Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reading. Show all posts

Saturday, 30 January 2021

Bournemouth continue their slide with a 3-1 defeat at Reading

Match Report
29 January 2021
Reading 3 v 1 AFCB 
Another poor performance leaves the Cherries well off the pace for promotion.

The Cherries found themselves 3-0 down in 43 minutes as they struggled to contain the hosts. While Danjuma looked lively early on, it was Reading that were hitting the target with Laurent and McIntyre firing Reading well ahead before sharpshooter Lucas João made it three before half-time. At this point, it looked like a salvage respectability mission in the second half. While their subs were the immediate response, it took until the last 10 minutes for Bournemouth fas to have something to cheer when Junior Stanislas converted a free kick into the top corner.

Bournemouth made three changes to the starting line up. David Brooks, Jack Wilshere and Lloyd Kelly made way for Dominic Solanke, Jefferson Lerma and Chris Mepham. The other big news was that Junior Stanislas was back on the bench. One onlooking spectator would also be Ben Pearson who signed from Preston North End, but there were also rumours that Matt Ritchie could be heading back to Bournemouth, while Josh King announced he would be staying until the end of the season at Bournemouth.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
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The Cherries started in a 4-3-3 formation with Danjuma on the left-wing and King on the right side. Danjuma had the first pop at goal with a shot from outside the box which was saved on five minutes. 

Reading looked closer to the opener when João raced between Mepham and Begovic to pick up a back pass. He passed to John Swift who shot just wide of the post with Steve Cook covering the goal. 

Reading scored following a corner as Mepham blocks a shot from McIntyre only for Josh Laurent to find the net from close range. Danjuma then had his shot blocked.

Things got worse for the Cherries when Rico made a foul and was booked. The free kick from Olise was saved by Begovic but the ball spilled out to McIntyre who made it 2-0 on 30 minutes.

John Swift was also booked for a foul on Solanke. Solanke had a header blocked following a corner before Solanke's header was saved in the top corner.

Bournemouth mounted the first attack of the second half with David Brooks' cross was met by Adam Smith's header which was too high. Begovic then had to make a save from John Swift's attempt from outside the box.

While Lewis Cook shot wide from distance, it was Reading looking more likely to score. John Swift was getting in good positions and had another shot go over. 

Reading then attacked with Ejaria firing wide. Bournemouth switched with King playing alongside Solanke up front. But the change didn't work as Reading went 3-0 up after João cuts inside and beat Begovic on 43 minutes.

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Bournemouth made three changes for the second half on came Brooks, Wilshere and Smith to replace, Danjuma. Lerma and Rico. 

Josh King's burst of speed took him to the box but his shot was deflected for a corner off Rinomhota. Dominic Solanke missed a chance from the center of the box, before Billing had a shot saved that was headed for the corner of the goal. Steve Cook added the frustration with a header from a corner that was saved.

Lewis Cook was next to miss following a corner. Semedo replaced Swift for Reading who had had a good game. Reading were back testing Begovic with João having a shot saved and Laurent shooting from distance. Aluko then came on for Ejaria.

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Stanislas made his return coming on for Billing in the last 10 minutes. Wilshere won a free kick and Stanislas founds the left corner - Bournemouth were on the score sheet 3-1.

King then had a shot blocked. Reading subbed Olise, João and Holmes for Esteves, Meite and Yiadom. Six minutes of added time go up.

Esteves shoots too high. Wilshere's cross is headed over by Solanke. Meite's shot is saved.

Summary
It's hard to know how Jason Tindall is going to turn this around. The team were out of their depth and just unable to compete. There's no leadership or willingness to make things easier for one another. The pressure is on and Bournemouth haven't been able to respond. They are in free fall and this is a problem that may not be a quick fix. The players have lost their confidence and their motivation under Tindall. It will be quite something if the Cherries can pick themselves up from this. There have been too many off days and it's really starting to show now.

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Reading: 33 Cabral Barbosa, 29 Holmes (Yiadom 88), 4 Morrison, 5 McIntyre, 3 Richards, 8 Rinomhota, 28 Laurent, 7 Olise (Esteves 88), 10 Swift (Semedo 73), 14 Ejaria (Aluko 77), 18 Lucas João (Meite 88)

Reading Subs
2 Esteves, 11 Meite, 15 Gibson, 17 Yiadom, 22 Southwood, 24 Aluko, 30 Semedo,
34 Tetek, 46 Onen

AFCB lineup

AFCB Subs: Dennis, Smith, Simpson, Carter-Vickers,
Wilshere, Stanislas, Brooks, Riquelme, Surridge.

Friday, 29 January 2021

The Cherries don't want to see a 20-year unbeaten run against Reading slip

If the first game between Reading and Bournemouth at the start of the season held some tension, then this latest encounter has watched that up about 10-fold. While Reading were the Championship's runaway leaders early on in the season, they were caught and have been trying to re-establish themselves in the play-off places, while Bournemouth have slipped below them again. This game could catapult one of these teams into contention for an automatic promotion place, but the loser may well see a very difficult second half of the season.

The Cherries know this next game against Reading could 
see them put themselves back in contention for a high finish.

Reading are in relatively good form having won two of their last three games and having not lost in five if the FA Cup defeat to Luton is excluded. They have two more wins than Bournemouth and have Lucas João still banging in the goals - he's up to 14 now (17 in all competitions). He should have one more but missed a penalty in the Royals' last game against Preston North End. Michael Olise is also a winger who has several Premier League clubs looking on admiringly - including the likes of Man City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. Where Reading have wilted a bit is in their defence having succumbed to 28 goals against in their 25 games.


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All indicators are that this will be another high scoring game like the 4-2 result for Bournemouth earlier in the season. Clean sheets look rather unlikely. Reading haven't beaten the Cherries since winning 2-0 in March 2000. To keep that record going Bournemouth need to find something that has been missing for the last five or more league matches and that's plenty of shots on target. Keeping Jack Wilshere into the starting 11 may be one easy pick, but Tindall has to fathom a way for Bournemouth to be better in possession and prevent the number of shots that Begovic is being made to save currently.

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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Winning the game would put Bournemouth back on track, but defeat now really will see them start to fall away from the top six if they are not careful. 

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Reading Home Form
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AFCB Away Form

WLDWL

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Has Wilshere done enough to grab a starting place for AFCB in the Championship?



Thursday, 28 January 2021

Has Wilshere done enough to grab a starting place for AFCB in the Championship?

The start that Jack Wilshere made for Bournemouth in the FA Cup against Crawley couldn't have been much better. He wanted to make an impact and he certainly did that. He wanted to score his first goal for the club and he wanted to start paying back the debt he perhaps feels he has to the club for how things ended in the past. He is keeping his end of the bargain but is he ready to take on the best in the Championship?

Is Jack ready to play his part?

It would be easy to give Jack Wilshere a ticket to start straight away in the next league match. Tindall will have to decide not only whether this is best for Jack, but also whether it will sit okay with the other players in the squad. Everyone says Jack is hard working and has been well accepted by the players at AFCB. But Jack doesn't want to sit around on the bench. He wants to be a force in the team and that will mean needing to accommodate him and in preference to one of the other midfielders.

It is most likely that Lewis Cook's position would see the most immediate threat. Jack is similarly creative and yet has shown he can also skip past players and hit the target. His vision and understanding of the game are no doubt at a higher level than many of Bournemouth's players having starred in an Arsenal team and less so in a West Ham team. He is willing to teach what he has learned to other players like Lewis Cook who will be battling with him for the same place, and I expect he will do what he can to win as many people over as he can. But the best way for him to do that si on the pitch.

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If, on merit, Jack is the right and best option to start, then he should. It might be hard on the likes of Dan Gosling and Philip Billing as well, but Bournemouth need winners if they are going to climb back up the league and Wilshere is surely a winner. Just looking at the ease at which Jack scored his goal against Crawley underlined that he is a special player that can make the game look like child's play. Teams like Reading in Bournemouth's next match won't give Jack as much time and space as Crawley gave him, but I am sure Jack can step up a few more levels yet in his performances. It may take him a while to know what Josh King and Dominic Solanke's wavelengths are, but AFCB are only going to get the best out of Jack by playing him. So I'm all for getting him in the team, even if it is only for 40-50 minutes at first.

In other news, the Bournemouth Echo reports that Jason Tindall believes Jack Simpson and Nnamadi Ofoborgh have made their minds up to joining Rangers either in this window or in the summer.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Wilshere scores first goal for Bournemouth in 2-1 cup win over Crawley




Monday, 23 November 2020

Bournemouth's four-goal second-half was something to savour

The way Bournemouth ran into trouble against Reading was not ideal and it could have been a crushing defeat, if the Cherries continued to play like they did in the first half. But when Dominic Solanke scored Bournemouth's first goal, the game took on a totally different aspect. The substitution at half-time had enabled Lloyd Kelly to play as a left-back and his cross was the kind of delivery that that had been missing in the first half. With the goal came the belief that Bournemouth could overturn Reading's lead.

Lewis Cook doesn't score many goals but he saved up 
something special for his first Bournemouth goal.

It was the speed of Bournemouth's total recovery that made the comeback against Reading so surprising. As soon as they had got one goal, they had two and the moves that hadn't been coming off earlier were suddenly cutting Reading open. It was impressive to see the movement and almost telepathic nature of the way David Brooks put Arnaut Danjuma in for Bournemouth's second goal, and from there, nobody could have expected Lewis Cook to suddenly strike his first goal for Bournemouth. It was long overdue and it was completely out of the blue. The technique and precision of the shot were devastating. As soon as it hit the back of the net there was no way Bournemouth were going to lose hold of this game.

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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

It still needed a superb save from Begovic to keep Reading from getting their third goal and the contribution of Begovic can't be underestimated. It all boosts the team feeling and the collective belief that this is a team that can win promotion. Solanke is also becoming a striker that is hungry to get his name on the score sheet every game and by scoring more than one goal in a match, he will start to think he can score at anytime.


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Jason Tindall will still see that Bournemouth are not playing perfectly yet. The first half was poor despite the dominance of possession. The corner routines were totally off-track. The team is not starting games with a high enough concentration or intensity. They are relying on their ability a little too much and need to add some grit to their game. Once they get that right we will start to see 90-minute performances.

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Still, it was a thrilling comeback and we haven't seen that kind of determination to succeed for a long time. It makes me believe that all is well under Jason Tindall and Bournemouth can achieve their aims this season, if they can keep progressing, limit their injuries and navigate their way safely through the January transfer window.

Sunday, 22 November 2020

The Cherries stage a dramatic comeback to blow Reading away 4-2

Match Report
AFCB 4 v 2 Reading
21 November 2020
AFCB's Lewis Cook hits a stunning goal as Bournemouth comeback for a 4-2 win

Bournemouth looked like they had lost their home unbeaten record with a hit and run first half from Reading that saw them go 0-2 up. Within the first few minutes, Bournemouth fell behind when Alfa Somedo went on a personal crusade to beat three Bournemouth defenders and slip along the byline where Asmir Begovic brought him down for a penalty. Lucas João made no mistake from the spot and while Bournemouth dominated possession, Reading made it 0-2 when Aluko bent his run from the right and slipped the ball past Begovic with ease. The second half change to bring on Mepham saw Kelly go to left-back, and it was his cross that brought Bournemouth back into the game, when Solanke buried the cross at the far post on 55 minutes. With Brooks then getting on the ball, he found Danjuma in space to make it 2-2, with plenty of time to go. Indeed, Lewis Cook then pulled out one of the goals of the season with a spectacular dipping shot that found the top corner and Solanke finished off the goal scoring with a chase down and tangle with the Reading keeper, which he came out on top of. Bournemouth went top of the table before the other games with this incredible comeback.

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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Bournemouth brought back Steve Cook to captain the side, replacing Chris Mepham. Ofoborh, Kilkenny and Anthony came into the subs bench which was now nine players strong.

Match description
Rico makes a good interception before bringing down Rinomhota. Reading's free kicks flated to the edge of the box but the offside flag goes up.

Semedo on the left. Lewis Cook is beaten and now Steve Cook, oh, no Begivc brings down Semedo - penalty! Lucas João scores bottom left corner. Reading are 0-1 up after some sloppy defending from Bournemouth. Begovic has also been booked.

Just four minutes gone. Rico plays a poor ball out of play. Bournemouth might as well still be in the dressing room. They seem half-asleep - all very relaxed. Lerma goes down in the box but he made the most of it and doesn't get the decision.

Danjuma takes on two and beats them into the box and his shot is off Morrison for a corner.  Kelly has to get a foot up to get the ball back to Begovic ahead of Lucas João.

Danjuma pulls the ball back for Brooks but the shot is blocked. Rico is not having his best game. On the break, Reading chip in a cross and Somedo heads wide on 13 minutes.

Bournemouth have a corner. An awful cross from Stanislas straight out of play. Solanke does well to set Danjuma away, corner. It will be another corner. Brooks loses it o the edge of the box.  Bournemouth are exerting some control now. 

Brooks on the turn hits a sharp shot but the keeper makes the save to his right. Somedo has a shot blocked.

Stacey gets forward for one of the first times but gives a foul away. Lewis Cook fouls Aluko on the edge of the box. The free kick goes harmlessly out of play.

Reading double up on Brooks to keep him out. Stacey has taken a knock. João and Aluko get free but Kelly just does enough. Solanke goes down easy in the box, nothing given. Ejaria just used his weight.

Lerma's cross is put out for a corner. Lerma heads wide from the corner. Rico intercepts well, he's playing better now. Solanke gets behind but Morrison puts it out for a corner. Stacey's cross is caught by the keeper.

Danjuma wins another corner. Reading win a foul. Ejario plays a good ball through and Aluko makes it 0-2. Bournemouth cut open and Rico didn't follow João. Lots of work for Tindall to do at half-time to keep the Cherries' unbeaten home record alive.

A wasted corner by Danjuma. Four minutes of added time. Brooks wins a free kick in a dangerous area. Stanislas bends it up and around the wall but the keeper saves well.


Second half 
Chris Mepham replaces Diego Rico at half-time. Kelly moves to left-back. Brooks fouls Aluko. Solanke does well to win a corner. Brooks is offside from his corner - poor.  

Lerma wins a free kick as he drives forward. Rinomhota made the foul. Stanislas and Brooks are over the ball again. Stanislas hits the wall.

Great ball in from the left off Lloyd Kelly's boot and Solanke makes it 1-2 on 57 minutes. Lewis Cook and Brooks now slips in Danjuma, it's in it's 2-2!  Danjuma just ran in between the defenders and the goal opened up for him on 58 minutes.

What a turnaround. Reading sub Esteves and Aluku for Holmes and Olise on 63 minutes. Luas João gets a shot away but Begovic saves well.

Stacey drives a cross sin and Solanke is beaten to it for a corner. Olisa wins a free kick and Danjuma is booked. Ejaria is subbed for Meiti on 74 minutes.

Oh, a wonderful goal from Lewis Cook. Brooks came inside from the right and Lewis Cook let fly with an absolute belter from 25 yards straight into the top corner. 3-2 to Bournemouth.

Stanislas is subbed for Riquelme on 78 minutes. Somedo is replaced by Sam Baldock on 80 minutes. Danjuma is offside.

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Brooks is subbed for Simpson on 84 minutes. The header comes in from João and Begovic scrambles it out for a corner, amazing save. Begovic catches it this time. The ball was right on the line from the header but didn't cross the line. Begovic certainly saved two points for Bournemouth there.

Bournemouth scramble another ball clear. Solanke has caught Cabral out of his area. He has got away from him and scores 4-2.  Five additional minutes of play.

Lerma is subbed for Offoborh. Elisa shoots on target and Begovic makes another big save with his right boot.


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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Summary
Bournemouth go top of the table for a moment, but it was far from comfortable. A poor start of the game for Bournemouth put them in a difficult position which was totally unnecessary. The second goal put Reading well ahead and they played well enough on the break that it could have been more for the Royals. Lewis Cook has to look at himself for the first goal and Diego Rico for the second. But the first goal is the one that really highlighted Bournemouth were not at the races early on. For all the play in front of Reading's goal in the first half, Bournemouth also made far too many poor passes when they were trying to stretch the Royals. The corners were also wasted most of the time. Possession doesn't necessarily win you games. It was a great second-half turnaround to see Bournemouth get back level and the quality of Lloyd Kelly's cross did the damage at first. Danjuma got on the score sheet with his favourite cutting inside move and Bournemouth looked a different side. Then Lewis Cook's stunner capped off a remarkable comeback and Solanke's persistence got him his second goal to round things off. Great entertainment.

AFCB line-up

AFCB Subs: Travers, Simpson, Mepham, Gosling, Kilkenny, Ofoborh, Riquelme, Surridge, Anthony

AFCB Ratings
Begovic 8, Stacey 7, S Cook 7, Kelly 8, Rico 6, Brooks 8, Lerma 6, Stanislas 5, L Cook 7, Danjuma 8, Solanke 7

Cherry Chimes MoM - Begovic

Reading
33 Cabral Barbosa, 2 Pontes Esteves (Holmes 63), 6 Moore, 4 Morrison, 3 Richards, 8 Rinomhota,
28 Laurent, 14 Ejaria, 30 Semedo (Baldock 80), 24 Aluko (Olise 64), 18 Lucas João

Reading Subs
7 Olise, 9 Baldock, 11 Meite, 15 Gibson, 22 Southwood, 29 Holmes, 34 Tetek, 43 Watson

Saturday, 21 November 2020

Bournemouth are in good shape to take on Reading

While Bournemouth won't have Josh King available for the next few games, having tested positive for COVID-19 in the week, the Cherries like other teams in the Championship have the opportunity to have nine squad members on the bench and five substitutes available to use in games form now on. Bournemouth's squad is perhaps more talented than most in this league and having the extra players on the bench strengthens Bournemouth from what I can see as they look to take on Reading today.

Bournemouth have the chance to go top for a few hours.

Bournemouth should look pretty strong for this game. While Chris Mepham played 90 minutes against Finland for Wales, but David Brooks only came on in the 89th minute. Lewis Cook is also clear now of his knee injury and should be okay for selection if required, and Steve Cook is back having served out his one-match suspension after his red card.

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We are still waiting for Riquelme to make his first start for Bournemouth at Dean Court, but he may have to wait a little longer with the competition of Brooks and Stanislas also vying for a start. But I don't think it will be long before Riquelme gets the nod. 

Jefferson Lerma has had a busy week, having had a 6-1 defeat against Ecuador for Colombia and yet last time he did play after the international break and may make himself available as Reading is a big match. At the back we should see Steve Cook fit straight back in, but I wonder if Tindall will find a place for Adam Smith who was left on the bench last game. Rotation is going to come into the manager's thinking at this time of the year. I'm hoping that this might give Sam Surridge a chance to come on at some stage in games, but Bournemouth will most likely rely on Solanki and Danjuma to get the goals and, if they do succeed, it will be great to see Bournemouth go top of the table for an hour or so before the other games on Saturday.

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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Playing Reading will give a clear understanding of where AFCB are headed

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Possible AFCB line-up

AFCB Subs: Travers, Rico, Mepham, Simpson, 

Lerma, Ofoborh, A Smith, Riquelme, Surridge


Sunday, 15 November 2020

Are Bournemouth in good enough shape to attack the Championship now?

Bournemouth have played 11 games in the Championship and are now well acquainted with the relative standard of the Championship again. While an automatic return to the Premier League is everyone's hope, can Bournemouth consider the first 11 games as a good platform to press on or should they be concerned with how some of the games have gone?

AFCB are in the right area to make a charge at 
the Championship's automatic promotion places.

I think it is easy for us as fans to think not much has changed at AFCB since Eddie Howe's departure. After, a lot if not all the routines and framework of the club have been build by Eddie Howe's time at the club. But Jason Tndall is not Eddie Howe and he has his own ideas on how he can get more from the players. Taking the club back to the next level though is not as simple as carrying on as if Eddie was still there, and his legacy is all around the club. I think that is not necessarily a bad thing. Eddie's time was successful and it should inspire people at the club to try and do even better.

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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Getting back to the Premier League at the moment is probably Bournemouth's best chance of doing it. It will only get harder in future seasons if it is not accomplished now. But the Cherries can only be competitive at the moment, which they have managed and to keep in the race for automatic promotion. The challenge ahead is to be more consistent and to play better and better football which other teams can't live with. There appears to still be enough quality in the squad to win most games at this level, but if the first 11 games have taught us anything it is that it is possible to get stuck in drawing games, and that while Bournemouth might not lose too many games they have to find ways to break teams down with more success.

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I believe the team now know where they have been falling short and against Birmingham City the layers actually had fun out there. That is what they really need to feel. Once the players get those smiles back on their faces they can get control of the Championship. Coming back from two weeks away for some of the squad is going to be hard, but they have to focus on the job of winning games. In away I'm glad that it is Reading in the next game as that will be seen as a real test and should get the players up for an exciting game next weekend.

Wednesday, 30 September 2020

Bournemouth's first summer signing expected to come from Spain

Rodrigo Riquelme, 20, of Atletico Madrid is expected to be Bournemouth's first summer signing, according to reports from Football Insider. The winger's signature was also contested by Reading and Celtic, but the Cherries looked to have won their man and will add firepower to their squad for the first time since signing Harold Wilson on loan last season.

AFCB look to line up a signing or two before the window shuts

Jason Tindall has promised he wants two or three signings and there may well be news of more movements in the market before the window shuts in a few day's time. It is refreshing to speak about a new signing, but arguably Bournemouth are more in need of another central defender and striker than a winger. 
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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 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

The signing of winger may mean that Josh King or David Brooks could be on their way, but the Manchester Evening News is now reporting that there is a change in stance on David Brooks and that Man Utd won't make a bid for the Welsh international in this window.

I don't believe that Bournemouth has found it at all easy to do deals this window, and they are probably at least a couple or more players down on what they had hoped to bring in. There is still time to salvage the situation, but some of the targeted signings have certainly escaped. The worry is that Bournemouth could be hit with two or three bids that come in for their remaining star players in the last 24 hours of the window. That could radically change the chances for AFCB mounting a promotion bid this season. 
While several U21s have shown they can play at Championship level, my hope is that Bournemouth's recruitment is really focussed on getting a few other players in during January to ensure Bournemouth are as strong as they can be to keep among the front runners for promotion.

Chimes Newsletter - out tomorrow!
Cherry Chimes' October Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. The newsletter has a special story - Can AFCB be a force without making a crop of new signings?

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Saturday, 22 August 2020

Fixture excitement at the challenge ahead for AFCB

I was waiting with anticipation, not about the fixture release, when it came through, but for the reaction form Bournemouth fans. The mood was quite chirpy as for many they could see Bournemouth striding through some of the games, and for once we might even see some clean sheets. But the Championship is a long race and the first three fixtures look pretty tough to me.

A full fixture list ahead with or without supporters.
Playing Blackburn Rovers at home for the first game is a good way to judge what shape Bournemouth are in, with Blackburn Rovers finishing in a mid-way 11th position last season. A home game always gives your club a chance to make a good start and, with Middlesbrough away and Norwich City at home to follow, Bournemouth would put themselves in a very strong position, if they can beat that kind of quality in their first three games.

Easier said than done though. Watford and Derby will be big matches in October and November looks a particularly good month with some grudge matches against Reading and Nottingham Forest and a tough visit to Sheffield Wednesday. Whether fans are getting to games by this point we just don't know, but the December games are certainly ones that fans will want to enjoy with so many games. I am expecting Swansea away to be a hard match along with Preston at home, as both sides did well last season. Boxing Day should be fun with Millwall in attendance and Brentford, just before New Year, will be a great time to see their new stadium.

I am not sure how many will want to brave Stoke in January, but the crazy ones will take on the weather and I think January could be a crunch month with the quality of fixtures. Watford and Cardiff will be big matches to try and win at home in February and there are long journey's up north to Preston and Huddersfield in March. April looks like it could be a strong month for the Cherries as a the run-in goes and a finish at home to Stoke City could be a great way to go up. Let's think positively.

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