The Cherries' levels have dipped

Honest as ever in his appraisal of the Norwich match, Eddie Howe sent out a message that the team deserved nothing for the way that it defended. "That's the first time this season where our performance levels have dipped," he explained.  "We have to say that we probably didn't deserve anything on our performance today." 

We need a reaction now.

Admitting that a few things were wrong is always the first way back to dealing with matters that are not functioning correctly, but putting them right can need more than a few words. The frustration was that this game was really out of context from what Eddie Howe had seen go before him this season. At times the defence was all at sea and yet the manager has not felt the need to make a change in central defence up until this point. Now Sylvain Distin might be a good player to bring in for the next home match against Sunderland, although Howe can use the Norwich game as motivation to say to Cook and Elphick that he wants to see a reaction. I tend to prefer this way of getting the best from his players, as everyone has an off day now and again.

Has Eddie been asking too much of Josh King?

While Adam Smith was filling in to play at left back it is up to new signing Joe Bennett to see if he can oust Adam from that spot before Charlie Daniels returns. Too many changes are not going to be helpful and I'd hope the players that have done so well and regularly surprise us with their performances can do so again. This time the left side did not shape up as well as hoped and perhaps Marc Pugh would have given the Cherries more familiarity if he had played instead of Junior Stanislas. But Stanislas has played well in the Capital One Cup and deserved his chance. One could also say that Josh King was given another opportunity but fell short of the mark.

Training will be intense though this week and some changes may liven up the team for the visit of the Black Cats.