Listening back to Eddie Howe's post match interview with Kris Temple on BBC Radio Solent my heart went out to Eddie Howe. It was a tough interview and nobody likes to comment when they have had a major set-back. Bournemouth don't fail very often, but the club didn't have enough this season and Eddie Howe knows it.
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| Eddie and Jason's work is hopefully not yet done at AFCB |
While Eddie Howe will take it on the chin, it is important that he knows that the fans still want him to carry on. The way the team played against Man City and Everton proved to me that Eddie Howe knows how to get the very best from footballers. In the Championship Bournemouth need fighters and a strong squad as well as a leader who can guide them to be competitive.
There is a lot to be decided in the next few days. Eddie Howe has put his stamp on the club, and yet, he knows that there is no legacy yet from the Premier League years. He hasn't finished the job yet, and Eddie Howe will I think look at that and being a competitor will want to carry on. What the club and the management have gained is experience We have rubbed shoulders wit the best clubs in the country and, on many days, have even come out on top. Now it is about feeling good about the club and looking to the future.
Bournemouth have to get a plan in place to make sure they can build a new stadium and training complex next time they have a spell in the Premier League. There has to be plans for a return. The initial business then will be to sell players and bring in more youth. Eddie Howe loves coaching young players and that is why I also think he'll want to stay at the helm.
The fans also need to be reunited with Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall as well as the players that stay. It might not be at the start of next season that the fans are allowed back in the grounds, but we will be back in the autumn I hope. There is spirit still in this side in the way they took on and beat Everton in the last game. Now they have to show that confidence in a lower league and prove that their stay in the Premier League should have been longer.
Previous post on Cherry Chimes -
Bournemouth's first away win in 2020 - not enough to keep them up
Of course Howe should stay on and there is absolutely no reason AFCB shouldn't come back better and stronger. The defensive weakness label was always something of a myth because the goals shipped in early premiership years were often from daft back-passes and corners and free kicks - all fixable over time. A more persistent problem was periodically getting over-run in midfield - but the recent games against Man City, Leicester and Everton possibly demonstrated a new confidence and resolve to address this issue.
ReplyDeleteYou can't always get what you want - but sometimes you might just get what you need.
I agree Eddie and Jason should stay. Sometimes you learn more from the bad times than you do from the good times. They should be given a chance to bounce back
ReplyDeleteNot long to recharge batteries though!