Putting any doubts to bed - positive energy

I always try and be positive on the blog no matter how the fortunes of the Cherries turn out and it has been a real pleasure to write about the team in recent seasons. There have been times though when it has been apparent that the team needed a pick up and none more so than the desperate run of results that the team were handed out in January. If a couple of those draws had bee wins then AFCB would have been in a far stronger position, but what has gone has gone and the other leading teams are also finding the going rather hard at the moment so it is going to happen to other teams as well.

The blip is well and truly over for the Cherries - watch out Blackpool!

I do like the way that AFCB players talk about getting over blips because they have done so in the past and can do it again. While loan players might have had a good impact it is difficult to know how they would have done and now that the team is getting over most of the injuries it had to its midfield section there is a feel good factor that the Cherries are over their blip. It's all about thinking positively and drawing on the good performances from the past. So as Spring comes in the Cherries spring forward or at least we hope so.

What negativity that has reared its head around the Goldsands never seems to last very long anyway these days. If a crisis is just three points in five games but then a win in the sixth game, then there are many teams that can only dream of being in that position in the Championship. We have been over all the insecurities of why the Cherries could fail because:
- we are tinpot, 
- the second season syndrome sin the Championship
- an under fancied team and 
- a team that don't have a big fan base 
But when it is about the 11 on the pitch and how they have been prepared and the squad players that can come in and do a job, knowing that the fans will support them, through the good and the bad, then we have seen that - "Anything is possible!"

Just to balance things out I see that the Echo is reporting that Harry Arter has been given a one-match ban for improper conduct - let's hope that it just means some one else gets to have a great game against Blackpool, maybe Eunan O'Kane.

Good to see recognition but AFCB are not there yet

I've been scanning the pages on the internet about AFCB and it is clear that the players are starting to get recognised for their excellent performances so far this month. AFCB's official site says Pitman is among those selected to win NPower League One player of the month for March and both he and Matt Ritchie are in the Sky Sports' Team of the Week. It was funny that Sky asked whether we could keep hold of Matt Ritchie? Let me tell you, his asking price will have gone through the roof and I can't see AFCB wanting to sell its new prized asset any time soon.

It may not come as a surprise to some of you that the Cherries have racked up another seven wins on the bounce having already beaten the record undefeated run earlier this season. But hands up how many of you really thought that we would recover after those five defeats, in mid-February to early March, with such style? It has been another incredible ride and I seem to be among quite a few of you who are finding it hard to get to sleep at the moment.

Momentum surely counts for a lot now and AFCB can go into their last three matches in a positive frame of mind. Tommy Elphick is right when he says let the other teams worry about the points we already have on the board. Don't tell me that it is better to have games in hand at this stage.

Apparently, last night the Sheffield Utd players were kept behind for an hour after the final whistle to hear their manager's displeasure at their performance. Yes, we could get over taken but who is under more pressure at the moment? Being an underdog is not such a bad thing and Eddie Howe still says we are not favourites to go up.

Parachute payments - scrap them!

I was reading an article in the new Football TwentyFour7 magazine the other day about the Premier League and how it's clubs in the bottom three in the 2014/15 season would receive £60 million among themselves for failing to stay up.

While I understand that the Premier League is its own entity and can do what it sees fit with its revenue it does seem totally unfair that these clubs should get a big advantage when falling back into the Championship. It does make you wonder how Southampton, Norwich, Swansea and Reading etc ever managed to get promoted.

In comparison AFCB are unlikely to have a war chest approaching much more than £1 million or it could be nothing at all. After all, we still owe Mr Demin £5 million as a loan when we see fit to pay him back and we aim to build a new South Stand which will be a few million. I'm not even contemplating buying back the ground, as that would be at least another £5 million.

So if the Cherries do go up, remember that we will be playing with one hand tied behind our backs compared to the Premiership drop outs. In such a system you would expect a series of yo-yo clubs to have been formed.

However, while Hull City and Bolton could return to the Premiership fairly quickly, it doesn't seemed to have worked out for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool and Birmingham. So does that mean it is fair that these teams should receive these huge payouts? I don't think so.

At AFCB we will have a difficult enough task with a fan base of 10 million against these larger supported teams. How much will we get if we do go up? A couple of hundred thousand. Compared to the Premiership we are already non-league in terms of finances.

While I want AFCB to win promotion, if we achieve our own ambitions of getting to the Championship it is fair to say that our financial clout in League One has helped us to achieve this. I feel it is a shame that football has become like this.

It seems that the size of your wallet is just as important as your endeavour and skill on the pitch that earns you promotion.

AFCB Goals, goals and more goals please

There was a comforting feel good factor that ran through Saturday's victory over Bury FC, AFCB managed to score four goals. It's something that home fans have not seen since the 4: 1 win against Oldham Athletic back in November last year. While the Cherries have been among the leading goal scorers for this season in League One, since the start of February the team had only scored three goals in home matches. Those goals came against Portsmouth and Doncaster Rovers.

What was especially pleasing was that AFCB had four different scorers on Saturday in Pitman, Ritchie, Arter and Tubbs. Spreading the goals around is something that the team has managed fairly well this season. Pitman now joins Grabban in 13 goals at the top of the table for AFCB goalscorers this season and I'd bet on Brett being at the top of the pile come mid-May.

Of course goals now have another value when looking the the tight League One Table. Bournemouth have not got the best goal difference with Swindon Town far ahead on a massive goal difference of 34, but AFCB should aim to close up on Sheffield Utd's 17 goal difference. If goal difference means the difference of playing at home first or second in a play-off match then we have seen how it helps to be at home for the second game when we played Huddersfield two seasons ago.

Some commentators have said the team are silly to talk about automatic promotion any more and they could be right, but nobody knows that yet. It was always said that points on the board are best to have at this stage of the season rather than games in hand. I can understand that  often quoted phrase as fixture congestion is going to take its toll on some of the teams in the coming weeks and the pressure to get results is really on now. Bournemouth have not got the worry of fixture congestion and if they win their remaining games it will be a big total for other teams to overcome. 

There is no need to be negative at this stage. Yes we have less games to go than our rivals for promotion. A few more wins and a better goal difference will put AFCB in contention with those looking to sneak a place in the Championship. Games in hand do not mean points in the bag and some of the challenging teams at the top of the table still have to play each other.

Let's just wait and see how many points we can get. We are not even 100 per cent certain of being in a play-off place yet. UTCIAD!  

Dare we dream of the Championship?

The excitement is really building as we are at the crunch stage of the season. Any slip ups now and you really will miss out of those promotion places at one end or find yourself looking at relegation at the other end of the league. There is no better or more intense time than this for a football fan. Our hopes of course lie with Eddie Howe's men and their challenge for the Championship, but every time I think we are looking good to make the move up we come tumbling down. But perhaps now we have had our 'wobble' and we can look forward with great anticipation, especially with players coming back after injury.

League One really is a nightmare to predict as I think it is the tightest it has been at this stage for many years. The level of football in the division I would say is fairly high and I believe any team that does go up stands a reasonable chance of competing in the Championship. However, looking at last years teams who went up shows you that it will not be easy to hold a place in the Championship for any new arrivals. Charlton and Huddersfield are doing best at the moment  on 47 points, but Sheffield Wednesday are much further away from safety. I have been told that Peterborough went up the year before - how time flies

AFCB constantly say that we are now a club that is ready for the Championship either this season or next and that everything is in place for football at that level, apart from the South stand that will be built if we go up. I am sure that the fans are ready for it now because we have endured some really tough seasons in the lower leagues and as a club that has never had much success in climbing the leagues it would be tremendous for the whole town to see the club get there.

Of course, there is the slight problem of getting the run-in right and winning those final games to get the automatic promotion or play-off place. Like most I suspect, I would rather get an automatic place but as this is now looking difficult I have made sure that I am free on 19 May just in case I need to visit Wembley. It would be a great day to see AFCB go up in that way, although the prospect of defeat at that stage would be devastating.

Well, it looks like most of you feel that AFCB will at least be heading to Wembley way or indeed automatic promotion by our poll on the teams to go up. We are in the mix as Eddie would say. The prospect of a long season and a trip to Wembley feels pretty good to me.

Chasing Cherries could become the chased very soon

There is now a distinct possibility that the Cherries could reach the summit of League One within the next few days or weeks if they can continue on their latest winning run. While Eddie Howe has been saying for weeks that the club is playing catch up and that it hoped to sneak up almost unnoticed into a position where it was in contention, there is no doubt that the club is now threatening a raid on the top two automatic League One promotion places.

Pessimists may wonder would we be we hitting the front too early? Will the team run out of steam just when the ultimate goal of promotion is in sight? In the past I may have had similar concerns, but AFCB is a club that has been dealing with the pressure of being the big spenders in League One and has got to grips with that expectancy of both the home supporters and the fact that opponents see the Cherries as a big scalp these days.

Another factor that gives me optimism is that this team will not be happy to hang in for just a play-off place. They have been doing well against the top teams. A look at page 62 of this weekends' programme for the Pompey game shows that AFCB are ranked No 1 against the top half of the League teams - W6 D5 L5 and when scoring first they are ranked 7 - W13 D3 L1 and even ninth when conceding first W1 D6 L5. You can see why Eddie Howe says the first goal is so important - most games in this league are won by those who score first!
This team is not like the Cherries team that had to hang on to a top six place two seasons ago for a play-off place. They have the ability to push on and make this league theirs in my opinion. The coming weeks will see if they achieve this.

BBC Radio Solent were also asking John Williams on Saturday whether not to finish in the top two places this season and go up automatically would be a failure? Willo replied that he didn't think it would be a disaster if the Cherries did not get promoted this year as the investors had planned for either going up this season or next season. Ten games into this campaign it was hard to imagine that the Cherries could even make the top half or play-offs but they are well in the mix for top honours now.

Certainly a switch in mentality will be required if AFCB do start to sit at the top of the league. They will no longer be the chasers but the chased. It comes with its own pressure as we can see in Tranmere Rover's recent results. Doncaster Rovers too are finding it hard to get away at the top and it remains to be seen if AFCB can get there and focus on keeping a winning run of games.

Make sure you log your predictions as to which three teams you think will win promotion out of League One this season - see poll on the side panel.