Eddie Howe

[Dr Gloom 22137]

I think Howe got his tactics wrong yesterday. He can’t be blamed for the individual mistakes that led to some of the goals but I found the decision to try to aggressively press them odd.
 

We looked so much more secure at the back against wolves when we closed the gap between the defence and midfield. I thought we’d stick with those tactics. 

 

But we looked so open again yesterday in trying to high press. It’s another game where we lacked control and the opposition could seemingly carve us open at will with a pass or two. Games against teams, on paper, you’d fancy us winning. Like Bournemouth, Luton, Forest and probably a few more I forget. 
 

Was last season a flash in the pan? Can Howe continue to play that way with these players? I’m not sure. I think he needs to be more pragmatic, as he was against wolves, then maybe revert to that aggressive high press after the squad is overhauled in the summer. 

Edited March 12 by Dr Gloom

[PaddockLad 17641]

Howe was brilliant at Bournemouth…. until he wasn’t….

 

its this second part of his tenure where the perception that he can’t coach a defence comes from

[Holden McGroin 6781]

I’m not worried and have confidence he can sort it. 

 

I suspect he’ll only come under pressure if we have a stinking start to next season. 

[Kid Dynamite 7167]

I think he's earned the right to have another transfer window. Move on the shite, bring more players in, get players back from bans and injuries etc.

 

If we are half way through next season and still in mid table then I think he will be getting his P45 before the January transfer window though 

[RobElliott 1564]

Aye, I don't think Eddie is perfect but has enough credit in the bank for a free pass until October, by then he will have had another transfer window and a fully acclimatised Tonali, Big Joe and Pope back fully fit plus less games every week so we could well go one better and lift a cup next year.

 

Long term I don't think Eddie is the answer as I'm not sure how our squad depth will be able to maintain the intensity that he needs for us to be effective, like we were last year, and while a lot of injuries have been freak injuries, I think the intensity of training is playing into that, even just a little. Some (Harvey Barnes broken toe) aside of course.

 

I don't know if its physically possible long term to keep Eddies intensity with 2 matches every week with our squad depth / injury proneness. Maybe the board recognise that and will give him time until the revenues come up and we can have a strong squad that can cope with the demands. It would be a silver lining if Bruno does leave that we could get up to 5 class players with the money.

 

Maybe this was all caused by having a shite physio who got the boot.

 

At least we aren't as badly hit with injuries as Liverpool as Neville was keen to point out in the match last night  

[Dazzler 10359]

tbf that shite physio wanted Botman to get surgery on his knee and as time is going on, it's looking like he was probably right. That decision seems to be the measuring stick a lot of our fans have used to determine his shitness. 

 

He may well be a shite physio on top of this though

[PaddockLad 17641]

This is where the lack of a DoF will trip us up.. if Howe gets the whip hand on what players come in this summer and he gets sacked in November then that is a massive problem..

[PaddockLad 17641]

2 minutes ago, Dazzler said:

tbf that shite physio wanted Botman to get surgery on his knee and as time is going on, it's looking like he was probably right. That decision seems to be the measuring stick a lot of our fans have used to determine his shitness. 

 

He may well be a shite physio on top of this though

I think there was or is an overall policy to avoid invasive surgery as much as possible… 

[Isegrim 9896]

Some people should really get a grip. What they want isn’t a different manager but a magician. Appointing the ideal and flawless manager is a rather difficult if not almost impossible task. For every Guardiola and Klopp there dozens of ten Hags, Pochettinos etc. Big names in the wrong environment can be pretty damaging as well.

 

 I can’t see a manager who would really be a guaranteed upgrade on Howe who has actually done a remarkable job so far overall. Speaking about the need to replace him is utter nonsense imho.

[LongTimeAdmirer 1283]

Personally, I cant wait to see what a First XI and bench full of Eddie players looks like, the final product. 

Edited March 12 by LongTimeAdmirer

[Holden McGroin 6781]

3 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

Some people should really get a grip. What they want isn’t a different manager but a magician. Appointing the ideal and flawless manager is a rather difficult if not almost impossible task. For every Guardiola and Klopp there dozens of ten Hags, Pochettinos etc. Big names in the wrong environment can be pretty damaging as well.

 

 I can’t see a manager who would really be a guaranteed upgrade on Howe who has actually done a remarkable job so far overall. Speaking about the need to replace him is utter nonsense imho.

 

Aye, Guardiola and Klopp took 2-3 seasons to get their own players and style in place. We are hamstrung by PSR now as well.

 

The magic he sprinkled on Bruce players has worn off now which is mainly down to them not being able to run and tackle harder then the other team so they are being found out technically.

 

The one thing that does seem to be missing this season is our nastiness. I don't recall any shithousing this year. We are very passive.

 

 

 

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3957]

If we can get a team where Longstaff and Almiron aren’t part of the first team, get Botman back with a better lb and maybe someone to understudy Schar then we will be good to go next season 

[Dazzler 10359]

3 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

 

Aye, Guardiola and Klopp took 2-3 seasons to get their own players and style in place. We are hamstrung by PSR now as well.

 

The magic he sprinkled on Bruce players has worn off now which is mainly down to them not being able to run and tackle harder then the other team so they are being found out technically.

 

The one thing that does seem to be missing this season is our nastiness. I don't recall any shithousing this year. We are very passive.

 

 

 

 

Probably due to the rule changes brought in (largely) because of our shit housing last year  

[PaddockLad 17641]

10 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

Some people should really get a grip. What they want isn’t a different manager but a magician. Appointing the ideal and flawless manager is a rather difficult if not almost impossible task. For every Guardiola and Klopp there dozens of ten Hags, Pochettinos etc. Big names in the wrong environment can be pretty damaging as well.

 

 I can’t see a manager who would really be a guaranteed upgrade on Howe who has actually done a remarkable job so far overall. Speaking about the need to replace him is utter nonsense imho.

I can agree with that as a general view but there are some specific things Howe is responsible for. Why have we persisted with trying to play the high pressing game this season with mostly a knackered bare 11 supplemented by players half fit returning from injury? It doesn’t make any sense to me and that is entirely down to him. A glimpse v Wolves that playing on the break more could yield success but that was jettisoned last night….

[Ayatollah Hermione 14043]

Howe is setting them up the way he wants to go and the ones that can’t keep up will be gone, I reckon

[Gemmill 45997]

21 minutes ago, Isegrim said:

Some people should really get a grip. What they want isn’t a different manager but a magician. Appointing the ideal and flawless manager is a rather difficult if not almost impossible task. For every Guardiola and Klopp there dozens of ten Hags, Pochettinos etc. Big names in the wrong environment can be pretty damaging as well.

 

 I can’t see a manager who would really be a guaranteed upgrade on Howe who has actually done a remarkable job so far overall. Speaking about the need to replace him is utter nonsense imho.

 

 

Totally agree with this. I think expectations have got all fucked up because of the success of last season.

 

All any of us should expect at this stage is for regular progress to be made at each transfer window, within the ridiculous confines of FFP, and for continuous investment to be made on the NON-FFP infrastructure stuff.

 

That means that, at a zoomed out level, you see progress for the first team WITH BUMPS ALONG THE WAY, which we've had loads of those season. It's gonna be a really slow process though. And slow requires patience. From both fans and the owner. With fucking EVERYTHING. Fans turning on the players, the manager, the owners at this stage is probably inevitable cos people are thick arseholes, but everyone needs to fucking cool it and realise that you're not gonna turn this around in a matter of two years.

 

It took Man City four years or something and they had none of the financial constraints we're operating under.

 

If we start the revolving door with the manager now, I guarantee you it won't stop with Howe's replacement.

 

People saw CL qualification last year and they thought that was the speed of growth they could expect from that point on. We all got carried away, myself included, thinking it was repeatable straight away. It's not and it was totally unreasonable to think like that.

 

We ARE making progress and we'll do it again this summer. But it's gonna be slow as fuck for a while yet.

 

[ewerk 31195]

54 minutes ago, LongTimeAdmirer said:

Personally, I cant wait to see what a First XI and bench full of Eddie players looks like, the final product. 

 

That's the dream, isn't it?

 

[Holden McGroin 6781]

Where the fuck is Eddie The Eagle?

[ackas 311]

7 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

Where the fuck is Eddie The Eagle?

 

Disallowed as he's not a real Eddie...

[Holden McGroin 6781]

Who is that Mouth of The Tyne guy on Twitter who is polluting my feed. Absolute moron.

[MrBass 2715]

44 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

Where the fuck is Eddie The Eagle?

 

...and Eddie Hall, he'd be nailed on for a GK spot.

 

 

[Alex 35567]

1 hour ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

Howe is setting them up the way he wants to go and the ones that can’t keep up will be gone, I reckon

I think there’s something to that. But I also think you need to be pragmatic. If you don’t deliver in the here and now you’ll get the push eventually. There’s also the point about adaptability. Which relates to HMHM’s comments about how the game continually moves on. In any case, I think unless you’re at Man City / Liverpool / Real Madrid levels then you need to shape the way you play according to your opponents at times. 

[Alex 35567]

46 minutes ago, Holden McGroin said:

Who is that Mouth of The Tyne guy on Twitter who is polluting my feed. Absolute moron.

Just take the piss out of him and he’ll block you. He’s incredibly thin-skinned. As well as being an absolute gob shite chancer playing at ITK. 

[Alex 35567]

1 hour ago, Holden McGroin said:

Where the fuck is Eddie The Eagle?

Super sub 

[Renton 21977]

2 hours ago, Gemmill said:

 

 

Totally agree with this. I think expectations have got all fucked up because of the success of last season.

 

All any of us should expect at this stage is for regular progress to be made at each transfer window, within the ridiculous confines of FFP, and for continuous investment to be made on the NON-FFP infrastructure stuff.

 

That means that, at a zoomed out level, you see progress for the first team WITH BUMPS ALONG THE WAY, which we've had loads of those season. It's gonna be a really slow process though. And slow requires patience. From both fans and the owner. With fucking EVERYTHING. Fans turning on the players, the manager, the owners at this stage is probably inevitable cos people are thick arseholes, but everyone needs to fucking cool it and realise that you're not gonna turn this around in a matter of two years.

 

It took Man City four years or something and they had none of the financial constraints we're operating under.

 

If we start the revolving door with the manager now, I guarantee you it won't stop with Howe's replacement.

 

People saw CL qualification last year and they thought that was the speed of growth they could expect from that point on. We all got carried away, myself included, thinking it was repeatable straight away. It's not and it was totally unreasonable to think like that.

 

We ARE making progress and we'll do it again this summer. But it's gonna be slow as fuck for a while yet.

 

 

I agree with this and Isegrim's post entirely, except that I don't agree we all thought it was repeatable, a fall in league place was always expected by me and several others. We've had some bad luck this season undoubtedly. Insanely bad cup draws. Tonali. Injuries (although for me I don't think this is all luck). We've never had a chance to get into a rhythm, it's been stop start all years. Some noticeable highs, like Villa x2, Carabao cup run, Arsenal home. Some lows too, the worst for me being Forest at home. 

My biggest concern over Howe is his perceived lack of flexibility on how he sets us out or changes things within matches. And I agree we have lost our intensity and shithousing edge somewhere along the line. But given the luck we've had, I would give him at least the whole of next season before I would even question his position. Who else are we realistically going to get? Perhaps Howe needs some additional support, I'd be open to options, but to talk about replacing him is ridiculous. 

We're gonna lose on Saturday, so forget that. Hopefully we can pick it up from there onwards and do our best the remainder of the season - think he said yesterday that was the plan. Next season I am certain will be better. 

Edited March 12 by Renton