There's magic in the air down at Dean Court

You can sense that AFCB have a special group of players at the club now. You don't just go and beat a class outfit like WBA a few days after amassing a tremendous goal haul against another Championship team, and reach the last eight of the Capital One Cup without causing a bit of a stir. The national media have been keen to get in on the act of trying to work out what is happening down on the south coast? They know that Eddie Howe has unearthed some gems and the worrying thing for other teams in the Championship is that this team is no longer just 11 excellent players, but any of the squad of players that Eddie cares to select. 

Steve Cook and Andrew Surman perhaps checking
out who else was going through last night.

Looking back at last night's game, none of the players on the pitch against the elite of WBA looked out of place and no quarter was given during the whole match. The cup tie was exactly that with much end-to-end action, but the best team won in what was a hard fought game. West Brom did have more shots (13), but only had three on target, whereas Bournemouth rattled WBA with eight shots and four on target. That may make the game seem tighter than it was, because AFCB held most of the possession - 53 per cent - and looked the more threatening to me.

The home crowd were terrific all evening and the "Allez, Allez, Oh __ AFCB!" song has gained a few more lines and swept round the ground with pleasing effect. I stopped at one point just to watch the faces of fans as they watched this intense game. Our fans are no longer looking worried when the ball is in our half, and when our wingers have the ball the crowd now expect something to happen. I can only imagine it must be great as an AFCB player to feel that enthusiasm on your back at the moment.

Eddie Howe is still the man in charge of what is happening though. Right from the work ethic of the players to asking the crowd to pick the team up whenever it is down, and even clapping the players off rather than want to take the applause himself. He'll enjoy the moment I am sure - just as I am still smiling while typing this up at 2am in the morning after the drive back! 

It's back to business this weekend and another hard match against Brighton with TV cameras looking on, but allow yourself a moment to look back on the past five games and think for a moment about all those 'Wins'. Things are changing around Dean Court and very much for the better. Now who do you want in the next round?

Give me some answers in the comment section below and we'll see what the most popular answer is.