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Eddie Howe – An Alternative View

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Written by Brents Goulet

I actually can’t believe I’m even typing these words…..!

We’ve had a bad 2019, and are currently in a bad place. Of that, nobody could disagree

We’ve spent a lot of money, so can’t blame that

Not all of our signings have come off yet, that’s true

And at times we’ve made tactical mistakes too, nobody would disagree

But the reaction of some fans in recent weeks has left me feeling embarrassed to be a Bournemouth fan at times

I’ve read that if we were any other club, we’ve have sacked Eddie Howe a long time ago….in which case I’m just glad we’re not any other club

I’ve read that he has taken us as far as he can….on the basis we’ve gone from 91st in the EFL to our fifth season in the Premier League, that may be true, but I’m intrigued to know who can take us further so we are regularly winning trophies!?

Worst of all are the fans who feel the need to publicly declare he’s lost their support. A few months ago we were worried he’d be off to Spurs or Everton. Now some of us are calling time on him

I get criticism of the team and therefore of him. But anyone who feels we can do better hasn’t thought this through. We can’t. We won’t. He is the best we’ve had, and the best we’ll ever have

The togetherness and spirit which took us this far is starting to fall away, and if we drop out of the Premier League and lose the best manager we’ve ever had, we will have played a small part in that too

So as a fan base we have a choice. Are we going to back one of our own and stand with him through this difficult phase? The man who enabled us to dream. The man who gave us experiences we will take to the grave. The man we raised money to bring him back as a player. The man we begged to stay, and then prayed would return as manager. The man with a stronger connection to us, our club, our history and our future than any other manager will ever have. On whose watch we have played the finest football any of us have ever watched

Or will behave like every other fan or every other club?

Your say…

Neil Dawson wrote…

Good post Brent (although alternative views should be alternative:grinning:)

The other key point is if worst-case scenario we are going to be in the championship with squad reduction and starting again with young players this moves us back into Eddie’s forte. While I have wondered at times about his absolute elite level player and tactical management he can eat up lower leagues with young ‘inferior’ squads for fun.

I think in order to survive at the very top as a manager you probably need someone senior to take the decisions around transfers with you and new ideas coming through different coaches. You don’t necessarily need this in the championship either so relegation suits Eddies one-man dominance style of preference and protects the team he wants to show loyalty to.

That said… I still don’t think we will go down although for the first time ever I now think that’s my optimism for my football club as opposed to fact. If we lose the next three league games without a fight after a ten-day break we are probably gone I’d say but let’s play them first.

It’s If we stay up then we do need to look at Eddie and him at us I would suggest. He needs to adapt more if he is going to be a Premier League manager in my opinion. He doesn’t need to to be a success in the other three leagues.

If I could ask him a question the one thing I would love to know is where the fear came from. We were fearless ( the common characteristic of anyone who overperforms in any field). This year and last year (before the injuries so can’t heap everything on them) we became that safe fearful side we used to mock (often while beating them with style). Starting every game allowing the opponents to have the ball and looking not to concede, giving away every cup competition. Like West Brom or Stoke but crucially without those teams, defensive responsibility or long ball to catch teams out.

Whatever we do in the next ten days I just want the gung ho to return. 2 goals in 7 games? We used to score that in the opening ten minutes with teams wondering what on earth had hit them.

I just want Eddie not to be fearful and safe anymore…. someone needs to remind him how ridiculously risky he used to be and where it got him. – Join the conversation, click here.

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DJ

Up The Cherries!

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