Eddie Howe

[Kid Icarus]

I don't necessarily mean on here btw. Maybe it's just that I'm just not hearing it?  Beyond Eddie Howe's Black and White Army we don't really get any renditions of Walking in an Eddie Wonderland, or anything like the Rafa Benitez song. I think that's where I think something's not there. 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[hakka]

2 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I don't necessarily mean on here btw. Maybe it's just that I'm just not hearing it?  Beyond Eddie Howe's Black and White Army we don't really get any renditions of Walking in an Eddie Wonderland, or anything like the Rafa Benitez song. I think that's where I think something's not there. 

 

 

 

 

All I hear from other football fans is how incredible Howe has been. The odd wanker does the "blood money blah blah" stuff, but nearly all notice we didn't spend relatively big, it was a necessary amount to fix the squad but it was money very well spent and Eddie has done amazing here. That's my experience. Most think we will go on to do better and compete for top spot in 3 or 4 years.

[Jaqen]

Aye the too nice thing is absolute bollocks. He keeps his emotions in check and is very careful what he says in the press. Behind closed doors we don't know how he acts really. The stories you hear from Longstaff etc aren't being too nice it's great man management and realising what an individual needs to feel wanted and perform. 

 

Fergie came across as an  aggressive hothead and was notorious for his hairdryer treatment but from all the players stories there was plenty of players he had who never once got that and got nothing but love from him as he knew that's what they needed. A manger like Keane screaming and giving everyone a bollocking doesn't work.  You need to find the right balance as a manager and the fact that's he's managed to completely change the squad morale and have everyone on side and fighting for him shows he's doing something right. 

[JUICE690]

40 minutes ago, hakka said:

I have no issues with Howe. He's delivered mission impossible last season with our turnaround, and this season he's managed a cup final and top 4 battle still on. 

 

Only criticism I have of Howe is we appear to have no real plan B formation wise. Our high intensity pressing is at risk of burn out if squad isn't rotated enough and our attacking methods are becoming very predictable (Miggy/Trippier overlap or ASM random run on the left). Bruno is the key thing that ups our game to having very dangerous through balls, but with him so deep it's not frequent enough. 

 

Howe has worked miracles in other regards and I could write pages on what he's done thats fantastic in last year. We've finally hit our slump moment of the season, I fully trust Howe to sort it out and make top 6, top 4 I am not so sure, but if we can turn it in again then it's possible.

Agree 100% regarding Bruno. Teams having to watch, man mark him, means our other (more predictable) attacks have a better chance of success. Without him they're clearly having no trouble snuffing them out. No idea what a strong plan B even looks like mind. Resources are thin on the ground. Strongly believe if Howe had, had the chance to get Isak involved in more games earlier on we'd be stronger. Looks a little lost out there to me sometimes.

One thing that does puzzle me though is why we aren't using any of those 'off the training ground' freekick routines anymore.

[The Prophet]

What he's achieved in around in 18 months is nothing short of sensational. He took an unfit, unmotivated team sitting in 19th and comfortably guided them to midtable. With only a small number of additions, he has them fighting for European football. 

 

I do echo views worrying that he could become a victim of his own success though. It's starting to creep in via a small minority already and that's after a 17 game unbeaten run and a cup final. 

[TRon]

16 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I don't necessarily mean on here btw. Maybe it's just that I'm just not hearing it?  Beyond Eddie Howe's Black and White Army we don't really get any renditions of Walking in an Eddie Wonderland, or anything like the Rafa Benitez song. I think that's where I think something's not there. 

 

 

 

 

It's a fair point. I think with Rafa we were just so grateful to have a respected manager in charge of our club we felt eternally grateful. And he was a top bloke to boot.

 

Perhaps we have a section of the fanbase who feel more entitled now that we have the allegedly richest owners in the world. "Whatt? Eddie lost the cup final? Fuck him and get Pep up here, he knows how to win trophies"

 

I mean there's only going to be a few knackers who think like that, but they are the ones who probably make plenty of noise.

 

 

[Yorkie]

I've mentioned before that I don't think he's particularly charismatic the way he comes across in the press. But behind closed doors I bet he's pretty magnetic; even the glimpse of the way he spoke to Gordon in his training ground walkabout vid, he comes across (very briefly) as someone you just want to listen to. 

[The College Dropout]

I do like Eddie a lot. Because of the position he's in, he comes across a bit corporate.

 

Rafa was anti-establisment.

 

Bobby & KK were unbelievably charismatic.

 

Eddie will carve his own niche into the club. Whatever happens from here, he's proven a lot of things to a lot of people.

[SUPERTOON]

 

[Holloway]

2 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

 

The team musn't have noticed the shite atmosphere then

[GeordieDazzler]

On 01/03/2023 at 14:17, Yorkie said:

I've mentioned before that I don't think he's particularly charismatic the way he comes across in the press. But behind closed doors I bet he's pretty magnetic; even the glimpse of the way he spoke to Gordon in his training ground walkabout vid, he comes across (very briefly) as someone you just want to listen to. 

I think a lot of that is not wanting to give the press too many threads to pull or narratives to run with. He’ll happily talk about the game and tactics but everything else he’s the master of the none answer. 
 

Bruce and others showed if you react emotionally to the press it’s a red rag to a bull.

 

I mean this in the best possible way but he’s a bit Keir Starmer in how he deals with them,  don’t needlessly give folk ammo to shoot at you with

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by GeordieDazzler

[SUPERTOON]

 

[Superior Acuña]

On 01/03/2023 at 13:51, Kid Icarus said:

I don't necessarily mean on here btw. Maybe it's just that I'm just not hearing it?  Beyond Eddie Howe's Black and White Army we don't really get any renditions of Walking in an Eddie Wonderland, or anything like the Rafa Benitez song. I think that's where I think something's not there. 

 

 

 

I think it’s partly that Rafa was pretty much this lone light of hope that inexplicably came to our shit club and beyond what anyone really expected, stayed with us in the championship. All our hope was on his shoulders.

 

Eddie is class but it’s not like that, the hope is not all about him in the same way. 

[Vedder]

11 minutes ago, Superior Acuña said:

I think it’s partly that Rafa was pretty much this lone light of hope that inexplicably came to our shit club and beyond what anyone really expected, stayed with us in the championship. All our hope was on his shoulders.

 

Eddie is class but it’s not like that, the hope is not all about him in the same way. 

Agree, plus Rafa was too good for us at the time. Attracted by the potential we all saw in the club and happily went toe to toe with Ashley. Which is why we all loved him. 

 

Howe has come here to grow with us. He'll get better as we do. He's had an unbelievable start, we're well ahead of where we can expect to be with the squad we have. Looking at our midfield and forwards, there's only Bruno who has played a good chunk of our games who wasn't here when Bruce was. More signings and the settling in of Isak and Gordon will improve us again. 

 

Whilst I loved Rafa, I don't think he could have done what Howe has achieved so far and I certainly wouldn't swap!

 

 

[Dokko]

3 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

 

 

Sounds like Pardew is back. 😂

 

I guess the takeaway from that is all managers sound the same when things aren't going as well as hoped. The worse it is the worse the quotes, I'm sure. 

[The Prophet]

I though it sounded a bit like that, but it isn't as bad in context.

[Kid Icarus]

The main point is that it's true or if you disagree it's at least believable. Pardew was at best a blatant liar who basically tried to gaslight a fanbase

 

 

Edited March 3, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[bowlingcrofty]

The difference between Pardew and Howe is that Isak is actually a new signing, whereas Pardew was saying it about players who has been at the club for numerous years  

[KaKa]

7 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

 

 

Nice guy and soft touch Eddie Howe putting Ryan Fraser in his place.

[Away Toon]

I don't think Eddie being a nice guy is an issue, what's just the beginning of a potential problem is a possible lack of ruthlessness to make the hard decisions when the team is struggling and has been since the world cup break.  We will no better in a couple of weeks  if his continued loyalty to underperforming players is going to be an issue.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

5 minutes ago, Away Toon said:

I don't think Eddie being a nice guy is an issue, what's just the beginning of a potential problem is a possible lack of ruthlessness to make the hard decisions when the team is struggling and has been since the world cup break.  We will no better in a couple of weeks  if his continued loyalty to underperforming players is going to be an issue.

There’s never going to be a clear point where you can say he has or hasn’t been ‘too’ loyal or who is ‘underperforming’ to what extent. 
 

Given we have had almost no options in our squad until very recently, I find it a bit harsh. 

[wormy]

58 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

Nice guy and soft touch Eddie Howe putting Ryan Fraser in his place.

 

The damn wimp shouldn't have even sent him to the reserves. A real man would've kept him in the first team and decked him at the start of every training session to show everyone what's what.

 

Bring back Souness I say.

[gbandit]

It’s about time that Howe re-enacted that scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where the guy rips the heart out of the guy and eats it. If he does that to Fraser then there’s hope for him yet

[Misa]

Even if at some point, performances start dropping, which is inevitable even with the best teams, he should get at least 1 season to work through it. He's proven to be a good manager and deserves time. From flirting with relegation to losing a cup final in 2 seasons, that's immense progress. Look at teams like Nottingham Forest and Everton who spent so much to be so terrible. Could easily happen to Newcastle as well.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Misa

[Ghandis Flip-Flop]

16 hours ago, Away Toon said:

I don't think Eddie being a nice guy is an issue, what's just the beginning of a potential problem is a possible lack of ruthlessness to make the hard decisions when the team is struggling and has been since the world cup break.  We will no better in a couple of weeks  if his continued loyalty to underperforming players is going to be an issue.

The team has effectively picked itself for the majority of post World Cup period. I kept hearing about Targett coming in for Burn during the period he was out injured. People giving grief to Longstaff when there was literally no other fit midfielders to play. I’d agree this maybe someth8ng to be concerned about when we have a squad of 20+ genuine first team options, but at the minute it appears to me to be people looking for an issue where one doesn’t exist.