The message is that AFCB fans should give long term absentee striker Callum Wilson as much time as he needs to hit form when he returns to playing matches. Callum is likely to return in the next month by my reckoning, if he continues to progress, while training again with the squad. What will the Cherries have though when he is available for selection?
It's hard to know how easy Callum will find it to get his touch back and will he have the same speed that made him a striker that lived on the edge of his nerves to react to opportunities? We won't know straight away and we won't know for some time by what Eddie Howe has suggested and I think the fans will just be pleased to see him back. If things don't come for him straight away, there should be no pressure put on him. Fans understand what he has been through and we just want to see him do well when he is ready.
I felt that Callum was only just beginning to find his feet again last season when he did his second cruciate ligament. He had scored a superb goal against WBA with a deft touch that had given him that sense that he was back, but to suddenly be injured again with another long term injury was a cruel blow when Callum had hopes of targeting an England call up and getting a full season of Premier League games behind him.
As it is, Callum has only played 33 games in the Premier League over two seasons and yet has scored 11 goals from those games. What would his record have been like if he had been able to play Bournemouth's two full seasons? And where would the Cherries have finished if Callum had been available in those missed matches? We'll never know, but I guarantee he would have more goals than he has to his name.
At 25, Callum has time to make up for his disappointments but the main thing is that he remains injury free. His body has already gone through much stress and repair, and he may not be the same striker he was before. That edge and speed might not return and he may have to modify his game. At least at AFCB there is the coaching platform for him to make a successful change if he needs to. Hopefully, he comes back as well as if he had never been away. He used to be a regular starter and if he gets back to that level I'd say his treatment will have been a full success.
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| Callum is getting closer to being pitch side. |
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I felt that Callum was only just beginning to find his feet again last season when he did his second cruciate ligament. He had scored a superb goal against WBA with a deft touch that had given him that sense that he was back, but to suddenly be injured again with another long term injury was a cruel blow when Callum had hopes of targeting an England call up and getting a full season of Premier League games behind him.
As it is, Callum has only played 33 games in the Premier League over two seasons and yet has scored 11 goals from those games. What would his record have been like if he had been able to play Bournemouth's two full seasons? And where would the Cherries have finished if Callum had been available in those missed matches? We'll never know, but I guarantee he would have more goals than he has to his name.
At 25, Callum has time to make up for his disappointments but the main thing is that he remains injury free. His body has already gone through much stress and repair, and he may not be the same striker he was before. That edge and speed might not return and he may have to modify his game. At least at AFCB there is the coaching platform for him to make a successful change if he needs to. Hopefully, he comes back as well as if he had never been away. He used to be a regular starter and if he gets back to that level I'd say his treatment will have been a full success.
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