Eddie Howe

[SUPERTOON]

7 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’m not sure Howe can change it.  He came into the club after a hiatus having went around Europe watching other managers train. He came up with a method and a plan and implemented them here - a 4-3-3 high press, and it worked really well.  Now other teams have moved on and worked us out a bit - but he didn’t attempt to evolve (as an actual elite manager would), but just continued with the same set-up and doubled-down in terms of his signings.  There’s a real ‘we’re playing four four fucking two’ element to this.  And I’m not at all convinced the players are still with him.

Thing is we don’t even play his way anymore. We don’t really have style.

[TheBrownBottle]

Just now, SUPERTOON said:

Thing is we don’t even play his way anymore. We don’t really have style.

You’re right, it’s a watered-down version of it.  We play a low intensity version of the same system, but Howe has filled the squad with athletes instead of technical players capable of doing this.  It’s just poor management.  

[Tsunami]

Has anyone got stats showing when we concede goals. I know we’ve not conceded in the 1st 30 minutes of a match and that we’ve conceded a fair few after 85 minutes. I’m convinced we must have conceded the most in the 1st 5 minutes after HT. I’ve not seen the stats but the number of times we come out looking like we’ve had a 15 minute snooze is remarkable.

 

We need a bit of a shake up for sure. You have to be 100% up for every game and a big part of that is down to the manager and how he wants the team to play. We have better players than the style we’re playing away from home. We look half arsed and no points from a losing position tells its own story.

[nufc4eva]

There was only 3 teams playing a 433 this weekend, us, Arsenal and Burnley most other teams are playing a variation of 4231 or 3 at back, I think that's harming us as much as anything as we play a flat middle 3, 2 wide and makes us too rigid. Need to commit to just someone sitting in that hole between centre mid and centre forward to link up the play and cause more problems. I do see Howr modifies it to get Livramento, Hall and Bruno at times into that position but needs something else. Maybe Tonali and Bruno need to sit and Ramsey/Willock/Woltemade play in that hole once Wissa is back.

[midds]

9 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Has anyone got stats showing when we concede goals. I know we’ve not conceded in the 1st 30 minutes of a match and that we’ve conceded a fair few after 85 minutes. I’m convinced we must have conceded the most in the 1st 5 minutes after HT. I’ve not seen the stats but the number of times we come out looking like we’ve had a 15 minute snooze is remarkable.

 

We need a bit of a shake up for sure. You have to be 100% up for every game and a big part of that is down to the manager and how he wants the team to play. We have better players than the style we’re playing away from home. We look half arsed and no points from a losing position tells its own story.

Best I could find. Thought this is quite interesting too, only trailed an average of 12 mins per game

 

 

https://www.soccerstats.com/teamstats.asp?league=england&stats=u330-newcastle-utd

[Lush Vlad]

2 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’m not sure Howe can change it.  He came into the club after a hiatus having went around Europe watching other managers train. He came up with a method and a plan and implemented them here - a 4-3-3 high press, and it worked really well.  Now other teams have moved on and worked us out a bit - but he didn’t attempt to evolve (as an actual elite manager would), but just continued with the same set-up and doubled-down in terms of his signings.  There’s a real ‘we’re playing four four fucking two’ element to this.  And I’m not at all convinced the players are still with him.

I’d be more inclined to agree with that if we were still playing that way. When we clearly aren’t. Save for the odd 20-30 minutes at the start of certain home games. 

What is noticeable. Is that we are struggling to change how we approach games. Whether that is because of the type of players we have, the formation changes where we often look worse, the lack of time on the training ground, having to juggle more games. Or of course, Howe’s training methods. Probably a little of column A, B, right through to Z. 
 

Of course Howe is responsible here. It’s just to what degree you think he is and how much blame you lay at his door. 

I still think he will find the solution and get us back somewhere near to our best. But it is hard to see how away from

home, at present. 

 

[Decky]

1 hour ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

What are you on about

 

Jesus like, I don’t know about some of our fans. 
 

I’m off for the day, it’s too mental. 

 

 

 

 

They look a much better outfit than us this season and are on course for top 5 again, hardly that controversial a thing to say is it? I think if they can do it, and given what we've spent in recent years, it's where we should be too, not sitting in the bottom half unable to win any of our away games. 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by Decky

[SUPERTOON]

4 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

I’d be more inclined to agree with that if we were still playing that way. When we clearly aren’t. Save for the odd 20-30 minutes at the start of certain home games. 

What is noticeable. Is that we are struggling to change how we approach games. Whether that is because of the type of players we have, the formation changes where we often look worse, the lack of time on the training ground, having to juggle more games. Or of course, Howe’s training methods. Probably a little of column A, B, right through to Z. 
 

Of course Howe is responsible here. It’s just to what degree you think he is and how much blame you lay at his door. 

I still think he will find the solution and get us back somewhere near to our best. But it is hard to see how away from

home, at present. 

 

The only solution with the players we have is to go back to full press imo. We aren’t good enough to play any other way.

[500bhp]

10 minutes ago, Tsunami said:

Has anyone got stats showing when we concede goals. I know we’ve not conceded in the 1st 30 minutes of a match and that we’ve conceded a fair few after 85 minutes. I’m convinced we must have conceded the most in the 1st 5 minutes after HT. I’ve not seen the stats but the number of times we come out looking like we’ve had a 15 minute snooze is remarkable.

 

We need a bit of a shake up for sure. You have to be 100% up for every game and a big part of that is down to the manager and how he wants the team to play. We have better players than the style we’re playing away from home. We look half arsed and no points from a losing position tells its own story.

Off the top of my head, Liverpool 45 seconds, Marsellie 47 seconds, yesterday 40 seconds or whatever. Its worrying. 

[Lush Vlad]

2 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

The only solution with the players we have is to go back to full press imo. We aren’t good enough to play any other way.

That would require rotating the midfield and forwards a bit more, I guess. We’ve only managed the game load well a few times this season IMO. 

 

Although in Howe’s defence. Injuries have played a part in that. Along with the full backs being missing for large chunks of the season and certain players looking miles off form (take your pick) or not good enough so far (Elanga, Ramsey). 

[TheBrownBottle]

2 hours ago, TRon said:

 

 

It's not really though is it. They went deep into the CL last season and still would have qualified again if it wasn't for getting robbed on the last day by a terrible refereeing decision. They coped with multiple competitions far better than we have. 

 

I'm not saying the sun shines out of Emery's arse, but he's got enough honours under his belt to be given some recognition. 

Emery is just a better manager, full stop. 

[Keegans Export]

14 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

The only solution with the players we have is to go back to full press imo. We aren’t good enough to play any other way.

That's what I assumed our plan was and once the dust had settled on the Isak carry on I was quite optimistic. 

 

We had, in theory, the ability to replace 5 of the front 6 once the energy levels started to drop. We were a little short at RB/LB but if we were winning the ball high up the field we wouldn't be relying as much on the full backs being a regular part of our build-up play. The signings of Elanga and especially Ramsey did make some sense. Just run teams into the ground like we did in 22/23 and tried to do in 23/24 before the lack of squad depth killed us.

 

The fact that we barely seem to press at all, even with a deeper squad than we've had for years, is baffling. 

[Danh1]

I’m sure last season we went through a stage of coming out second half and playing shite, conceding goals. Because iirc Howe made a thing about it in the final at half time to ensure we don’t slip. 

[The Prophet]

Fwiw, we've finished above Villa in two of the last three seasons and won a trophy, while they haven't.

 

They're very well managed and without doubt one of our competitors, but the only thing NO may love more than piping off Elliot Anderson is downplaying our own achievements v other clubs.

[Vinny Green Balls]

12 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

Fwiw, we've finished above Villa in two of the last three seasons and won a trophy, while they haven't.

 

They're very well managed and without doubt one of our competitors, but the only thing NO may love more than piping off Elliot Anderson is downplaying our own achievements v other clubs.

and acting like recent events have been a feature of his whole time here. I don't mind entitlement to a degree, but it's sometimes overinflated among fanbases to a point that managers become victimized by their success.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2025 by Vinny Green Balls

[GideonShandy]

2 hours ago, Cf said:

I know quite a few people don't have much truck with xPts/XG but I keep saying fine margins. They're at least a useful barometer to show how variance comes into it.

 

Understat have us 8th in the table on xPts, and Villa 15th. (Sunderland 17th for the record)

 

Villa's actual GD is +8 which doesn't scream 3rd place after 16 games either.

 

There's obviously more to the game than stats but I actually though we started the season reasonably well in terms of performances. It's dipped lately but our not deep squad is contending with loads of games.

 

I really don't think things are as doom and gloom as people think.

While yesterday was a total disaster that will never be forgotten, I still think there's a decent chance that, by the end of the season, much of the vitriol and hyperbole that has been directed at players and management on here over the past 36 hours will, in retrospect, look like massive overreaction.

[SUPERTOON]

I would say the major advantage Villa have over us, is a fully invested and on board ownership. That’s probably a different discussion though.

[Conjo]

1 hour ago, TheBrownBottle said:

I’m not sure Howe can change it.  He came into the club after a hiatus having went around Europe watching other managers train. He came up with a method and a plan and implemented them here - a 4-3-3 high press, and it worked really well.  Now other teams have moved on and worked us out a bit - but he didn’t attempt to evolve (as an actual elite manager would), but just continued with the same set-up and doubled-down in terms of his signings.  There’s a real ‘we’re playing four four fucking two’ element to this.  And I’m not at all convinced the players are still with him.

 

He started playing 3-4-3, then swapped to 4-3-3 and also introduced the 5-4-1 last season. We've played many different iterations of the 4-3-3 too. The Joelinton/Willock LW/LCM, Gordon LW, Burn LB pushing up as a target, more traditionally with Hall, Trippier wing back era, Trippier as a more withdrawn inverted fullback, Bruno 6, Tonali 6, Bruno/Tonali interchanging, etc etc.

 

I don't think he is incapable of chaning the way we play.

 

It can take time though. By his own admission he doesn't really care about the formation. His main work seems to be to evaluate games and make small changes all the time, as well as adjusting to the opposition. That is ofc easier to do with less games to play. This is only his second season ever playing in 4 competitions in a season. He'll learn and adapt.

[TheBrownBottle]

4 minutes ago, Conjo said:

 

He started playing 3-4-3, then swapped to 4-3-3 and also introduced the 5-4-1 last season. We've played many different iterations of the 4-3-3 too. The Joelinton/Willock LW/LCM, Gordon LW, Burn LB pushing up as a target, more traditionally with Hall, Trippier wing back era, Trippier as a more withdrawn inverted fullback, Bruno 6, Tonali 6, Bruno/Tonali interchanging, etc etc.

 

I don't think he is incapable of chaning the way we play.

 

It can take time though. By his own admission he doesn't really care about the formation. His main work seems to be to evaluate games and make small changes all the time, as well as adjusting to the opposition. That is ofc easier to do with less games to play. This is only his second season ever playing in 4 competitions in a season. He'll learn and adapt.

We said this last time we were in Europe - I’m not seeing the learning and adaptation

[Conjo]

Just now, TheBrownBottle said:

We said this last time we were in Europe - I’m not seeing the learning and adaptation

 

Although it hasn't been converted into better performances, one thing at the top of my head is that he's doing a lot more rotation of the squad than last time. Granted, we struggled awfully with injuries, but even when he had the chance to do so, he didn't. So that's one thing.

[sixx]

Feel sorry for him. The Isak saga this summer was a shambles for everyone involved. Placing bets on Elanga and Ramsay which have massively backfired. Losing Wissa to injury half the season. Conceding comedy or wondergoals late in games. He’s had rotten luck and we’ll probably see it better with the passing of time.

 

Another bet he placed has really been the story of the season so far. It’s all been about load management to prevent injuries which obviouslt massively affected our last CL season. The plan has succeded in terms of avoiding injuries but the results are obviously not there. 
 

So often we sit back and soak up pressure instead of our signature ultra intense pressing. And I get that. The approach isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s the fact we can’t counter attack which is his biggest fault of the season. Surely having Wissa for that would have helped. There’s scarcely a striker on this planet less suited to it than Woltemade. Pair that with the ridiculously expenseive gamble on Elanga and Ramsay and it all looks foundationally bad.

 

I’ll support him in clawing his way back. We can be sure he’ll give everything in that fight. But at this moment it feels like the tide has turned.

[TheBrownBottle]

10 minutes ago, sixx said:

Feel sorry for him. The Isak saga this summer was a shambles for everyone involved. Placing bets on Elanga and Ramsay which have massively backfired. Losing Wissa to injury half the season. Conceding comedy or wondergoals late in games. He’s had rotten luck and we’ll probably see it better with the passing of time.

 

Another bet he placed has really been the story of the season so far. It’s all been about load management to prevent injuries which obviouslt massively affected our last CL season. The plan has succeded in terms of avoiding injuries but the results are obviously not there. 
 

So often we sit back and soak up pressure instead of our signature ultra intense pressing. And I get that. The approach isn’t necessarily wrong. It’s the fact we can’t counter attack which is his biggest fault of the season. Surely having Wissa for that would have helped. There’s scarcely a striker on this planet less suited to it than Woltemade. Pair that with the ridiculously expenseive gamble on Elanga and Ramsay and it all looks foundationally bad.

 

I’ll support him in clawing his way back. We can be sure he’ll give everything in that fight. But at this moment it feels like the tide has turned.

Conceding late goals regularly isn’t bad luck 

[The Prophet]

Hard to disagree with the points made in this particular post. I wish I was fly on the wall and knew what the plan we're trying to execute is.

[Jaqen]

So many folk desperate to show they were right about the Elanga signing ignoring the fact they were the same ones crying about Thiaw, Hall, Tino, Barnes etc saying they were a waste of money. Chances are if you moan about everything you are bound to be right once. Just like Eddie is eventually going to get one wrong. 

 

The way we are approaching and setup for games especially away from home is a much more valid and bigger issue. 

[MagPar]

To all those who want him sacked, who replaces him?

 

I don't want him sacked.