The best Newcastle United manager in my lifetime needs your support.
In the four years Eddie Howe has managed Newcastle United, we’ve never finished below 7th, taking into account full seasons managed.
Despite PSR, despite a wage deficit of hundreds of millions of pounds to the ‘big six’, despite working without a CEO, despite working with a Sporting Director who upset everyone on his first day in charge and despite losing allies at boardroom level in Amanda and Mehrdad. Despite a ridiculous number of injuries the season we finished 7th and despite buying no first team signings the season before last.
The one constant throughout it all has been Eddie Howe, steadying the ship and churning out results on the pitch season on season, all while we have floundered off the pitch at boardroom level.
What Eddie Howe has done is a miracle, and even better than that he’s done it with class. A man of huge integrity, someone who has fully embraced the north-east and its people. A man who embodies everything his predecessor wasn’t. A trophy winning manager. A man who cares deeply about our football club, as deeply as you or I.
As far as I’m concerned, Eddie Howe could finish 16th this season and I’d still be want him to keep his job. For as long as there’s a huge revenue deficit to the big six, we will continue to be built on sand.
What about the £700m+ he’s spent I hear you ask? Easy! He generated that revenue or a large proportion of it himself. By qualifying for the Champions League twice and finishing high up the league, he has in large part generated his own revenue.
And what has he done with that revenue? Bought some of the best players I’ve ever seen play for Newcastle United. Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali are two of the best midfielders I’ve ever seen play for this club. His outstanding recruitment has enabled us to finish high up the league table for three consecutive years.
Form is temporary, class is permanent. Eddie Howe is class, and a world class human being to boot. And we need to prove we’re the ‘loyalist football supporters the world has ever had’ against Manchester City, because we will not find another Eddie Howe for a long, long time.
Yes, we’re desperately struggling, the signings haven’t gelled and he’s trying to figure it out without his first choice full backs. But while he does, he needs a 12th man now more than ever. We should be there for him, when he needs us most.
totally agree. I wouldn’t change Eddie for the world. The last 4 years have been the smoothest we have ever had (in my 50 years). We are in a blip at the minute and Eddie is the best man to get us out of it. Patience
Nigel Hall(Quote)
Who could we possibly get that is better than Eddie? Knee jerk doubters need to give their heads a shake!!
nutmag(Quote)
Any whiff of Eddie Out is just bananas and not worth further comment
davewallace(Quote)
Eddie out, don’t be daft but he needs to tweak a few things and he probably knows this.
Regardless of how well he has done if he messes up we as fans have a right to say so.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
I’m personally Howe out, but I understand people who aren’t. Howe has done a great job. No doubt about that. He deserves to be praised and thanked. But I just don’t think he’s the man to take the club forward.
All of this started at the end of last season, which is why the team ended up relying on Man Utd getting a result against Villa on the last day of the season to qualify for the Champions League. The team crawled over the finish line.
To put it bluntly, a lot of the players aren’t trying as much as they used to. Some people say that’s down to them having more games again this season, but, like I’ve said, it started at the end of last season. Lost to Villa 4-1, beat 10 man Ipswich 3-0, drew 1-1 against Brighton (got outplayed), beat 10 man Chelsea (got outplayed), lost 1-0 to Arsenal, lost 0-1 to Everton (at home on the last day when Champions League qualification was on the line).
They get up for the occassional game (Liverpool this season due to the Isak context), but they don’t get up for it consistently. Something is definitely wrong in the dressing room. I don’t know why, obviously, but I’d guess Howe’s clear favouritism has something to do with it. 4-3-3. Pope, Burn at LB, Joelinton, Woltemade up top on his own. It’s always the same, no matter how bad it gets. For example, Osula always gets 5 minutes, even after he had a direct impact in the Liverpool and Fulham games. I suspect he’s not happy at all behind the scenes.
In other words, I think the big issue is in the dressing room, but I suspect that’s down to Howe’s selections/tactics.
On the subject of his tactics, by starting Woltemade up top on his own, Howe’s dropped the very thing that has made him successful: pressing from the front. He’s built/trained this squad to press from the front, and now it’s gone, at least until Wissa’s back. Yet the team aren’t counter-attacking either (despite having arguably the fastest wingers in the league — Gordon and Elanga). It’s a mess.
And then there’s Howe’s in-game management, which was perfectly summed up by what happened to Burn against Brentford.
It’s time for a manager who is better at adapting when some players are injured; a manager who experiments/rotates more; a manager who is better reacting to situations during the game and making substitutions (it always looks like Howe’s plans are pre-planned, like Southgate).
Howe out(Quote)
better at reacting**
it always looks like Howe’s subs are pre-planned**
Howe out(Quote)
.
Really I would never have guessed 😋😜
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
It’s officially a cult at this point. There’s no other way to describe it. The points on recruitment, boardroom issues & squad issues have got to be parody, considering Howe has played a major role in all of those. You can defend the manager, or anyone for that matter. But pretending things aren’t what they actually are is silly, and bordering on cult behavior!
Scott(Quote)
i don’t believe a lot of the people saying Howe should stay have their heads buried in the sand a lot on here myself included have critiqued Eddie for his faults.
How long my support lasts for him will depend on how he handles this situation, i don’t need to list what i think is wrong i’ve mentioned it enough on this site but i do believe he’ll sort this out.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Anyone perpetuating this nonsense is either from the village of the damned or Professional grievance mongers. The fact that we’re playing champions league football seems to have passed these idiots by.
Peaco(Quote)
For me it’s not Howe’s ability as a manager or coach think he can be one of the elite. It’s his flaw of being way to loyal, still carrying some players fron the Ashley era. I do get things have kicked us in the you know what’s since the summer, but he’s still favoured some of the same players. If he can lose that flaw and turn this around we really can starting classing Howe as one of the elite.
Darren Bebb(Quote)
He deserves every chance to turn it around. The man has been incredible for us,simple as that. Does he need to be less loyal, rotate more, react in game better? Yes, for me, as others have said. But also as others have said, we don’t have all the info on every issue either. He has been flexible before tbf, with the 5 at the back and Schar man marking rice in the semi etc
Another point to consider for the Howe out brigade – who do you replace him with? Realistically, not Pep or yesterday’s men like Jose either. There a shortage of top managers. Maybe Iroala or Glasner? I like both but have they done better than Eddie? Not sure. There’d be a lot of competition for them too
East Stand(Quote)
Let’s have a reality check.
Yes, we have spent a lot of money, but less than those around us. And we were coming from a far far lower base. We were going to get relegated and under Bruce we were playing the most abysmal/clueless football I have seen us ever play.
While the upgrades to our squad have moved us a long way forward, we still have to *over* perform to get into the champs league or to win a cup. How many of our players do we really think would get into the traditional big six team? I think maybe 6 of them.
So has Howe outrageously over performed to date. Yes.
Year 1: turned around a sinking ship
Year 2: champs league qualification
Year 3: bright start and then decimated due to lack of squad depth. Howe made mistakes but the cards were against him
Year 4: cup win and champs league
This season we are having to manage the increased fixture workload. While our squad depth has improved, it is still miles off our competitors. Our depth at full back is hurting us a lot. But what is killing us is our depth up front. A new manager does not solve that.
Do I think Howe is too conservative at times and his in game management is weak. Yep. But given our squad do I think someone else is going to come in and do better right now. No. And do I think someone else will be better in the long term. Flat no.
The debt we have carried and arguably built further during Howes reign is above him. No other manager at the spots we aspire to has to do as much as Howe with so little support. There are only so many hours in the day, only so much mental capacity that an individual possesses and we have been hanging Howe out to dry in that regard.
As frustrating and painful as it is, we have to accept the reality and focus on the longer term picture. Support Howe, demand more from the players and hold the new exec leadership team to account to pick up the buck and operate like an elite club. For starters, stop dragging your heals on a new stadium – let’s get the city really excited about the future for our club.
Howe the toon(Quote)
Fair question. Glasner; Iraola; Pochettino; Silva; Terzic. If experience and reputation is required, someone like Claudio Ranieri or Roberto Mancini maybe. Tough one. I think I might lean to Terzic.
Howe out(Quote)
“This season we are having to manage the increased fixture workload.” It’s not that bud. This all started at the end of last season. Dropped most of the team for the Carabao Cup a few weeks ago. Brought them back in for the West Ham. We all saw what happened. Howe even acknowledged this. He said he can’t blame it on fatigue because loads of them were dropped and rested. It’s an issue in the dressing room. They’ve lost belief and interest. Why? None of us know, but it probably has something to do with the fact that players like Osula only get 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. Howe picks his favourites… even after they got humiliated by a struggling West Ham team.
Howe out(Quote)
In the 10 games after the cup final, isak scored 2 goals from open play and got 1 assist. In the last 6 games he just got 2 goals via pens. If you were watching those games you will have noticed he had checked out. We were set up to work with Isak, and it doesn’t work if he’s not interested…or not there at all. It’s as simple as that.
Unfortunately the senior leadership team (or lack thereof) has resulted in us not really having a forward line this season. I have commented before that I think Howe should do better adapting to Woltemade but it’s easy for me to say and the number of days they have on the training pitch isn’t much. If he had the whole pre-season with him I trust it would be a different story.
Howe the toon(Quote)
I thought the same. I thought it was just down to Isak checking out. But, given how the sluggish performances have continued throughout this season so far, I don’t think so. I don’t think it was just Isak. There’s a bunch of players who look like they’ve checked out right now.
Osula has been available. Howe picked wingers ahead of him. He came on and equalised against Liverpool. He came on and basically won the game against Fulham. He wasn’t rewarded by Howe on both occassions. Who’s fault is that? Howe’s.
No amount of training is going to make Woltemade fast. Therefore he can’t lead a press from the front. Therefore he needs a fast player ahead of him to do that role. Howe’s whole thing is pressing from the front. But rather than play Osula, or a winger ahead of Woltemade, he’s just completely ditched the forward press — his whole identity. Why sign a player like Ramsey, instead of a technical midfielder, if you’re just going to ditch aggressively pressing? It’s all over the place.
Will things get better with Wissa? Yes, probably. But it’s not good enough. Time and time again, Howe can’t adapt when players pick up injuries. He didn’t change the team after West Ham. He started Burn at LB again for Brentford and then failed to take him off before the second yellow. The first thing Ramsdale gets to do in the Premier League for Newcastle? Facing a penalty. Come on. It’s all poor management.
This squad should be in, at minimum, the top 8. But it’s currently 2 points off the relegation zone. Lost 3-1 against West Ham and got completely outplayed. Drew 0-0 against Leeds and Leeds looked like the more dangerous team.
Howe out(Quote)
Howe out – some fair points there that I agree with and others that I don’t. But the only one that would stack up to considering letting Howe go at this stage would be a loss of the dressing room. That hasn’t happened.
The flatness in the team is largely due to the setup not being right. As you highlight, the press isn’t there and that causes an unbalance throughout the team when without the ball. When with the ball our current fullbacks either give the ball away or don’t create the overloads, plus Wolte doesn’t push the last man. That leads to a slow, blunt attack. I would accept that replacing Howe might move us quicker to a ‘different’ formation, but it’s highly unlikely to be better in the long run. We have proof that Howe can do that – but he does need to be bolder and accept a bit of a reset needs to happen with his tactics. Osula is not the answer (certainly not yet) and we can’t wait for Wissa.
Howe the toon(Quote)
What Eddie has achieved is amazing however he now has the most expensive and best ever squad squad since Bobby Robson .. the expectations are different and he created these with his management… however given what he has to work with it’s clearly not upto scratch .. this happens with villa after a good run in the champs league and Emery turned it around let’s hope Eddie can .. but if not it’s time to move on ,. the clubs future should not be in the bands of underperformance
Mike(Quote)
Mancini and Martinez are hardly on the same levels as mourinho and ancelloti
Mike(Quote)
Howe the toon – fair points made there as well. Good discussion. I’m going to reply under the new article about Howe on this site.
Mike – I didn’t mention Martinez. I would say Mancini is probably a safer bet than Mourinho nowadays. Mourinho is on a bad run. I’m not sure Ancelloti is a realistic option, but maybe. Like I said though, I’d opt for Terzic.
Howe out(Quote)
We should not even be thinking about Howe out! We should not be needing an article like this either and it’s a rather sad indictment of today’s society that we have both. The best manager we’ve had since Sir Bobby Robson, absolutely no doubt about it. Criticising him is fine when justified, I’ve done it myself when he didn’t sub Burn on a yellow. But to call for his sacking is the most ludicrously ridiculous suggestion I’ve heard. Some people have very, very short memories.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
With you 100% on your post read your post they are normally quite fair imo
Icedog(Quote)
Thanks Ice! 👍👊
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I’m with you too Gilly – it’s madness.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bobby Robson once said “nothing is won or lost in November” All this is due to the media and fans lacking in brain cells.
nutmag(Quote)
Gilly Toon, Icedog, Sharpy17 and nutmag. None of you have actually discussed the specific points. You’ve just replied with, ‘it’s madness’, ‘it’s the media’, and ‘it’s a rather sad indictment of today’s society’.
Howe has done a good job, but he’s also showed clear signs on multiple occassions that he may not be the man to take the club to the next stage. Both can be true at the same time.
Why is he perhaps not the man to take the club forward? Because he struggles to adapt when injuries hit and/or when the team is underperforming. He struggles to make changes to his starting line-up. He can struggles to make substitutions. He struggles to experiment. He struggles to improvise. He struggles to rotate. He struggles to utilise the squad.
Howe has spent around £600m on this squad. Yes, injuries will usually impact performances and results, but he’s still had the players/squad available to be doing better than this.
The reason he hasn’t been able to is because he struggles to adapt. He prefers to watch Burn at LB and Trippier at RB get terrorised than try a midfielder or winger at full back. “Opta’s Matt Furniss has told the official Premier League website that Trippier has the lowest success rate in the Premier League when it comes to stopping players dribbling against him”. So why not try something different then? 5-3-2? Howe prefers to watch Joelinton just foul all game than try Osula and Woltemade together. Osula would bring back the forward press. Osula would make runs in behind. Sitting deeper and countering with Elanga and Gordon is another option. It’s lazy to say, ‘it’s not Howe, it’s injuries’ at this point. £600m.
Normally, managers don’t have their strongest 11 all available at the same time. That’s just how it is. Bournemouth lost their GK and their whole back 4 in the summer. They are 9th. ‘Howe needs more time with the new players’. Sunderland signed about a million players in the summer and the manager already has them playing well together. They are 4th. Neither Bournemouth or Sunderland have spent around £600m on their squad.
Many fans are talking as if there is a risk to replacing Howe, but there’s not a risk in keeping him. There is a risk in keeping him. Missing out on qualifying for European football with a £600m squad is a risk. It would increase the chances of losing the best players in the squad and also not being able to sign quality targets. There’s also a risk of relegation. It’s not just the results in the league; it’s the performances. Newcastle probably are one of the worst 3 teams in the league at the moment.
The league stats don’t lie. 4 away wins in the whole of 2025. 2 of those teams are now in the Championship. 11 games played this season. 2 points off the relegation zone. Only beaten Wolves (20th), Forest (19th – Big Ange’s last game and the win was basically all down to Bruno’s individual brilliance), and Fulham (15th – Osula turned the game right at the end).
Yes, I do think Hall, Livramento and Wissa coming back will change things. I think things will get better. But Howe’s just failed another stress test. Let’s not pretend otherwise.
Howe out(Quote)
Howe out
You forgot to mention that Howe will not let his ageing favourites go – a failing of his that relegated Bournemouth.
In October last year it was announced on this blog that Burn had been given a new contract .
Mine was the only comment to say that he should be released because he was far too slow to play in the premier league .
Unfortunately his name will already be inked in to start the game against Everton .
I think it very likely that we start the new year in the bottom five or six and that the Saudi PIF will be watching with eyes wide open !
sidekick(Quote)
Howe Out – all of that and yet you are still only ‘perhaps’ he’s not right to take us forward – you aren’t even fully committed to your argument 🤷🏼♂️.
Oh course everything you say is fair and valid – and Howe himself isn’t trying to defend it. He’s openly acknowledged it’s not good enough and improvements are needed.
I can’t speak for the others you’ve addressed the post to – but I don’t read anywhere anyone defending those performances against Brighton, Brentford and WH.
You make all of these suggestions like it’s football manager or something. Howe, his coaches and analysts work with these players every day – they know if a player is ready and what they are capable of. You mention £600m a lot – that’s over 4 years in charge and most spend when he first came in & this summer – it’s also not a lot over 7 or 8 windows either really.
But this is a manager who held back the likes of Gordon, Isak and Bruno when they first came in – Hall as well. Look at the impact they went on to have. He also took very average players & improved them dramatically.
You say he hasn’t tried things – I disagree. He’s started Gordon CF but he got suspended putting pay to that experiment. Both Gordon and Barnes have had time LWF. Elanga & Murphy have both had time RWF.
Midfield has stayed pretty much the same – but many largely because Willock & Ramsey have both had injuries already this season & Miley still isn’t fully ready yet – or plays a more defensive role when it’s offensive we need.
As for defence – we started with Schar & Burn at CB and now we have Thiaw & Botman. The injuries to Tino & Hall haven’t helped at all and restricted what he’s been able to do. That said – we have (or had) one of the best defensive records in the league.
I’m not sure which midfielders you are proposing to play at RB mind?. But as for wingers being used as wing backs – who? Elanga and Barnes aren’t defensive and it’s not the best use of Gordon or Murphy imo. With the injuries and lack of FBs in the squad, it’s definitely been a case of make do.
The league is not pretty reading but at this stage of the season it means little. Liverpool had the league won a month ago, then Arsenal were nailed on, then City beat Liverpool and all of a sudden they are back in.
We may be only 2 points off relegation in November, but we are also in the QF or the CC and are sitting in the top 10 in the CL.
In the 4 years Howe has been in charge we have made CL twice and won a trophy – with a team that was on the road to relegation.
I’m not ready to turn on the bloke that has done so much for our club – where would be the respect & loyalty in that?!.
Yes loyalty. Something Howe has given our club in abundance.
He was certainly in the running for the England job when Southgate left and only needed to give them a sniff he was interested and he’d have got that job.
He’s also spent the last 2 summers having to deal with far more than most managers thanks to the club getting the appointments of SD wrong. Time he should have been spending with his family, holidaying with his young boys – but no, he’s working on transfers & dealing with Isak sagas.
By not having a SD in place to do the deals needed & getting them into the club early, Howe has had no pre season with most of the new players – that absolutely has an impact – especially the forwards.
CL schedules have meant even less time working on the training ground.
So messing round with formations or playing players out of position is not the answer imo.
Patience and loyalty to a man who has more than proven himself in the last 4 years … perhaps.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sidekick – and you were wrong.
Since that time Burn has gone on to be instrumental in us qualifying for CL and winning our first cup in 70 years.
Add to that the fact that Tuchel has called him up for England and he stands a very good chance of making a WC squad – or do you know better than both Howe & Tuchel?!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Can only agree wholeheartedly with Sharpy.
We all probably like to think of ourselves as a “manager” but in reality we are not. Opinions are just that. Unless you work directly with Eddie or for the club, then, “Howe out”, all you are saying is just your opinion. You’re entitled to it, but I do not agree with it.
I remember times when we had much, much worse “managers” in charge of our team.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Got to agree with Sharpy here. Every manager makes mistakes but for me ditching Howe would be a massive mistake .
kimtoon(Quote)
No disrespect Sharpy but how many times have you watched BDB join the attack followed by a counter attack with him walking -yes WALKING – back to his own half?. Gordon is usually busting a gut to get back to try and cover for him.
And how many times have you seen opponents run past him only to be hauled back ?
You say that I am wrong to say BDB is too slow for the premier league – no I am not !!!
sidekick(Quote)
Sidekick – and how many times have you seen Howe b0ll0ck him for getting forward? or Gordon having a go coz he’s had to fill in?.
It’s clearly a tactic Howe has instructed them to do.
But to be fair, Burn himself has said he favours playing CB because of the physical demands as a FB. He’s spoken about having bulked up as a CB for the more physical battles of that position – which probably doesn’t help as a FB either.
He was called up to England as a CB so I suspect he’d far rather be playing there if he could – and is now watching Botman & Thiaw making those spots theirs.
If Hall or Tino were fully fit, I suspect they would be in – though Howe has also said he’s prepared to accept Burns weakness at LB to have the threat of his height at set pieces.
But your point isn’t specifically at LB. You seem to be saying he’s no good at PL level at all – and on that I couldn’t disagree more.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy17:
“£600m is not a lot over 7 or 8 windows”.
It’s enough to have a responsibility to be a lot higher up in the league and, more importantly, to be putting in performances that are a lot better than the anti-football we’ve been seeing for a long time now.
“He’s tried Gordon at CF”; “he’s tried Schar, Burn, Thiaw and Botman at CB”.
Basically always 4-3-3 (the same shape) with the same midfield. That’s my point. Osula scored against Liverpool and won the game against Fulham. Howe could have tried Osula and Woltemade together (5-3-2/3-5-2).
Burn has been great at CB (so I don’t think giving him a new contract was a bad decision personally, but I do think trying to get Wilson to sign a new one was — fortunately, Wilson said no). But Burn’s not a LB, so Howe, particularly after spending £600m on this squad, has a responsibility to try something else. He hasn’t. We all can see Burn getting terrorised at LB basically every game. It was proven two seasons ago that Burn isn’t a LB. You say let’s be loyal because you feel Howe has proven himself. I personally think this is why Howe has proven himself to not be the man to take the club forward. When injuries hit, he doesn’t know what to do. He makes the same mistakes over and over rather than trying something different. When he has a fully fit (£600m) squad (which is usually not the case in football), it’s hidden.
“But as for wingers being used as wing backs – who? Elanga and Barnes aren’t defensive and it’s not the best use of Gordon or Murphy imo”.
What exactly is the risk here? Newcastle, with 4-3-3, got outplayed by West Ham, even after going 1-0 in front within the first 5 minutes. It can’t really get worse than that in the league. Trippier has the lowest success rate in the Premier League when it comes to stopping players dribbling against him. Gordon, in the current shape, hasn’t got a goal or an assist in something like 19 league games. So what’s the risk? Missing out on what exactly?
“We had one of the best defensive records in the league”; “we are also in the QF of the CC and sitting in the top 10 of the CL”.
Union? Not good. Benfica? Not good and failed to take plenty of chances. Bilbao with all of their best players missing due to illness? Not good. Tottenham? They were terrible on the night. One good performance this season and that was against Liverpool due to the players and fans being pumped up (Isak context). Team performances eventually become results. That’s already happened in the league. Bad performances during 0-0 draws have become losses. Not surprising.
“Yes loyalty. Something Howe has given our club in abundance. He was certainly in the running for the England job when Southgate left and only needed to give them a sniff he was interested and he’d have got that job”.
At least part of the reason Howe didn’t take the England job is because he wants a full time job, rather than a part time job at the moment. He’s said so himself.
“He’s also spent the last 2 summers having to deal with far more than most managers thanks to the club getting the appointments of SD wrong. Time he should have been spending with his family, holidaying with his young boys – but no, he’s working on transfers & dealing with Isak sagas.”
It seems at least part of the reason for why Ashworth and Mitchell left is because Howe wants control over transfers.
“CL schedules have meant even less time working on the training ground. So messing round with formations or playing players out of position is not the answer imo.”
See the paragraph starting above with the words: “What exactly is the risk here?”
Howe out(Quote)
Howe Out – which the name alone suggests you’ve made your mind up already so hardly worth discussing it.
But, I go back to my original point. You talk like this is football manager, just messing round with a formation any time a player or 2 is injured. Switching to a back 5 affects the dynamic of the whole team. I don’t understand why you think all the other players just immediately play better as a result.
With regards to Burn at LB – you are still yet to offer an alternative 🤷🏼♂️. It’s hardly helpful to point out a £600m spend – what’s the options he has?. Do you think they were wrong for letting Target go? I don’t. Do you think he should be playing Alex Murphy? I don’t.
As for Trippier – who you rather he played Krafth? I wouldn’t.
As for 4-3-3 – good luck arguing that Joelinton, Bruno and Tonali haven’t been one of, if not the best midfield unit in the league. He’d be mad to turn his back on that to try your 5 at the back.
I think the travelling Bruno & Joelinton have had to do with Brazil already this season hasn’t helped.
Gordon at CF and his suspension hasn’t helped – and I’m annoyed that Howe has turned his back a bit on Murphy to try and get Elanga in straight away. I mean I get it in the sense he’s paid £55m for him – but Murphy was excellent last season and is still probably our biggest assist machine.
Do you ever watch Adam Clery on YouTube? – his channel is ACFC. He has done a brilliant video on what’s gone wrong – I recommend a look if not. It’s around 15-20mins tops.
But in a nutshell he highlights the fact that our high press is not as affective this season in comparison to last. We are still one of the top teams to press – but for some reason this season we are one of the worst teams in winning the ball in the press.
So, if you want rid of Howe, who would be the manager you want to take us forward then?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy17:
5-3-2/3-5-2, as in, Murphy RWB and Gordon LWB; Osula and Woltemade up top. I’ll repeat: What exactly is the risk in trying that, considering that the same old same old hasn’t worked for a long time? “Switching to a back 5 affects the dynamic of the whole team”. Well yeah, that would be the whole point. To be fair, when Livramento and Hall are ready, I’d also go for 5-3-2/3-5-2. I think it makes sense — an abundance of top quality CBs.
“As for 4-3-3 – good luck arguing that Joelinton, Bruno and Tonali haven’t been one of, if not the best midfield unit in the league”. Joelinton has been playing badly for a while now. I’ve been waiting for him to be dropped for around 2 months.
“But for some reason this season we are one of the worst teams in winning the ball in the press.”
It’s because Woltemade is too slow to lead a forward press. Howe’s seemingly accepted that and given up on the forward press until Wissa is available. In addition to this problem, Woltemade is also too slow to make runs in behind. Meanwhile, Bruno’s main skill is playing balls in behind. Hence why I’m saying Howe should have been picking Osula, at least until Wissa is ready. But Howe basically only ever gives him 5 minutes to Osula, which is why he’s probably off in January. He’s probably sick of it, particularly after what he did against Liverpool and Fulham. As I said in a different comment somewhere, why buy a midfielder like Ramsey, instead of a technical midfielder, if Howe’s just gonna abandon pressing so easily? Silly.
I’d go for Edin Terzic or Andoni Iraola. The way Iraola has got Bournemouth to play this season after losing his main GK and back 4 in one summer is very impressive. Plus I’d love Newcastle to sign Semenyo. Expensive, but he can play in multiple positions.
Howe out(Quote)
Howe Out – you have your ideas & opinions mate and respect to them, I just don’t agree.
I have faith Howe will figure this out.
The full back situation is bad though. I don’t understand spending £45m on Ramsey when we didn’t need that midfielder as much as full back cover.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yep, thanks for the discussion mate. All the best.
Howe Out(Quote)
Lots of excuses and bias in this article .. the fact is lot of the problems were due to Eddie wanting control over the club and not prepared to work cooperatively with others … Howe has the best squad since the entertainers and the most expensive in the clubs history and though he has done well enough if the situation does not improve … my support is not fan boying Eddie but the club and its future … Eddie is an employee and if he is not doing a good job he should be replaced
Mike(Quote)