Does it matter who the Cherries play in pre-season friendlies?

There has been plenty of early talk flying around about just who the Cherries will be lining up against in the summer months before the start of their next Championship campaign. Speculation has at least been heightened after last year's game against Real Madrid and while it might be hard to generate the same kind of surprise excitement there is no doubt that the pulling power of Maxim Demin's Bournemouth side, or perhaps Maxim's purse strings is likely to make it another memorable pre-season.

Any one got any objections to Real Madrid turning up again?

Ozil and Renaldo at the Goldsands stadium last summer.

Already I hear confirmation of Glasgow Rangers - 30 July, and also on the cards is talk of Everton, Portsmouth, FC Copenhagen. Perhaps they will provide the kind of games that will give AFCB players a good competitive work out. But last year, if we put the 0-6 Real Madrid friendly to one side, the other difficult  pre-season games were against teams like Woking and Salisbury, so perhaps the prospect of matches we hear against Dorchester and Yeovil will be tougher games than the likes of Rangers, oh and don't forget the traditional match against Poole Town. Much of these matches are just about fitness and trying players in positions where they may need some extra tuition, but as fans I suppose we all want to see some big named teams with star players if at all possible.

So while Eddie Howe and his team juggle with what the players need there are club considerations for having a few big gates with eminent teams. Personally, I do not mind that much who the Cherries play as I will be more concerned with how the Cherries are shaping up themselves ahead of the new season. That will be made even more exciting if the club can sign a couple of new players early on in the summer months, so that we can see how Eddie will be building on last season's success. I don't know about you, but unlike Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, I'd quite like to see Lewis Grabban running out in an AFCB shirt quite a few more times.