A harder season to come?

Eddie Howe is already at work looking to improve the side.

You have to admire Eddie Howe's hard work. He has already started thinking about the team for next season. The summer will come and go quick enough and when it does the Cherries will need to pick up again from scratch against some very powerful teams. We have seen how hard teams like Charlton, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday have found it in the Championship to keep taking it to the teams that have come down from the Premiership. While finance is one thing that can help you compete we have seen that a club like Burnley can win promotion when everything comes together and AFCB will be setting out to achieve even more next season with the players they have.

Eddie Howe and the players will have learnt things even in that final match against Millwall that will give him lots to think about. Tokelo Rantie comes to mind as a player who obviously has some outrageous talent, but as an individual can he be honed into a team player that makes good decisions on the ball and has the confidence to stick more of his chances away? Are AFCB still reliant on the running power of Lewis Grabban up front and is he too valuable to sell at any price? Why does the team concede as many goals as it has from set-plays and headed goals?

What can Tokelo add to his game over the summer?

Eddie Howe will be making notes on such things and how to play better against the opposition next season. He seems hungry already to get started on the next campaign and I think it is one that he has really been looking forward to more than anything else. He had already had experience of the Championship with Burnley and the Bournemouth players know what life in the Championship is all about as well now. They'll want to kick on and prove themselves as players, while Eddie will want to show that he is a top quality Championship manager that is not only successful but that can perhaps win a title.

His preparations have to be the very best and he knows it. It is no good just surviving next season after the terrific football we have seen this time around. He will expect more and so will Maxim Demin. The Little Bournemouth tag is well and truly buried. It's time to step up and be serious about what can be achieved at this club with such big ambitions. We are with you Eddie all the way. It's time to re-energise and get some rest before making an even bigger assault on the top places in the Championship.