Ritchie is pedaling his way to the top

It was quite apt that Matt Ritchie was on the cover for the Watford programme. In his interview in the Matchday programme, with Alex Smith, he comes across as a player that knows you don't get anything without hard work, and that coming from the lower leagues has given him great passion for the game and the desire to take his talents to the highest level and that's hopefully with AFCB.

Matt Ritchie has really upped his game this season.

In that interview we also heard how Matt uses his cycle riding to escape from the pressure of everyday football and that he likes nothing more than getting on to the saddle. It appears that that is just the thing he is doing this season on the pitch as well, as he has found his seat in this side and is fast pedalling his way up the goal scorers chart as well as providing a staggering number of assists. What may have interrupted his stay at the Godsands this January window was some interest from Fulham, but it is great to hear that he never even entertained the thought of being anywhere else and that he wants promotion with the Cherries more than anything.

You probably saw that in Ritchie's goal celebration against Watford. He always likes to punch the air with delight and he really likes to show the crowd exactly how he feels when he scores. At Swindon I would say that he was a star player and at AFCB his qualities are no less admired, but he has matured into a team player that can often come up with moments of brilliance to help others as well as burst the net himself. I only now believe that Eddie Howe is getting the best out of Matt Ritchie who had a difficult first Championship season with injury, but he looks much more that player special player again who is unstoppable when he is on top form. All I can say to Matt is keep pushing the pedals round because we are all enjoying the ride!

Extra thoughts
It was great to hear Elliott Ward had scored in the 1-1 draw for the AFCB Development squad against a Portsmouth team yesterday. Apparently Callum Buckley at left back is a hot prospect too, according to Kris Temple, so we'll look out for him. Well done to AFCB Ladies on winning promotion as Hampshire County Div 3 Champs! 

As to Harry Redknapp's resignation at QPR, I guess he will always be linked with a role at AFCB once that job was over, but I just hope he gets his knee sorted and can come down and see AFCB play a bit more now. 

Robins has his work cut out against Howe

This weekend Mark Robins, 44, will come up against Eddie Howe for the third time when his Huddersfield Town side take on the Cherries. Appointed at the Terriers in February 2013 after Simon Grayson had been dismissed after a barren run, Mark was effectively promoted from his League One job at Coventry City to the Huddersfield post in the Championship. Some would say that move was a bit of a risk for the owners of the Terriers as he had not had the best of times as Barnsley's manager in the Championship even if he had kept them up in 2010-11. Mark had only been at Coventry about five or six month's before the move but had done exceedingly well at the sky blues.

The two games Robins has managed against Bournemouth have been shared with a win a piece, the home team winning out both times. I don't think the 5-1 thrashing of the Cherries on 24 August 2013 did not leave a bad taste though in the AFCB's players' minds, but it was viewed as more of a lesson which they took on board and used to their advantage in other games. It was the second away game in a row where the Cherries had been on a hiding but looking back now it is more easy to appreciate that Mark Robins got his tactics right and his forwards put away their chances with great skill. It probably was not Ian Harte or Simon Francis' finest of games but that is a mark of how well Huddersfield played. 

Huddersfield handed out a bit of a Championship lesson to the
Cherries last time at the John Smith's stadium.

It was not so easy for mark Robins at Dean Court though in the Tuesday evening game on 28 Jan 2014 when his team battled hard, but came out the 2-1 losers in match that really showed the attacking power of both sides, on a muddy pitch. Woods scored a great goal for the Terriers that night but Rantie had the last word. Robins seems to set his teams up to go for the win more often than not, just like Eddie Howe, which makes them both exciting young managers in mt view. Robins record has slipped a little of late with 23 wins from 67 games at Huddersfield and a win ratio of 34.3%, but he has lost only 30 games in a couple of seasons which is better than many in the Championship.

In terms of manager records though it is Howe that is far the stronger. Now in his second term at the helm of AFCB he has been accelerating his win ratio. While not all those games were in the Championship and included a promotion, a win percentage of 50.56% is quite remarkable and the task facing Huddersfield is not easy when you see that Howe has lost just 25 games since 12 October 2012. If Eddie Howe can improve on last season's stats as a manager he surely will be one of the most wanted English managers. That is not a great thing for AFCB fans to hear but when you assess Howe against other Championship managers it gives you an idea of just how some of those opposition managers are feeling when they have to devise a plan to beat the man who is rapidly rewriting AFCB's history.  

I was asked a few questions by Huddersfield website Thrice Champions about AFCB and how I thought the season would pan out for the Cherries and I am told that it is likely to be posted on the Thrice Champions' site later today - so look out for it.

Also good luck to AFCB's Callum Buckley and Mason Walsh who go on loan initially for a month to Dorchester Town.