We don't want Zubar to swap Cherries for Bury

I would like to see Stephane Zubar in an AFCB shirt this season. I make no secret of the fact that I believe he was under used at the Cherries and could have been a mainstay of our defence if the dice had rolled more favourably for him.

It would sadden me to see him exit, but players come and go and I would wish him all the best if he goes to Bury FC. What also impressed me is you have never heard a bad word from Zubar when he has been out of the team at AFCB. He always got on with the job even if he was not selected and he followed a good number of supporters on twitter to show he was united with the fans in wanting to see AFCB do well. Even in pre-season he has been playing against the minor team fixtures to get his strength back up and to improve his fitness levels.

But will Howe have the means to be able to keep Stephane Zubar? Or is he one defender too many? Elliott Ward is supposed to be better than some of the defenders we have at the club already and yet he had a bit of a clanger against Real Madrid for one of their goals. I don't remember Zubar having any bad games for AFCB - quite the contrary.

I am hoping that the addition of Mohamed Coulibaly may provide a bit of a reason to keep Stephane as a French speaker he could help Coulibaly settle in more easily at AFCB. Kevin Blackwell has made no secret of his desire to capture Stephane having had him on loan at the club, at the need of last season. He is seeking quality and Zubar fits into that category for him in league two.

The decision on Zubar may come soon when Eddie decides who is surplus to requirements during August. We just haven't seen Zubar playing under Eddie Howe and I am one who believes Eddie could get more out of Stephane to show us that he is better than a league one player.

Via Tweeter Zubar intimated that he would be "looking forward to it" referring to his expected move to Bury on 15 July, but the deal is still waiting to be confirmed.

If Zubar does leave, the good news for the Cherries would be that we would have cut some of the wage bill and I expect a few more players to also be moved on in August. It intrigues me why more have not left the club yet. Only Jonathan Meades, Charlie Sherringham and Frank Demouge have trode this path over the summer and yet most of us expected a big trimming of the squad.

While rumours have come and gone about Tubbs, Arter and Ritchie being sought out by other clubs there have been no formal offers announced and the side looks a strong one that will enter the Championship.

Eddie Howe has even said that his business might not yet be over so you never know if a sensational signing is still to come to Dean Court.

End of the Dutch experiment?

This morning there were twitter reports that Frank Demouge would soon to be on his way to Roda JC having been on loan there since January 2013. Frank was signed as a major big name and as a signal for the direction that the club was hoping to go in when Groves was in charge of the team. It is hard to know if this was the manager's signing at the time of if AFCB's owners had been keen on the move for the Dutchman but you have to say that it did not work out.

Frank played just two games as I recall, the Walsall home game last year and the Crawley Town away match. We lost both games.

While we have several players that are probably not going to be required for next season it is a bit of a wonder why they have not yet been released. Some may well be on the transfer list but no mention has been made of anyone who has asked for a move.

Many fans attention will now turn to some of those other players who could be about to exit the club.

Fans predict Demouge set for early departure

Well we had some fun in seeing which players Cherry Chimes' readers would select as early departures from the club over the summer and top of the poll was striker Frank Demouge. Twitter has been going mad with his expected move to Roda JC in The Netherlands, but there is no official news of even a bid yet. Frank managed to get 80% of the vote so most of you do not expect to see him at Dean Court next season.

Poll closed - Which players will leave AFCB in the Summer?

Demouge	20 (80%)
Jalal	11 (44%)
Zubar	9 (36%)
Thomas	16 (64%)
McQuoid	4 (16%)
Tubbs	17 (68%)
Addisson	10 (40%)
Other	4 (16%)

Just nudging into second place is Matt Tubbs with 68% of the vote. While Crawley Town has long been linked with Tubbs return, again no bids have come in for the striker from what we have been told. Matt himself has said that he wants to be in the south as his family is settled here so a move to Rotherham seems to be ruled out.

Matt is closely followed by Wes Thomas in the poll on 64%. Current AFCB squad strikers are clearly not in favour with Cherry Chime readers. I have a feeling that there will be news on Wes Thomas sooner rather than later. Watch this space, as they say.

The Bristol City rumours certainly have pushed Shwan Jalal up the rankings for a swift move out of Dean Court and with opportunities being restricted it is possible that he will seek a loan move if he can't get into the squad.

Miles Addisson and Stephane Zubar are really the only others that raise a question with you, but I have only seen a couple of posts that Bury FC maybe being interested in Stephane, while know one has been shouting about being after Addisson's services.

Josh McQuoid may have got away with a low poll as I had a typo there in his surname! Sorry, Josh. Sadly, I can't edit the poll once someone has voted. Lesson learnt for me.

Those who were very observant will know that I could have added a few more star candidates like Harry Arter or Matt Ritchie but I am quite happy to let the rumours about our top players being targeted to die down a little.

You also seem not to have given many votes for others leaving the club although it is possible that such players as Donal McDermott, Wes Fogden or Joe Partington could at least be facing loan moves elsewhere.

AFCB surely have to move Frank Demogue on

It's hard to know what to make of our Dutch striker Frank Demogue and his credentials for playing in an AFCB team. Bought by the Cherries from FC Utrecht in a fanfare of enthusiasm by the club as a sign of its intent to be ambitious, under the Paul Groves reign in the summer of 2012, he has only played twice for AFCB. Things just don't seem right about the whole episode, even though AFCB claim that the signing was not a mistake.

If Demogue was brought with the intention of playing a big striker in League One he was perhaps unfortunate that his appearances against Walsall and Crawley are two of the most memorable defeats under Groves. Injured in the Crawley away game, Frank did not seem to impress Eddie Howe enough to ever regain a place in the side and come January this year he was probably very keen to go back to his homeland to play for Roda JC Kerkrade in the Eredivise league. Perhaps surprising to us AFCB fans he played pretty well in a team that finished in the bottom three, scoring 6 goals in just 9 games.

So what now? The Dutchman probably has fairly high wages and he will want to be playing as many games as he can now that he will be 31 this June. Will he look to stay at Roda and sign permanently? I am sure this is the scenario AFCB will be hoping for. While Frank gave all the signals that he wanted to play in England and was happy here, you kind of feel that he was unfancied by Eddie Howe.

If AFCB really wants to cut its wage bill, you would think that Frank will either be loaned out again or will surely be offered to clubs on a permanent deal this summer. Perhaps this will be one of the early announcements as the summer transfer dealings get underway.