Howe the apprentice can beat Rodgers the master

Eddie Howe will pay Brendan Rodgers all the respect that he and his team deserve when they come to take on AFCB this Wednesday evening. Brendan has always given huge compliments to Eddie Howe and the way he asks his Cherries to play and Eddie has been keen to accept any advice and knowledge that Brendan has offered, even from the time when Brendan Rodgers was at Swansea. In some ways Rodgers has been the master, the model that Howe could look up to as a British manager that has demonstrated that teams playing in the English leagues can play from the back and can build attacks with possession football. Now we await to see how well the apprentice has taught a talented crop of his players to compete with and possibly even out shine a Merseyside team that have lost their way a little of late. 

It's not just the players that benefit from playing
 teams like Liverpool. Eddie Howe keeps gaining experience. 

This is not a game that can be easy for Brendan Rodgers as he is expected to win and win comfortably. Football is not a game though that has any guarantees and the run of form that Liverpool are currently on will not give the journalists much room to hold back if the Reds do come unstuck against Championship opposition in the Capital One Cup. Would it even be much of a shock? Middlesbrough came as close as a penalty shoot out from knocking Liverpool out of this competition at Anfield and the task facing Rodgers' side is likely to be harder away from home to a side that has only lost twice at home this season.

How would it look though for Liverpool to fall at Bournemouth when they are only a few games from the final of another cup competition? The papers would not be kind and for that reason this is almost the ultimate test for Brendan Rodgers as a manger. Neither manager will be sending out their first eleven in my mind, but Rodgers position at Liverpool is being questioned and those players he sends out either play with the passion that has become synonymous with great Liverpool teams over the years or they could well be swept aside by a southern tide of eager Cherries that already know that they are a very good side.

The Capital One Cup is still a great competition, especially when new young players get the chance to come up against established names in the game. This match though could be remembered just as much for the two managers and perhaps the coming of age of Eddie Howe.

All Departments has released its latest podcast on the 5-3 win against Cardiff City to send AFCB back to the top of the table. Visit the All Departments' website or scroll down the right hand panel on the Cherry Chimes' site to the sound bar for All Departments and click on it to listen.