky said:

Where do you rank Howe in terms of current PL managers?

in the top 3, as suggested by us punching a bit above our weight to gatecrash the big 6, and competing very well in cup competitions. I think Howe is the type who gets his team a few places above where his teams probably should be, making him an elite manager. He's also still fairly young.

 

But for us, he's the perfect fit, and I wouldn't trade him for anyone, as I think we need a manager who can grow along with us. He's much more in the vein of Keegan than any other manager in the league would be.

[Ashley17]

I know people get annoyed when you talk about the fixture list and “you play everyone twice anyway” but this has been a particularly awful set of games. Can’t build any momentum and puts more pressure on the so called easier games. Yes, we should be looking to beat Leeds away and Wolves at home but otherwise we have played last season’s 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, which is pretty hard luck. We’ve lost three of them in the 84th minute or later, we aren’t a million miles away

[toon25]

53 minutes ago, Lucky said:

As long as Gordon is here regardless of his form, Barnes will be on the bench.

 

55m for Elanga looks terrible business.

 

I ageee Ramsey has potential but he’s a luxury player when the rest of the team is this dysfunctional (at this time).

 

No idea he knows what his strongest team is if or when everyone is fit?

 

What fucking rock did you crawl out from, man

[TRon]

1 hour ago, Mikky said:

We signed the wrong profile of winger, regardless of Isak being here or not 

 

The profile we needed was an Mbuemo, Salah, Bowen type - someone to link the midfield and attack and to potentially score 10-15 a season - we didn’t need Elanga as we had Gordon who offers kind of the same 

 

 

Tbf, we did try to sign Mbuemo, but he wanted Man U. Even though they have been shite, he's looked top class when I've watched their games. It just seems like we couldn't get him, so then we went after Elanga and paid almost the same amount even though he was nowhere near as good. He's quicker, but Mbuemo is light years ahead in terms of intelligence and assurance. 

[Elliottman]

11 minutes ago, Ashley17 said:

I know people get annoyed when you talk about the fixture list and “you play everyone twice anyway” but this has been a particularly awful set of games. Can’t build any momentum and puts more pressure on the so called easier games. Yes, we should be looking to beat Leeds away and Wolves at home but otherwise we have played last season’s 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th, which is pretty hard luck. We’ve lost three of them in the 84th minute or later, we aren’t a million miles away

You’re 100% right,it’s been a really awful set of games to start. But that means we’ve got a few decent games coming up to turn it around, has to start Saturday. 

[Dr Venkman]

2 hours ago, Lucky said:

With the players we have NOW, we should be doing better than that.
 

I don’t see where the improvement is coming from this time. Maybe Wissa will transform the attack if he ever gets fit, but at whose expense will his place in the side be?
 

Find it quite amusing when people use this line. How about having a bit of faith in an exceptional coach?

[Keggy_Keagal]

Eddie's a legend here and a fantastic manager but he's not infallible. Brighton's an obvious weak spot and he played a blatantly unfit Joelinton today. The flat midfield was ran through easily and playing Burn against Minteh is almost cruel . Also Gordon's not playing well enough in domestic games to justify a start. Today reminded me of the Forest defeats . Where we're miles off it and you almost can't see where and when it's going to click. That being said we still nearly got something out of the game and Woltemade is looking like potentially an elite striker. 

[Dr Venkman]

33 minutes ago, Lucky said:

Where do you rank Howe in terms of current PL managers?

What was your previous username?

 

 

Edited October 18, 2025 by Dr Venkman

[Vinny Green Balls]

3 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

Find it quite amusing when people use this line. How about having a bit of faith in an exceptional coach?

It's one of the most common refrains at certain times of the season since 21-22. I can't help but wonder if the information age is remolding our brains into instant gratification addicts.

[toon25]

2 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

What was your previous username?

 

 

 

 

@cuntnaldo

[Vinny Green Balls]

Totally unfair on Ronaldo, man. Doubt he has a history of different usernames.

[Scoot]

8 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

Find it quite amusing when people use this line. How about having a bit of faith in an exceptional coach?

 

The same questions were being asked last season after our slow start.

 

But Eddie showed what a fantastic manager he is by winning us a cup and qualifying for the champions league in what was the most successful season in all of our lives.

 

He's the best thing that has ever happened to this club.

[toon25]

Anyone saying the sort of shit trying to get us to stick with Eddie in a list of the best PL

34 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said:

Totally unfair on Ronaldo, man. Doubt he has a history of different usernames.

 

Still...

[sparkzter]

He’s not without criticism. 
let’s see where we are near Christmas, we have games we ‘should’ be getting a return from. Drop a load more of these seemingly easier fixture points and our prem league season is probably a bit dud barring some exceptional winning run. 

[Palestoon]

Howe will get us back on track. We've had a tough start to the season with Isak situation, injuries, and a very difficult fixture list to start.

 

But I do think there are areas of valid criticism. Specifically around our style of play and adaptability. We've heard directly from Howe himself that the team needs to develop a more possession style of play if we want to consistently challenge at the top, especially if we expect to be European regulars. Everyone at the club acknowledged that the 100 mph style isn't sustainable with this current phase of the squad as we continue to build depth and add quality top to bottom.

 

Yet when you watch us on the pitch, in the 2 years since our first champions league campaign, we havent seemed to take a big step forward in that area, and still seem to struggle with the same type of teams.

 

For me, that starts with our recruitment.

If you asked any supporter at the end of the season, where are the areas we can make obvious upgrades in improving our possession based style of play, everyone would tell you: an upgrade on pope who can play out the back, a Technical RW who can add flair and technique to the wide areas, and a ball playing CM who can play in the hole and help with ball retention and creativity. 

 

Instead, we signed a GK who can play it on the deck, but still probably not good enough to unseat pope.

 

A RW winger who looks exclusively suited to a counter attacking style.

 

And Another midfielder who's strengths are in transition more than in possession. 

 

In a vacuum, I dont think those are necessarily bad signings. (I think Ramsey in particular is going to be great once he gets up to speed)

 

But when you watch us, and you see the same issues rearing their heads again and again, and what seems to be an inability/reluctance to adapt our style to counter certain teams, questions on what our long term identity is, are fair.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2025 by Palestoon

[Ellis H]

Fixtures are a complete red herring so far this season because only Wolves and West Ham have been bad from day 1, with West Ham soon to improve. There is no good run of fixtures to look forward to which means we’re playing capable at worst teams every week. 
 

The overall improvement in the league combined with our extra games is going to make this season a real challenge.

[Kid Icarus]

1 hour ago, Lucky said:

Where do you rank Howe in terms of current PL managers?

Pound for pound in terms of achievement it's between him and Glasner imo.