Keep a lid on it - the Cherries are looking strong

It's easy to get carried away with one good performance. AFCB's first league match of the season though resonated right across the Championship with them scoring four goals away from home. Some will say that Huddersfield just had an off day, but I disagree. There was more to it than that and it does not credit AFCB with a strong performance if you just say Huddersfield were poor. I have always felt that Huddersfield will be a mid-placed team this season. However, I felt sad for Mark Robins on Sunday morning though as I heard that he had left Huddersfield Town. Nobody likes to see someone lose their job and on the first day of the season seems particularly harsh. If Robins was not the man for the Terriers I would have thought he could have been released at the end of last season, not after a summer of preparations and a first day defeat, but that is something for Huddersfield fans to consider.

Harry Arter and Yann Kermorgant do some stretching.

It is clear though that AFCB dominated for large periods of the game without playing at their very best in my opinion. There is room for improvement and Huddersfield did not look like they would get many good chances to sneak a goal and that is what makes AFCB a different prospect to last season if they can continue in that fashion.

I have been questioning about the decision not to being in a new central defender to add to the squad, but I can see that the more time Howe and Tindall have with the current players at the back the better they seem to understand what is needed to keep a clean sheet. They held their line so much better than in many games that I saw last season. The defending was stout and strong in front of the back four as well. Howe was perhaps surprising for his selection of both O'Kane and Arter starting having played Gosling in many of the pre-season friendlies. The choice was a good one as Arter and O'Kane know each others game so well, and it could have been less of a solid performance if some of the new players still have to find the level of understanding that the players from last season and before have already built up.

Callum Wilson of course looks like a real predator up front, perhaps even more so than Lewis Grabban. To be honest though, we can really see goals all over the team which is very encouraging. The team has the bit between its teeth but how long can it keep that desire and intent up for? That's what we will find out over the coming months. Eddie Howe is right to keep things steady and calm down any hype, but AFCB certainly have the shape and purpose about them that will see them as contenders for the top places in the Championship if they can sustain the levels they reached in their first away game.

Last night the Capital One Cup second round draw took place and AFCB will be taking on Northampton Town at Dean Court on Wednesday 27 August.

Our fantastic day at the John Smith's stadium

We had an early start for our drive up to the John Smith's stadium in Huddersfield. At least the weather was good and by 8 O'Clock we were on the road. We soon reached Newport Pagnall and stopped for a quick tea before carrying on to the Woodall Services on the M1 where we saw a few AFC Bournemouth fans and a Birmingham fan wearing a Stephen Gleeson shirt - it wasn't going to be a good day for him. We steered into Huddersfield by 1pm and we had a quick look to see where we could get into a main car park for the stadium before finding the one right behind the away supporter's stand. We were a little less pleased with the fee of £7 but at least the car would be safe.

Stephen and Robert fully refreshed.

At the stadium at last.

John Smith's stadium - one bit that hasn't got beer logos all over it.

The club shop could just about squeeze a small coach load of people into it, but we were happy enough to wait our turn and have a look at the red and white away shirt and a few of the Terrier mascot soft toys and goodies that were on view. We also spoke to a few Huddersfield fans about the stadium and we were shocked to hear that it was 20 years old now.

Stephen looks a bit more comfortable than Robert
who's choice of seat was perhaps not the best. 

Inside The Rope Walk there were plenty who decided
standing was the only option while many spilled outside.

AFCB and Huddersfield fans found plenty to talk about.

Our next target was the Rope Walk Bar just behind the stadium and we rushed inside to get a drink and to sit down to see the Sheffield Utd v Bristol City game on the box. Much to our delight we saw Wade Elliott get the winner. The bar got full very quickly and Huddersfield fans were happy to chat to us about their hopes for the season. Many seemed content with a position around 18th which is something that I don't think any AFCB fan would be pleased with this season for our team. Little were we to know that Mark Robins would leave the Yorkshire club the next morning after the poor result for Huddersfield Town.

It would be tempting to try and sneak in as a player but I think the
steward behind the door may have had something to say about that.

It was 2pm by now and just an hour until kick-off so we thought we would head on up to the gate and see if we could get some early photos of any of the players warming up. Walking back past the main reception we saw the programme sellers trying to get us to buy one of their newspaper programmes for £2. Apparently the home fans had asked for a more traditional newspaper programme rather than a push bound booklet this season.  I was not convinced that it would really add to our day greatly and decided to give it a miss having heard a few comments from fans. Today, I think many of the home fans would be happy to use them as fish 'n chip paper!

We had a full security check at the South stand and a bit of fun with the steward who was most intrigued at what I had in my pockets but was slight disappointed with a set of keys and a tattered old wallet. "I'll need those keys to get home," I said and he quickly decided that I was not going to do any one any harm with my Ford keys.

We were immediately please with the space around the facilities on the concourse and hundreds of fans could stand around and talk without falling over rows of chairs or down loads of steep steps. We wanted to get to see the pitch though so hurried down to our seats and started to take in the scenery. Darryl Flahavan had ventured out first and was warming up all by himself in the sunshine. I started to take pictures for Cherry Chimes and Robert and Stephen listened to the radio. I had bought a new splitter jack so they could both listen to the same radio but all we could find was the BBC Radio Leeds station which did not cover the Huddersfield game at all. It was all a mess of wires and bags around us but the boy's didn't seem to mind.

Darryl Flahavan puts a bit of swerve on his kick.

Fraser and MacDonald did lots of sprinting reps away
from the main squad and I expect they will feature on Tuesday
in the Capital One Cup game against Exeter City.

As there was such a lot of space in the stand, we decided to vacate our ticket seats and sort out a place higher up. It did mean we could not see the big score board, but it would have been a stretch behind our heads to see it any way if we had stayed in our original positions. You didn't really need a clock though to see that Marc Pugh had put the Cherries ahead in less than 30 seconds! It was bonkers and the AFCB fans didn't hesitate to start partying from the first minute to the last.

The game sped along with AFCB passing the ball well and Ritchie looking to get on the score sheet  whenever he could. Most eyes were on Callum Wilson and we were all soon singing "Callum Wilson - Bournemouth's goal machine!" It was 0-2 by half time and there was no real fear of Huddersfield being able to create anything that was going to change things in the second half.

You'll have seen from the match report that I had a bit of fun in trying to do a Chimes fan cam at half time. I'll have to think a bit more about the setting for such reports next time as we were rather drowned out by the tannoy system, while my friend Damien Hill was rather silhouetted against the backdrop of the John Smith's stadium.

AFCB players and Huddersfield Town come out for the second half.

AFCB went on to register a 0-4 win and we felt that while the Terriers might have scored a goal if they had had a bit more luck, Lee Camp was never in great difficulty during the afternoon and probably was pleased that his comeback was not too strenuous.

Coming out of the car park was a bit more of an exercise for us but eventually we got going and to avoid some of the traffic heading south on the M1 we headed down the A roads to Sheffield as I knew United played early at midday and that Sheffield Wednesday were away at Brighton, so we could go past Hillsborough and have a quick look at the ground before heading off back to Redhill still singing: "We're top of the league, we're top of the league".  

Robins has his work cut out against Howe

This weekend Mark Robins, 44, will come up against Eddie Howe for the third time when his Huddersfield Town side take on the Cherries. Appointed at the Terriers in February 2013 after Simon Grayson had been dismissed after a barren run, Mark was effectively promoted from his League One job at Coventry City to the Huddersfield post in the Championship. Some would say that move was a bit of a risk for the owners of the Terriers as he had not had the best of times as Barnsley's manager in the Championship even if he had kept them up in 2010-11. Mark had only been at Coventry about five or six month's before the move but had done exceedingly well at the sky blues.

The two games Robins has managed against Bournemouth have been shared with a win a piece, the home team winning out both times. I don't think the 5-1 thrashing of the Cherries on 24 August 2013 did not leave a bad taste though in the AFCB's players' minds, but it was viewed as more of a lesson which they took on board and used to their advantage in other games. It was the second away game in a row where the Cherries had been on a hiding but looking back now it is more easy to appreciate that Mark Robins got his tactics right and his forwards put away their chances with great skill. It probably was not Ian Harte or Simon Francis' finest of games but that is a mark of how well Huddersfield played. 

Huddersfield handed out a bit of a Championship lesson to the
Cherries last time at the John Smith's stadium.

It was not so easy for mark Robins at Dean Court though in the Tuesday evening game on 28 Jan 2014 when his team battled hard, but came out the 2-1 losers in match that really showed the attacking power of both sides, on a muddy pitch. Woods scored a great goal for the Terriers that night but Rantie had the last word. Robins seems to set his teams up to go for the win more often than not, just like Eddie Howe, which makes them both exciting young managers in mt view. Robins record has slipped a little of late with 23 wins from 67 games at Huddersfield and a win ratio of 34.3%, but he has lost only 30 games in a couple of seasons which is better than many in the Championship.

In terms of manager records though it is Howe that is far the stronger. Now in his second term at the helm of AFCB he has been accelerating his win ratio. While not all those games were in the Championship and included a promotion, a win percentage of 50.56% is quite remarkable and the task facing Huddersfield is not easy when you see that Howe has lost just 25 games since 12 October 2012. If Eddie Howe can improve on last season's stats as a manager he surely will be one of the most wanted English managers. That is not a great thing for AFCB fans to hear but when you assess Howe against other Championship managers it gives you an idea of just how some of those opposition managers are feeling when they have to devise a plan to beat the man who is rapidly rewriting AFCB's history.  

I was asked a few questions by Huddersfield website Thrice Champions about AFCB and how I thought the season would pan out for the Cherries and I am told that it is likely to be posted on the Thrice Champions' site later today - so look out for it.

Also good luck to AFCB's Callum Buckley and Mason Walsh who go on loan initially for a month to Dorchester Town.

The low-down on Huddersfield Town

Mark Robins wasted no time in releasing quite a few players early in May including captain Peter Clarke and former Cherry Anton Robinson. Players coming in include Coventry keeper Joe Murphy who is 32 and signed a two-year deal. Their key capture though in my opinion is Lee Peltier from Leeds Utd on a three-year contract. He used to play for Town and was a captain at Leeds. One of their newest signings is the season-long loan deal for Nottingham Forest's Radoslaw Majewski, a Polish midfielder. Conor Coady also joined Huddersfield this week from Liverpool on a three-year deal. The 21-year-old is a midfielder who is said to be aggressive and combative on the Yorkshire club's website.

Pre-season has brought 3-1 wins in early July against AEL Limassol and Doncaster Rovers, followed by a 4-1 win against Guisley, but defeat came for the Terriers against Scunthorpe 1-0. Mark Robins' team got back on track with a 0-1 win away at Bramall Lane with Huddersfield employing a 3-5-2 formation against Sheffield Utd. Their next game was against Oldham last Saturday when they slipped up 3-1 and this was followed up with a mid-week match on Tuesday against Newcastle Utd which they drew 2-2.

Adam Clayton will be a big miss for them as he is expected to sign for Middlesbrough, according to a local paper. Jacob Butterfield of Middlesbrough could be heading the other way to Huddersfield in return. We may find that James Vaughan is not quite up to speed with any luck as he has had some calf problems. Players AFCB will have to watch closely are Adam Hammill who caused all kinds of problems against the Cherries last time at the John Smith's stadium. Nahki Wells will also be looking to make more of a mark this season.

It does not look like Huddersfield will have had long to integrate all their team ahead of their first league game against AFCB which just might be helpful for the Cherries.

This afternoon we will have a Rival Lines interview with HTFC-World.