Eddie Howe

[Alberto2005]

30 minutes ago, Heron said:

Woltemade and Thiaw and Ramsey are all technical players and not runners.

Woltemade doesn't get a game.

[Heron]

11 minutes ago, dcmk said:

Neither was Ekiteke, Sesko, Cunha, Szoboslai, Pedro, Olise who he has all tried to sign.  

 

It's such a lazy narrative at this point.

 

Any top team is full of athletes. It's literally the modern game now. But you need the quality as well.

I don't get the perception of technical players too. Someone said the other day Gordon is a good technical footballer. He isn't. They say Murphy isn't, he is. Passing, shooting, crossing & tackling all require technical ability. Dribbling also does. Murphy has more of those attributes than Gordon. But that's not to say he's a more effective player per se. Kieron Dyer wasn't a good technical footballer either but he was effective.

 

I am starting to feel that there's a bit of dumbing down or ignorance of Howes achievements as some sort of justification for folks current views like.

 

There's contradiction across the points I consistently read. He cannot work with a DoF but apparently our good signings were with a DoF whom Howe has developed and got the best out of. Then when Howe and his cousin are let loose on transfers (apparently) they're tragic (apparently) but that's all Howes fault and not the lack of a competent DoF.

 

Of our signings under Howe's tenure I'd say 3 are 'sprinters'; Willock, Gordon and Elanga. As mentioned - all teams need these types. Other than that we have got some extremely good technical players under Howe; Trippier, Bruno, Hall, Tino in particular. Other players have some but not all of those technical abilities. That blend won us a cup.

 

We've had an inconsistent, disappointing (league) and demoralising season, for sure. Of which Howe has felt it as much as all of us, if not more, I suspect, and it saddens me that he's taking the brunt of the criticism - albeit that is the nature of being a football manager.

[Kid Icarus]

6 minutes ago, Mountain said:

 

If you want to play semantics then yes I concede defeat.

I think there's enough of a difference between the two for it to not be semantics personally, but each to their own tbf. I think at this point him being a target at all looks bad enough, but we did go for or have like 5 or so players ahead of him. 

 

 

Edited April 25 by Kid Icarus

[dcmk]

9 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

So you’re just ignoring any appointment that turned out for the best and the successor was an improvement on the person they replaced ?

 

Carrick is doing much better at Man Utd than Amorim did.
 

Carrick was sacked by Boro after achieving the sum total of fuck all. Amorim was a league winner with Sporting in 23/24 and one of the hottest prospects in management.

 

The future’s not ours to see.

 

 

 

 

I don't think anyone wanted to play for Almiron, except Bruno F. Almiron was playing for the sack at the end.

 

The players all had a spring in their step and more fight when he left.  Their form is tailing off now - certainly performances, and if Carrick gets the gig permanently they will regret that next season.  Purple patch from a new manager bounce isn't the way for forward. 

 

Case in point us with Glenn Roeder.

[Weezertron]

Paying 55m for not first choice elanga is grim 

[Heron]

1 minute ago, dcmk said:

I don't think anyone wanted to play for Almiron, except Bruno F. Almiron was playing for the sack at the end.

 

The players all had a spring in their step and more fight when he left.  Their form is tailing off now - certainly performances, and if Carrick gets the gig permanently they will regret that next season.  Purple patch from a new manager bounce isn't the way for forward. 

 

Case in point us with Glenn Roeder.

[Whitley mag]

1 minute ago, TheEntertainer said:

The Poch sacking was fair at the time for Spurs, they'd finished 2nd and got to a Champions League final and were 14th the next season, obviously they've got even worse since then, but I don't think the Poch sacking was unreasonable and they've just made a series of increasingly poor appointments after that, which is always the risk when you twist obviously. The Poch sacking at Chelsea was clearly mental mind but other than him they've had a series of poor managers in recent years after Tuchel.

 

You can make the same argument the other way, what about Man Utd they stuck with Ten Hag for ages when he was clearly not good enough, then Amorim for too long despite him clearly being awful and now they're flying high under Carrick. Change is always a risk, but if the current encumbant is massively underperforming, chances are you get better. Maybe you don't and if you fuck up the appointment obviously you don't but we aren't actually completely safe from relegation with all the shitters winning this weekend. That's an absolutely horrific season for Newcastle since the buyout so this season has been a collosal underperformance. 

 

We even have the example of Eddie at Bournemouth, they stuck with him for too long because of what he'd done for them previously and he took them down. It's a risk either way, but in my opinion given this season, twisting is the lower risk. 

If we can’t win either of these 2 remaining home games, I can’t see how anyone can go into next season confident with Howe in charge.

 

We looked more solid at the back tonight and thought the effort was there, but at home when we need to create and keep the door shut at the back, it’ll be far more telling next week if he can get a tune out of them.

[dcmk]

1 minute ago, Heron said:

I don't get the perception of technical players too. Someone said the other day Gordon is a good technical footballer. He isn't. They say Murphy isn't, he is. Passing, shooting, crossing & tackling all require technical ability. Dribbling also does. Murphy has more of those attributes than Gordon. But that's not to say he's a more effective player per se. Kieron Dyer wasn't a good technical footballer either but he was effective.

 

I am starting to feel that there's a bit of dumbing down or ignorance of Howes achievements as some sort of justification for folks current views like.

 

There's contradiction across the points I consistently read. He cannot work with a DoF but apparently our good signings were with a DoF whom Howe has developed and got the best out of. Then when Howe and his cousin are let loose on transfers (apparently) they're tragic (apparently) but that's all Howes fault and not the lack of a competent DoF.

 

Of our signings under Howe's tenure I'd say 3 are 'sprinters'; Willock, Gordon and Elanga. As mentioned - all teams need these types. Other than that we have got some extremely good technical players under Howe; Trippier, Bruno, Hall, Tino in particular. Other players have some but not all of those technical abilities. That blend won us a cup.

 

We've had an inconsistent, disappointing (league) and demoralising season, for sure. Of which Howe has felt it as much as all of us, if not more, I suspect, and it saddens me that he's taking the brunt of the criticism - albeit that is the nature of being a football manager.

 

This is a great post.  Totally agree about looking for reasons to justify their views by twisting reality and difficult circumstances to form an unflattering narrative around Howe.  It's all rather ugly.

 

Wish some people would look into the facts more.

[Mountain]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I think there's enough of a difference between the two for it to not be semantics personally, but each to their own tbf. I think at this point him being a target at all looks bad enough, but we did go for or have like 5 or so players ahead of him. 

 

 

 

 

FALSE

 

SOURCE from 2024 - https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13160811/anthony-elanga-newcastle-open-transfer-talks-with-nottingham-forest-over-sweden-international

 

ANOTHER from 2024 - https://metro.co.uk/2024/08/30/newcastle-united-launch-deadline-bid-anthony-elanga-21521991/

 

COROBORRATING SOURCE from 2025 - https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jun/24/newcastle-james-trafford-burnley

 

 

Edited April 25 by Mountain

[Holmesy]

10 minutes ago, dcmk said:

The summer has been explained to death. 

 

If you think our backroom team was stable, and we had a normal pre-season than salut.

This is such a counterintuitive argument. His job is to find a way to win, not to find a way to win playing 4-3-3, man-to-man, high press. That’s entirely on him.

He has had 50 games to figure it out  and still hasn’t. Are the tools at his disposal shit? No, they’re international footballers. Are they as good as we would want them to be? No, but they’re not 14th place players. They’re not worse than Sunderland’s players or Brentford’s or Bournemouth’s or Everton’s. 

 

But the summer, the summer! Yeah, the summer was almost 12 months ago. 12 months he’s had to make it work with these players. It’s no longer a relevant argument. 
 

The summer can be used as an excuse  for why we didn’t improve on last season, not why we’re utterly wank in most departments and would be battling relegation now if we hadn’t picked up early season points.
 

[Kid Icarus]

Just now, Mountain said:

 

FALSE

 

SOURCE from 2024 - https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13160811/anthony-elanga-newcastle-open-transfer-talks-with-nottingham-forest-over-sweden-international

Not remotely false, again he wasn't even the first RW we went for that window either. 

[Mountain]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Not remotely false, again he wasn't even the first RW we went for that window either. 

 

Whatever helps you get by. Have a lovely weekend, no hard feelings.

[Kid Icarus]

On 18/04/2026 at 20:21, Kid Icarus said:

 

Yeah. Gordon was our original RW choice, who then ended up playing LW, we've bid for Olise, were in for Mbeumo, owned and were forced to sell Minteh. We also bid for Maddison and were heavily linked with Szoboszlai for that inverted RW playmaker role.

 

Like I say, the transfer on its own is worth scrutinising but he wasn't Howe’s first choice by any means.

 

Just now, Mountain said:

 

Whatever helps you get by. Have a lovely weekend, no hard feelings.

To save typing it out again 

[dcmk]

2 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

This is such a counterintuitive argument. His job is to find a way to win, not to find a way to win playing 4-3-3, man-to-man, high press. That’s entirely on him.

He has had 50 games to figure it out  and still hasn’t. Are the tools at his disposal shit? No, they’re international footballers. Are they as good as we would want them to be? No, but they’re not 14th place players. They’re not worse than Sunderland’s players or Brentford’s or Bournemouth’s or Everton’s. 

 

But the summer, the summer! Yeah, the summer was almost 12 months ago. 12 months he’s had to make it work with these players. It’s no longer a relevant argument. 
 

The summer can be used as an excuse  for why we didn’t improve on last season, not why we’re utterly wank in most departments and would be battling relegation now if we hadn’t picked up early season points.
 

Transfer windows are very important.  It locks your squad in for the forthcoming season, our struggles are due to it. We have had no capable strikers and terrible goalkeeping performances.

 

The summer we overspent on mediocrity, poor identifying of players, bad planning all those things.  All those things aren't solely on Howe- There has been a lot of chaos behind the scenes.

 

He has tried his best and come up short, now needs to fix those holes in our squad. Hopefully we are more prepared this time.

 

[Heron]

9 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

This is such a counterintuitive argument. His job is to find a way to win, not to find a way to win playing 4-3-3, man-to-man, high press. That’s entirely on him.

He has had 50 games to figure it out  and still hasn’t. Are the tools at his disposal shit? No, they’re international footballers. Are they as good as we would want them to be? No, but they’re not 14th place players. They’re not worse than Sunderland’s players or Brentford’s or Bournemouth’s or Everton’s. 

 

But the summer, the summer! Yeah, the summer was almost 12 months ago. 12 months he’s had to make it work with these players. It’s no longer a relevant argument. 
 

The summer can be used as an excuse  for why we didn’t improve on last season, not why we’re utterly wank in most departments and would be battling relegation now if we hadn’t picked up early season points.
 

That last comment is such a pointless comment. Howe still won those points and with this team.

 

Up until about a month ago we'd played the most fixtures in Europe. There's keeping fit and there's devising new formation and strategy. You rarely just pick a new formula and it immediately works. We've had very little time to restrategise until recently where admittedly things have gone of a bit of a cliff edge.

 

We don't have lesser players than those you've mentioned - correct. Likewise though - they didn't reach beyond where we did in a single cup let alone three and yet we sit within 2 to 3 wins of all of them.

 

Again - I don't think anyone is saying Howe is faultless at this stage. Only that balance is being lost.

 

 

Edited April 25 by Heron

[Mountain]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

 

To save typing it out again 

 

Yep fair enough whatever, i'll agree with your framing.

 

It was a terrible tracking or lower down the list option or whatever.

 

He should have NEVER been on the list.

 

I am giving you a lot of credence here because it's quite clear he was high up the list, hence the repeated bids stemming from 2024 onwards.

[Mountain]

3 minutes ago, dcmk said:

Transfer windows are very important.  It locks your squad in for the forthcoming season, our struggles are due to it. We have had no capable strikers and terrible goalkeeping performances.

 

The summer we overspent on mediocrity, poor identifying of players, bad planning all those things.  All those things aren't solely on Howe- There has been a lot of chaos behind the scenes.

 

He has tried his best and come up short, now needs to fix those holes in our squad. Hopefully we are more prepared this time.

 

 

It is solely on him as he had control of the transfers.

 

There was no law or divine intervention that prevented him from signing other players.

 

 

Edited April 25 by Mountain

[Kid Icarus]

2 minutes ago, Mountain said:

 

Yep fair enough whatever, i'll agree with your framing.

 

It was a terrible tracking or lower down the list option or whatever.

 

He should have NEVER been on the list.

 

I am giving you a lot of credence here because it's quite clear he was high up the list, hence the repeated bids stemming from 2024 onwards.

Yeah I have no qualms with saying he was clearly regularly in the picture. Howe seems so sure about him like, right now it seems absolutely mental and had never not looked mental. Here's hoping that it's one that proves us all wrong.

[Mountain]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Yeah I have no qualms with saying he was clearly regularly in the picture. Howe seems so sure about him like, right now it seems absolutely mental and had never not looked mental. Here's hoping that it's one that proves us all wrong.

 

 

Fair statement, I agree.

[Kid Icarus]

3 minutes ago, Mountain said:

 

It is solely on him as he had control of the transfers.

 

There was no law or divine intervention that prevented him from signing other players.

 

 

 

Sorry, I know I keep quoting you but I can't help it. He didn't have control like it was some sort of reward that he wanted...

[Heron]

We talking about 3rd in the PL for assists Elanga here (last season) behind only Jacob Murphy (who many will have us believe is horseshit) and Salah who has been considered one of the best players in world football across his career...

 

 

Howay.

 

Elanga has been poor this season - to be polite - but us signing him was not some sort of ridiculous decision.

[dcmk]

Just now, Mountain said:

 

It is solely on him as he had control of the transfers.

 

There was now law that prevented him from signing other players.

He wanted numerous players that we didn't get.

And I'm pretty sure it's more complicated process than what you're making out. 

 

PIF have a process driven approach to any decisions that are made.  Hence the snail like pace.

[Mountain]

Just now, Kid Icarus said:

Sorry, I know I keep quoting you but I can't help it. He didn't have control like it was some sort of reward that he wanted...

 

 

All good, no worries my friend.

[Monters]

1 minute ago, Mountain said:

 

It is solely on him as he had control of the transfers.

 

There was now law that prevented him from signing other players.

You are correct there wasn’t but there were a lot of players we attempted to sign but didn’t. Probs his fault, at this point everything is. 
 

Also I assume he didn’t sign the players we did in the expectation they’d be shit! At what point does player accountability kick in?

[huss9]

1 hour ago, Astroblack said:

You think someone else could take us to a higher level? Who? We just got rejected by every player we tried to sign. We got rejected by Marc Guehi when we were going into a Champions League season. 48.7% win percentage. Iraola at Bournemouth is 36.6%.

is it just about the players though?

not tactics and cooaching.

for eg. would unai emery do a better job with this same squad?

it needs a refresh.