Signing new players will add a buzz to Cherries

There is nothing better than hearing that your club has just signed a young player with proven quality. It shows that your team is moving forward and has ambition and is an attractive proposition for talented players who want to further their career. It is exactly the opposite of seeing your best stars leave for pastures new and the level of optimism with new signings not only picks up the fans but carries itself through the squad and into the training field.

Junior Stanislas joins the Cherries. Picture AFCB

The Cherries need that type of buzz if they are to mount a challenge to the play-offs next season. It is a massive leap that they are trying to make in just their second Championship season and is going to be staggering if they can achieve it. I have enthused already about the transfer policy of late bringing in experienced players that are available on free transfers like Elliott Ward, Dan Gosling and Junior Stanislas. It is something that is never easy to do because players that are out of contract are often targets for more clubs and yet Eddie Howe has been landing a few such goodies of late.  

The timing of Junior's signature could not come at a better time with season ticket holders just having a few days left to commit to the new season. Youthful players to see in AFCB's new strip will help a few more renew I am sure, and it is noticeable that the names that Eddie and Jason are signing are getting bigger each season. I expect the wage bills will be rising too, so success is something that the club will be even stronger to crave now. The club will be hoping to being in more funds from various sources not just Mr Demin and I sense that the next stage of development is getting closer if the team manage another successful season in the Championship.

AFCB is certainly a different enterprise from when I used to see the players toiling away in League Two and there is no doubt that the prospect of further additions this summer paints a very different picture from the transfer embargoes that we have been all too used to at AFCB.


Extra time now
We have loaded some more pictures to the home section of Cherry Chimes' Facebook page. These new images are from the Leicester City home match on 1 Feb 2014 - Kevin Philips, say no more!

While Portugal and Ghana bowed out of the World Cup, the other match in Group G saw USA up against Germany, which Kyle reviews in his latest match report - see World Cup Chimes