Has Wilshere done enough to grab a starting place for AFCB in the Championship?

The start that Jack Wilshere made for Bournemouth in the FA Cup against Crawley couldn't have been much better. He wanted to make an impact and he certainly did that. He wanted to score his first goal for the club and he wanted to start paying back the debt he perhaps feels he has to the club for how things ended in the past. He is keeping his end of the bargain but is he ready to take on the best in the Championship?

Is Jack ready to play his part?

It would be easy to give Jack Wilshere a ticket to start straight away in the next league match. Tindall will have to decide not only whether this is best for Jack, but also whether it will sit okay with the other players in the squad. Everyone says Jack is hard working and has been well accepted by the players at AFCB. But Jack doesn't want to sit around on the bench. He wants to be a force in the team and that will mean needing to accommodate him and in preference to one of the other midfielders.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream -now just 9.99!

It is most likely that Lewis Cook's position would see the most immediate threat. Jack is similarly creative and yet has shown he can also skip past players and hit the target. His vision and understanding of the game are no doubt at a higher level than many of Bournemouth's players having starred in an Arsenal team and less so in a West Ham team. He is willing to teach what he has learned to other players like Lewis Cook who will be battling with him for the same place, and I expect he will do what he can to win as many people over as he can. But the best way for him to do that si on the pitch.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

If, on merit, Jack is the right and best option to start, then he should. It might be hard on the likes of Dan Gosling and Philip Billing as well, but Bournemouth need winners if they are going to climb back up the league and Wilshere is surely a winner. Just looking at the ease at which Jack scored his goal against Crawley underlined that he is a special player that can make the game look like child's play. Teams like Reading in Bournemouth's next match won't give Jack as much time and space as Crawley gave him, but I am sure Jack can step up a few more levels yet in his performances. It may take him a while to know what Josh King and Dominic Solanke's wavelengths are, but AFCB are only going to get the best out of Jack by playing him. So I'm all for getting him in the team, even if it is only for 40-50 minutes at first.

Advertisement

Ebook version of The Disrupted season £9.99

In other news, the Bournemouth Echo reports that Jason Tindall believes Jack Simpson and Nnamadi Ofoborgh have made their minds up to joining Rangers either in this window or in the summer.

Advertisement

The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 

- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Wilshere scores first goal for Bournemouth in 2-1 cup win over Crawley

Wilshere scores first goal for Bournemouth in 2-1 cup win over Crawley

Match report

FA Cup Fourth round

AFCB 2 v 1 Crawley Town

26 January 2021

Bournemouth get back to winning ways.

Jack Wilshere scored his first goal for Bournemouth in the first half to put the Cherries in control, against Crawley but a second-half equaliser from Tom Nichols made it an intriguing cup tie. Bournemouth slipped back ahead with a Josh King goal that was just enough to get them a ticket through to the next round away at Burnley.

Bournemouth took Crawley very seriously after their conquering of Leeds United and named a strong team. There were only four changes, Jack Wilshere, Arnaut Danjuma, Philip Billing and Lloyd Kelly started. The players taken out were Adam Smith, Josh Solanke, Jefferson Lerma and Cameron Carter-Vickers. It looked like the Cherries really wanted to progress to the next round.

Advertisement

The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 

- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Bournemouth got Wilshere on the ball and the first corner came after five minutes. Steve Cook headed wide after Rico had followed the corner with a cross.

Billing made a chance for Danjuma shortly after from range, but Morris made a save in the bottom left corner. Bournemouth stepped up their efforts with another corner when Philip Billing's header hit the post. 

Advertisement

Ebook version of The Disrupted season £9.99

Crawley's first shot came from Nadesan who forced Begovic into a save on 11 minutes. Lewis Cook saw an effort go over as Bournemouth kept regained possession. Rico then missed a half chance following Danjuma's pass. Bournemouth continued to shoot on sight with Brooks firing over.

The goal finally came when Jack Wilshere shot from outside the box having taken the ball from King's clever back heel. The shot flew in the bottom corner. Luton were guilty of giving Bournemouth far too much space. Wilshere's finish was so calmly taken with his left foot from the edge of the D.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Tsaroulla was subbed for Josh Wright. Bournemouth kept up the pressure with Brooks shooting wide of the left post. Brooks also saw a further chance go wide following a corner.

The second half began with Adebowale being carded for a foul on Danjuma. Steve Cook was doing his best to get on the score sheet putting another header in the danger area from a cross from Rico. Jack Wilshere couldn't convert the flick from Cook as Morris made a great save.

Danjuma then smashed a shot wide. No shortage of effort, but Bournemouth needed to keep testing the keeper. Crawley subbed Adebowale for Sesay. Josh King hit a shot on target, but there was not enough power.

Begovic makes a mistake and gifts the ball to Nichols but the keeper makes the save for a corner. Bournemouth escaped there.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream eBook version -£7.99!

Nichols and Nadesan received yellow cards. Crawley then got level with Tom Nichols scoring from close range. Danjuma picked out Wilshere but the shot was weak and the keeper saved.

Bournemouth struck again when Josh King put the Cherries 2-1 up on 66 minutes. Danjuma raided the penalty box and found King who stroked it into the bottom corner 2-1.

Bournemouth subbed Billing, Wilshere and Stacey to bring on Solanke, Smith and Lerma on 67 minutes. Smith hits a shot well but Morris saves.

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream -now just 9.99!

Rodari is on for Matthews. Brooks has another attempt from 25-yards that is saved. Riquelme replaces Danjuma. Josh King gets a good shot away but the keeper saves. Into the last 20 minutes. Surridge is on for King.

McNerney has a header saved. Lerma has been booked. Rico finds Brooks and his shot goes narrowly over. Kelly is booked. Riquelme has a shot blocked.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Summary
A solid performance by AFCB. They worked the keeper but will probably be thinking that they should have been a bit sharper in front of goal. Still, there wasn't a great deal for Begovic to do and it's clear that Wilshere is a massive addition to the team. This result will have boosted the confidence and they won't get carried away having seen Crawley also get on the score sheet,

AFCB lineup

AFCB Subs: Dennis, Carter-Vickers, Smith, Kilkenny, Lerma, Riquelme, Anthony, Surridge, Solanke

Crawley Town: 1 Morris, 17 Adebowale (Sesay 51), 19 Tunnicliffe, 5 McNerney,
6 Dallison-Lisbon, 20 Matthews (Rodari 69), 39 Hessenthaler, 8 Powell, 25 Tsaroulla (29 Wright), 10 Nadesan, 16 Nichols

Crawley Subs: 18 Sesay, 21 Bulman, 27 Khaleel, 28 Kowalczyk, 30 Wright, 35 Rodari, 37 Nelson, 38 Tilley, 44 Wright

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Crawley - a great game for Wilshere to step up

Will Crawley be a stern FA Cup test for the Cherries?

The FA Cup fourth round sees the Cherries take on Leeds United's conquerers Crawley Town on Tuesday night. The West Sussex side are in good form having knocked out a Premier League team 3-0, even if it was mainly Leeds Utd's youth players, and they sit 12 in League Two where they have won their last two league games.

How far can AFCB go in the FA Cup this season?

Suddenly, playing a League Two team that is in form doesn't look like a pushover for AFCB. The Cherries could well be pushed all the way in this fixture. Crawley's main striker has been Max Watters, who was free-scoring, having netted 15 times in 18 games this season and he has been well supported by Tom Nichols who has scored 10 times from 24 games. Luckily for Bournemouth, Cardiff City came in for Max Watters on 16 January and he is no longer a Crawley player. Ashley Nadesan could fill his place or Crawley could turn to  Sam Ashford. Less likely are forwards Ricardo German or Brian Galach. But Crawley have goalscorers in their defenders too - just watch back the goal that defender Nick Tsaroulla scored as the opener against Leeds in the last round of the cup. Defender, Jordan Tunnicliffe also scored against Leeds following a free kick.

Advertisement

Ebook version of The Disrupted season £9.99

How Crawley do in front of goal without their leading League Two striker decide their fate in this game. Crawley have also signed Mark Wright in this window, a defender who is best known for his TV role on The Only Way is Essex. Crawley have also signed James Tilley from Grimsby Town during January, another forward. Winger Jordan Maguire-Drew has also joined Crawley on loan until the end of the season. Several of them may well be cup tied.

Advertisement

The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 

- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

It may well also help Bournemouth that Crawley haven't played since 10 January when they knocked out Leeds Utd. They have had to postpone fixtures against Bradford and Stevenage Borough as well as rearrange this FA Cup match because of the COVID-19 outbreak at their club. Their away record is not too shoddy though. They beat Bolton Wanderers in their last away match 0-1 as well as Forest Green 1-2 and Leyton Orient 1-2, the last two both held in December. 

Advertisement

Eddie Had a Dream -now just 9.99!

The winners of the tie will play Burnley after they beat Fulham yesterday.

Advertisement

Coastal Garden Buildings

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Could Bournemouth o for Burnley swap deal?

 

Bournemouth 28th richest and climbing

It just may be that AFCB are doing something right with their vision of where the club needs to go. Looking at the Deloitte football money league, as shown by the Daily Mirror. It is a fist appearance in the top 30 for AFCB but they have also been valued by Brand Finance as the number 26th best football brand. It's quite a rise from the days of the buckets and coins which made me wonder if any club cloud do s well today if they wanted to climb the football period?

Not bad going for a small town football club in Dorset.

I believe a lot of factors came together to help Bournemouth's rise. An inspirational manager, a chairman who was willing to risk his house to keep the club going, players who would play for nothing and a loyal fan base that didn't want to see the club die. By being on the edge of existence it built a special bond between players, staff and fans and the climb has been absolutely magnificent despite a few years when stability took precedence over promotion.

I look at clubs that have tried to come form either further down like Crawley Town, Burton Albion, AFC Wimbledon and Fleetwood, who have not been league clubs for a long time, but have risen up the divisions and in Crawley's case fallen back down and I think some of them may be missing the odd ingredient that AFCB had to just get them that bit further. A Russian multi-millionaire was no doubt a big help and you can't dismiss the money factor as AFCB did not find it easy to compete on a level financial field with Championship clubs, so the did break the financial fair play rules. But perhaps that is the only way that clubs with small fanbase can compete?

Advertisement

Broom Hill Garden Buildings

Now that AFCB are in the Premier League their stock still seems to be rising and with a new TV deal just around the corner and perhaps another top 10 finish AFCB might be able to climb a bit higher yet.

Football needs characters like Steve Evans

I have never met Steve Evans even though he used to manage Crawley Town just five minutes down the road from where I now live. Still, from his many interviews and comments from players and managers in the game you can't help but be impressed by Rotherham Utd's chief. Football is a game of the people and characters and Steve has the kind of personality that you'll find hard to ignore.

Why is that? Well, it's the joy that you can see that he clearly gets out of seeing his players do well and I actually believe he loves to be the underdog. We've seen it in Crawley's great FA Cup run when they came up against Man Utd a few years back, and we saw it last season when he almost lost his trousers in celebrating the play-off win against Leyton Orient! While he is now becoming one of those managers who has moved up the leagues by winning promotion, he is still that firey Scot that learned how to manage players in the hard-school of non-league. Just like Eddie Howe, he seems to like a challenge - having dropped down a league when he left Crawley to pick up Rotherham Utd in April 2012 and what a brilliant success he has made of that! 

Evans is not short of ever having a word to say and while that has landed him in trouble in the past he seems to be very content at the Millers and is more usually seen with a smile on his face these days. He has plenty to smile about as his record just gets better having won 60 of the 120 matches he has been in charge at Rotherham. His teams also play attractive football and he simply has the knack of winning games or perhaps we do him a disservice, because he is tactically more astute than most as his record shows.

What makes me feel that good managers succeed though is stories like Steve Evans. He knows what makes a good player and when he sees one, like Matt Tubbs or Steve Fletcher, or any number of players that are on his books today he gets them to play well for him. Players even want to go back to play for him as he is an endearing character. 

Now that he has reached the Championship there will be more pressure on him, but I reckon Steve will laugh it off on camera, even though behind the scenes he is working as hard as any manager you care to think of. Rotherham fans should be pleased that they have a winner and a man who does it with a great big smile on his face. He may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he gets results, and let's face it that is what most chairman want isn't it?

Have we seen the best of Tubbs?

It has been said that Matt Tubbs is somewhat cool on a return to Crawley Town unless they involved in a promotion season and he seems clear that Eddie Howe is unlikely to need him back at AFCB if he can add one or two more to the squad. I think that is perhaps a bit of a shame because with teams like Cardiff City, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace pawing over our first team players it just could be that some holes appear that need to be filled. The forward line is by no means confirmed yet at AFCB and after Lewis Grabban has been allowed to talk to Cardiff City it is fairly clear that the same front two won't be there at the start of next season for the Cherries. 

If Matt is still out of favour then AFCB really
need to get there money back on him soon.

As for Matt Tubbs, he is one of the players that perhaps AFCB have been looking to off load if a credible bid comes in from Crawley or another team. But Matt did fairly well back at Crawley and I don't see why he should give up on trying to make a name for himself in the Championship. A new strike partner with Yann Kermorgant is suddenly a priority for Eddie Howe. It may be that in training Matt Tubbs can show that he could do a job there with Yann. 

Matt Tubbs is also going to be on fairly good wages and if he is not one of the players that is moving on then he has to benefit the club in some way whether it is playing for them or going out on loan. AFCB have a squad of strong players now who will be battling for a place again over the summer and while Eddie Howe has a good idea of the ability of who has the best chance of being in pole position for a starting place next season, many things can yet change over the summer months with moves and injuries and failed bids for new targets. If Matt wants to play though I hope he gets a move to a good club as I think he can make the difference to a team that is struggling to score goals.

If you have a company that might consider advertising on Cherry Chimes, please head over to the Marketing tab where we have a special free subscription May Newsletter that details how Cherry Chimes has been attracting more and more new readers from the Bournemouth area. 

Tubbs needs to get his form back at the Millers

I expect many of you have not forgotten about Matt Tubbs who is up in Rotherham and trying to make an impact on their team. Matt is on loan at Rotherham until the end of January and the move was no doubt designed to give Matt more playing time opportunities and to recover some of his goal scoring form. 

While the Millers have been finding life in League One more than okay, Matt has been battling to get minutes on the pitch. He has not scored yet from what I can see since his time at Rotherham. Matt did get 62 minutes against Brentford in the last league match, but had just one shot on target according to the Miller's website. He has also had starts against Shrewsbury, Crawley and Preston back in August, but many of his appearances of late have been as a sub for either Agard or Revell. 

Steve Evans knows Matt Tubbs' game inside out and you have to say if Steve can't get Matt scoring then it may not have been the best move for Matt. He still has more than three months to make an impression at the Millers, but if Evans is not setting up his team to play in a way that would suit Matt it is likely that he will only be used as a sub. Matt's stats for the season stand at three shots on target and five appearances as sub. He has some work to do.

While it many not seem to matter to AFCB fans that Matt is not getting as many minutes as he might and is not scoring bucket loads of goals, we should remember that he will come back to the Goldsands stadium at the end of January and will be training again with the Cherries. It would be good to have a confident and happy Matt back with us and not one that is questioning himself and his abilities. Whether Eddie Howe decides to look for another loan move for the striker or not remains to be seen, but unless Matt's form picks up it is unlikely that many clubs will make a significant bid for him and Bournemouth still have a long contract on him.