Howe and Silva are the meh options, they'd do better than Allardyce no doubt but really.... the not so hot chick that you pick up at a bar after her genuinely hot chick of a friend had spurned your advances... is the analogy I'd use to describe the Howe situation ... not bad but not the one that you really wanted.. As to your question of "what kind of response is that?" maybe because English is not my first language it probably didn't come out the way it was meant... which is.. you're trying hard to make Howe look like a blue ribbon option whereas others don't see it that way and the stats you keep putting out don't seem to be too convincing either..