Six weeks to get ready for the Championship

AFC Bournemouth don't have time to dwell on what might have been. The Championship preparation needs to be in full swing with games due to start on 12 September. The launch of ticket sales is the first sign that AFCB are getting their campaign ready for 2020/21, and we hear in the local press that several senior players contracts are up and decisions as to the future of Charlie Daniels, Simon Francis, Andrew Surman and Artur Boruc need to be decided.

Who will remain for the Chamionship?

I also imagine we will hear a statement from Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall to stay if he is committed to leading the Cherries in their endeavours to get back to the Premier League. Preparation is key and until we know who is leading the team, player decisions have to wait.

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Personally, I'd like a clean sweep of some of the players that are coming to the end of their careers. It is time to make new stories and see if some of the players in the U21 like Gavin Kilkenny, Nnamdi Ofobargh, Corey Jordan, Jake Scrimshaw and of course Sam Surridge become regular names in the first team squad. Jack Simpson should also get on the team sheet now. While Bournemouth can have U21s and U18s that they look to sell on, it is even better business if some of these players can force their way into the first team and with some high profile names likely to leave their could be opportunities for one or two of the younger lads.

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What will be on the minds of the management though is that the Championship is a very tough league. The players will have less time to play their patient build-up football and physical strength will be required in many of the games to prevent being unsettled by bigger physical teams. It is a different test. The skill levels might be slightly lower and teams might not be punished quite as much for mistakes, but it is 90 mile an hour football and Bournemouth will have to get used to that again.

Bournemouth are back in training on 12 August and while we may see players leave before then we might not see much rebuilding until the latter part of August.

In other news, it has been reported by local and National Media that Nathan Akee has been sold to Man City for £41m.

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