This is a fan’s personal view of AFC Bournemouth from the outside looking in. It reports on the daily official activities reported by the club and comments made by individual fans on social media and fanbase websites. Life as an AFCB fan is never dull. As a life-long supporter of the Cherries, it is the friendliness of the staff, fans and my enthusiasm for the club that inspired me to write this blog.
Paul Lambert may have been wondering how good a side Mark Hughes left behind when he took up the Stoke manager's position in January. He has a number of top international players at the Bet 365 stadium like Xherdan Shaquiri, Jack Butland and Joe Allen, but they have been dabbling with relegation and it's not yet clear if their recent home win against Huddersfield was a one off.
Stoke players may have a new manager but are they are revitalised team?
In mid-week Stoke city signed Badou Nidaye from Galatasaray for 15m. The Senegal midfielder may not quite know what he is in for but Paul Lambert has shelled out an awful lot of money for the Senegalese-man who only cost £6.6m last summer. That is a price Stoke are willing to pay for Premier League survival, but are they really among the worst clubs in the Premier League?
It looks like Mark Hughes lost his way with the team and the performances were not a true reflection of the talent at the club. In the games for Lambert so far Stoke have been more impressive and have carried a goal threat that gave them a massive three point swing against Huddersfield. But this week they found it difficult to breakdown Watford and only managed just 11 shots at home. That's okay if you are making the keeper work for most of the shots, but the four shots they did get on target did not produce a goal. Diouf, Shaqiri and Choupo-Moting can go missing in front of goal and Berhino has been a bit of a last minute extra. The once inform Peter Crouch has now fund he is back on the bench and it seems while Stoke have improved at the back they are not yet doing enough going forward. Now they face Bournemouth in another huge game and I suppose Howe has a small advantage not only at being at home, but in knowing his players extremely well. Lambert has to hope the new manager factor helps his team, but if the shine wears off for him in games like this he could suddenly find that Stoke City are really not a mid-table team anymore. Stoke City Away Form LLDLL AFCB Hime Form LDWDW T-Shirt Competition If you did not win the Cherry Chimes' T-shirt last game here is another chance. Just guess the minute of the first goal between AFC Bournemouth v Stoke City. If two or more fans get the correct minute we will draw the winner from a hat. Tweet your answer to @Cherry Chimes before 9am on Saturday morning. Good luck!
AFCB travelled in their numbers to Villa Park in the hope of a cup upset. Villa had been struggling to score and from what we saw up to half time they did not unduly hurt the Cherries who came in at half time all square at 0-0. It was all about the second half though and a wonder strike from Carles Gil, Villa's new signing from Valencia. He hit a superb cross shot into the top corner to put Villa one up on 51 minutes and the seven times cup champions just grew in strength with a second goal coming 19 minutes later on the break from a fast worked move with Alan Hutton providing the assist for Andreas Weimann.
AFCB line up with Villa.
Bournemouth had come close in the first half with a strong drive from Eunan O'Kane, and while Shay Given had certainly been worked it was not until the 91 minute that the Cherries finally had something to cheer about when Callum Wilson converted a close range chance from Ryan Fraser. It was sadly too late, but at least the Cherries looked like they could more than hold their own against Villa side that they will hope to play next season if the Cherries can win promotion from the Championship.
AFCB players wish each other luck.
Getting ready for the coin toss.
More pictures are on the Match Day Gallery. Eddie Howe made eight changes from the Cherries' last league game against Leeds Utd with only Tommy Elphick, Harry Arter and Steve Cook retaining their starting places. It was also good to see Elliott Ward on the bench.
AFCB went into the game knowing that the first goal would be massive with Villa proving goal shy at home and it wasn't long before Shaun MacDonald saw his deflected shot fly over from a cross from Ryan Fraser. It seemed that MacDonald was one of the main runners from midfield that would look to get past Yann Kermorgant when the French forward could hold up play. Harry Arter was partnering MacDonald in midfield and he had a shot that made Given swoop to his left after just eight minutes. Aston Villa showed that they knew where the goal was too though as Andreas Wiemann headed just wide of goal a minute later. The match was quite physical and Yann Kermorgant went down in the box with Clark in the vain hope of a penalty, but Mike Dean was giving nothing. AFCB's best move of the half came on 19 minutes when Stanislas, Arter and Cook kept possession before Ian Harte found Harry Arter who played a good through ball to MacDonald, who ran on to it well and rounded Shay Given, only for his weak shot to give Kieran Richardson enough time to clear the ball off the line. Aston Villa's main play maker and threat was Carles Gil who moved around the pitch as if he was a class ahead of everyone else on both sides. He demanded the ball and looked fully in control when ever he was on the ball and he made Villa tick.
Adam Smith also looked lively for AFCB and he went on a few string runs only to usually lose out when he tried one man too many. Fraser was also industrious on the wing but he was up against an experienced pro in Alan Hutton. We could see Villa's problems all too clearly in this first half though with Weimann and Cleverley shooting well wide. Lee Camp was hardly employed. Shay Given though was warming his hands fairly frequently as Eunan O'Kane raised the temperature with his powerful low drive on 32 minutes from outside the box, which had Given at full stretch making a save for a corner. Eunan also shot over after a second corner in a row as AFCB started to build up pressure. Villa were not doing any better with their corners as AFCB were quick to block and then try and exploit Ryan Fraser's pace on the break. It was Yann Kermorgant though who almost found his way clear through when Jores Kore made a clean rescue tackle in the box just before half time. Nil-nil at half time was no more than the Cherries deserved and there was no need to be anything but confident that the Cherries could get a result from this game.
The players are back after half time.
Roy Spencer looks forward to Aston Villa v AFCB.
Lee and Ben pre-match thoughts at Villa Park.
Second Half Aston Villa came out with much more purpose in the second 45 minutes. They had been lacklustre in front of goal and looked to change that straight away. They began by keeping possession well and Carles Gil had a great chance to open the scoring when Benteke drove across the box beating several AFCB players and then laying off the ball to Gil, who shot into the side netting in the 47th minute. He need not have been too despondent though as on 54 minutes he was fed a ball from Leandro Bacuna that forced him out to the right side, but Gil came inside Harte and angled his shot back across goal to find the top corner and Villa were one -up! Suddenly the whole game looked a much harder game for the Cherries. Villa started to pop the ball about with much more authority and the Cherries were struggling to get a clear sight of goal. Eddie Howe tried to change things up on 60 minutes as Simon Francis and Callum Wilson replaced Ian Harte and Yann Kermorgant. That saw Adam Smith switch to left back and Francis take up his customary right back role. Alan Hutton welcomed Wilson by flattening him and picking up a yellow card. AFCB were not holding on to possession for long enough and when they did it was only going from side to side and the penetration was lacking. Aston Villa were starting to look comfortable and that was made to look even more so on 71 minutes when the head bandaged O'Kane lost the ball and a break for Villa saw Bacuna play a ball down the line to Hutton, who slipped in Weimann who finished with a simple side foot past a diving Lee Camp into the bottom left corner. It was 2-0 and Villa had turned themselves from a team that never looked like scoring into a team that was finishing with panache. AFCB kept plugging away though and Junior Stanislas came close to getting on the end of an Adam Smith cross before he was subbed for Matt Ritchie to come on. Another great move involved Ryan Fraser slipping in Callum Wilson, but Kieran Richardson timed a last second tackle to only concede a corner when Wilson could so nearly have been in on goal. Carlos Gil came off to lots of applause and Ashley Westwood came on with two minutes to go. Shay Given was trying to waste all of that time by remonstrating with the referee that Callum Wilson was less than 10 yards away from his free kick, but it was obvious what the old pro was up to. Francis came the closest for AFCB in the final minutes of normal time as he blasted a shot into the side netting. Four minutes of extra time was not long to create anything and some had already made their way out of the exit gates, but Ryan Fraser had not given up and he found Ritchie who fed Smith and his low cross was met by Callum Wilson, who got there before Shay Given and Richardson, to steer it into the net from six yards out, 2-1. At least the Cherries had scored. Even then there was enough time left for Westwood to go through one-on-one with Lee Camp and Camp managed to get his fingers on the ball and make a save for a corner.
The last minute allowed Paul Lambert just enough time to put on Jack Grealish for Bacuna, but time was played out by one of the AFCB corner flags. The FA Cup was over for another year for the Cherries.
Summary I think Eddie Howe got exactly what he wanted from this game and so did Paul Lambert. yes, it would have been nice for AFCB to have a bit more of a cup run but it is not the real aim for this season. Getting all the squad players right for the rest of the league campaign is what is important now for the Cherries. The FA Cup was always going to be a bonus and a good test for some of the players to take on a strong Villa side. Lambert simply needed a win not matter what competition and his players delivered in the second half. Take Carles Gil out of their team though and they looked very ordinary.
Disappointment but AFCB are going well in the league.
It feels like deja vu to me. Here we are in a cup competition with a Premier League side assembled with far more money than the Cherries and with a wealth of experience and history, and yet AFCB are the team that the media are building up and expecting to cause an upset. Sound familiar? I seem to remember something similar in December when the mighty reds came down to Dean Court with Stephen Gerrard apparently no longer the great player that we all know and love. Okay, Villa may not have a Steven Gerrard in their side and yes, they have only scored 11 goals in the Premier League against teams that are the best in the land, but does that make them easy pickings for the Cherries? Well, AFCB certainly have a good record against teams from the Birmingham area in the last few months, but make no mistake Aston Villa have plenty of quality that they can put out on the field. Their squad is a who's who of internationals and famous names. But Benteke and Agbonlahor are going through a barren patch, Nzogbia, Delph, Cleverly, Sanchez, Westood and Cole have failed to inspire or create in the middle and even Guzan is being questioned about some of his performances in goal.
Of course Villa like Liverpool probably just need a good win in a cup match like this to get their season going. That is what makes me nervous. Villa have nothing going for them or do they? I already hear good things about their new signing from Valencia Carlos Gil de Pareja Vicent. Pundits also forget that they have only let in 25 goals this season, only six other teams have let in as few or less goals in the Premier League this season. Moreover, the Villa fans did not protest as much as was expected for the first eight minutes of the Liverpool match. It will be a big crowd and the Villa fans will be in full voice and behind their new signing with a full Holt end. Alan Shearer commented in the Sun newspaper at the start of last week that Villa were in a sad predicament and was asking who can save the Villa now? I still venture that they are a strong Premier League outfit that will be a very tough team for AFCB to beat as they will be desperate not to go out early in the FA Cup once again to lower league opposition. It could be a contest that sees a lively AFCB attack against the defensive qualities of Cissokho, Hutton, Baker and Okore. However, I suspect it will be a cautious affair as Eddie Howe will be aware that it is easy to get sucked into all out attack, and Villa Park is a big pitch where it will be easy to leave a team exposed. What I don't like is when the media over hype the prospect of a big team about to take a tumble and for that reason I am glad that this FA Cup tie is not a televised match. The pressure might be off the Cherries, but this is a big match. Sadly, we have not seen AFCB play as well as we might have hoped when it comes to such matches. Perhaps this time though they will pull it off, like they did against West Brom in November. It will need the same kind of endeavour and focus for the whole 90 minutes. The balancing fact for me is that the Cherries are playing away. Strangely, that seems to be a big positive for AFCB this season, although I would not rule out the prospect of a replay. But if Villa do lose this match, it could be a very difficult day for Paul Lambert. At that point, Villa could be a club in crisis. Make sure you check out my interview with A Villa Fan which you can see below this story or click on Rival Lines to read. All Departments has a great interview with Shaun Teale online today. Listen by visiting All Departments' website or scroll down Cherry Chimes' right hand panel and click on the All Departments' sound bar.
Rival Lines FA Cup Preview 4th Round Aston Villa v AFCB Blogger Interview: A Villa Fan
I think every AFCB fan is looking forward to the match against Aston Villa and the chance to visit one of the country's most famous football grounds. I had the good fortune to have a quick chat with Stuart Young last week who is an ardent Villa fan and author of the A Villa Fan Blog. As it is a special cup match I asked quite a few more questions that usual so a big thanks to Stuart for answering them all. CC: We see Villa have signed Carles Gil from Valencia to add a bit more creativity, but is it too little to late spent by Randy Lerner this season? AVF: Randy Lerner has always promised his managers £20m plus anymore bought in from sales for his managers from day 1. I personally believe that Lambert has had around that every season except this season. However, had he spent the estimated £8m on Tom Cleverley in the summer like he wanted to then Lambert would of been close to that £20M mark yet again. Seven of the 11 players that started against Leicester the other week were Lambert's signings - only he can be blamed for the poor quality he has bought in. CC: Mid-table in the Premier League, why is the glass always half empty at Villa rather than half full for supporters - what is the style of football like at the moment? AVF: The glass isn't half empty, its more of a case of being realistic. We have just played 9 games over Christmas with 8 of them being side who were below us or in and around us and we have picked up just 10 points from a possible 27. We now have 3 games coming up against top sides and sit just 5 points above the bottom three. If people are realistic they will see that we could be bottom three by the end of January. That isn't a glass half empty - it's a very realistic change that for the third year under Paul Lambert we are under-performing. CC: What can Paul Lambert do differently to get more fans on his side or do you feel there is nothing that will win over many of the fans even if Villa made top six? AVF: The majority have had enough of Paul Lambert and I would be amazed if a good 90% didn't want him gone. The only thing he could do is completely turn us around by playing exciting, attractive football and pushing right up the league but I don't think that will happen now. If you asked him after two and a half years what his strongest XI was I bet he still couldn't tell you. CC: The home form has been poor and the goals are not really flowing, but have you had the personnel to score goals or have Villa been hampered by injuries? AVF: The players are there, but the front three offer our midfield nothing. I am not going to say we have a midfield who are capable of creating chance after chance, but when you have forward players who don't ever want the ball, you will struggle. People keep saying that we will be lucky to keep hold of Benteke - unless he re-finds his form he will be at Villa Park for a few years yet. CC: Is Joe Cole still a big influence in midfield? AVF: He has been hampered with injuries since we have signed him so we haven't really see the best of him - or if he is even capable of being a big influence anymore. CC: Have Agbonlahor and Benteke been missing many chances or are the team simply not creating chances for their strikers? AVF: I did some research a few weeks back and the average conversion rate in the Premiership is around the 15% mark. We don't have one player higher than 10%. On top of that, as I said before - I think we have had less shots than any other side in the league which doesn't help. Agbonlahor for me makes a bigger impact on the wing - it can't be easy for him being swapped from pillow to post in terms of positions. CC: You have great keepers at Villa in Guzan and Given, but how good are the back four as you have to go up as far as Man Utd to find a team that has let in fewer goals in the Premier League? AVF: Defensively we have massively improved this season compared to previous seasons. I think we bought in a new defensive coach in the summer who seems to of done a real good job with players like Ciaran Clark and Nathan Baker who let us down massively in previous seasons. Guzan has actually been below par this year so had he not made the few mistakes he has, then maybe we would of been better off defensively and points wise. CC: What can visiting fans look forward to seeing at Villa park if it is their first time - I imagine it is a good view from the Doug Ellis and Upper North stands? AVF: There are no restricted views at Aston Villa and I highly recommend you take a walk up to the Holte End if you arrive at the ground early. Many have said it is the best looking stand in English football and as someone who is well travelled in football terms - (biased I know) but I have to agree. Away from Villa Park you have one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe in the Bullring as well as many other features. CC: Have you been surprised that Fabian Delph has forced his way into the England team? I see he has not scored yet this season. AVF: Fabian Delph has and will never be a goalscorer. He likes to run with the ball and he's pretty good with a pass, but he tackles like Paul Scholes used to. On top of that he has had injury and suspension problems this season so has been a bit of a miss for us. I would expect him to feature against yourselves and if he plays the way he is capable then you will see why Villa fans are not surprised by his England call up. CC: Villa lost to Sheffield Utd at home in the Third Round last season, so are Villa fans desperate for a good cup run this year? AVF: Ha! Aston Villa fans have been desperate for a good cup run for a long time. Under Paul Lambert it doesn't come as a surprise when we lose to a lower league side anymore. We have lost to Millwall, Bradford and Sheffield United in recent years and I really wouldn't be surprised to see your side do the same. CC: Many teams have ended up playing AFCB with 10 men this season and I see Villa have a poor discipline record with three reds, but why is it that your forwards are frequently getting sent off? AVF: There is clearly a disciplinary issue at Aston Villa regardless of how much Paul Lambert denies it. I am unsure why because we aren't a dirty side - I have seen other sides get away with the same issues this season. I guess we are a unfashionable side? I'm really not sure! CC: You have Liverpool and Arsenal games either side of this FA Cup tie, so do you expect a similar team to the one that was selected for the last round against Blackpool? AVF: With the pressure being piled on the manager at the moment I would expect the strongest side available to him so no, I can't see it being the same as the one that faced Blackpool. CC: Knowing that Birmingham and WBA have lost to AFCB this season what did you think when Bournemouth came out of the hat against Villa? AVF: I am a big follower of the football league so I am no stranger to both Eddie Howe and the job he is doing on the South Coast. I speak to a Villa fan who lives in Poole and we actually joked that I would stay at his when we got Bournemouth away. We ended up with you at home instead which most of us would of preferred the away trip but it wont be easy. I would even make you early favourites! CC:You have been drawing a lot of games at home so how highly do you rate the possibility of a draw and a visit to the Goldsands stadium this February? AVF: It all depends on you really. We are unpredictable so I couldn't be confident of going into the game and scoring - but equally we have the players who can score so if they put their arses into gear, we might just score! Defensively we are pretty solid so if you fail to break us down - there could well be a replay. CC: This next question I have left in because I think it is important to understand what has been happening at Aston Villa even if things did not turn out quite as everybody thought it might last eeekend. CC: Finally, I hear that there is to be a protest at the Liverpool home match the week before our game when fans don't take to their seats until after the 8th minute, could you let us know how well you think it went or if it was a waste of time? AVF: As I am writing this before the game I honestly don't know how well it will go down but we are winners in one way. The national media has finally stood up and took a look at the biggest club in the Midlands so along with the fans the pressure is being piled on all those at the club. As a season ticket holder of over 15 years its been hard since we Lost Martin O'Neill - we have paid for the boards mistakes which is unfair and although I am a big believer of supporting the side from start to finish - I feel that something has to be done. CC: In the event it seems the Holt End protest was a bit of a non-event from reports I heard after the game and I hope the Villa fans are prepared for whatever happens against AFCB and that the game is seen as a good advert for the FA Cup whatever the result. It was really pleasing to hear from Stuart who raises some very good points to explain Villa's form of late and I am most intrigued by his thoughts on what side will play the Cherries. It looks like AFCB may be playing pretty much a first choice Villa team. You can read more about the Villa and what Stuart has been writing about in the run up to the game by visiting A Villa Fan. A big thank you again to Stuart because I really asked him a lot of questions and he was happy to answer them all - top man! I'm sounding like Marc Pugh more and more each day. Rantie Watch last night South Africa played their second group game in the Africa Cup of Nations against Senegal. Rantie had a quiet first half but in the second half he was involved in the build up to South Africa's goal holding on to possession and spreading play wide to the right before it came back across to the left side and Oupa Manyisa's low drilled finish on 47 minutes.Senegal equalised from a strong header by Kara Mbodji from a set piece on the hour. Rantie almost got through on 74 minutes, but was just tackled in time inside the box. He had another chance in the 91 minute but fired uncomfortably wide, so the game ended 1-1.
All Departments Later this morning my good friend Michael Dunne is releasing a special podcast interviewing the AFCB and Aston Villa legend - Shaun Teale. Listen in on the All Departments' website and I'll post it on Cherry Chimes as well later today.
