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
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AFCB Home Form
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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.

Transfer watch - early days for AFCB

Eddie Howe is very keen to get the right personnel in for the new season and not too many additions. After one failed bid for Danny Ings the phone lines have gone very quiet, but behind the scenes I am sure activity is in full swing to find a new striker and possibly another defender. Our midfield looks pretty strong, so Eddie might not look to do business in this area this summer.

It's down to business for Eddie and Jason.

There are a few players that Howe is probably considering if the Ings deal is a dead one. A player that he has worked with before is Lyle Taylor who signed for AFCB in 2010 and has had a big season in Scottish First Division. Lyle would be a slightly cheaper option and is of similar age to Danny and has been quickly gaining experience at Falkirk. Is he now a different player to what we saw at AFCB?

Don't be surprised if Eddie and Jason have also been looking at young stars in League One like Febian Brandy at Walsall (Crawley Town), Adam Rooney (Swindon) or Sam Baldock (Bristol City). If Eddie is looking for more of a powerful player one of the candidates could be Leon Clarke who is currently at Coventry City, but I still think Eddie will encourage Wes Thomas to mend bridges and fulfil this role in the squad. I can hear you all groaning!

I don't believe Eddie's budget will enable him to go after the likes of Charlie Austin, but if he can look at experienced players in the Championship I expect he would be checking on David McGoldrick (Ipswich - played on loan at AFCB in 2007), Dexter Blackstock (Nottingham Forest) or Dwight Gayle (Peterborough), but the Fair Play rules will inhibit AFCB from making really big signings.

Of the young defenders in the Championship that caught they eye last year, Sam Byram (Leeds) is one candidate that stood out, but Leeds would demand a high price for the 19 year old. Tottenham's Adam Smith may become available again after his loan period with Millwall ended this summer and is a player AFCB know well.

Central defenders with experience could be poached from north of the boarder like Craig Barr (Livingston) or Craig Reid  (Morton). It's very hard to know how wide Eddie might cast the net in his search.

If permanent signings are what the club wants, then I would expect them to try and conclude deals before the Zurich pre-season match. If so, expect some activity in the next two weeks.

However, it's the loan market where Eddie might look to do more of his business and why we have not seen any activity so far. He'll be waiting for the latter part of the transfer window, when the loan moves are usually sorted out. It may be that this is also the way in which Eddie will look to whittle down our current crop of players by allowing several to be loaned out.

One that got away - Lyle Taylor

To some extent it did not surprise me that former Cherries player Lyle Taylor managed to have a sensational season for Falkirk in Scottish League Division One. He scored 29 goals in total, 24 of which were in the league making him the second highest scorer in the division. This gave him a place in the PFA's Scottish League One Team of the Year, announced yesterday.

It doesn't half make you wonder, did someone make a mistake in letting him go to early at AFCB? Lyle was bought by Eddie Howe and AFCB in 2010 when he played for Concord Rangers in the Isthmian League One as a 20 year old. I don't think many of our supporters knew that the Essex club existed before Lyle appeared on the scene. He had a great record for Concord Rangers (The Beach Boys) scoring 34 goals in 42 games.

Now Lyle is 23 years old and looks set for the big time, although he struggled to make his mark when he played in Red & Black. He always had startling pace and was a handful for slow centre backs, but it's his finishing prowess has made him quite a star north of the border. Was a sell on clause in his contract when he signed for Falkirk? No, it seems it was a free transfer!

This goes to show that while a player may not suit a manager or a team at one time they can go on to prove themselves more than capable somewhere else. Like many AFCB supporters I suspect, I am only too pleased that Lyle has done well as he always put in 100 per cent whenever I saw him on the pitch at Dean Court. It was just that he never got a good run in the team and was then sent out to Lewis, Woking and Hereford Utd on loan at the end. Did Lyle just need another year to bed in with us or did we simply not have the time to wait? Sadly, clubs have to make decisions to let players go even if they feel the player will succeed and for Lyle it has done wonders for his career to make that move. 

Now what is the betting that Charlie Sherringham might do something similar? I see AFC Wimbledon are considering a move for the Dartford FC front man.

Sadly we haven't all got a crystal ball and some fish do slip through the net, even when they have been landed.