How important is promotion from the Championship for AFCB?

We have heard that a lot of the large clubs that have been stuck in the Championship for several years are being hit financially every season with falling revenues and having to compete against those with bigger parachute payments from the Premiership. But for a club like Bournemouth is it imperative that the club gets promoted in the next couple of years if it is to develop and thrive? 

Does greater success mean everything?

I am in two minds about this. In many ways it will clearly be an advantage financially for the club and the owners if it does succeed in winning promotion to the Premiership. Even if the club did badly at that level the financial benefits are huge. But what if AFCB become one of the teams to get stuck in the Championship for the next 10 years? Personally, I would not see it as a failure for a club of 10,000 supporters and having been a mainly League One team for most of its history a prolonged spell in the Championship offers plenty of rewards for some of us long suffering fans.

The thought of relegation though to League One does not worry me so much from a football point of view. I am sure that the football in League One remains good viewing. It is the financial cost of dropping back down that would be my first worry. Having built up the club to have some well paid players and a strong infrastructure there would be a cost-cutting exercise if the unthinkable were to happen in the next couple of years. As it is, the club needs to reduce its losses and yet it is in a higher division that it has been for most of its existence.

That kind of puts the pressure on Eddie Howe and Maxim Demin to deliver something that has never been achieved for this south coast club before. We know it is possible but it may seem somewhat unimaginable to many who have seen the likes of Southampton, Brighton and Portsmouth in the top flight, but never considered that AFC Bournemouth could one day be knocking on that door. Somethings will have to go right in terms of not only results but getting the right players and improving on what has already been achieved, but I think it has to be the club's ambition now.

Willo said the other day that he felt the team will be capable of the play-offs next season and while I don't feel it will be a disappointment if the club falls outside the top 10 next May and survives another season at this level, there will be more onus on the team to hit the levels of consistency it managed in the second half of last season.

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Eddie is our King!

There was a pleasant smile on my face and a warm feeling at the end of the match against QPR. The North end was in full chorus singing "Eddie is our King" and you could tell that there was much mutual respect going on as Eddie was applauding the home crowd for their fabulous support. I don't remember a more noisy crowd than that at Dean Court in recent years. As the teams had come out it was a raucous statement of AFCB's support and QPR fans must have known this would be no easy game with Bournemouth fully up for this match.

Thumbs up again from Eddie - another three points.

It was Eddie Howe's preparation and tactical skill during the match though that made a big difference to the result. He was waving away at this players signalling for them to push up and make more space. He did not panic when AFCB were under big pressure and by half time Bournemouth had the lead that they so desired.

While Reading won at the weekend to make Bournemouth's task more difficult to overhaul them it may not be a bad thing that AFCB have remained out of the spotlight. Everyone is still talking about Leicester gaining promotion after QPR's defeat and not about Bournemouth who remain in 10th place and level on points with three other teams who after the weekend's results are perhaps more aware than most of Bournemouth's late rise up the league.

Eddie Howe will not be resting with a 10th place finish. Believe me, he wants that sixth place and he will be thinking already how he can achieve that. If it all goes wrong against Reading know one will blame him for taking his side so far and to get within six games and five points of a play-off place. The Cherries know that they can live with anyone in the Championship and it bodes well for the remaining games and for next season wherever they play their football. What we do know is that it will not be in League One and that already makes Eddie Howe a hero for me. 

Eddie has the team buzzing!

All Eddie can say to his players now is let's aim to win the remaining games and let's see where that takes us. It just maybe that the media will not be able to ignore AFCB when it comes to 3rd May.

We have added some more away day pictures to our Facebook page - if you down load the mobile app for Cherry Chimes you can check them out easily.

Meanwhile, All Departments has released its Kangaroo Court to report on another great day for the Cherries as they beat QPR 2-1 at Dean Court. You can visit Michael Dunne's podcast at All Departments or scroll down the right hand panel to listen to the sound bar or listen via Cherry Chimes mobile app.

Fixture watching

You can't help at this stage of the season but to have a quick sneak or is it a desperate glance at the league table to see how others in and around you are doing as the matches come thick and fast. Even Eddie Howe admitted a few games ago that he looks at the table, while other managers always deny it. Sadly, it might not be giving Eddie as much pleasure as it was four games ago but we are still close enough to be a contender for promotion. 

On Tuesday night there were several games that I hoped would go AFCB's way, if there is such a thing when we are not even playing. Stevenage Borough were at home to Brentford and I hoped that Stevenage could do us a favour by slotting a few goals passed the Bees, even though they had lost their last five including a 2:0 away defeat to Brentford only last month.

Of course, all my prayers would be answered if Doncaster feel victim to a goal hungry FC Franchise team who seem to be the current draw specialists having drawn three and lost four of their last seven games. In fact, MK Dons hadn't won since before their FA Cup run ended. You can see why I wasn't feeling that confident of anyone doing AFCB a favour with the form of Stevange and Doncaster.

Still any help was welcome, but it was a real surprise to see both games go AFCB's way. What I find hard to fathom is while we are in a run of poor results, no team has really put their mark on winning the League One title at this stage. If Doncaster come a cropper at the Goldstands Stadium on Saturday, and yes I know that may seem unlikely considering the Cherries' form and Donny's recent form (excluding last night) and our pitch, things will close up again.

Things may go our way in a few of the games that other teams play for the rest of the season, but in the end the league does not lie they say and AFCB players have to earn that place in the top six. It wouldn't surprise me if we are all out of favours from here on in.

It's a real scramble for points now

Simon Francis admitted this week that "it is a tight at league" this season. When you have eight clubs that are split by just eight points, between these sides after 31 to 33 matches played, you know it's a tight fight for promotion. But is that a good thing? Is our league a strong league or does it mean that sides are too inconsistent and prone to defensive mistakes? Should we blaming the managers or the players or are there other reasons for the league looking the way it does at the moment?

If you look at the managerial changes in the division it is quite worrying how many teams have changed their managers in the last 12-18 months, but many of them seem to have been for the better. Yes, you can say Eddie Howe and Bournemouth are the clear winners in this respect, but you have to say men that know there club inside out are the ones that are heading up the league this year. Roonnie More at Tranmere who only returned to the club last March for his third go at the job. Yeovil too went back to a tried and trusted solution in Gary Johnson who returned last January to help out Terry Skiverton. Of course changes haven't worked for every club immediately when you look at Colchester, Portsmouth (perhaps a special case any way) and Scunthorpe, I expect you could name some others as well. Be warned Swindon Town - oh, too late.

Many of the clubs that were leading the way before the Christmas period have also dropped their form or rather others have stepped up their level. Those that have drifted include MK Dons, Stevenage, Notts County and Crawley but they are not so far to be out of the play-off places by the end of the season in my opinion. We are not quite at the run-in stage but a series of wins in February and March could still make the table look very different heading into April. The bottom teams will also be fighting for their lives so there are going to be one or two strange results to come.

I don't see this as a weakness that so many teams are still in with a chance of having something to play for well into the final part of the season. It means our league is very competitive and perhaps harder to get out of at the top than many would have imagined at the start in August. We haven't heard the much often quoted "It's a marathon, not a sprint" quote pulled out yet, but it will be used by at least one manager who tries to steady their ship after a series of defeats before we reach the last crucial games. The runners are preparing to enter the final few laps but someone will make a break that will split the leading pack. Let's just hope that AFCB are either making the move or have it covered.

If you are clever enough to know which three clubs are going to be promoted this year you have the chance to vote in the Cherry Chimes poll - over there on the side bar. I might just change my mind a few more times before AFCB go to visit Tranmere - well, you can't blame me for that can you?