Koeman will feel he has the edge on Howe

Ronald Koeman may not have been at Southampton nearly as long as Eddie Howe has been at Bournemouth, but the Dutchman will feel he has the experience to keep his near rivals at arm's length and come out on top. Having managed at teams such as Ajax, Benfica and Feyenoord amongst others, Koeman has a great grasp of the continental game and with a distinguished international playing career himself he is a heavyweight among managers in the modern game.

Eddie will look t beat one of the best football
brains in the game when he takes on Koeman.

So what chance might Eddie Howe have of toppling the Saints and getting one over Ronald? You can't knock Koeman's pedigree and the Saint's talented crop of players. Eddie certainly has a hard task and sometimes us fans don't acknowledge that he is also learning this season in the Premier League as well as his players. Each bit of information he can tap out of playing these teams though is going to give him ideas to work on, and while we have seen the Cherries well beaten in some games it is those kind of matches that will enable Eddie to find something to add to AFCB's style of play. Anyone of those ideas could become a successful one and he'll be looking to set his side up with some extra motivation against the Saints.

Koeman's time at Southampton has been on an upward curve. While he has not won a cup he has led taken them into Europe and won the Premier League manager of the month title twice since his arrival in June 2014. He has seen some top players leave the Saints, but has brought in fabulous quality like Jordie Claise, Saido Mane and Duscan Tadic.

At the moment Southampton are six points ahead of the Cherries in eighth place. The gap seems much bigger than that between the two clubs. However, a win for Eddie Howe's side would be a massive achievement not only for the team but also for Eddie Howe personally. Eddie's record against Southampton has not been strong and that will already be grating on him. Beating Koeman would be a big boost for him and having already beaten one Dutch manager this season he could already make it an early double Dutch. 

Later this morning I'll be putting a Rival Lines' post up with Southampton Blog - George Weah's Cousin as we build up to the derby match. 


Look out tomorrow as well for the Cherry Chimes' November Newsletter which brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month, plus there is a special Newsletter article about whether AFCB should set a target: 17 points by Xmas?

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