Delight and agony - AFCB fans see relegation battle go to last game

Bournemouth fans could rub their hands with some glee again and go and get their hidden scarfs and shorts out of the dustbin, as the unlikely escape was back on after Man City thumped a demoralised Watford 0-4. There was some caution though as Bournemouth fans still had to wait to see what Arsenal would do against Aston Villa. It was a flat Arsenal performance and Aston Villa kept a 1-0 lead to also go three points ahead of Bournemouth, but we knew that the relegation battle would now go down to the last game no matter what.

Destiny is not in AFCB's own hands but at least they are not out of it with a game to go.

There is every chance now that the 17th place in the Premier League this season could be decided by goal difference. We could have three teams  on 34 points. Arguably none of these teams have played well enough to stay up, but there is a place for one of them. A 1-0 win for Bournemouth and two 1-0 defeats for Aston Villa and Arsenal would save Eddie Howe's side. But a draw or a win for Aston Villa or Watford and Bournemouth will have to adapt to life in the Championship.

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Bournemouth fans could just peak from between their closed fingers again and start to imagine again what a win at Everton would mean. It is the hope that rally hurts and yet Bournemouth fans have to believe their team has been given yet another opportunity to climb out of the relegation places.

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The pole position is held by Aston Villa now, who may only need a point against West Ham to secure their Premier League place if Watford can't beat Arsenal.  Is till think it will be between Bournemouth and Watford. The way Arsenal played against Aston Villa, you have to fancy Watford to get something in their last game. It is going to be nail biting, but Bournemouth have to beat Everton as their first job, to stand any chance of avoiding the drop. After that they can worry about goal difference and goals scored if Aston Vil and Watford have not added one or three points to their totals.

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Think everyone knew Watford would lose to City, it was always going to be down to how Arsenal do these last two games #afcb

— Will Partridge (@AFCBWILL) July 21, 2020

Not tweeted about them before but #mancity are an absolute joy to watch when they’re not playing us #afcb

— Sophie 🍒 (@sophiebmth) July 21, 2020

Not tweeted about them before but #mancity are an absolute joy to watch when they’re not playing us #afcb

— Sophie 🍒 (@sophiebmth) July 21, 2020

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Regardless of what happens in the last 10 minutes, Villa have been excellent tonight. They knew it was a huge game and the players have responded. If we’d shown this level of urgency and intent against Saints, we might not be relying on others to slip up #afcb

— Rob Meech (@RobMeech) July 21, 2020

So will the championship class of '15 be taking a step down together five years after making the step up? #afcb #WatfordFC #ncfc

— Darryll Brewer (@djbsleepy) July 21, 2020

...if Villa win by one goal tonight but lose on Sun while we win, then again the -26 and -27 (us) would change around anyway. Any more than a 1 goal win for AV tonight and it gets complicated.
But we're not beating Everton anyway so it will all be moot!

— Jim Smith (@Jim_AFCB) July 21, 2020

Big call to play Brooks pays off

I was not expecting Eddie Howe to put David Brooks straight into the starting line up for the match against Cardiff City. Howe has always been cautious about youth being given its start when it comes to the first team. Bu Brooks seems mature beyond his tender years and he didn't disappoint.

Davis Brooks makes his Bournemouth debut in the 2-0 win over Cardiff City.

I am sure that Eddie Howe looked at Brooks' character and judged that he could handle the pressure of the debut and knew he wouldn't freeze. The manner of Brooks' calm play and clear thinking on the pitch has been a pleasure to watch already and it is going to be exciting to see how he develops at AFCB. He is already looking to be a special player and I don't think it will be long before we have a great chant for him as he is certain to be a regular starter after this first performance.

The game against Olympic Marseilles was Brooks ticket to start the match against Cardiff and while Brooks didn't get a goal to crown his debut he came pretty close with a stunning attempt at a header off of a thunderbolt cross from Ryan Fraser in the second half. Brooks will get easier chances as the season progresses, and it could be goals that Brooks brings in the way of assists that really will make him a team player in future months.

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It would have been easy for Howe to have played Jordan Ibe from the start and to hold Brooks back until the second half, but the manager was confident that Brooks was up to the challenge of playing the occasion as well as the game. Now Brooks is right in the middle of everything for AFCB and the future for him looks very bright. I also believe it will encourage players like Ibe and Stanislas to try and find an extra level to compete with Brooks on the right side which can only be further good news for Eddie Howe and AFCB. 

Looking at the pre-match videos on AFCBTV it seems the rest of the team will have to get their skates on if they are going to beat David Brooks into the dressing room on a match day - he was very keen to be there first which is great to see.

Do we need VAR in the game?

I managed to listen in on Eddie Howe's pre-match interview for Sky on the FA Cup match against Wigan Athletic last week when he was asked a question about Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology being brought into the Premier League. The first game was designated as the Brighton v Crystal Palace FA Cup game today, and Eddie Howe was quite forthright in admitting that he was yet to be convinced about VAR and did not want to see the game slowed down, as the speed of football in England was one of the aspects that make it so exciting and addictive to the worldwide audience. Well this week, I had an email sent to me by an avid fan of AFCB and Cherry Chimes who had been looking at how the Premier League could get more decisions right and he came up with another solution.

Have we enough officials or does VAR offer a better solution?

The reader in question is John who lives in Toronto, Canada. This is what he had to say.

"I watch lots of games, not only AFCB, and there is no doubt that there are many calls that are either missed or incorrect. However, is VAR the answer? We have seen video replay in NFL (U.S.) football, and it has been very disruptive. Originally limited to just scoring plays, it now goes to many other circumstances - in/out of bounds, catch/no catch, fumble/no fumble, positioning of the ball, etc. Some reviews can take a couple of minutes, lengthening the time of the game and stopping the natural flow. Furthermore, video replay cannot fix a bad or unclear rule. In the NFL, the definition of a clean catch has changed over the past few years, to the point that players and fans are never sure what is and what isn't, and referee rulings are inconsistent. So we go to replay and then come away dissatisfied with the result, because of a flawed rule. I relate this mostly to handball in the PL. The rule needs to be much more objective (intentional? natural position of the body/arm) because VAR would only put a spotlight on the issue.

"Tell me, has the notion of a second referee on the pitch ever been debated over there? Players are bigger, faster, and very clever, so wouldn't a second ref get a better look at the play? This was done in professional hockey, and while it took about a full season to streamline it (mostly, which referee made the call in any given circumstance), it does seem to work. I never hear any talk about a second referee, I assume it has come up at some point but been discarded?"

Thanks John for your views and questions. Personally, I am open to seeing what VAR will bring to the game and think it is something that is going to come in at some stage. What it is used for though is my big problem. I think it can only be used to decide if a foul is inside or outside the box at the moment unless technology can tell us something more about whether a player has dived or not.

On the point of two referees, I would like to see it trialled but I do wonder with three officials on the pitch and the fourth official at the moment they still don't get everything right. Would two referees improve things or would they argue about a decision? Would one have more power than the other one? And would we see every decision need the agreement of the two referees or only the big decisions?

I guess the whole idea of VAR and getting better refereeing decisions is always going to be a minefield in a game of opinions. I don't know the answers but I think it is important that fans as well as the governing bodies get the chance to debate these issues or the game will change in a way that the majority of fans are not happy about.

Please, let's have your comments on this if you feel strongly either way about VAR or any of the points raised in this post. You can even post anonymously in the comments section on the blog, but your voice will still be heard.