Okay, Bournemouth are down in the bottom three and I can't see them getting out of it quickly or perhaps at all. Eddie Howe has probably fallen short of his and the fans' expectations this season, but let's face it, Bournemouth wouldn't ever have got to the Premier league without him. Perhaps he has stayed too long and the play and players have become stale. But do I want Eddie to fall on his sword? No, absolutely not.
The reason I say we should stick with Eddie is that he will get stronger from this. He may not get AFCB out of trouble and he could take the club down. It is one poor season in perhaps 10 or more but that is going to happen at some time in the future, even if we stay up this season. The bigger picture is do you want someone less attached with the club coming in and ripping everything up to put a new identity on the club you love?
If I could criticise Howe it would be on the recruitment side. Too many players have not had potential when the club thought they would have it. Too many players have not performed and some of those players were simply not good any better than those already at the club. Who am I talking about? signings such as Ibe, Solanke, Brad Smith, Defoe, Afobe, Hyndman, Mahoney - I am sure you can add a few to the list. Moreover, there are players that should have been replaced such as Francis, Steve Cook and Charlie Daniels and Bournemouth shouldn't just be dependent on King and Callum Wilson for goals.
Previous post on Cherrychimes - Smashed 0-3 by Watford - the Cherries are in deep, deep trouble
It's not going ell for Eddie, but AFCB without him would be harder to live with. |
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Eddie has done great for us and he has put his imprint on everything - dedicated himself to the job. It is the players that have let him down. Yes, there have been injuries and games we shouldn't have lost. But Eddie has not made so many mistakes. Without the injuries he also wouldn't have tinkered so much with the side.We may not like all his starting line ups or his subs, but if he has got some of those things wrong at times he has also taken more points off the top six this season.If I could criticise Howe it would be on the recruitment side. Too many players have not had potential when the club thought they would have it. Too many players have not performed and some of those players were simply not good any better than those already at the club. Who am I talking about? signings such as Ibe, Solanke, Brad Smith, Defoe, Afobe, Hyndman, Mahoney - I am sure you can add a few to the list. Moreover, there are players that should have been replaced such as Francis, Steve Cook and Charlie Daniels and Bournemouth shouldn't just be dependent on King and Callum Wilson for goals.
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Bournemouth have to regroup. There is still time to get out of trouble, but without our support Eddie Howe will have little chance in being able to do what he most wants to do - win games. We need to get behind him, more than ever. There are games to be won and if we can get Josh King back and play players in their right positions, there is still a chance.Previous post on Cherrychimes - Smashed 0-3 by Watford - the Cherries are in deep, deep trouble
I agree with most of this. Something has gone wrong on the transfer side, and the axiom "act in haste, repent at leisure" comes to mind ! On the other hand, Mahoney and Hyndman were only "seed money" by modern standards and were never given a proper chance into the bargain. Also, I fail to understand the dig at Francis, Cook and Daniels. The latter in particular is a class act who has never let the side down.
ReplyDeleteAgainst Watford, we spent far too much time playing aimlessly (and dangerously) across our own penalty box - until the inevitable happened - with the unfortunate Travers copping the blame. We actually started playing after about 60 minutes, and you could see Watford were starting to get rattled - but once you're behind it can often be too late to rescue matters.
Don't get the Francis Cook Daniel's dig either. Cook has been strong, Daniel's has been out for longer than all this trouble. Franno has been a great servant to team but is struggling to compete now but what choice does Eddie have.
ReplyDeleteWe must all stand by Eddie without him we would be nowhere near this league