If not Howe, then who?

[TheBrownBottle]

3 minutes ago, AngelofTheFourth said:

I don't think or expect us to win the league next season.

 

I don't mean it in a way of "Howe you must win the league or you must the sacked". I want him to stay for one  ore season get us UCL football like he has previously done and then part ways once the season is done. Obviously the "parting ways" part wouldn't be happening if we did something completely extraordinary like winning the league.

Got you - I think I can see the logic

[TRon]

1 minute ago, Holmesy said:

It's a very simplistic view and I know where you're coming from but someone doing a thing before doesn't necessarily mean they'll do it again. Ranieri won the PL with Leicester - why doesn't he win every PL? Because the variables weren't the same after that season.
The variables aren't the same now for us. Our shock & awe approach worked for a period because teams didn't know how to deal with it. Now they do, and our players are older, more tired and let's be honest, probably a bit bored.

The argument isn't can Eddie do it again really. The argument is can he change and is he willing to? That's the unknown. On this season's evidence, people have doubts. Does he even accept that change is needed? If he does, can he do it on the job or does he need to go and have another sabatical to work on his new gameplan? Again, look at the recent evidence, what does it tell you?

Everything we have achieved to-date has been achieved doing variations of the same thing. That same thing doesn't seem to work now and the one thing we haven't seen Eddie do in all his time here is change our fortunes by changing the thing. He admits openly that he has plan A, and if plan A doesn't work it's because the players aren't executing the plan properly. He said this in a recent interview. Well, the players aren't executing plan A properly, what now?

Your argument is either, the thing still works, we just need different tools (or mitigating circumstances are to blame). Or you believe Eddie can do something different despite the fact he hasn't shown us he can. And that is where the optimism comes in, which I admire but don't share.

 

 

I was just watching some of the Loaded Mags podcast where they had a Bournemouth podcaster on. What he said was eerily familiar.

 

Basically under Howe their rise was meteoric, then after 4-5 years ( similar period to us) the more money he spent, the worse they got. It's like he's really good at getting the best out of lesser players, but once you start bringing in top class players with egos, it gets exponentially harder. 

 

I do worry he's reached his level here and managing a different type of player, and a different method of football might not be for him. 

[SUPERTOON]

15 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

I was just watching some of the Loaded Mags podcast where they had a Bournemouth podcaster on. What he said was eerily familiar.

 

Basically under Howe their rise was meteoric, then after 4-5 years ( similar period to us) the more money he spent, the worse they got. It's like he's really good at getting the best out of lesser players, but once you start bringing in top class players with egos, it gets exponentially harder. 

 

I do worry he's reached his level here and managing a different type of player, and a different method of football might not be for him. 

We haven't bought in top class players though, its been the opposite for us. We have got worse because of the poor quality we signed last summer imo. 

[Mills and Boon]

3 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

 

 

I said may he will turn it around, maybe he won't won't. A neutral statement. 

 

You replied Why can't he turn it around, he's done it before

 

And I replied because we can't predict the future. So maybe he will, maybe he won't. None of us can say for certain.

 

Not sure why that's got your knickers in a twist. 

 

And mojo is just an easy to understand way of saying the skills, experience, attitude, motivations the Eddie has. It's not nebulous, it's just shorthand.

 

And for the record, I don't need anyone to convince me of anything. I'm neither firmly in the Howe-out or Howe-in camp. I'm neutral and pretty relaxed on the matter.

 

 

 

No you didn't. You said nobody can say if Howe can turn it around. But we can, because we know he has that specific skill set as we've all seen him do it.

 

That's not to say that he definitely will, as there's an obvious difference between the two without being pedantic about it.

 

What twisted my knickers is your facetious predicting the future crack. We don't need to predict the future to assess the skill set Howe has as a football manager. I know he's got the tools, you apparently don't think he has. I don't think you're as neutral on the matter as you think you are if you think he's suddenly forgot how to manage a football team

[Mills and Boon]

27 minutes ago, Holmesy said:

It's a very simplistic view and I know where you're coming from but someone doing a thing before doesn't necessarily mean they'll do it again. Ranieri won the PL with Leicester - why doesn't he win every PL? Because the variables weren't the same after that season.
The variables aren't the same now for us. Our shock & awe approach worked for a period because teams didn't know how to deal with it. Now they do, and our players are older, more tired and let's be honest, probably a bit bored.

The argument isn't can Eddie do it again really. The argument is can he change and is he willing to? That's the unknown. On this season's evidence, people have doubts. Does he even accept that change is needed? If he does, can he do it on the job or does he need to go and have another sabatical to work on his new gameplan? Again, look at the recent evidence, what does it tell you?

Everything we have achieved to-date has been achieved doing variations of the same thing. That same thing doesn't seem to work now and the one thing we haven't seen Eddie do in all his time here is change our fortunes by changing the thing. He admits openly that he has plan A, and if plan A doesn't work it's because the players aren't executing the plan properly. He said this in a recent interview. Well, the players aren't executing plan A properly, what now?

Your argument is either, the thing still works, we just need different tools (or mitigating circumstances are to blame). Or you believe Eddie can do something different despite the fact he hasn't shown us he can. And that is where the optimism comes in, which I admire but don't share.

 

Again, I'm not saying he will turn it around with absolutely certainty. You and Bobby are grasping the shitty end of the stick.

 

I'm saying that Howe can turn it around as he's shown he's capable of it. I don't think he needs to change plan A either, but he does need different tools. A striker who isn't as ineffective as Wissa and Woltemade would be a massive help in that regard.

 

A more effective attack = more goals, less pressure on our defence so fewer bollocks being dropped and more points in the bag

[TheEntertainer]

8 minutes ago, Mills and Boon said:

 

No you didn't. You said nobody can say if Howe can turn it around. But we can, because we know he has that specific skill set as we've all seen him do it.

 

That's not to say that he definitely will, as there's an obvious difference between the two without being pedantic about it.

 

What twisted my knickers is your facetious predicting the future crack. We don't need to predict the future to assess the skill set Howe has as a football manager. I know he's got the tools, you apparently don't think he has. I don't think you're as neutral on the matter as you think you are if you think he's suddenly forgot how to manage a football team

I'm not sure we can say Howe 100% can turn a successful team which has started to struggle around, the evidence we have so far is that he can turn poor teams into successful ones. This feels like it needs a plan B, it doesn't feel like Eddie has one. Maybe he can turn it around, I think he probably can't. I think if you gave him a year off then dropped him into a struggling team again he'd turn that around probably if he's still got the energy for it. That's not the same thing though, we aren't the same as when he first came in. 

[Mills and Boon]

Just now, TheEntertainer said:

I'm not sure we can say Howe 100% can turn a successful team which has started to struggle around, the evidence we have so far is that he can turn poor teams into successful ones. This feels like it needs a plan B, it doesn't feel like Eddie has one. Maybe he can turn it around, I think he probably can't. I think if you gave him a year off then dropped him into a struggling team again he'd turn that around probably if he's still got the energy for it. That's not the same thing though, we aren't the same as when he first came in. 

 

That's a better starting point for him though. It should be an easier task getting the current side back on track than it was sorting out the shit show he inherited from Bruce

[Holmesy]

1 minute ago, Mills and Boon said:

 

That's a better starting point for him though. It should be an easier task getting the current side back on track than it was sorting out the shit show he inherited from Bruce

I think the opposite is true - trying to breathe new life into a group of players who are already not executing your plan is harder than going into a new group with fresh ideas and new energy, especially if you don't make changes.  The players are already familiar with him and as has been mentioned a number of times, they have listened to the same ideas and the same voices for a long time.
 

[TRon]

44 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

We haven't bought in top class players though, its been the opposite for us. We have got worse because of the poor quality we signed last summer imo. 

 

Change top class to more expensive players then. Point is, we were trying to upgrade. 

[Kid Icarus]

I work with a regular on one of the local podcasts. Canny enough and I get on well with him, but I hate the podcast he's on and all the other presenters.  Anyway, I was talking to him the other day and one of the points he made was that it's not just this season and that our form was shit after the cup final last season. He seemed completely gobsmacked when I was like 'Eh? Our form after the cup final was mostly really good! That's how we got into the Champions League'

 

It does worry me that there's just this whole rhetoric that runs wild in these circles and is accepted without any scrutiny like. 

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by Kid Icarus

[TheEntertainer]

3 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I work with a regular on one of the local podcasts. Canny enough and I get on well with him, but I hate the podcast he's on and all the other presenters.  Anyway, I was talking to him the other day and one of the points he made was that it's not just this season and that our form was shit after the cup final last season. He seemed completely gobsmacked when I was like 'Eh? Our form after the cup final was mostly really good after the cup final! That's how we got into the Champions League'

 

It does worry me that there's just this whole rhetoric that runs wild in these circles and is accepted without any scrutiny like. 

 

I think the Aston Villa game and particularly the Everton game stick in the mind as they were both awful and create a false memory of the whole run in being crap. I definitely felt like it had been until I checked myself earlier in the season. 

[bobbydazzla]

1 hour ago, Mills and Boon said:

 

No you didn't. You said nobody can say if Howe can turn it around. But we can, because we know he has that specific skill set as we've all seen him do it.

 

That's not to say that he definitely will, as there's an obvious difference between the two without being pedantic about it.

 

What twisted my knickers is your facetious predicting the future crack. We don't need to predict the future to assess the skill set Howe has as a football manager. I know he's got the tools, you apparently don't think he has. I don't think you're as neutral on the matter as you think you are if you think he's suddenly forgot how to manage a football team

 

I'm really not sure what you're getting so arsey about and you're reading far too much into the exact words I used. 

 

I was trying to make a neutral statement that performances need to improve (I think we all agree on that?) and maybe Howe can / might / could / will take us there, or maybe he isn't able to and we look to replace him. But no-one can accurately predict the future, so whatever NUFC do is a gamble. That's not facetious, it's a fact.

 

I wasn't questioning his skills, or saying he can't manage and I'm genuinely neutral about Howe. If he stays and turns it around, I'll be buzzing. If someone new comes in and does well I'll be buzzing. I'm really not arsed as long as we sort out our glaring issues on the pitch.

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by bobbydazzla

[Kid Icarus]

3 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

I think the Aston Villa game and particularly the Everton game stick in the mind as they were both awful and create a false memory of the whole run in being crap. I definitely felt like it had been until I checked myself earlier in the season. 

The Villa one was a standard Newcastle Villa match over the last few years for me, where we take turns in kicking the shit out of each other.

 

The only disappointing one for me was the Everton match, similar to the Leicester match in 22/23 it seemed like we thought we'd already got the job done and crawled over the finish line. 

 

 

Edited April 16 by Kid Icarus

[Weezertron]

This has just become the Eddie Howe thread. 

[LFEE]

On 15/04/2026 at 13:10, NUFC91 said:

 

People are getting behind him, I love Eddie but some people seem to think anyone worried or showing concerns about being 14th in the league is this fickle, post takeover fan etc.

 

The response after the Sunderland game was a defeat to a 2nd string Palace side who only won 1 home league game in 10. You can still be rooting for Eddie but worried about that performance.

Then focus on the slightly over hit pass from Barnes to Nic which would’ve made it 1-2 and a tactical masterclass with both subs coming on and combining to win the game  Also don’t get so concerned about being 14th in a season when we are still only 6 points from 6th! Just been one of those seasons in the league. It happens. It’s football. If it happens in the league again next season he’ll no doubt walk himself.

 

Let’s shift those who want to be away. Bring in players who want to be here and try again 26/27.

 

 

[bobbydazzla]

1 hour ago, TRon said:

 

 

I was just watching some of the Loaded Mags podcast where they had a Bournemouth podcaster on. What he said was eerily familiar.

 

Basically under Howe their rise was meteoric, then after 4-5 years ( similar period to us) the more money he spent, the worse they got. It's like he's really good at getting the best out of lesser players, but once you start bringing in top class players with egos, it gets exponentially harder. 

 

I do worry he's reached his level here and managing a different type of player, and a different method of football might not be for him. 

 

The Bournemouth fan who sometimes gets on here (cherryred) posted pretty much the same summary. He loved Eddie to bits as much as we do, but he also highlighted where things went wrong.

 

I can't be arsed to dig it out again cos I've copy n pasted it a few times, but it is eerily familiar.

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by bobbydazzla

[TheEntertainer]

5 minutes ago, Weezertron said:

This has just become the Eddie Howe thread. 

I was thinking that, can we go back to talking about how much we all definitely want Mourinho please?

[Mills and Boon]

25 minutes ago, bobbydazzla said:

 

I'm really not sure what you're getting so arsey about and you're reading far too much into the exact words I used. 

 

I was trying to make a neutral statement that performances need to improve (I think we all agree on that?) and maybe Howe can / might / could / will take us there, or maybe he isn't able to and we look to replace him. But no-one can accurately predict the future, so whatever NUFC do is a gamble. That's not facetious, it's a fact.

 

I wasn't questioning his skills, or saying he can't manage and I'm genuinely neutral about Howe. If he stays and turns it around, I'll be buzzing. If someone new comes in and does well I'll be buzzing. I'm really not arsed as long as we sort out our glaring issues on the pitch.

 

Quote

 

2 hours ago, bobbydazzla said:

Plenty of examples across all walks of life where someone has something special and then loses their mojo and never regains it. That’s just human nature.

 

And mojo is just an easy to understand way of saying the skills, experience, attitude, motivations the Eddie has. It's not nebulous, it's just shorthand

 

 

I don't know how you can say Howe's lost his mojo, then define mojo as his skills, experience, attitude and motivation and somehow not actually be questioning his skills?

 

It's fair enough if the only point you wanted to make was that performances need to improve. Nobody will argue with that.

 

The problem is you said more than that and it was very easy to argue with

[bobbydazzla]

8 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

I was thinking that, can we go back to talking about how much we all definitely want Mourinho please?

 

[Mills and Boon]

Give me Poch or give me death

[TRon]

2 minutes ago, Mills and Boon said:

Give me Poch or give me death

 

 

Isn't Poch just more of the same? Fabulous front foot football which is grand when it's working, but not much of a B Plan when teams suss you out. 

[Mills and Boon]

I just like the way Poch built something at Spurs and left the club in a better state than he found it.

 

Progress is not to be sniffed at, if he comes in and cements our position as regular European football achievers over three or four years as he did with Spurs then we'd have broken through this ceiling Howe seems to be stuck at and we'll be a more attractive prospect for better players/managers going forward 

[bobbydazzla]

20 minutes ago, Mills and Boon said:

 

I don't know how you can say Howe's lost his mojo, then define mojo as his skills, experience, attitude and motivation and somehow not actually be questioning his skills?

 

It's fair enough if the only point you wanted to make was that performances need to improve. Nobody will argue with that.

 

The problem is you said more than that and it was very easy to argue with

 

You're massively overthinking what I said about mojo. 

 

I think me and many others have picked up a sense that Eddie is looking jaded. And we've definitely looked jaded on the pitch. AKA Eddie and the team have lost their mojo.

 

And it's completely understandable Eddie would be jaded given how much effort he puts into his job and how demanding this season has been.

 

If he can recharge and reset and go again with NUFC and deliver a successful season in 26/27, then great I'll be delighted.

 

But sometimes that doesn't happen, even if someone has done it before and has the skill set that indicates they should be able to do it.

 

It's certainly a phenomenon in all walks of life. At one time, you've got it, and then you lose it, and it's gone forever. All walks of life.

George Best, for example. Had it, lost it. Or David Bowie, or Lou Reed, Charlie Nicholas, David Niven, Malcolm McLaren, Elvis Presley...

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by bobbydazzla

[TheEntertainer]

Interestingly Poch had 5 fantastic seasons at Tottenham then it all fell apart in his 6th season (though they didn't give him much of a chance considering what he had previously achieved, he was gone by November!). Maybe some parallels there. I'd take Poch though, I think he'd be a good fit, plays a similar way but less focused on just outworking the opposition. 

[Mills and Boon]

13 minutes ago, TheEntertainer said:

Interestingly Poch had 5 fantastic seasons at Tottenham then it all fell apart in his 6th season (though they didn't give him much of a chance considering what he had previously achieved, he was gone by November!). Maybe some parallels there. I'd take Poch though, I think he'd be a good fit, plays a similar way but less focused on just outworking the opposition. 

 

Levy pulled the plug while they were ahead and had the backing of a minority of Spurs fans who wanted someone who delivers trophies. Enter Jose, then shortly after, Conte.

 

The Spurs fans weren't happy with the brand of football on offer under those winners, so in comes All Out Attack Ange. Levy gave them what they wanted at every turn. He carried the can and was the outlet for the Spurs fan's anger despite being one of best chairmen in the league for me. Look at the clip of them now he's gone

 

 

Edited April 16 by Mills and Boon