All the criticism of Eddie Howe has the feel of “What have you done for us lately?”…or even “What did the Romans ever do for us?”
Many of the critics clearly don’t even realise Eddie was a defender. That’s why we look so well coached defensively. That’s why things like Lewis Miley taking to a defensive role like a duck to water, is one of the many overlooked feel good stories of this otherwise admittedly disappointing season.
Eddie’s greatest talent may indeed be in making best use of what he has, reaping the benefits of the unseen (and unheralded) time on the training pitch, and the man management skills.
A priceless skill in the PSR/SCR era, surely.
Under a different manager or at a different club, talent like Miley is most likely seen as just an entry in a ledger, or worse, becomes a disaffected, demoralised, directionless player, with just enough talent to get by. Suitable only for the likes of Tottenham, Chelski or ManUre, if he even remains at the so-called elite level.
Win percentages and other metrics…
I read with interest an article (‘Eddie Howe is an elite manager and I can prove it’) by A D, it detailed the win percentage of managers who have left their clubs over the last decade and the Eddie Howe win %.
It’s not just win percentage either. An elite manager for me is someone who acts with total class, representing the club and city with absolute distinction. It’s also about style of play, how you intend to win.
There’s only three managers above Eddie on that list who have the same personal qualities and fast paced attacking intense and direct but entertaining instincts – Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Frank Lampard.
Klopp isn’t coming out of retirement for the likes of us, that’s just a basic fact.
Poch might come to us, but it’s fifty fifty whether he would be any better, results wise. And it’s worth noting he didn’t have to operate under the constraints of PSR (although some might say working for Levy/ENIC is the same!). I suspect he could struggle for the exact same reasons Eddie is. There’s a price to pay for this style.
Which leaves Frank Lampard. I’d be fine with us taking a punt on a young and ambitious future England manager, it’s worked for us once already with Eddie Howe. But something tells me Lampard isn’t the sort of manager the people wanting Eddie out want to see brought in.
As always, when you think about it in detail, the people wanting Eddie Howe out, come across as deluded at best.