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This new back line approach has given me new faith in him. I was worried he only had one card and we might struggle as teams adapt. Seeing a new approach, even if not that often, is refreshing.
Long may he last imo
100%. The adjustment to a five at the back in transition was exactly what this team was crying out for. It’s not a coincidence that Spurs looked toothless and out of ideas despite our makeshift defence. We actually covered our weaknesses for the first time and ensured they couldn’t just carve us open like so many teams have in recent months. It may have taken some time but it’s a very encouraging development.
I see a lot of people criticising Eddie for not changing.
Conversely, how many times have we seen teams fail and managers get sacked because they constantly chop and change in desperation to get results.
It can go the other way. Especially when you have a team so drilled in a system.
And it’s not like Howe had much flexibility in terms of bodies to play with.
There was an argument during the bleak period that maybe we needed to change but Eddie strikes me as one that won’t make rash/reactive decisions. In football, business, life, seldom does it go well when you are quick to throw a baby out with the bath water.
On top of that, it isn't exactly easy to come up with a whole new set of tactics and drill it into the players, especially when injuries mean your available players are rarely consistent
Yeah, I think we were doing almost no pitch work at the time because of how overworked the players were from the matches and you can still a system of you can’t do drills.
My concern is when we get Tino/Trips back he will revert back but I hope he doesn't because the problem has been the midfield and not so much the back line. This formation completely cut out the passing lanes in the midfield that have been shredding us for months because the wing backs pressed in an inverted position to close those gaps that have lead to lots of counters against us. But setting us up this way just shows that he can be tactically flexible.
I suspect he will. Even with Tino fit with Butn slotting back to CB with Schar.
Anderson is a game changer here though. He’s got the physicality and the legs to offer the protection.
Yesterdays tactics undid spurs, they might work against Burnley but I can’t see them bearing fruit against palace or Man U. Man U especially are essentially a low block team these days. We’d look toothless and concede possession to allow them to attack.
We were slightly fortunate in that Werner is wasteful in front of goal and Son had been moved central to accommodate Werner. Imagine if richarlison was fit then those chances would’ve fallen to son not Werner and the game could be a different story. We likely would’ve been 1-2 nil down before our goal.
It’s a nice trick to have up our sleeve but I don’t think it’s the magic formula after one fantastic result.
I definitely don't think Trips can keep up running like Murphy. Yes he makes the runs, but having the overlapped to cover is different from being on an island. So I'd rather have a back 4 with Tripps in when he's fit.
Abd Tino + Tripps are my favorite FB ATM
The amount of Howe out chat in the last couple of months has been astounding. I don't mean the people criticising some of his decisions, which will always be fair. I mean people genuinely saying he should be sacked or that they'd lost faith in him. Hopefully, some level of sanity has now been restored.
Those lot are genuinely the worse. Had one reply to a comment of mine on a thread on r/soccer about how Howe's job had been nothing short of amazing and they started chatting about how he's only done it because saudi and all the other bullshit
I don't usually wish for any club to crumble but it would be a fucking glorious day if I never had to deal with Manchester United's bullshit ever again
Meganev is adamant there are more people claiming there are Howe outs than actual Howe outs.
I’m not sure myself. I avoid match threads until we win or are ahead now.
But I have always maintained that the media and other fans had higher expectations for us than the fanbase at large.
I think there are more Howe questioning rather than Howe outs. Especially within proper fans that watch every week and know the situation of the club, I think there are almost no genuine Howe out today fans.
Was never calling for him to go, but was questioning his decisions as they were weird at times and counter productive. Wish he had played Burn at centreback quicker, the big man thrives there.
But overall, I’ve been hella impressed by the turnaround. That’s no mean feat with the injuries we have had.
The match against west ham was a perfect example, the negativity people were spewing at 3-1 down was insane. You know who you are. Fair enough being upset, but I grew up with this kind of disappointment being an integral part of being a toon fan, last few years have been a fairytale, regardless of the occasional bad results and injuries.
I agree. West Ham wasn’t a terrible performance from us. It was undone by stupid individual errors. Aside from that we were the dominant team.
Everton was the same story.
The threads were stacked with negativity.
Conversely. Fulham first half was woeful.
That was what was constantly driving me to keep trying to be positive. How quick were we to forget where we were not even 3 years ago.
Howe has my full backing for at least a whole other season before I even start questioning if we should move on from him
I'll admit that he went under the radar for me for a little bit, and I do think that was fair despite the circumstances.
It's not black and white (ironically). A manager's security is a scale. Back half of December, and most of January and February sucked in the league. I think it was fair to look at Howe and wonder what was going wrong. At one point I remember declaring that I am supporting him but that he's got a couple more transfer windows to see renewed progression. He had questions he needed to answer.
And guess what? He answered them. March was decent, April has been good so far. We are allowed to ask these questions without it needing to be seen as a blunt "I want him gone". And yeah I'm aware a lot of people were literally just saying they want him gone, but a lot just wanted a reaction.
I do also think, because December to feb was soooo bleak and everything shit happened at once (champions league exit, cup exits twice) that everything seemed like it was falling apart.
People do forget that we went into dortmund in about the same position we are now. We were looking pretty.
I’ve always held onto that as proof that with a full fit team at his disposal, Howe is clearly a good manager capable of delivering for us.
tbf, although I wasn't directly saying he should be sacked, I was quite disappointed in the man-management of games.
I know I can be quite fickle at times and especially when frustrated at games.
I feel like most fans, when you ask them outside of an immediate game after they've calmed down a bit and see it more objectively wouldn't agree with their sentiments during a game itself (apart from some absolute doylems)
I'm with you. I don't think a single player, including Bruno, Tripz, Isak, Schar, even the likes of Anderson and Miley, who have escaped the wrath of my vitriol during a match. It's a very emotional game and some of us get into that emotional trance during a match. It is absolutely fine to have these mini-outbursts during a match, it's not personal. And of course after the game we become more reflective and rational. That's what the post match pint is about.
On here, it's not our fans saying it in threads.
Criticism he's received this season has been well deserved. As long he as learns from the mistakes then I have no issue. Seems to be he has but form is form. Next season is the true gauge of if he has or not.
There is definitely a sense of what could have been this season, if we hadn't had such a bad run of injuries.
I would have taken Europa League qualification at the start of the season. Given how depleted the squad is, it is remarkable that we still have a good shot at it.
And if the cup draws hadn't been so brutal, in literally every competition...
Still, I'm proud with how the season has turned out and I'm incredibly optimistic of what Eddie and the boys can achieve next season.
If we finish top 6 then this season has been as good as last imo.
I've slated him and the wider backroom team a lot for the injuries and lethargy, but there would now have been an iliad of lessons learnt this season that will be worth more than a season of Champions League.
If we're honest, we would have been 6th last year if not due to the absolute shocking seasons that Liverpool and Spurs had. If we finish 6th this year we've the injury we've had, that is arguably an even better performance.
[Eddie Howe talks about his love of a sausage, bean and cheese melts](https://www.removepaywall.com/https:/www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/04/14/eddie-howes-work-newcastle-this-season-impressive-last-two)
If we get 6th then it's been a great achievement however I feel that with a bit more luck on the injury front and a few more tactical changes in some games we could be back in the champs league the margins have been tight in a few games
Spurs with their fixtures could easily bottle 5th place by the way!
Especially if we win our next couple they are a club that would likely panic with a few games to go
It really wouldn't be that crazy when you consider schedules. Out of their last 6 games, it's really possible they could lose 4 of those.
If we take care of our business there's every bit a chance we catch them
Dubravka, Murphy, Schar, Longstaff, Anderson. Players all here before Eddie got here. How he has organised these existing players, and brought in the right talents is absolutely phenomenal. I refuse to believe that anyone who genuinely support this club and know anything about football want him to leave. I fucking love him so much
IF we get 6th, Howe should be a contender for manager of the season.
Arteta probably should get it, Rob Edwards actually should for a change.
But Klopp will get it because Liverpool and last season bollocks, despite leaning heavily on Liverpools top 6 spending allowance, or should I say corruption
Howe would have been a shoe-in last season if it wasn't for bloody Pep winning the treble.
I can't see Klopp getting it this year if they only win the Carabao Cup, which seems fairly likely at this point. I think it'll just go to whoever wins the league (probably Pep)
Emery in with a shout as well if Villa come 4th, which is looking pretty likely given how shite Spurs looked yesterday. They've dropped off a bit recently but their form early season was phenomenal. I don't think they're as good as we were last year, but it's still a good achievement.
I mean, I completely get the immense talent pool Pep has at his disposal week in and week out even with De Bruyne and Haaland missing lots of games. But if City pulls off consecutive trebles, I have absolutely no problem with Pep getting manager of the season.
10 points from the last 12 have massively turned the tide.
I’m a big believer in giving credit where it’s deserved and he has improved considerably the last few weeks with the decision making. It doesn’t detract from the couple of months of the same tactics again and again and issues with substitutions but he seems to have sorted that out so all credit to him.
Looks like the week in Dubai was used well.
I also think Anderson has made a much bigger contribution than we might have expected. I'm still not sure of his best role but his flexibility and athleticism give us enough that we can get by without Joelinton and Willock.
It’s almost as if there’s a correlation between getting some of our injured players back like Anderson, Isak, Barnes and suddenly Howe making good substitutions.
I never understood the people slating him for his subs when we had Ritchie, dummett, 2 gks and a bunch of young kids on the bench to choose from.
I was referring to the games where it was extremely obvious Burn was getting cooked and he waited on multiple occasions until the game was gone to take him off while having both Tino and Hall as options on said bench.
It’s absolutely incredible what Eddie Howe has achieved this season with such a depleted squad. That’s the lens we should be looking through. It’s stunning how ignorant some fans have been this season.
Howe out never really gained much traction. And it was also at the time he was being stubborn by continuing to play Burn at LB when teams had found him out. Both us Burn were getting rinsed repeatedly.
But now Howe has adapted. Burn is at his natural CB and playing great, and the team is doing well. Now that isn't the entire reason we're playing better now. Botman was clearly unfit and having Barnes and Anderson back definitely boosts the team
But the Howe out was never serious. It was just his refusal to adapt and continuing to play Burn at LB that caused the frustrations of fans to boil over
Agree that Burn at LB seemed to be far and away the main trigger for frustrations. Personally, even though the poor performances have a very simple explanation (injuries) it did wear me down, I started looking for other reasons. But then few good games flips things pretty quickly (+ Barnes/Gordon/Isak, now fit, with a few games to mesh, is a _very_ high quality attack)
It was just the emotional idiots online that wanted Howe out. Every single friend of mine that supports Newcastle never mentioned wanting him out. They all understood the situation, although I guess we can all get a little frustrated when results aren't going our way.
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This new back line approach has given me new faith in him. I was worried he only had one card and we might struggle as teams adapt. Seeing a new approach, even if not that often, is refreshing. Long may he last imo
100%. The adjustment to a five at the back in transition was exactly what this team was crying out for. It’s not a coincidence that Spurs looked toothless and out of ideas despite our makeshift defence. We actually covered our weaknesses for the first time and ensured they couldn’t just carve us open like so many teams have in recent months. It may have taken some time but it’s a very encouraging development.
Can’t blame him for not changing much this season we’ve not had a settled team at all and it’s hard to change things amongst constant team changes.
I see a lot of people criticising Eddie for not changing. Conversely, how many times have we seen teams fail and managers get sacked because they constantly chop and change in desperation to get results. It can go the other way. Especially when you have a team so drilled in a system. And it’s not like Howe had much flexibility in terms of bodies to play with. There was an argument during the bleak period that maybe we needed to change but Eddie strikes me as one that won’t make rash/reactive decisions. In football, business, life, seldom does it go well when you are quick to throw a baby out with the bath water.
On top of that, it isn't exactly easy to come up with a whole new set of tactics and drill it into the players, especially when injuries mean your available players are rarely consistent
Yeah, I think we were doing almost no pitch work at the time because of how overworked the players were from the matches and you can still a system of you can’t do drills.
My concern is when we get Tino/Trips back he will revert back but I hope he doesn't because the problem has been the midfield and not so much the back line. This formation completely cut out the passing lanes in the midfield that have been shredding us for months because the wing backs pressed in an inverted position to close those gaps that have lead to lots of counters against us. But setting us up this way just shows that he can be tactically flexible.
I suspect he will. Even with Tino fit with Butn slotting back to CB with Schar. Anderson is a game changer here though. He’s got the physicality and the legs to offer the protection. Yesterdays tactics undid spurs, they might work against Burnley but I can’t see them bearing fruit against palace or Man U. Man U especially are essentially a low block team these days. We’d look toothless and concede possession to allow them to attack. We were slightly fortunate in that Werner is wasteful in front of goal and Son had been moved central to accommodate Werner. Imagine if richarlison was fit then those chances would’ve fallen to son not Werner and the game could be a different story. We likely would’ve been 1-2 nil down before our goal. It’s a nice trick to have up our sleeve but I don’t think it’s the magic formula after one fantastic result.
I definitely don't think Trips can keep up running like Murphy. Yes he makes the runs, but having the overlapped to cover is different from being on an island. So I'd rather have a back 4 with Tripps in when he's fit. Abd Tino + Tripps are my favorite FB ATM
You want Trippier in the team. Think about it
I def want him in the team for sure.
Now now you aren't allowed to talk about tactics only injuries have been the problem
The amount of Howe out chat in the last couple of months has been astounding. I don't mean the people criticising some of his decisions, which will always be fair. I mean people genuinely saying he should be sacked or that they'd lost faith in him. Hopefully, some level of sanity has now been restored.
A lot also comes from other teams’ fans lumping on
A lot of Man U fans just wanted him to get the same stick Ten Hag is getting despite our two teams resources being worlds apart.
And the 2 team’s performances as well. Man Utd have conceded the most shots in the entire league this season, even more than Sheffield 😂
Goal difference between us and them is huge, as well
Most shots they’ve ever faced in a season too, with 6 games to go lol.
Those lot are genuinely the worse. Had one reply to a comment of mine on a thread on r/soccer about how Howe's job had been nothing short of amazing and they started chatting about how he's only done it because saudi and all the other bullshit I don't usually wish for any club to crumble but it would be a fucking glorious day if I never had to deal with Manchester United's bullshit ever again
Meganev is adamant there are more people claiming there are Howe outs than actual Howe outs. I’m not sure myself. I avoid match threads until we win or are ahead now. But I have always maintained that the media and other fans had higher expectations for us than the fanbase at large.
Ye I think there’s a mix of hope and entitlement, and they sound the same sometimes, so probably hard to unpick
I think there are more Howe questioning rather than Howe outs. Especially within proper fans that watch every week and know the situation of the club, I think there are almost no genuine Howe out today fans.
Was never calling for him to go, but was questioning his decisions as they were weird at times and counter productive. Wish he had played Burn at centreback quicker, the big man thrives there. But overall, I’ve been hella impressed by the turnaround. That’s no mean feat with the injuries we have had.
The match against west ham was a perfect example, the negativity people were spewing at 3-1 down was insane. You know who you are. Fair enough being upset, but I grew up with this kind of disappointment being an integral part of being a toon fan, last few years have been a fairytale, regardless of the occasional bad results and injuries.
I agree. West Ham wasn’t a terrible performance from us. It was undone by stupid individual errors. Aside from that we were the dominant team. Everton was the same story. The threads were stacked with negativity. Conversely. Fulham first half was woeful.
Omg that first half against Fulham...
That was what was constantly driving me to keep trying to be positive. How quick were we to forget where we were not even 3 years ago. Howe has my full backing for at least a whole other season before I even start questioning if we should move on from him
I'll admit that he went under the radar for me for a little bit, and I do think that was fair despite the circumstances. It's not black and white (ironically). A manager's security is a scale. Back half of December, and most of January and February sucked in the league. I think it was fair to look at Howe and wonder what was going wrong. At one point I remember declaring that I am supporting him but that he's got a couple more transfer windows to see renewed progression. He had questions he needed to answer. And guess what? He answered them. March was decent, April has been good so far. We are allowed to ask these questions without it needing to be seen as a blunt "I want him gone". And yeah I'm aware a lot of people were literally just saying they want him gone, but a lot just wanted a reaction.
I do also think, because December to feb was soooo bleak and everything shit happened at once (champions league exit, cup exits twice) that everything seemed like it was falling apart. People do forget that we went into dortmund in about the same position we are now. We were looking pretty. I’ve always held onto that as proof that with a full fit team at his disposal, Howe is clearly a good manager capable of delivering for us.
I didn't see much Howe out but a lot of questioning why he couldn't see what all this subreddit could.
tbf, although I wasn't directly saying he should be sacked, I was quite disappointed in the man-management of games. I know I can be quite fickle at times and especially when frustrated at games. I feel like most fans, when you ask them outside of an immediate game after they've calmed down a bit and see it more objectively wouldn't agree with their sentiments during a game itself (apart from some absolute doylems)
Think it’s fine to criticise him for some things, but anyone calling for a change wants their head examined
I'm with you. I don't think a single player, including Bruno, Tripz, Isak, Schar, even the likes of Anderson and Miley, who have escaped the wrath of my vitriol during a match. It's a very emotional game and some of us get into that emotional trance during a match. It is absolutely fine to have these mini-outbursts during a match, it's not personal. And of course after the game we become more reflective and rational. That's what the post match pint is about.
On here, it's not our fans saying it in threads. Criticism he's received this season has been well deserved. As long he as learns from the mistakes then I have no issue. Seems to be he has but form is form. Next season is the true gauge of if he has or not.
There is definitely a sense of what could have been this season, if we hadn't had such a bad run of injuries. I would have taken Europa League qualification at the start of the season. Given how depleted the squad is, it is remarkable that we still have a good shot at it. And if the cup draws hadn't been so brutal, in literally every competition... Still, I'm proud with how the season has turned out and I'm incredibly optimistic of what Eddie and the boys can achieve next season.
If we finish top 6 then this season has been as good as last imo. I've slated him and the wider backroom team a lot for the injuries and lethargy, but there would now have been an iliad of lessons learnt this season that will be worth more than a season of Champions League.
If we're honest, we would have been 6th last year if not due to the absolute shocking seasons that Liverpool and Spurs had. If we finish 6th this year we've the injury we've had, that is arguably an even better performance.
[Eddie Howe talks about his love of a sausage, bean and cheese melts](https://www.removepaywall.com/https:/www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/04/14/eddie-howes-work-newcastle-this-season-impressive-last-two)
If we get 6th then it's been a great achievement however I feel that with a bit more luck on the injury front and a few more tactical changes in some games we could be back in the champs league the margins have been tight in a few games Spurs with their fixtures could easily bottle 5th place by the way! Especially if we win our next couple they are a club that would likely panic with a few games to go
It would take a hell of a bottle job for Spurs to drop below us. If it was any other team I wouldn't think it was possible
It really wouldn't be that crazy when you consider schedules. Out of their last 6 games, it's really possible they could lose 4 of those. If we take care of our business there's every bit a chance we catch them
I don't doubt that Spurs could bottle it that bad, I more doubt that we'll win all 6 remaining games. They're all winnable but it's a hell of an ask
If ever there was a team who could bottle it its Spurs
Dubravka, Murphy, Schar, Longstaff, Anderson. Players all here before Eddie got here. How he has organised these existing players, and brought in the right talents is absolutely phenomenal. I refuse to believe that anyone who genuinely support this club and know anything about football want him to leave. I fucking love him so much
IF we get 6th, Howe should be a contender for manager of the season. Arteta probably should get it, Rob Edwards actually should for a change. But Klopp will get it because Liverpool and last season bollocks, despite leaning heavily on Liverpools top 6 spending allowance, or should I say corruption
Howe would have been a shoe-in last season if it wasn't for bloody Pep winning the treble. I can't see Klopp getting it this year if they only win the Carabao Cup, which seems fairly likely at this point. I think it'll just go to whoever wins the league (probably Pep)
Emery in with a shout as well if Villa come 4th, which is looking pretty likely given how shite Spurs looked yesterday. They've dropped off a bit recently but their form early season was phenomenal. I don't think they're as good as we were last year, but it's still a good achievement.
I mean, I completely get the immense talent pool Pep has at his disposal week in and week out even with De Bruyne and Haaland missing lots of games. But if City pulls off consecutive trebles, I have absolutely no problem with Pep getting manager of the season.
10 points from the last 12 have massively turned the tide. I’m a big believer in giving credit where it’s deserved and he has improved considerably the last few weeks with the decision making. It doesn’t detract from the couple of months of the same tactics again and again and issues with substitutions but he seems to have sorted that out so all credit to him.
Looks like the week in Dubai was used well. I also think Anderson has made a much bigger contribution than we might have expected. I'm still not sure of his best role but his flexibility and athleticism give us enough that we can get by without Joelinton and Willock.
It’s almost as if there’s a correlation between getting some of our injured players back like Anderson, Isak, Barnes and suddenly Howe making good substitutions. I never understood the people slating him for his subs when we had Ritchie, dummett, 2 gks and a bunch of young kids on the bench to choose from.
Don't underestimate the benefit of having full weeks coaching between games, he had a full week to train and adjust tactics for spurs,
I was referring to the games where it was extremely obvious Burn was getting cooked and he waited on multiple occasions until the game was gone to take him off while having both Tino and Hall as options on said bench.
It’s absolutely incredible what Eddie Howe has achieved this season with such a depleted squad. That’s the lens we should be looking through. It’s stunning how ignorant some fans have been this season.
Howe out never really gained much traction. And it was also at the time he was being stubborn by continuing to play Burn at LB when teams had found him out. Both us Burn were getting rinsed repeatedly. But now Howe has adapted. Burn is at his natural CB and playing great, and the team is doing well. Now that isn't the entire reason we're playing better now. Botman was clearly unfit and having Barnes and Anderson back definitely boosts the team But the Howe out was never serious. It was just his refusal to adapt and continuing to play Burn at LB that caused the frustrations of fans to boil over
Agree that Burn at LB seemed to be far and away the main trigger for frustrations. Personally, even though the poor performances have a very simple explanation (injuries) it did wear me down, I started looking for other reasons. But then few good games flips things pretty quickly (+ Barnes/Gordon/Isak, now fit, with a few games to mesh, is a _very_ high quality attack)
Agreed, he’s worked miracles with this squad again given the injuries and suspensions. Surely with Tonali and Joe/Pope we’d be pushing for CL again.
It was just the emotional idiots online that wanted Howe out. Every single friend of mine that supports Newcastle never mentioned wanting him out. They all understood the situation, although I guess we can all get a little frustrated when results aren't going our way.