This season has tested the Cherries perhaps more than last season in many ways, but if the Cherries stay up there will have to be a reckoning of how they can achieve even more in the coming seasons. I start to wonder what fans would be happy with now that the club has been battling in the Premier League and whether the initial pride and joy of just being apart of this fabulous league has been satisfied, or if the club can really deliver more for its fans that dare to ask what is the next level?
I don't just think that it is on the pitch that things matter though. We have heard about problems over availability of places for disabled supporters, failures to meet FA anti-doping rules and I know the points system for games is a solution for ticketing that will continue to upset many. But not even Man Utd and Arsenal are clubs that run smoothly and they have plasters to stick over things when they don't quite work out as expected, just like AFCB. Getting to the next level will come with challenges and disappointments and yet if fans and the club keep striving for better, I don't see too many barriers to seeing it happen and we all know that the stadium is the big obstacle on the horizon, so I'm hoping for some good news about that this summer now that the decision not to stay at Dean Court will have started minds working towards something more fitting for the next level.
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| AFCB need to get more of their players up to high international quality to climb the table. |
For the moment that next step up is probably a strong mid-table finish between 8-12 in the table. But looking at it from another angle it would be starting to not see wins against the top eight sides as totally unexpected and I already see that wins that have come against teams like Everton, West Ham and Leicester are games that are pleasing to win, but not so shocking that we don't think they can't happen again. In short, AFCB are starting to belong amongst such company and if they can maintain that on the pitch I do believe the club is already getting towards taking that next step.
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The outward view of the club by fans all across the world is certainly now of a club that is friendly and can hold its own against some of the teams that have graced the Premier League for a much larger time. Much of the way the club is perceived is by how well Eddie Howe carries himself and there are probably elements where other aspects of the club need to catch up with his high standards. I am sure we all want some things to be better around Dean Court and while the club looks to work with organisations like the Cherries Trust and Fan groups on a regular basis, some of our views and suggestions will be taken on board.
I don't just think that it is on the pitch that things matter though. We have heard about problems over availability of places for disabled supporters, failures to meet FA anti-doping rules and I know the points system for games is a solution for ticketing that will continue to upset many. But not even Man Utd and Arsenal are clubs that run smoothly and they have plasters to stick over things when they don't quite work out as expected, just like AFCB. Getting to the next level will come with challenges and disappointments and yet if fans and the club keep striving for better, I don't see too many barriers to seeing it happen and we all know that the stadium is the big obstacle on the horizon, so I'm hoping for some good news about that this summer now that the decision not to stay at Dean Court will have started minds working towards something more fitting for the next level.
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