Bournemouth look supreme in 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest

Match Report

AFCB 2 v 0 Nottingham Forest

24 November 2020

Bournemouth played the kind of football we dream of seeing them play in the first half. They took just three minutes to take the lead, when David Brooks picked out Junior Stanislas' run right down the middle and the former Burnley man made no mistake, putting Bournemouth 1-0. Nottingham Foret had to work incredibly hard to keep the score at 1-0 especially at the end of the first 45 minutes, when Brooks weaved in behind and pulled the ball back for Stanislas, who saw his shot cleared off the line. The game looked secure when Solanke went down from a challenge from Jack Colback and Stanislas grabbed his and Bournemouth's second from the penalty spot. Forest tried everything to get a goal, but the closest they came was a header from Yates that went over. Solanke might have been tripped for a second penalty right at the end, but it didn't matter that it wasn't given. This was just the 90-minute performance that Jason Tindall had been demanding.

Junior Stanislas scores his first goals of 2020-21 and helps Bournemouth to a 2-0 win.

Bournemouth made two changes with Adam Smith and Chris Mepham starting the game, while Diego Rico moved to the bench and Jack Stacey dropped out of the squad. Philip Billing also returned to the subs bench. It was also Steve Cook's 350th appearance for AFCB. Bournemouth also welcomed back Harry Arter and Lyle Taylor to Dean Court.

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Match description
Forest start well and attack, Arter shoots over. Bournemouth have hit back straight away with Brooks finding Stanislas and he scores in the corner on three minutes. Stanislas came from deep and ran right between the two centre-halves and put the ball past Samba, very cooly. Bournemouth go 1-0 up. It looked like one of the centre-backs slipped, but Stanislas took full advantage, latching on to Brooks pass and scoring his first goal of the season.

Yates goes right through Lewis Cook. Cook is taking a long breather. Lyle Taylor has forced a corner for Forest on 11 minutes. Lerma on the break and Brooks is up with him. Forest have it back.

Kelly loses the ball to Ameobi and Arter has a shot blocked. Christie puts a great cross in and Taylor gets ahead of Mepham but heads over. 

Danjuma turns well away from Christie, and has his shot blocked by Samba at the near post. So close to 2-0. The short corner doesn't come off and Lewis Cook fires wide from distance.

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Bournemouth have so much time on the ball. Christie puts a cross in but Steve Cook clears. Ameobi has a shot right at Begovic. Stanislas is working well across the midfield, getting Danjuma and Brooks involved. 

Bournemouth are buzzing around the Forest box, like busy honey bees. Ameobi has a shot blocked by Steve Cook. Lewis Cooks plays it forward to Brooks and Brooks turns and fires wide.

Ribeiro fouls Brooks. Stanislas robs the ball well for Bournemouth. Ameobi gets a good ball in but Arter heads wide. 

Lewis Cook is being given far too much space in the middle. Solanke goes for a long shot but gets no power in it.

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Bournemouth are caressing the ball beautifully around the pitch. Forest are standing off too far and are not really pressing Bournemouth.

Forest get some good possession but Christie's drilled cross is stepped over and finds its way safely to Begovic. 

Solanke wins a corner. Yates is fouled by Lerma. Two added minutes. Brooks along the byline and Stanislas has a shot cleared off the line, the follow up is also cleared. Scott McKenna beat Solanke to the ball on the line.

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Second half
Ameobi has fouled Lerma. Solanke keeps the ball well under pressure. Brooks, in the box, pulls it back for Stanislas but the shot goes wide. 

Adam Smith concedes a corner. Solanke goes over in the box and Jack Colback brought him down. It's a penalty. It was a tangle of legs. Bournemouth's first penalty in the Championship this season. Stanislas puts the penalty kick away 2-0 on 51 minutes. Stanislas sent the keeper the wrong way.

Danjuma wins a corner. Stanislas pulls a shot well over the bar. Danjuma then hits a shot over from distance.

Lolley passes across to Yates who soots well but Begovic makes the save, getting everything behind the ball.

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Forest have a corner taken by Arter but Brooks has it. The pass to Stanislas is overhit. Bournemouth clear another Forest corner. Lolley is subbed by Anthony Knockaert on 61 minutes.

Arter has won a corner. Great header out by Solanke. Ameobi gets a deflected shot away, corner. Ameobi goes for a shot from teh corner of the box but it's a good height for Begovic who saves and concedes the corner. Knockaert hits a ball to teh far post and Yates head over in the six-yard box. 

David Brooks comes off and Gosling is on after 71 minutes. Danjuma picks up a corner.  Arter is replaced by Guerrero on 76 minutes. 

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Rico is on for Lerma on 79 minutes. Gosling is carded for a foul Knockaert.

Bournemouth have a free kick in Brighton's half. Stanislas is taking it and hits the wall. Lewis Cook picks up a yellow card.

Riquelme replaces Danjuma on 90 minutes. Three additional minutes. Solanke goes down but there's no penalty. Colback clipped Solanke's heels.

Summary
Bournemouth are really slipping into their top gear now. As an attacking force, they look so confident that they are lining up to score goals. The movement and creativity is clear to see and with a clean sheet as well in this game, things are going well for the Cherries. At home, the Cherries remain unbeaten. What I liked most though about this performance is the way Bournemouth attacked on both flanks and looked equally dangerous on each side coming forward. Solanke is getting even better at holding up the ball and players are finding forward runs that are difficult to track for the opposition. Finally, it was great to see Junior Stanislas get off the mark with two goals and he is working well with Danjuma.

AFCB line-up

AFCB Subs: Travers, Rico, Simpson, Ofoborh, Gosling, Billing, Riquelme, Anthony, Surridge

AFCB player ratings: Begovic 6, A Smith 6,  S Cook 7, Mepham 6, Kelly 6, Brooks 7, Lerma 6,
L Cook 6, Stanislas 8, Danjuma 7, Solanke 7

Nottingham Forest
30 Samba, 2 Christie, 5 Ribeiro, 6 McKenna, 22 Yates, 8 Colback, 31 Arter (Guerrero 76), 11 Ameobi, 23 Lolley (Knockaert 61), 33 Taylor

Forest Subs: 12 Smith, 6 Mbe Soh, 16 Jenkinson, Cafu, 19 Guerrero, 28 Knockaert, 44 Ionnou, 48 Swan 

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Forest's former Cherries must be sent packing

Forest's former Cherries must be sent packing

Bournemouth seem to be on the right track after beating Reading, but now is when they need to make sure they are not complacent as they take on Nottingham Forest. The visit o Forest to Bournemouth will potentially see the return of a few former Cherries in Harry Arter, Lyle Taylor and Lewis Grabban. Managed by Chris Hughton, the former Brighton manager might have fewer fond memories of visiting Dean Court.

Harry Arter - one of the old boys who could be lining up against AFCB tonight.

Nottingham Forest have only won three games this season and while they have won two of their last three games those wins were at home. But it's just one point from their last three away games. Lyle Taylor is top scorer on four goals and he is now a well-travelled striker having played in Scotland for Falkirk and Partick Thistle, as well as having spells at Sheffield Utd, Scunthorpe, AFC Wimbledon and Charlton Athletic since his time at Bournemouth. He has also played 11 of Forest's 12 games and will be the main threat for Forest against Bournemouth.

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We have also seen Harry Arter move to Forest last summer. While he has only played six times for Forest, he will be pleased just to be in the squad if he can get back to see his mates at Dean Court. He was a sub in the last game against Barnsley, so could play a part in the game. 

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Forest also have former Brighton player Anthony Knockaert, who has had good Premier League experience at Brighton and Cyrus Christie who was in the Premier League with Fulham. Sammy Ameobi has been a sub of late, but he has also had top-level experience of the Premier League at Newcastle and is a nifty winger. Joe Lolley was also part of Huddersfield's team and will know Philip Billing well. Jack Colback played for Sunderland and Newcastle in the past, while defender Michael Dawson, was a regular in both Spurs' and Hull's teams a couple of years ago.

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Lewis Grabban has been injured, and the Forest website says he could be back to training next week - so this game comes too early for him. I think we are lucky that Grabban is not expected to play, as he would be hyped to play well against the Cherries.

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Hughton is not disappointed with the amount of chances that the team is creating, but they aren't taking their chances. Take Lyle Taylor's goals out of the team and they are really struggling. We know that Hughton's teams play good possession football and they will know everything about Bournemouth's game. The first goal as ever will be important and we need to see Bournemouth make a better start than they did in their last game.

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We could see Chris Mepham and Adam Smith come back into the starting line-up and the players to be rested could be Diego Rico and Junior Stanislas. Josh King is still sidelined having tested positive for COVID-19 after the international break, but Philip Billing is back in contention for this game.

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Bournemouth haven't had a good record against teams in the lower half with a draw against Derby and QPR and a defeat at Sheffield Wednesday. Coventry City was a good result, but Bournemouth have to keep their standards high against Nottingham Forest.

Nottingham Forest Away Form
LWDLL

AFCB Home Form
WDWDW

Possible AFCB line-up

AFCB Subs: Travers, Simpson, Rico, Stanislas, Billing, Ofoborh, Riquelme, Gosling, Surrridge

In other news, football fans in Tier 1 and 2 will be able to go back to see football games after 2 December. Up to 4000 fans at games in Tier 1 regions and 2000 fans in Tier 2 regions.

I spoke to @MrDore_ On Tour about the AFCB v Nottingham Forest game. You can watch the match preview here.

If only it was easy to keep finding lots of hidden Harry Arters

The departure of Harry Arter was not unexpected. While it seemed unlikely that he would play many more games for AFCB, he did play against Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup and it is a shame that performance wasn't in front of a home crowd. Now Harry goes to Nottingham Forest, and it is like he has said a passing goodbye having only been back this summer from his loan spell at Fulham.

Harry Arter departs for Nottingham Forest

I always felt that Harry Arter was one of the rocks around Eddie howe built this Bournemouth side. He was the grafter, the player that would run through walls for his manager and he never shirked a tackle. While he was disliked by opposition teams, any team would be delighted to have him in their team. He cared about doing well and his family tragedy only made him adored even more by Bournemouth fans, as he put the club first at times when he didn't have to.

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We will of course see other players at AFCB while Harry plays out his remaining years at Nottingham Forest and perhaps other clubs. But he will live long in our memories as a player that drove the club to the Premier League. For a player that cost £4,000 from non-league Woking, it was quite a dramatic rise to the Premier League. 

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While he enjoyed a big season with Fulham last season, it did seem like he had already left AFCB when he had been on loan at Cardiff City before that. For him to come back this summer was an unexpected pleasure for many of the Bournemouth players who were at the club when Harry was at his peak. But times move on and Harry has now departed for good, but I'll always see him in my mind as AFCB's number eight charging into tackles and urging his team-mates to do more. Best of luck Harry!

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Will AFCB transfer pair be picked for Carabao Cup?

Will AFCB transfer pair be picked for Carabao Cup?

The transfer window is far from closed and several Bournemouth players are attracting attention. Josh King is a major focus for Aston Vila but he has had other clubs also looking at him as well, and Harry Arter was most recently linked with Nottingham Forest but Harry's wages seem out of reach for them. So where does that leave AFCB and JT? Do you lay players that are likely to move on or do you stay focussed on the players you know are going to have a full season with AFCB?

Josh King is a Bournemouth player but for how long?
Should he be played while he awaits a move to another club?

For the Carabao cup game against Man City I think it is okay to play King and/or Arter if JT thinks it will give the team a better chance of winning, and if it gives other players a rest so that they are fresher for the weekend league match. It is fair to say that the players would be cup-tied if they did play, but if this didn't put off suitable buyers then Bournemouth can use the situation to their advantage.

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Both players seem to have always wanted the best for AFCB and as two senior players, I think both Arter and King would offer their services if Jason Tindall asked them to play. If you are a footballer you want to play games and it would be a good run out for them both as long as it did not deprive other Bournemouth players who need the match fitness.

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This is where I expect JT is in his thinking. It will only be a situation where he can ask King or Arter to play if he feels some of the players like Ofoborgh, Lewis Cook, Philip Billing, Julian Anthony, and Sam Surridge don't need to play. I wouldn't be surprised if King and Arter were in the squad for the Carabao Cup, but if they are left out we can probably expect them to be sold very soon.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth still lack game management

Has Tindall inherited a great youthful squad?

The Carabao Cup win was another fabulous result for Bournemouth. It was even better as a performance and the remarkable thing is that two of the players were making their full debut while at the other end Harry Arter and Asmir Begovic are senior pros. It just might be that Hason Tindall has inherited the manager's job at just the right time with a good crop of young players coming through and no big egos to slow their development.

Tindall may well have inherited the best squad of young players in a while.

The youthful players also played very well against West Ham in the pre-season friendly. We saw Jordan Zemura and Nnamdi Ofoborh win their first full-team debuts against Crystal Palace and they fitted in very well. The young players are having to learn their trade with now crowd support which should be challenging for them, but they are coping better than AFCB did as a team in the last nine games of last season. The team spirit is often not considered that much compared to formations and how individuals are performing, but this team is looking very much together, and results like a win in a long penalty shootout are only going to strengthen the bonds.

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Going into the match against Crystal Palace it looked difficult for the AFCB players on paper, especially thinking of how the team last played at home against Palace. But the mental side of the players that went out to represent the Cherries was spot on under Tindall. They didn't give an inch and dominated the game. In fact, they looked like the Premier League team with 17 shots compared to four from Crystal Palace. The challenge will be more difficult up at Man City, but the players are impressing and JT has them playing with confidence which is great to see.

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Whether AFCB can keep the rotation going and maintain the wins is the task now. The away performances had not been good in 2020 up until the win at Everton, so the match against Middlesborough is another chance or players to impress the new manager and see if they can keep their standards high. I must admit the team has performed to a much higher standard than I had expected before the start of the season and it is great to see so many of them doing well and fitting into the team when changes are made. 

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At the moment there are lots of positives and let's hope that continues for AFCB.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Penalty dramas in AFCB Carabao Cup win

SKY SPORTS EFL Podcast - The EFL is back with a bang

Penalty dramas in AFCB Carabao Cup win

Carabao Cup

Second Round

AFCB 11 v 10 Crystal Palace

15 September 2020

 
AFCB doesn't do dull cup games. Sam Surridge had netted in the first half but was judged to be offside when he netted in the first half. The decision might have been different had VAR been available in the Carabao Cup. This game against Crystal Palace may have had a 0-0 scoreline after 90 minutes, but most of the drama was still to happen with a penalty shoot out that went right up to 11-10. Begovic thought he had lost the game when he took the Cherries 11 penalty which was saved only for Palace's keeper, Hennessey, to also miss his spot-kick. It was left for Milivojevic to have his penalty saved, by Begovic, to see Bournemouth through to play Man City in the third round. 

Begovic plays a major part in AFCB's penalty shoot out.

AFCB brought in Harry Arter and Asmir Begovic for the Crystal Palace match, along with Sam Surridge upfront. Meanwhile, there were first caps Nnamdi Ofoborh and Jordan Zemura. David Brooks also played just behind Surridge as the top of the midfield diamond. It was also a big night for Lloyd Kelly who was made skipper for the night.

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AFCB's match highlights from AFCB website
Zemura makes his presence known on his professional debut as he clatters the ball against Palace's Nya Kirby, winning a goal-kick. The wing-backs Stacey and Zemura are holding very high and wide positions when the Cherries have the ball, creating gaps for David Brooks to work in.

The Welsh international has got on the ball on both sides of the pitch in the early stages of the match and is trying to dictate the tempo. The corner is just about cleared by Palace but the likes of Lewis Cook and Harry Arter refuse to give up the chase and win the ball back, the latter hitting it from distance. A comfortable save for Hennessey.

Meanwhile, Milivojevic needs treatment after a 50/50 but the Palace captain is good to continue.

A solid opening 20 minutes so far, AFCB on top. Save by Begovic! Palace win the ball in the Cherries half and Eze looked set to get a shot off in the box, but for a great tackle by Billing who made sure he tracked back.

The ball falls to Kirby who shoots on the turn and strikes it fairly well, forcing Begovic to push the low effort behind for a corner. Surridge heads away the corner.

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Meanwhile, Zemura makes a great run past two players into the box, he finds Surridge who tries to flick it into his path again but gets it slightly wrong. Simpson heads wide from a corner, our seventh of the match so far. He won the flick on at the near post but couldn't get it back enough to hit the target. The Cherries thought they were ahead as Sam Surridge tucked home from inside the box but the offside flag was up.

AFCB won the ball in the Palace half, Brooks ran towards the box before slipping in Surridge who opened up his body to side-foot past the 'keeper. The replays showed it was tight, proven by the gasps in the press box. Brooks and Surridge are linking up well.

The former finds Surridge running down the channel. He's dragged across two players as he ran towards the box, opening up space for Brooks to hare into. The pass from Surridge is too powerful though as Brooks is only able to direct it at goal and it ran narrowly wide.

Palace send a ball across the box that Kirby can't divert towards goal. Close - Zemura has been really impressive on the left and he uses the run of Billing to cut inside and clip a great cross towards Surridge, the forward just unable to connect with it.

Google HT stats
AFCB 59% possession, 5 shots, 2 shots on target, 285 passes, 85% passing accuracy, 6 corners, 4 fouls

Palace 41% possession, 1 Shot, 1 shot on target, 205 passes, 79% passing accuracy, 1 corner, 5 fouls

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Second half
The second half has started much like the first, the Cherries have dominated the ball and won a corner. Brooks' shot is deflected behind. Simpson rises above Hennessey but the Welshman manages to touch it against the Cherries defender to deflect it behind. Good defending by Palace stops Jack Stacey from getting a second goal in as many games.

The Cherries have played some lovely stuff in this second half, Brooks at the centre of everything as the likes of Stacey finding great areas. It has forced Palace into two substitutions: Jeffrey Schlupp and Sam Woods replaces by Jordan Ayew and Mamadou Sakho.

Surridge is fed the ball on the half-turn in the box but is tackled. It drops to Stacey who cuts inside to open space but a great block stops him firing into the net. Close! It was that man Stacey again. Hennessey maked a good save that just avoids Brooks for the rebound. It's the last action for Stacey as he's replaced by Jefferson Lerma. Brooks clips in a free-kick from the edge of the box and a defensive header drops to Harry Arter. The midfielder connects sweetly enough but can't keep it down.

Jack Stacey's replacement, Jefferson Lerma, has dropped into the back three, featuring as the right-sided centre-back. That has pushed Ofoborh up to right wing-back. Andros Townsend comes on for Nya Kirby.

Begovic is tested for the first-time in second half as he's forced to catch the ball in the Cherries box. It is a much more experienced Palace line-up on the field now and they are starting to get their foot on the ball more as a shot from distance flies high and wide.

Lewis Cook is replaced by Dan Gosling for the final 20 minutes. Gosling comes on for Lewis cook. Dominic Solanke replaces Harry Arter for the final minutes. In his first Cherries appearance in 972 days, Arter has impressed.

Asmir Begovic shouts 'keep it' from goal as the Cherries manoeuvre around the pitch. Solanke shoots which is blocked, it falls to Brooks to touches it to Ofoborh in a good position but he skews his shot wide of the near post.

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Zemura lifts the ball over the defender and races away, in a dangerous move for the Cherries. However, Martin Kelly brings him down and receives a yellow.

Google stats
AFCB 17 shots, 3 on target, 63% possession, 572 passes, 85% passing accuracy, 7 fouls, 10 corners

Palace four shots, one shot on target, 37 %, 349 passes, 78% passing accuracy, 10 fouls, 2 corners

Penalties: Brooks scores 1-0 AFCB, Milivojevic scores 1-1, Surridge 2-1, Batshuayi 2-2, Billing makes it 3-2, Townsend 3-3, Kelly makes it 4-3, Come on Begovic! Eve makes it 4-4, Yeah Solanke scores 5-4,  Ayew 5-5, Simpson 6-5, Come on Begovic make the save, Meyer 6-6, Long Night this - Man City must be anxious who they are going to get. Gosling 7-6, Sakho 7-7, Lerma 8-7, Kelly 8-8, Ofoborh 9-8, Inniss scores 9-9, Zemura 10-9, Jach make sit 10-10, Begovic has his kick saved!! Hennessey misses still 10-10. Brooks 11-10, Milivojevic 's penalty is saved! Bournemouth win through to the next round to play Man City.

AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Travers, Lerma, Gosling, Kilkenny, Anthony, Solanke 

Crystal Palace
13 Hennessey, 34 Kelly, 35 Woods, 45 Inniss, 33 Jach, 37 Kirby, 7 Meyer, 4 Milivojevic, 25 Eze,15 Schlupp, 23 Batshuayi

Palace Substitutes
9 J Ayew, 10 Townsend, 12 Sakho, 19 Henderson, 22 McCarthy, 27 Mitchell, 40 Pierrick

Finally some good AFCB news

Since Bournemouth's relegation to the Championship it has been a case of who is going to follow Eddie Howe out the door? While the tam has already seen the sale of Nathan Aké, it may be that they do get to keep hold of one of their young stars in Lloyd Kelly, or at least we now know he is unlikely to be going to Merseyside.

Lloyd Kelly might just be a player AFCB can hold on to.

This comes after the Athletic reported that Michael Edwards was annoyed at being out maneuvered by Lloyd Kelly's agent last summer when Bournemouth came in late to grab Kelly from Bristol City for £13m, right under the noses of Liverpool. if Bournemouth can keep hold of Kelly, he would be the ideal player to build a strong defence around, having himself showed his adaptability to play at left back or centre-half.

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While Lloyd Kelly might be staying with Liverpool turning their attention to Jamal Lewis instead, Bournemouth fans may also be heartened by the news that Ryan Fraser has found that both Arsenal and Spurs are unlikely to give him the 100,000 a week contract he was hoping for. He has been considering offers from Crystal Palace and Fulham which are more likely to be in the 50,000 a week range. This is considerably less than what he is believed to have been offered at Bournemouth, reports The Sun.

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Perhaps Bournemouth's bad luck is finally coming to an end. It's been a torrid time and supporters desperately need to hear some better news, although I'm not sure that anyone is overjoyed about John Terry applying for the vacant manager's job at AFCB.

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Bournemouth fans might have more chance of seeing Harry Arter walking around Dean Court again though. Fulham did not trigger the buy clause in his loan contract as he didn't play enough games for them. This still leaves Arter with a year to go on his AFCB contract. Have the football gods got tired of punishing AFCB?

In other news, Sheffield United's £12m bid for Aaron Ramsdale is rejected, reports
The Daily Mail.
Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Artur doesn't get to say goodbye but we love him

Has AFCB's best candidate for manager just won promotion to the Premier League?

Following the play-off defeat for Brentford to Fulham, AFCB's directors may well be devastated that they will be unable to entice Scott Parker to Dean Court to take the vacant manager's position. The prospect would have started to sound very exciting, if brother-in-law and former Cherry Arter also came back but Scott Parker, like Motherwell's Steve Robinson, can now be ruled out.

Who wants to be the next manager at AFCB?

Fulham play an attractive brand of football and that is why Parker had been linked to the job and he could have brought one or two players with him. The problem for Bournemouth is that people are keener to rule themselves out rather than in for the job, It is a tough task to follow Eddie Howe and it could leave Bournemouth in a spot, if they can't identify the best candidate quickly.

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Steven Robinson would also have been a good pick, having done so well with Motherwell, but he told the Daily Record that he wasn't interested in leaving Motherwell. The chat on BBC Radio Solent on Sunday night also talked about Mark Moseley at Weymouth but suggested it was too big a step up and that Stephen Purches was probably the best placed Bournemouth coach to be a manager.

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While the board hasn't made any noise about their preferred candidate, they may be forced to go for an inside candidate as their potential targets are being whittled away. Of the other outsiders, Gareth Ainsworth might be the romantic pick, but he hasn't managed in the Championship before and he would probably like to continue with Wycombe, just like Eddie Howe wanted to get Bournemouth as high as he could.

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The list of candidates to me isn't that exciting and that is perhaps the real problem for Bournemouth. They need a reason to get fans excited again and they may struggle to find a candidate with that CV.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - What is Howe's legacy?

Who plays next to Lerma?

The central midfield area is a little light for the Cherries. Now that Gosling is out of the picture and Harry Arter is probably up for grabs in the loan market this week, it is more or less a straight choice between Andre Surman and Philip Billing to take the space next to Jefferson Lerma, although Nnamdi Ofoborh has played really well in the games I have seen over the summer and there are reports that AFCB could be in for Spurs' Victor Wanyama.

Philip Billing will be hoping to be picked for the first game against Sheffield Utd.

The match against Lyons gave us a good opportunity to see what Billing could do. He spread the ball very well to the wide areas and was not afraid to play the off long ball which was accurate and put Bournemouth on the front foot. He did find himself chasing back on the wrong side a couple of times against Lyons' quick breaks, but it was a solid enough performance for a player that hadn't been with the squad more than a couple of days.

Eddie Howe knows what he is getting though if he chooses Andrew Surman to play next to Lerma. The senior statesman of the team has been carefully worked through pre-season without playing too many games. He looked as tuned in as ever against Lazio on the Friday night, and it is interesting that Surman played next to Lerma in this game. It could be the way Howe is thinking of going at least against Sheffield United.

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Lerma is a shoe-in as far as I can see. His goal against Lyons just sealed his top pedigree and it is for the others to get up to a similar standard. What will be good to see is whether Billing can get in the team early on instead of Surman and then what happens when Lewis Cook returns to fitness. It should be quite a contest and Ofoborh is learning quickly from being around these players.

Personally, I'd like to see Arter kept until January to make sure Bournemouth have cover for any more injuries. Sadly, I expect Howe will want him out on loan or sold in this window, because an unhappy Harry Arter on the bench is not perhaps not good for the team. Harry will want to play and if Howe can't give him that guarantee of a chance then Harry will want to play for a team that will give him playing time.

The real unknown is whether Bournemouth could land Victor Wanyama who is 28 and picked u a knee injury in the Audi Cup recently, says the Sun. If Bournemouth were to splash out on this signing it would be a big name to bring in and a bit of a jolt to the kind of players that Howe usually goes for. I have been crying out for a quality signing and Wanyama would be a super signing to give more protection to their leaky defence.

In other news, AFCB are said to be in talks with Liverpool for a loan deal for Henry Wilson according to the Daily Mail and Liverpool Echo. Meanwhile, Swansea are hoping to take Sam Surridge on loan.

Where will Arter end up?

With the signing of Philip Billing looking to be over the line, attention has turned to Harry Arter and the possibility of him heading off to Fulham to join brother-in-law Scott Parker on loan. Harry has played in the full pre-season for AFCB, but with another central midfielder coming to Dean Court, it is clear that Arter sees his future elsewhere, and with Fulham being a London club, it works out well for him and his family who have been living in London over the last year.

The Daily Mail has judged that Arter is worth £8m and that AFCB would sell, but Fulham would have to sell other players to buy Arter, so a loan deal is most likely. While Bournemouth have sold a few players this summer there is less need to bring in cash for every player and with Arter not being part of the clubs plans for more than a year, having spent a year on loan at Cardiff, he looks to be running out his contract on loan.

Harry Arter is expected to find a new home for next season.

However, there is said to be interest from Stoke City which is an intriguing twist. AFCB had signalled an interest in Jack Butland but didn't come to an agreement on a transfer fee. Could a deal for After be done whereby that was taken off the valuation for Butland? Sheffield United and Cardiff City are also thought to be interested in AFCB's old number eight.

Playing with the number 88 shirt this season was one thing that brought a smile to fans faces this summer. Arter loves his number eight which he had at AFCB for many seasons before Jefferson Lerma took it last summer. The midfielder might get it back at a new club, but played with the number seven shirt at Cardiff last year.

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It has at least been good to see Arter running in his usual industrial style again over some of the pre-season games. His performances are still very high and it has been like a long goodbye for fans. Time will perhaps be up though on his AFCB career this week.

In other news, Philip Billing joined AFCB yesterday and is the third signing this summer.

Cherry Chimes helps with a season preview on AFC Bournemouth with the Radio Times.