It’s a really competitive league this year. I think given our current form 12 would be a positive outcome. To get back into Europe we will have to win a cup. I don’t think Howe should be sacked but he needs to find an answer soon.

I think EH is a superb coach at domestic level. Where he struggles is with world class players, internationals etc. Like the whole Isak situation, he dealt with it well in the media but it clearly rocked him & in turn that impacted the squad / recruitment etc.

IMO performance levels have dropped off a cliff since they beat Chelsea 2-0 back in May. There’s a definite line in the sand and after that game it’s as if the players collectively decided that they couldn’t be arsed.

Nah, this is different. The confidence has gone. We’ve been awful in the PL since the Chelsea game at the back end of last season.

I seem to remember it went south at Bournemouth very quickly.

Being quicker than others is meaningless, Elanga is proof of that. Barnes creates more and scores more. Those are the only metrics that matter. End of.

It’s a much more competitive league this year. No Isak and we had no CL to worry about. Last years success was built on 6 wins in a row in December / Jan. A loss to both Brentford and City….. we will be bang in trouble

Which would still be a catastrophic backward step both in terms of revenue and attracting talent.

Howe has a huge amount of credit in the bank and rightly so….but the downside to that is most fans aren’t concerned by our form. Add to that our form in the CL. It gives ppl a false sense of security.

With West Ham now winning I can actually see us being in the bottom 3 after the Man City game. Pressure is building.

I can’t see anything other than a Brentford win tomorrow.

This shows you the scale of the issue. Last season was built on a purple patch of 6 wins on the bounce in the PL, starting with a 4-0 win over Leicester in Dec. We will need to better that run this season or mid table is as good as it gets I’m afraid.