Tap-ins aren't for Charlie Daniels

When Kelly Somers interviewed Charlie Daniels after his epic man of the match performance against Norwich she commented that he offered the most understated appraisal of his own talent. Indeed, I don't think Charlie knows just how good he can be at times and in a way that is good for AFCB as Eddie Howe will keep pushing him even further to get even more out of him.

Charlie Daniels fires in another penalty kick.

Charlie has had to find a way of stepping up and like Marc Pugh and Junior Stanislas on the left side he has made the grade, through hard work and self belief. He may not outwardly state that he is pleased with how he is doing, but he raises a smile when asked about his run down the wing to make the third goal for AFCB against Norwich. "Yeah, that was good," is all that Kelly could get out of Charlie, but the fans know that it was better than just good and the ball he played into Benik was something special.

It is hard to imagine that Charlie along with a lot of his team-mates has come so far from when he first joined the club from Leyton Orient in League One. Many of our fans were doubting whether any of the players brought in when Eddie had departed for Burnley were going to be any good. All they needed was some organisation and some good coaching. The raw talent was always there and now it is flourishing.

Charlie has been among the goals this season too. I think he is probably the best person to take penalties in the side as while he has hit the woodwork twice now on his way to scoring from the spot against WBA and Norwich, the big pressure moments like that don't seem to worry him one bit. He is so calm and focussed that he only wants to hit the most accurate penalty he can and boy does he thump the ball hard!   

Getting a goal from open play is probably next on his tick list and while he came close to winning a penalty against Norwich when he went on a solo run, he is always looking to get a shot away. I thought if he had hit his shot lower against Adrian in the West Ham goal the other day, he may have got on the score sheet that day. But his fearsome shot is always exciting to see unleashed. Tap-ins just aren't for Charlie. 

Artur - sign here for the Cherries in the Premier League

There was an interview with Artur Boruc on the pitch and a lot of comments calling for him to stay, following the last game of the season, as the goalkeeper is due to go back to Southampton before breaking up for the summer after a great season with AFCB. He and AFCB fans I believe would like to extend his period at Dean Court with a permanent contract in the summer and if that happens it is likely to be the first summer signing of the Cherries as they look to go on their debut season in the Premier League.

Artur has shown that he is ready to play back
in the Premier League and why not at AFCB?

Artur has made some magnificent saves while he has been on the south coast and while he does have his faults in regards to distribution and sometimes seems to misjudge his decisions to come out and narrow the angles, he is an excellent shot stopper and catches crosses with natural calmness and authority. Having been in the Premier League he is the kind of signing that AFCB should be looking to attract to the club because that experience is something the team will need.

It was unusual that the subs bench on the final day had Ryan Allsop in his tracksuit as the number two. It is players like Ryan that could learn so much in the presence of Artur that is important for the development of the club. One or two big named players could undoubtedly come to the club over the summer and it is down to those already hear to try and show that they are worth their place in the squad and to battle for the shirt. The club has moved on fast and Premier League clubs tend to loan out many of their players and while Eddie Howe has done that with some individuals including Ryan I welcome the likes of Artur Boruc pushing the club on further to challenge those players that are already at Dean Court to raise their game.

The goalkeeper is a specialist position and I don't think that any of the Premier League teams can afford to have an inexperienced keeper between the sticks. Artur has all the attributes needed and AFCB's goal coaching staff should be able to work on what Artur needs to improve on to make him Poland's number one keeper again.

Artur was met with only one cry at the Victory Parade -
Sign him up, sign him up, sign him up!

In Artur's own words on the pitch at Charlton he signed off saying to Kelly Somers: "I would love to be here next season." 

When asked if where the medal around his neck ranked in his career achievements he said."I'm proud of it I'm proud of it. Hopefully next year we can get something similar in the Premier League."

New Football Trivia App
I was contacted by Ronan Murphy yesterday, who is a former performance analyst staff member at AFC Bournemouth. He has recently launched a football app called Know Football which is the first and only turn based football trivia app on the App Store and it's free to download - please give it a try and see if you know more about AFCB than your mates! It is only available on the itunes app store at the moment, but an Android version is also being worked on I'm told.

Know Football is for people that love football and love their clubs. Users can log in via Facebook, see their friends and challenge them to matches. Players face a football pitch graphic and have to answer football trivia questions correctly in order to complete passes and move up a pitch and score goals against their mates. Strategically, users select easy, medium or hard questions and then choose a question category, with club specific question packs available.