Eddie Howe

[Geordie Magpie]

For all those saying Eddie has credit in the bank , how long does that last?

 

He deserves criticism and it's blatant to see things aren't working, yes we've had injuries, yes we've had to challenge on four fronts and yes we lost our star striker but you can't spend £250m last summer and badly go backwards? 

 

Howe and the owners have to take shared responsibility for last summer, Howe had full reign on how to spend the money and it's been wasted,the owners knew for time Isak wanted out, they went for strikers most of the window that clearly didn't want us and then went big on two last minute choices no where near the top  choices on our list, if we hadn't played funny buggers early in the window with Liverpool over Isak, we maybe would of got Ekitike.

 

4th 7th 5th in the last 3 seasons we have over performed considering we have the 8th highest wage bill and maybe Eddie can deserve an off season but it's very annoying when it's the same positive press conferences saying we played well (when we clearly haven't) although last night's presser defo shows he is feeling the pressure

 

What if this spills into next season,he has control of the summers budget ends up sacked and then we have to get a new manager who inherits it 

 

Think Eddie defo deserves until the end of the season and then the club really need to evaluate where we at and what other options there is. 

 

It's not all on Eddie though, the owners have to take the blame as well but football is ruthless, look at Man City when they were took over, Mancini was the first face of the club under new ownership, wins them a couple of trophies and then is replaced.

 

I think this is the first sign of things going stale and haven't heard boos at half time and full time at SJP in a very long time 

 

 

Edited February 8 by Geordie Magpie

[Milburn]

3 minutes ago, RS said:

If he left the celebration from other clubs fans would be infinitely more than our own. People know he’s a talent.

The back room team have been a continuous, unmitigated disaster since Staveley left. Recruitment has been woeful. The owners should be all over this but there is a perception of disengagement. 

We can’t attract big players, we know we’ll be out bid by the big 6, there is no plan B barring knee-jerk signings so the focus should be on potential. 
 

Throw money at the kids. We’ve been perpetually shit at U18-21 development. Probably since the Keegan era.  Feeding Northern Alliance teams should be seen as a failure. 

 

Which was Paul Mitchell’s vision as well. 

[CheikBoom]

13 minutes ago, Milburn said:

 

Let down? He won the power battle with Paul Mitchell, who wanted to rip up the recruitment model because he didn’t think it was fit for purpose. Howe then got backed to the tune of about £250m, and a huge chunk of that looks like dreadful business.

 

Eddie Howe is a club legend, no debate. But the idea that he’s some kind of victim here doesn’t stack up. We’d be laughing if fans of other clubs were making the same excuse.

Yes, he's been let down. There's been absolutely zero structure or cohesion above since Stavely left. He's spent practically the last two summers running the club whilst we've had senior staff members leave time and time again. 

 

Financially he's had backing, but please note previous windows where nothing happened despite an aging squad. You can look at the summer in isloation, but Eddie Howe has been failed and expected to pick up the baton on multiple occasions. 

[Kid Icarus]

Your CEO being M.I.A for a year, your DoF walking out on the eve of the transfer window and then the club not replacing either until a month or two after the window closed isn't Howe being given the reigns, or Howe being given control, as if it's some sort of reward or privilege that he wanted or earned.

 

It's all of us being left in the shit and Howe having the responsibility of digging us out of it thrust upon him while those above him looked (and continue to look) at every time-critical decision that's their responsibility and respond to it by throwing their hands up and saying "inshallah". Some might say it's culture clash, or due diligence, others might say it's gross incompetence. 

[Holmesy]

16 minutes ago, Collage said:

This is a good post. I actually think he can change, think new, turn this around. He’s at least earned the chance to try.

I agree to an extent but we have to remember his gameplan/blueprint was built over time and honed while he was out of the game learning from others.

What I would argue we haven’t seen from him during his tenure here is an ability to evolve things while in the job - our evolution has come from new players largely playing the same formula, with tweaks. 

Now that the fundamentals of his system and approach are proving completely ineffective, he doesn’t seem to have an answer. And this is where the ‘no plan B’ becomes so damaging. His response to our poor form is more of the same.

We don’t need tweaks, we need an entirely new footballing identity. Player for player we are streets ahead of the teams we are struggling against but everyone knows our weaknesses and routinely exploit them.

 

There is no joy to be taken from seeing this play out but we have to recognise what is going on and if he doesn’t make serious changes to our approach soon, I think the writing could and should be on the wall. 

[Heron]

I don't get people saying he cannot evolve and change things like. We literally defended and played liek shit houses in a totally different formation and "evolved" and "changed" over a summer to be an attacking, high press, Champions League outfit.

 

We had a winning formula last year that got us CL and a cup.

 

Isak left last minute and our winning formula was missing a key component and he's had virtually no training ground time to fix that.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Heron

[Stuy_O]

13 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Your CEO being M.I.A for a year, your DoF walking out on the eve of the transfer window and then the club not replacing either until a month or two after the window closed isn't Howe being given the reigns, or Howe being given control, as if it's some sort of reward or privilege that he wanted or earned.

 

It's all of us being left in the shit and Howe having the responsibility of digging us out of it thrust upon him while those above him looked (and continue to look) at every time-critical decision that's their responsibility and respond to it by throwing their hands up and saying "inshallah". Some might say it's culture clash, or due diligence, others might say it's gross incompetence. 

 

I've been critical of Howe, and I just feel he is probably difficult to work for / with, but I still agree with this. 

 

Did the ownership rate the managers work so highly, that they let him have the responsibility without thinking he'll need support? 

 

Everyone has theories, but it's all been such a mess. Collectively no one is coming out looking good. 

 

 

Edited February 8 by Stuy_O

[Sandrotastico]

Some digging to back my earlier post...

 

Not much changes - a former under 23 coach at Burnley is hardly a proven record to manage a team of internationals aspiring to be no 1.

A nephew who is head scout or an academy (assistant) coach? Which do you excel at and why should be be charitable to find out while proven DOF's are forced out.

 

Horses for courses, but it's hardly elite - Eddie s an elite manager and true professional I believe, but he needs a system of excellence around him rather than yes men.

He's working harder and harder and not smarter.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8 by Sandrotastico

[Sandrotastico]

2 minutes ago, Sandrotastico said:

Some digging to back my earlier post...

 

Not much changes - a former under 23 coach at Burnley is hardly a proven record to manage a team of internationals aspiring to be no 1.

A nephew who is head scout or an academy (assistant) coach? Which do you excel at and why should be be charitable to find out while proven DOF's are forced out.

 

Horses for courses, but it's hardly elite - Eddie s an elite manager and true professional, I believe but he needs a system of excellence around him rather than yes men.

He's working harder and harder and not smarter.

 

 

 

 

and city....under pep

 

Pepijn Lijnders (2025–present): Appointed as assistant manager in June 2025.

Kolo Touré (2025–present): Joined the coaching staff in June 2025.

Juanma Lillo (2020–2022, 2023–2025): Served two successful periods as assistant.

Inigo Dominguez (2023–2025): Assistant coach.

Enzo Maresca (2020–2021, 2022–2023): Coached under Guardiola before moving to Leicester City.

[Zero]

It’s two-way business. Howe also has to listen to his coach, I mean the newly hired one, not just Tindall

[Famous Nick]

is he getting the best out of the squad?

[Fak]

2 minutes ago, Famous Nick said:

is he getting the best out of the squad?

 

From what's available clearly not. But I still back him to turn it around. Probably once we're out the FA Cup & CL and injured players are available again. 

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Famous Nick said:

is he getting the best out of the squad?

He isn’t - and tbf he said as much post-match.  I still hope he’s given the chance to change tack - he said he’s being reflective and I have no reason to doubt it.  Howe strikes me as a smart enough guy as to have those ‘conversations with himself’.  I hope he’s considering making back room changes as others have mentioned - the very best tend to do this. 

[Erikse]

25 minutes ago, Heron said:

I don't get people saying he cannot evolve and change things like. We literally defended and played liek shit houses in a totally different formation and "evolved" and "changed" over a summer to be an attacking, high press, Champions League outfit.

 

We had a winning formula last year that got us CL and a cup.

 

Isak left last minute and our winning formula was missing a key component and he's had virtually no training ground time to fix that.

 

 

 

 

We played the same 4-3-3 high press and high line attacking football when we finished 4th the season before. Despite being tight at the back, we scored loads that season.

 

The first season when we finished 11th we were perhaps more defensive and shithousing 1 goal wins, but we were playing 4-3-3 then aswell.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Erikse

[Milburn]

42 minutes ago, CheikBoom said:

Yes, he's been let down. There's been absolutely zero structure or cohesion above since Stavely left. He's spent practically the last two summers running the club whilst we've had senior staff members leave time and time again. 

 

Financially he's had backing, but please note previous windows where nothing happened despite an aging squad. You can look at the summer in isloation, but Eddie Howe has been failed and expected to pick up the baton on multiple occasions. 

Paul Mitchell didn’t “leave”, he was pushed out because his vision clashed with Howe’s. Mitchell wanted a modern structure; Howe wants the manager to have a say in everything. That approach is outdated.

 

In a serious football operation, the manager coaches while the DoF runs recruitment. That model clearly doesn’t suit Howe, which is why Ross Wilson has been installed as a compliant yes-man with no visible long-term plan for squad building or player trading.

 

Put another way: Wilson will happily chase players like Jacob Ramsey on the manager’s command. Someone like Mitchell would’ve gone his own way and tried to engineer deals for hidden gems like Igor Thiago instead. And yes — Mitchell’s EQ was questionable, he’s got his own skeletons in the closet - but at least he had a clear recruitment vision.

 

So no, Howe hasn’t been “failed from above”. He is the structure - and it’s a flawed one.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Milburn

[Milburn]

.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Milburn

[54]

10 minutes ago, Sandrotastico said:

Some digging to back my earlier post...

 

Not much changes - a former under 23 coach at Burnley is hardly a proven record to manage a team of internationals aspiring to be no 1.

A nephew who is head scout or an academy (assistant) coach? Which do you excel at and why should be be charitable to find out while proven DOF's are forced out.

 

Horses for courses, but it's hardly elite - Eddie s an elite manager and true professional I believe, but he needs a system of excellence around him rather than yes men.

He's working harder and harder and not smarter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No offence, but I utterly detest this "he used to be an under 23's coach, so he can't be elite". A lot of people start their careers at an entry level job and work up, it literally means fucking nothing to his current job role. I fail to see what impact what someones job was a decade ago has to his ability to do it now. People grow and change, learn new skills, and adapt to the environments they are in, digging someone's careers up to have a pop and the current setup is frankly ridiculous. 

 

Besides that same Simon Weatherstone has been here for the last 4 years, and been part of the same coaching staff that saved us from certain relegation, got 2 Champions League campaigns, a cup win, and has been working with a group of internationals that whole time. 

 

And what evidence is there that they are yes men exactly?

[Pixelphish]

3 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

He isn’t - and tbf he said as much post-match.  I still hope he’s given the chance to change tack - he said he’s being reflective and I have no reason to doubt it.  Howe strikes me as a smart enough guy as to have those ‘conversations with himself’.  I hope he’s considering making back room changes as others have mentioned - the very best tend to do this. 

 

He needs a real break to look at the situation objectively. Club has let him down massively with the shit show organisation, even removing the Isak situation it was bad enough. That interview was the first real look at the burnout he's experiencing and I feel for him deeply on a human level. PIF/Board need to demonstrate they're serious this summer and I dont just mean in transfer outlay.

[Heron]

3 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

We played the same 4-3-3 high press and high line attacking football when we finished 4th the season before. Despite being tight at the back, we scored loads that season.

 

The first season when we finished 11th we were perhaps more defensive and shithousing 1 goal wins, but we were playing 4-3-3 then aswell.

 

 

 

We often played 5 at the back. Even this season we have played 5 at the back and to good effect.

[TheBrownBottle]

1 minute ago, Pixelphish said:

 

He needs a real break to look at the situation objectively. Club has let him down massively with the shit show organisation, even removing the Isak situation it was bad enough. That interview was the first real look at the burnout he's experiencing and I feel for him deeply on a human level. PIF/Board need to demonstrate they're serious this summer and I dont just mean in transfer outlay.

Totally.  If they still want him to be their man going forward, the first they should do when the season ends is send him on a month-long holiday.  No comms, no checking on player procurement, just complete switch-off.  It was worrying seeing the impact it’s having, and some of us have seen this before - Howe’s a relatively young man (for the industry he’s in) and the job can age people overnight.  Some things are more important. 

[Begbie]

7 minutes ago, Erikse said:

 

We played the same 4-3-3 high press and high line attacking football when we finished 4th the season before. Despite being tight at the back, we scored loads that season.

 

The first season when we finished 11th we were perhaps more defensive and shithousing 1 goal wins, but we were playing 4-3-3 then aswell.

 

 

 

Are we really playing 4-3-3 and do we have high press? I know that we used to, but dont think we are anymore. Its more like a 4-5-1 and often low block. We often press 1 maybe 2 at the time which is easy to play around. We are playing man marking where our wingers often doesnt track their man, can maybe say we are playing 4-1-3-2-0 with a winger and a striker not on top or helping out the midfield or close enough to each other.

[Sandrotastico]

22 minutes ago, 54 said:

No offence, but I utterly detest this "he used to be an under 23's coach, so he can't be elite". A lot of people start their careers at an entry level job and work up, it literally means fucking nothing to his current job role. I fail to see what impact what someones job was a decade ago has to his ability to do it now. People grow and change, learn new skills, and adapt to the environments they are in, digging someone's careers up to have a pop and the current setup is frankly ridiculous. 

 

Besides that same Simon Weatherstone has been here for the last 4 years, and been part of the same coaching staff that saved us from certain relegation, got 2 Champions League campaigns, a cup win, and has been working with a group of internationals that whole time. 

 

And what evidence is there that they are yes men exactly?

True - maybe that could have been worded better. I guess I find it baffling that we are the test case. Nothing seems to evolve or change - if anything the football has gone backwards.

 

The approach clashes with where we are aiming to be. Much of our approach is outfighting and out running the opposition, but when you run out of fight and run out of steam, you find there's very little football happening.

Clearly, as is usually the case the club is still suffering from a jobs for the boys approach, rather than an elite, who is best for the job.

 

I agee with the post above, for all Mitchells problems, a scouting framework and vision was not one - he called out 3-4 of the issues we have discussed for 5 years on here. Scouting, British tax, Academy, the death of every young hopeful and why we have a nephew of the manager, a forner assistent academy coach buying our playings.

 

It's well and good when you're winning and finding gems like Bruno but it's open forum to question when the ideas run out and youve spent 200m on a reserve team.

 

 

 

Edited February 8 by Sandrotastico

[Lish007]

That quote really gets me. I know we haven't been performing well but Eddie is a top human and top coach. The pressure must be immense. 

 

I hope he's okay. I believe he can turn it around. 

 

There's no one i trust more next season to get us back into CL. But to compete on all 4 fronts, we NEED more players. It's tough. The players are knackered. 

 

I thought the 2nd half with Woltemade on pitch, we played some nice football. I thought we didn't play that badly at all! Mistake by pope and we've lost. Plus Trippier, but who else is going to cover RB??? 

[Sir Joel Inton]

Incredible that the only defence of Howe from those with their heads in the sand is that he must have time on the training ground in order to deliver.

 

Which, in turn, means Howe can never be a successful manager in Europe, as he will never be afforded the luxury of week long breaks.

 

As for people bad mouthing KK, goes to show how desperate the situation is if we have people who are bemoaning others for being negative and in the next breath slagging off and belittling the achievements of club legends.

 

It’s also unusual to me that the club owners, who have undoubtedly made mistakes, are not afforded the same “credit in the bank”, despite also being part of our success.

[r0cafella]

1 minute ago, Sir Joel Inton said:

Incredible that the only defence of Howe from those with their heads in the sand is that he must have time on the training ground in order to deliver.

 

Which, in turn, means Howe can never be a successful manager in Europe, as he will never be afforded the luxury of week long breaks.

 

As for people bad mouthing KK, goes to show how desperate the situation is if we have people who are bemoaning others for being negative and in the next breath slagging off and belittling the achievements of club legends.

 

It’s also unusual to me that the club owners, who have undoubtedly made mistakes, are not afforded the same “credit in the bank”, despite also being part of our success.

Wind your neck in man.