Is the Cherries belief restored?

Belief is something that managers talk about all the time. Having been bashed by Everton 6-3, it was not unexpected that the Cherries wanted to show they were better than that for the visit of Man City. Arter said that the side really picked up after the first half at Everton, and while it was too late for that game, AFCB have played a game and a half now in much better form.

AFCB - on their way back.

Still the goals against doesn't read well, no matter whether you look at one, three or five games in the current run. But goals can go in against you even when the side is paying well and I thought the Man City match was typical of that. Some times the ball just doesn't run for you and Man City were special in the areas of the pitch where it mattered. Had the last game been against a bottom three side then I expect we would all still be wondering what had been happening to the side, but because it was City I have not heard too many fans criticising the performance.

Eddie Howe was certainly pleased that the fans stuck with the team despite them going down. The atmosphere at Dean Court was excellent and it will be that kind of support that Eddie will want to hear for the run in. It certainly gives the players more belief when they have the crowd chanting and I have noticed that in recent weeks it has been deadly silent when things were not going so well.

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The real belief will only come when the team gets the next win and the next clean sheet. Eddie is very clear in his message of picking up the points as soon as possible and communicating that he never thought the side was safe, even when the points were coming more frequently. I'm not sure that the players took their foot of the gas, but they kept losing an early goal and have found it hard to get back into matches when that happened. The players needed a fresh start, and I think they got that in the City game. Now they can put things behind them and look forward to the challenges to come.

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