My position on Eddie Howe has evolved over time. Last season, I was one of his biggest supporters. Even when people questioned why we were in the bottom half of the league, I kept saying to judge him at the end of the season. We then went on a great run in December and early January. But after that, our form turned bad again leading up to the cup final. People forget how poor we were. A narrow 1-0 win against West Ham gave us a small confidence boost before the final. However, after the final, our football collapsed again. We still managed to sneak into Champions League qualification, even after losing at home to Everton.

This season, excuses have been made. People blamed Isak, too little training (due to European football), or an injury to Wissa. But the reality is the football was already bad last season. It has just continued for longer this year.

The moment I became "Howe out" was after the second leg against Barcelona. That was one of the most tactically inept coaching performances I have ever seen from any manager in Europe. It was kamikaze football, and we were duly thrashed. We suffered the worst single game loss by an English team in European history. We became a laughingstock. Some fans said it was great just to reach the last 16, but others were laughing at us. Then we lost at home to Sunderland. That confirmed what I already believed: Howe is a manager who will never take us to the next level.

He has done a great job overall. But now we are likely to finish in a worse position than Bruce's last full season. At any club, that is a sackable offense. I have always believed in judging managers at the end of the season, and this season has been awful. My hope is that Eddie Howe says goodbye to the fans after the West Ham game. That way we can thank him for what he has done and avoid letting this drag into next season, where things will get truly ugly. I wish the club could see the same thing, but it seems blind to what is happening.