Showing posts with label Norwich City. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norwich City. Show all posts

Friday, 25 December 2020

Where do the Cherries' need to improve?

Happy Christmas everyone! It is perhaps a good time to just consider how the season has gone so far and what expectations we may have for the second half of the season. Bournemouth are just five points off the lead with a two-point gap over the third-placed Swansea City. Are we confident that Bournemouth can do as well if not better between January and May?

Happy Christmas

When we look at the league, Bournemouth have played 20 games which is almost half and they have played most teams once. So with only two defeats, it has been a good start and the real need for the Cherries is to try and convert a few more of the draws into wins. That is how Norwich have clawed themselves ahead.
Bournemouth can also set themselves the tasks of doing better against the teams in the top six. They have beaten Norwich City but they have drawn with Swansea City, Watford and Middlesbrough. If they can beat these teams second time around they will be opening the gap much quicker on those teams below them.

Defensively Bournemouth have sharpened up well with nine clean sheets so far. That is still two behind Stoke City and Swansea City. While six of these clean sheets for the Cherries have been at home there are just three away clean sheets. In the away games clean sheet table, Bournemouth are down in 10th and it's a clear indication of where they can improve.

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With 35 goals scored, the Cherries top the goals for table with Blackburn Rovers just a goal behind. The stat which is not so good is goals against column,  as Bournemouth have conceded 16 goals from their 20 games. But that is still the fourth-best record behind Swansea City, Watford and Middlesbrough.

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From Bournemouth's position it would be costly to see them fall back into the third to sixth places, and this is what Bournemouth have to be aware of the most as the pressure builds. It may be a good thing that they have Norwich to chase, as it will give the players more to think of rather than thinking of being caught.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Danjuma only has eyes to get AFCB back to the Premier League

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Monday, 28 September 2020

Danjuma strike sees off Norwich City 1-0

Match Report
AFCB 1 v 0 Norwich City
17 September 2020 

An important second home win for AFCB. 

Danjuma's 35th-minute goal was enough to get AFC Bournemouth's second home win of the season. In a tight game, Bournemouth were pegged back in their own half for much of the game but always had a counter-attack that looked like they could score. The clean sheet will be a big positive for Tindall after what has been a busy week. Bournemouth are in a good position in the table now. Josh King had a few minutes and momentum is slowly building. We can say it has been as good a start for the new manager.

Bournemouth kept is 3-5-1-1 formation with both Stacey and Rico in the line-up. Lloyd Kelly didn't make the team, but Billing came into the side, leaving Danjuma to play behind Solanke. Josh King was on the bench but there was no David Brooks who was ill having starred in midweek.

Match description
Lerma is offside early on. Stacey's cross is caught by Krul. Another cross from Lerma is taken by the keeper. Rico tackles Hernéandez.

Steve Cook concedes a corner. Danjuma and Lerma, Godfrey clears. Bournemouth are pressing well. Billing to Solanke's right-foot shot is saved and Smith scoops the follow-up wide. Good turn by Solanke.

Stacey heading away well. Hernéandez fires a shot away and beats Billing but not Begovic who pushes it out for a corner. Begovic punches clear and Mepham puts it out for another corner. 

Lewis Cook counters but Danjuma is fouled. Hernández turns and shots and Billing deflects it for a corner. Norwich are on top here. Solanke heads away.

Lerma slices a shot through to the keeper. Danjuma could have deflected that. Steve Cook blocks. Pukki and Placheta are blocked.

Bournemouth have a free kick. Danjuma finds Lewis Cook. Smith goes for goal and sees his shot deflected for a corner. Rico fires over the top.

Stacey's shot is charged down. Lerma and Billing. Danjuma on the left. Solanke loses it. Bournemouth have a free kick. Bournemouth lack width at the moment.

Danjuma in the box, now Adam Smith. Billing crosses and Stacey goes close with a downward header at the far post, great save by Krul. Corner for Bournemouth, near post and its a goal kick.

Bournemouth on the counter. Solanke and Adam Smith. Billing now. Solanke. Slow build-up. Free kick to Norwich.

Lerma to Danjuma, who spins and scores on 35 minutes from the edge of the box. Low past Krul and Bournemouth have the lead 1-0.  McLean has been booked.

Skipp fouls Billing. Godfrey tackles Solanke. Zimmermann is fouled by Solanke. Hernández fouls Rico .Pukki to McLean and Rupp shoots from the edge of the box, but Begovic saves. The shot was right at him. One minute of added time. Lewis Cook gets away from Pukki before being fouled.

AFCB 45% possession, 7 shots, 3 shots on target, 3 corners, 5 fouls

Norwich 55% possession, 4 shots, 2 shots on target, 4 corners, 7 fouls

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 in paperback - visit Amazon to order

Second half
Steve Cook wins the ball off of Pukki. Stacey, Solanke and a volley from Danjuma goes wide. Norwich have a corner.

Aarons puts the ball through. Pukki makes a run but Begovic is there first. Danjuma shoots and Krul is down quickly. Danjuma was 25 yards out but determined to have a shot.

Solanke shoots at Krul and could have passed to Lerma. Quintillá shoots but Begovic rushes it up in the air and grabs it at the second attempt. Danjuma wins a throw.

Rico does some good work. Aaron and McLean. Skipp and Aarons is clattered by Adam Smith, no penalty. Bournemouth have a free kick. Danjuma beats Godfrey, Solanke heads over. Missed chance there.

Steve Cook and Mepham make a clearance. Plachetta and Pukki's header has no power. Rico clears. McLean would have been in a better position behind Pukki. Quintillá, shoots high.

Aarons into Pukki. Rupp and Quintillá. Lerma is defending. Hernández and Aarons. Hernández is blocked. All the football is being played n Bournemouths half. The Cherries are soaking up the pressure. Shot over by Aarons.

Billing is fouled by Skipp. Hernández into Pukki but the forward can't quite reach it. Lewis Cook to Solanke but Danjuma can't get there. Josh King s coming on.

Solanke is replaced by Josh King on 65 minutes. Pukki to Skipp, he misses it. Pukki's cross and Mepham clears. Aarons to McLean who heads wide from 12 yards out.

Rico is booked for holding back Pukki. The ball hits the wall and Lewis Cook has cleared. King and Danjuma's strike is too close to the keeper. Skipp makes a foul. Billing is subbed for Gosling.


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Rico gets the better of Idah. Danjuma and Billing. Stacey tracks back. Lerma has lost it. Pukki loses it to Billing. Danjuma to King and Krul beats King to the ball. 

10 minutes to go. Hugill is coming on, off goes Rupp. Norwich have a corner. Far post ball, Josh King clears. Bogovic has it. Norwich's bent hoped for a handball. Aarons and Idah. Skipp can't keep it in play.

Vrancic crosses and Begovic makes the catch. Free kick to Norwich. Gosling fouls. Surridge is on for Danjuma. Aarons over hits the free kick.

Lewis Cook on the wing. King can't get to it. Aarons intercepts Lerma's pass. Hugill is on side but the ball goes wide off Steve Cook. Corner or Norwich. Stacey clears.

Into added time. Steve Cook heads away. Rico clears. Begovic has the ball. Stacey crosses beyond King and Adam Smith keeps it in play. Rico plays it back to Begovic.

Surridge on the counter is stopped by Zimmermann who gets across. Aarons and the header by Hugill straight at Begovic.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 in paperback - visit Amazon to order

Summary
An excellent home performance from Bournemouth. To get a clean sheet is great against a promotion tipped candidate. The team did seem a bit short of width at times, but with Danjuma and Solanke running as much as they could, Bournemouth do enough to stretch Norwich. Danjuma is turning into a real match-winner and if Surridge is going to be the main backup striker I'd like to see him get more than five minutes.

AFCB Line up
AFCB Subs: 23 Travers, 33 Zemura,  25 Simpson,
4 Gosling, 24 Ofoborh, 27 King, 14 Surridge

Norwich City
1 Krul, 2 Aarons, 6 Zimmermann, 4 Godfrey, 16 Quintillá, 20 Skipp, 25 Hernández (Idah 74), 7 Rupp (Hugill 81), 23 McLean (Vrancic 66), 11 Placheta, 22 Pukki

Norwich Substitutes
8 Vrancic, 9 Hugill, 24 Martin, 27 Tettey, 33 McGovern, 34 Gibson, 35 Idah
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Sunday, 27 September 2020

AFCB need to find something extra to beat Norwich

Last season Bournemouth didn't find playing Norwich City at all easy with a blank score sheet in both games only earning one draw and a defeat. Scoring against Norwich has been a problem and this August the Canaries have signed a new defender Xavi Quintilla from Villarreal. They have conceded two goals in their two Championship games, but Bournemouth will need to be at their best against the second favorites,  behind Brentford, to lift the Championship title this season.

AFCB will try for the third time to score against
Norwich City having failed in the last two meetings

Norwich have lost Jamal Lewis to Newcastle United but have not been as deeply scarred from their Premier League exit as Bournemouth. Daniel Farke remains in the managerial hot-seat and will be seeking an immediate return to the top flight. This game is likely to be a good indicator of whether Bournemouth or Norwich are better suited to earn that quick return to the top flight.

For this match, Norwich has declared Emi Buendia and Marco Stiepermann available for selection, but Kieran Dowell and Jacob Sorensen are expected to miss out due to injuries. Norwich's big goal threats will no doubt come from Todd Cantwell and Teemu Pukki, the latter of which scored against Preston North End in Norwich's last league match.

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Bournemouth's difficulty has been in keeping clean sheets, and with Lloyd Kelly a doubt, they may have to reshuffle their backline. It should be a tightly contested game but Bournemouth needs to find something up front to get past Norwich and may well need a couple of goals with Bournemouth's leaky defence. Solanke has been rested in midweek for this game, but Sam Surridge is also in good form. I'd like to see both strikers get on at some point, but with Danjuma also rested and available and perhaps Josh King ready to return, there are options for Tindall.

The advantage is with Bournemouth for this home game, despite having had a busy week. These are the games they will need to shade if they want to keep gaming the front-runners for the promotion places.

Norwich Away Form
LLLLW

AFCB Home Form
LDWLW

Possible AFCB line up
AFCB Subs: Travers, Stacey, Zemura, Gosling, Billing, King, Surridge
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Tuesday, 28 July 2020

First goal-itiss - did it contribute to AFCB downfall?

Steve Cook was clear that he felt a lot of the poor results that AFCB had in the season were not helped by conceding the first goal. Even when Bournemouth did score first that didn't always hold on to a lead. It was curious how well the team could play at times when they were really up against it, like at Man City and Everton and yet they couldn't perform at home after the restart with the exception of the Leicester City game, when even then, they didn't score first.

The first goal didn't come often enough for AFCB.
I am not sure what was happening in the players minds after the restart. They still had a good opportunity to beat the drop, but only mustered seven pints from nine games which is relegation form. West Ham pulled in 12 points, as did Brighton and Aston Villa won 10 points, only Norwich and Crystal Palace gathered less points than Bournemouth and Watford, who bot took seven points.

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Scoring first was perhaps on the teams mind, but it just didn't happen. The crushing free kick that was struck by Crystal Palace's Milivojevic completely deflated any confidence that had been gained from the pre-restart games with Chelsea and Liverpool. it was a downhill spiral from then conceding first goals to Wolves away and Newcastle at home. The Man Utd defeat was different because the players did score first and came out fighting - they were just beaten by a better team. The writing was on the wall by then, but still Bournemouth could have saved themselves. The failure to either beat Spurs and Southampton at home proved very costly. The away form had been bad all of 2020, so it was likely to turn at some point and Everton was a game where Bournemouth couldn't afford to have nerves. They duly delivered, just too late.
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Of course, Bournemouth were considered a team that made great comebacks in previous seasons, but these didn't materialise in 2019/20. The worry is not for me that the first goal didn't always come, but that the players are perhaps burnt out and will soon have to play again as a new season gets underway.

 Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth just weren't good enough
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Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Bournemouth have to hope for one more chance

Tonights night's games take on even more importance for Bournemouth, if that is possible, after the defeat to Southampton. In a way, looking at the bottom teams of Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Watford, they are all as bad as each other. None of them deserve being saved, and to me,  it wouldn't be unfair to see all three along with Norwich City being relegated.
AFCB still hope they have something to play for come next weekend.
But one team out of Watford, Aston Villa and Bournemouth will survive. They may even survive on 34 points and with less than 10 wins in the season. That is looking quite likely now, as none of these teams has found winning easy. If the season does go to the last day, with Bournemouth still involved with a chance of staying up, then it is perhaps not a great advert for the Premier League. Yes it will be exciting, because any one of three teams could stay up, but it shows how poor four teams are compared to the rest of the league.
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There may be satisfaction if Bournemouth stay up. But the team will need a drastic overhaul no matter what happens. Of course, Watford can take it completely out of Bournemouth's hands, if they get a point against Man City. It will all end there and then, if they do. But if Villa and Watford fail to get above 34 points this season, Bournemouth fans will have another nail biting weekend to suffer.


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I am not sure if I want it to be all over. The suffering is never ending and in a way, it will be a relief when the season is over. I have been predicting relegation ever since Bournemouth lost away to Norwich City. They are bad enough to be relegated. If they stay up it will only be via the back door now. That might be good enough for Eddie Howe and the AFCB board, but this season has been anything other than fun to watch as a Bournemouth supporter. Yes, we are in the top league and it has been a pleasure to be a part of it for five seasons. But is it wrong to want more? Have Bournemouth overstayed their welcome? We may find out on tonight. Then again we might have to wait until next weekend. Drawling a line under this season might not quite be done this evening.
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Tuesday, 30 June 2020

Will AFCB be under too much pressure for Newcastle game?

I am looking forward to the match against Newcastle United. It has been good to see that Matt Ritchie is back playing again and Newcastle don't really have any relegation worries anymore. They are the kind of mid-table team that haven't much to play for, so Bournemouth have to make the most of this game and that will mean they have pressure on them, especially after losing their last two matches.
Bournemouth have to deal with the pressure at this time.
It is how AFCB deal with that pressure that counts. They haven't done well since the restart in dealing with pressure, but to a large extent they are being helped by the poor results of others with Aston Villa dropping points against Wolves and Southampton taking the points off Watford. If Bournemouth can get a win, they would not only move out of the bottom three they would greatly improve their belief that they can stay up and give a damaging blow to West Ham, Aston Villa Norwich and possibly Watford.

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How do players deal with the pressure though? I think it is important that all the players talk about how they feel and what they feel like as the game approaches. They need to remind themselves of what they are playing for, and try and think of when they met with fans, had good games on the pitch, and when they were fearless at attacking teams. If they can surround themselves with positives, then they can get their game moving in the right direction.

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They don't need to think about the consequences of not getting a good result. It has to be all positive thinking now. They need a step up, and the only way they are going to get it is by playing well. So Eddie Howe must get through to his players that they are Premier League stars, that people want them to succeed, and that goals will come if they do their jobs well.

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They are getting paid for a job they love. It is so much better if they have that winning feeling. There haven't been many happy moments this season, so Eddie has to stress how enjoyable it will be if they can get a win. With a win the players will relax a bit and the pressure will come off for a few days. They need that relief of tension and to see a table where they are making progress. Newcastle United won't be an easy game, but it is a good game to have right now, and AFCB will want to make the most of it.
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Saturday, 27 June 2020

Some positives for AFCB fans

While Bournemouth have lost their two opening games of the restart, there are a couple of positive thoughts that Bournemouth fans can take into the next few games. There have been a lot of negatives, but Eddie Howe needn't put his head in the sand just yet.

AFCB have too look at whatever positives they can find.
The first boost for the Cherries is that West Ham and Norwich haven't done any better in the first two games after the restart. Although Brighton look a win away from safety now, Watford and Aston Villa have only managed a point from their games, so it really is all to play for with four teams really battling it out to not go down with Norwich City.
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Another positive has been that the goal difference hasn't increased to such an extent that Bournemouth can't get ahead of West Ham and Watford in a few games time, if Bournemouth can get some positive results. Bournemouth also only lost by one goal to Wolves, whereas West Ham lost 0-2 at home which might give Bournemouth players a bit of confidence that they are doing slightly better than West Ham on current form.
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 The big positive though has been the form of David Brooks. Although he has not scored, he has looked Bournemouth's best attacking player and extremely lively. He should be even sharper as we come to the third and fourth games. and he doesn't usually go too many games without either making an assist or scoring.

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Aaron Ramsdale has played okay without having an absolute blinder yet. I get the feeling that Aaron may have a big say yet on whether AFCB stay up or not, and he could make some big saves yet that secure him AFCB's player of the year.

 Bournemouth now have just one away game in their next four matches and they have to believe they can get points at home, no matter who they are up against, if they can perform at their highest level. These may not be that many encouraging signs, but AFCB fans need whatever they can hold on to at the moment to keep some belief going.

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Tuesday, 9 June 2020

Super computer predicts Cherries will beat relegation

Fans of the Cherries can take heart that not every prediction expects AFCB to go down this season. TalkSports' super computer has looked at all the remaining games for the Premier League and it has come up with the Cherries finishing in 17th place and staying up by the skin of their teeth.
Some reason for optimisim
It is bad news for Norwich City, Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion as far as the TalkSport computer is concerned, and I am hoping that the prediction comes true. How successful the super computer has been in the past I am not sure, but AFCB's players need every positive message they can get at the moment to fill them with belief.

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When I think of super computers I think of Tim Brooke-Taylor, from the Goodies, who sadly passed away this year, and the super Computer in Charlie and the Chocolate factory that wasn't very compliant in telling him where the last Golden ticket was hidden. All jesting aside, AFCB do have a chance of beating the drop, and like the super computer I think Brighton have the next hardest run of fixtures during the run-in.

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Bournemouth need to keep in contact with the three teams above them to make it a nervous finish to the end of the season. If they keep the likes of Brighton and West Ham in their sights then anything could happen, when it comes to the last couple of games. But Eddie Howe won't be relying on a super computer. The games have to be won on the pitch and it is a shame the computer doesn't tell you how you can win the matches.

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While we can all compute how we think the season will finish, some of us will get it right and others will get it wrong. I just with the anxiety would end soon. It is very much like when waiting for AFCB to win promotion to the Premier League, but this time it's not a happy feeling, just an uneasy worry about what life in the Championship would be like again.

 Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Have AFCB got the goal power needed to stay up?
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Tuesday, 19 May 2020

Is Eddie ready for his biggest test?

Bournemouth go back to training and it will eventually fall on one man to be either successful of not in Bournemouths fight for survival. Eddie Howe is up against a couple of bosses that have brought teams up in Daniel Farke at Norwich and Dean Smith at Aston Villa as well as a new Premier League manager in Graham Potter and old pros, in Watford's Nigel Pearson and West Ham's David Moyes. Is Eddie Howe good enough to beat three of these men in his planning and game management?

Come on Eddie - can we see you at your very best in the next few weeks?
The question will soon be answered. Eddie Howe has an enormous amount of pressure on him and yet he'll see it as more of a challenge than a nightmare having had the experience of keeping AFCB in the football pyramid in his first management year. The difficulty this time is not that dissimilar as the financial impact will be huge of dropping back to the championship.

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What is perhaps of most importance is that Maxim Denim is still prepared to back Howe and hasn't yet fallen out of love with football. If he did then Bournemouth would be in a much more perilous place and perhaps and have forgotten how unstable things used to be in the past, before we had such a wealthy but fairly silent owner.

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Bournemouth have lots of things going in their favour going into this relegations scrap. They know what it is like to fight for their lives and in Aaron Ramsdale they have recent experience of a couple of relegation scraps from lower in the football pyramid. As usual there are bigger clubs in this battle, but Eddie Howe likes to challenge himself against the best and if he comes through this test, it will go side by side what he did in his first managerial year for me.
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Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Who has the toughest run in among bottom six?

Everyone admits there are no easy gams in the Premier League, but many are harder than others. For example AFCB have never managed to get a point off of Man City and it is one of their remaining games, so perhaps that cuts the Cherries down to eight games to count. But other teams also have tricky games with Liverpool among Aston Villa's remaining matches, Chelsea will line up against Watford and West Ham will take on Man United and Tottenham in some of their remaining fixtures. It's going to be tough and yet the fixture that jumps out in a lot of the remaining games is the name of Burnley, who may well have a deciding factor on who goes down.
AFCB have it all to do if the season resumes.
Luckily or not AFCB have already played Burnley twice and suffered the consequences. But Brighton, Watford and Norwich all have to go away to Sean Dyche's side and West Ham have to play them at the London Stadium. Of the teams that have to play the top six the most we can look least favourably on Brighton & Hove Albion, who have to face five of the big guns in their remaining fixtures. Bournemouth have four such fixtures as do Aston Villa, but Watford have only three as do West Ham, while Norwich have two such fixtures left. So getting results against top teams is going to be most important for Brighton and Bournemouth.
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There are several six pointer games as we like to call them as well. Bournemouth are not in those having played all their games against the bottom six. Southampton are the lowest team that Bournemouth will have to pay in the run-in. But AFCB fans will be watching carefully on games like Norwich v Brighton, Norwich v West Ham, West Ham v Watford, Watford v Norwich, West Ham v Aston Villa. Norwich are involved in three of these games as are West Ham indicating that their fates well may rest on these bottom six fixtures.

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However, you call it we can expect it to be a tight race with a few more twists and turns yet. The odds probably favour Watford, West Ham and Brighton to stay up, but four wins from Bournemouth would very likely be enough to keep them. However, adding the points from these games last season to AFCB's potential total, from their remaining fixtures this season, is not good news. This time around we could expect something like eight points from these games. which may not be enough to beat the drop.
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For me the best fixture list in the run-in is probably Norwich's run of games, but they are playing catch up and may well have to much to do now. After that'I'd probably go for West Ham and Watford's fixtures, leaving Brighton, Bournemouth and Aston Villa with some less attractive fixtures to try and stay up. But who knows what might happen and even if these games will be played out.

 In other sad news, Dickie Dowsett, former AFCB striker and commercial manager passed away at 88 on Sunday. Dickie's head features as the iconic figure on the AFCB crest to this day and is the sixth-highest all time goal scorer for AFCB. AFCB has Dickie's obituary on the website and The Bournemouth Echo also has a good piece on Dickie.

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