Has AFCB's best candidate for manager just won promotion to the Premier League?

Following the play-off defeat for Brentford to Fulham, AFCB's directors may well be devastated that they will be unable to entice Scott Parker to Dean Court to take the vacant manager's position. The prospect would have started to sound very exciting, if brother-in-law and former Cherry Arter also came back but Scott Parker, like Motherwell's Steve Robinson, can now be ruled out.

Who wants to be the next manager at AFCB?

Fulham play an attractive brand of football and that is why Parker had been linked to the job and he could have brought one or two players with him. The problem for Bournemouth is that people are keener to rule themselves out rather than in for the job, It is a tough task to follow Eddie Howe and it could leave Bournemouth in a spot, if they can't identify the best candidate quickly.

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Steven Robinson would also have been a good pick, having done so well with Motherwell, but he told the Daily Record that he wasn't interested in leaving Motherwell. The chat on BBC Radio Solent on Sunday night also talked about Mark Moseley at Weymouth but suggested it was too big a step up and that Stephen Purches was probably the best placed Bournemouth coach to be a manager.

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While the board hasn't made any noise about their preferred candidate, they may be forced to go for an inside candidate as their potential targets are being whittled away. Of the other outsiders, Gareth Ainsworth might be the romantic pick, but he hasn't managed in the Championship before and he would probably like to continue with Wycombe, just like Eddie Howe wanted to get Bournemouth as high as he could.

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The list of candidates to me isn't that exciting and that is perhaps the real problem for Bournemouth. They need a reason to get fans excited again and they may struggle to find a candidate with that CV.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - What is Howe's legacy?

Are Fulham there for the taking for AFCB?

A quick assessment of Fulham might not give Eddie Howe too many concerns. While they are already relegated, Fulham have managed to get their first win under Scott Parker at home to Everton and in that match they managed their third clean sheet of the season.

AFCB managed a 0-3 win against Fulham earlier in
the season - two goals from Wilson and one from David Brooks

If Fulham's home form has added a glimmer of light to their fans the away form has not given their fans any pleasure having not won a match in 2019 on the road. Fulham did get a point away at Brighton last September and a draw with Newcastle in December, but it has usually been a journey full of defeats. On goal form, Fulham are ahead of Huddersfield, West Ham, Cardiff and Newcastle in their last six away games, but if they are scoring a goal in away matches they are usually conceding three or four as well.

If we put that against AFCB's home form in the last six matches, AFCB come out as the 10th best team in the league, scoring 10 and conceding seven goals. It looks like being a tall task for Fulham to get something from the game with Bournemouth.

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While Bournemouth need to be on the look out for players that could do better in a stronger team, it will be of interest to see how well Ryan Sessegnon does in this match, if selected. He has managed two goals and six assists in a struggling Fulham side, but could be snapped up by another Premier League team this summer. Tom Cairney has also been a key player for the London team despite only managing one assist and one goal. Ryan Babel got most of the praise for Fulham's win against Everton and Bournemouth will be aware of his talent, while Mitrovich can always find a goal and has done magnificently well to reach 10 goals this season for Fulham.

While AFCB will be favourites to win the match, we can perhaps see a possibility of Fulham scoring so I don't see this as a walkover, despite Bournemouth's morale boosting 0-5 win last time out at Brighton.

Fulham Away Form
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AFCB Home Form
WDLDL

Score predictions
Send in your score predictions for AFCB v Fulham to @CherryChimes. We will pick a winner from the correct entries to win a Cherry Chimes' T-shirt.

Fulham have the quality to topple the best

Just the name Fulham football club has me visualising some of the great players of the past like George Best and Tony Currie - showing my age! The team today is not as primed with such top names as it used to be but they have just beaten table toppers Derby County in the last week and have more than enough goal scorers to upset teams in the Championship. Scott Parker played really well in the game against the Rams and Ross McCormack looked back to his very best. They considered themselves unlucky not to get something at Watford in their last match as well.

Fulham will be looking to build on their last home
win so AFCB have to really be on their guard.

You do have to wonder what an earth Fulham are doing down in 19th place with a points total of 39 from 35 games? Fulham still have their own destiny very much in their own hands with games against Wigan and Blackpool to come, but they can really move well away from danger with a couple more wins and they'll be out to get those as soon as possible.

They have got injuries and have been missing Hugo Rodallega, but he came back as a sub against Watford and there seems to be a bit of team spirit coming together at Craven Cottage and it is frankly not before time. Lasse Vigen Christensen also went off injured in their match against Derby, so Harry Arter could find himself up against Sean Kavanagh, if Scott Parker does decides he needs some help to keep pace with his brother-in-law for 90 minutes. Matt Smith could also play up front for them alongside Ross McCormack. Kit Symons has some options and Alan Curbishly has joined the backroom staff a Fulham.

The result against Derby was a real coupon buster as the London club was not much fancied against a Derby side that had been knocking teams over for fun. But Fulham's home form is started to look better when you see they beat Nottingham Forest in mid-January and Forest have since been on a great run. Their only home defeat in their last five games was against Ipswich Town. 

Fulham may well still finish mid-table in what will probably be seen as an adjustment season back in the Championship, mainly because they got off to an awful start. They can still have a big say in who goes up with their matches against Derby and AFCB followed in April and May with what could be key matches against Brentford, Middlesbrough and then Norwich on the last day.

Fulham Home Form
WWDLW

AFCB Away Form
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You can read what Andrew Beck of Cottagers Confidential had to say about Kim Symons and the season Fulham have had by visiting Rival Lines.

Enjoy the game tonight whether like me you are up at the Cottage or are watching it on TV or listening on radio - a win for the Cherries would put them back on top of the league for at least a few hours. UTCIAD!

Did Arter steal Parker's midfield crown?

Harry Arter won the spoils on Boxing Day against his brother-in-law. It was always going to be a difficult game for the two players and I was pleased that they did not get into any situation where one of them might have been sent off. Thankfully, it was a fairly clean game with both sides playing some good football. The midfield scrap was full on, but Surman and Arter were more than a match for Scott Parker and Seko Fofana in the end.

Harry Arter scores against Fulham. Something
he'll no doubt enjoy talking to Scott Parker about in
future years.

Arter did not push forward too much early on in the match. He was aware that Fulham were capable of dictating matters if he let them win the midfield, and we quickly saw his usual passing game start to spread the ball to both wings efficiently. It was when the Cherries came under pressure in the second half that I thought, now Harry is really playing. Fulham were on top and were trying to get that equaliser, but Harry was racing around the field trying to cut down the time and space for those who could hurt the Cherries.

Ross McCormack looked most likely to find a gap somewhere, but no one got away from Arter for long and at the end of the game it was just reward for all his hard work that Harry got the final goal to seal the win. He had had chances earlier in the game, but to run from the half way line and to smash in his shot so precisely in the corner was a real champagne moment at the end of the match for AFCB fans.

I still feel that Harry can have even more influence in games, but it is pleasing to see that he is enjoying his chance to get on the score sheet when he can. I am not saying that he is better than Scott Parker yet, but he is going to start to get noticed if he plays like this every week.

An international call up can't be far away for Arter now.

More photos of the game yesterday are on Match Day Gallery.

Irresistible Cherries turn on the style to beat Fulham 0-2

Match Report

AFCB 2 v 0 Fulham

26 December 2014

Attendance 10,926

Tommy Elphick and Scott Parker step up for the captains' coin toss.

This Boxing Day treat was always going to be a great day for either Harry Arter or Scott Parker. As it was, Arter came out the winner in a match that saw AFCB extend their unbeaten league record to 13 games, and truly stamp their authority on what was a confident Fulham side who had been playing well of late, but AFCB's slick passing caused them problems from the start, and in wide areas Fulham could not stem the flow of crosses into their box. It was a bit of a surprise that the first goal came from a corner, as Brett Pitman headed in on nine minutes, but Bournemouth were cutting through Fulham in open play before that, but the Cherries had to be patient for the win which was only secured after a late spectacular goal from Harry Arter who is growing in stature every game.

AFCB kick towards the Ted McDougall stand.

Pre-match AFCB huddle.

Ross McCormack and Bryan Ruiz get set to kick off.

All ready to go.

More pictures can be viewed on Match Day Gallery. 

Eddie Howe made no changes from the Blackpool match with Pitman starting and designated penalty taker for the Cherries. Scott Parker was selected by Fulham to lead their side and he would have a scrap with Bournemouth's Harry Arter for 90 minutes and I was intrigued to see who would come out on top. Fulham looked to match AFCB by setting up 4-4-2 and with experienced strikers such as Bryan Ruiz and Hugo Rodellega,  as well as Ross McCormack, I expected a busy day for Tommy Elphick and Steve Cook in the heart of AFCB's defence. The misty, rolling, rain wasn't going to make it easy either.

Cherries Chimes' FanCam: Clive and Harry give a pre-match view as Fulham fans.

AFCB started the match with plenty of attacking intent as Callum Wilson forced Marcus Bettinelli into a first minute save as his shot deflected off of Lasse Vigen Christensen. Fulham's first attack saw Ross McCormack flagged offside. Seko Fofana was stretching his long legs in midfield but showed some anger when Pitman fouled him on five minutes. Fulham might have been fired up, but it was AFCB that were passing with precision. AFCB also won a free kick, but took it too quickly when it was in a good shooting position on the edge of the D.  Pitman then fired a shot over when he should have made the keeper work!

The pressure was building though and Callum Wilson looked like he would get the break though as he shot inside the box, but the shot was some how deflected and went out for a corner. Pitman then ran straight to the near post and made a glancing header that put the Cherries 1-0 up on 10 minutes! It had been another lightening start from the team in red and black shirts. 

Daniels and Pugh were enjoying their time on the left wing and were really testing Fulham's Grimmer. It looked like AFCB would go two up on 14 minutes with a ball into Wilson, but the flag went up for offside. Daniels conceded the first corner for Fulham on 18 minutes, but Francis won the first header and while the ball bobbled around in the box, Artur Boruc raced out to grab the ball at Rodellega's feet.

Bournemouth kept forcing the pace and Callum Wilson took another shot that Bittinelli was able to cling on to easily enough as it hit him right in the midriff. Francis put in crosses that Wilson was not able to stretch far enough for, while Pugh on the other wing was tricking his way past defenders with ease. Pitman won a free kick on 25 minutes on the edge of the box and it gave Ritchie a chance to test the Fulham keeper which he did, making him dive down low to his left. Although the ball spilled out, AFCB could not take advantage of the loose ball and Fulham cleared.

Bournemouth were well on top but were not finding it easy to get the second goal. On a rare incursion into Bournemouth's half Staffylidis saw his shot go high and wide with Boruc a spectator. At the other end we were calling for Francis to shoot when he made a darting run towards the goal, but he chose the wrong option by passing to Wilson who ran out too wide. 

Pugh was then seen hobbling after he was caught on the edge of the box, but when Ritchie took the free kick it was high and wide of the left post. The chances kept coming though and Arter was next to blast over on 34 minutes, having seen Surman, Daniels and Pugh carve out the opening.

Fulham won a few headers in the centre of the field off of Bryan Ruiz, but they were struggling to get a grip on the game. Fleeting glimpses of Ross McCormack were not enough to worry AFCB's back four while Surman and Arter were controlling the pace of the game. The scoreline of 1-0 at half time was the least that the Cherries deserved on their play.

Cherry Chimes' FanCam: AFCB fan Peter Gill tells us how the match is going at half time.

Second Half

Some one must have said something to Ross McCormack at half time, because he suddenly looked a threat. He came out and had an early shot that went wide across the box. Bournemouth's reply was immediate though when Wilson was pushed over by Grimmer in the box and won a penalty on 49 minutes! Bodruov argued for some time but Pitman took the ball and put it on the spot. I was praying that Pitman would shoot right having seen his two penalties last game that both went to the keeper's left. Bettinelli was bound to have known that and yet Brett hit his shot again to the left, and Bettinelli had surely done his homework and made the save down to his left! In the race for the ball, the follow up was missed by Callum Wilson and Fulham had escaped. 

The incident seemed to gavlanise Fulham who started keeping the ball better and Cook and Ritchie were having to defend well in front of Rodellega. This was a storm that Bournemouth would have to now get though. Fulham were coming on strong now and Seko Fofana was next to shoot over on 57 minutes, before a short corner saw him shoot wide. A distance shot then came in from Scott Parker that was deflected only just wide of Bournemouth's right post.  This was Fulham's best spell, but they just could not get a shot on target for Boruc to do any work.

After a short corner from AFCB there was a shout of handball, but referee Keith Stroud was not about to give AFCB another kick from 12 yards. Fulham were just seeing all their efforts go wide and Jack Grimmer could only add to that statistic.

Fulham tried to change things by subbing Lasse Vigen Christensen for George Williams on 65 minutes. Bournemouth were still creating chances though and Daniels played Pitman through only for Brett to shoot wide on 70 minutes. AFCB started to take the sting out of the game and were looking more comfortable even though their lead was just by a slender goal as we entered the last 15 minutes. Fulham brought on Patrick Roberts for Bryan Ruiz.

There was a bit of laughter when Harry Arter hit a shot straight at Scott Parker, although the two just carried on with the game. Pitman was shown a yellow card moments later for shadowing and eventually blocking Bittinelli's kick. However, time was running out for Fulham and Ritchie almost killed the game with a shot from the right wing that flashed past Fulham's left post at speed. Pitman was then subbed for Gosling on 85 minutes and Fulham took Rodellega off to allow Cauley Woodrow on. A moment of anxiety than took place as Williams ran towards the box and went sprawling on the ground! Pleasingly, the referee decided it was simulation and the yellow card was handed out to Williams.

The smiles were even wider two minutes later when Harry Arter picked up the ball on half way and tore towards the Fulham goal. He fainted to look to get a pass off to Wilson before cutting back inside and released a low, powerful drive from the edge of the box that beat Bettinellli and nestled in the bottom right corner of Fulham's net - game over 2-0!

Eddie Howe soaked up what extra time there was by putting on firstly Yann Kermorgant for Wilson and then Adam Smith for Matt Ritchie.

2-0 was a smaller margin of victory than it might have been.

Fulham and AFCB players at the end of the match.

Full time at the Goldsands Stadium.

Time to get out of the rain.

Summary

I believe the penny is starting to drop for rival supporters. AFCB need to be taken seriously. This is not a small team that is lucky to be leading the Championship, but a cleverly moulded and well organised side that are taking out teams with larger budgets by their overall game. At times in this match the passing was sublime against a hard working Fulham side. It was not a poor performance by Fulham, they battled and gave it their all having been outplayed in the first half, but AFCB just kept coming at them, just like the persistent rain. Even a missed Cherries penalty was not enough to see Fulham recover charge of the game for long and the final score of 2-0 was no less than the Cherries deserved for a very professional performance that keeps them top of the league. Fulham will have to reflect on a whole 90 minutes and not one shot on target from their team.

AFCB

Boruc, Francis, Elphick, Cook, Daniels, Ritchie (Smith 93), Arter, Surman, Pugh, Pitman (Golsing 86), Wilson (Kermorgant 93)

AFCB Subs
Camp, Gosling, Smith, Kermorgant, Fraser, O'Kane, Cargill

AFCB Ratings
Boruc 6, Francis 8, Elphick 7, Cook 8, Daniels 8, Ritchie 7, Arter 8, Surman 8, Pugh 8, Pitman 8, Wilson 7

Fulham
Bettinelli, Grimmer, Bodurov, Hutchinson, Stafylidis, Parker, Christensen (Williams 66), Fofana, (Roberts - 80), Rodallega (Woodrow 87), McCormack

Fulham Subs
Kiraly, Zverotic, Roberts, Woodrow, Williams, Hyndman, Burn

Referee
Keith Stroud 7/10 - not too many contentious issues to deal with.

Finally, if you are at a loose end today and had enough of the sales, I believe Wimborne Town are playing Bashley at 3pm in what should be a good local game. Wimborne really need a big crowd today. Chairperson Paula Henley has promised to donate £500 to the charity LEAF if the gate passes 750. See Wimborne site for prices.

Are Fulham still full of Premier league stars?

The visit of Fulham on Boxing Day is one game that I bet many AFCB supporters have been looking forward to since the fixtures were announced. I am sure that Harry Arter will have particularly marked it on his calender as a big match day with the hope of playing against his brother-in-law Scott Parker. Scott had not been in the Fulham team since the Watford game when they lost 0-5, but made his return last weekend against Sheffield Wednesday. Hopefully Scott plays, but what other names are we likely to see who were in the Premier League only last season?

Arter looks likely to line up against brother-in-law Scott Parker Boxing Day.

The big man up front of course is Hugo Rodallega who has fired his way up to nine goals now and is starting to show that he is one of the top acts in the Championship, especially when he wins games with the all important strike, as he did against Leeds United. Fulham also have Moussa Dembele and Costa Rican star Bryan Ruiz, so don't expect Fulham not to have some big name strikers to choose from if they fit. Championship top scorer last season, Ross McCormack seems to have gotten the vote though to partner Rodallega and while the large transfer fee that Fulham paid for him had many fans shocked over the summer, the former Leeds man is always a striker that can make a goal from nothing. Even last season he smashed one in against AFCB that I still remember clearly with a great strike from outside the box.

Move down the squad though to the midfield and defence and it becomes harder to recognise players stick in the mind as star players. However, one player that is getting talked about is Lasse Vugen Christensen who has been a key midfield player, especially when Scott Parker has been absent. That is perhaps some of the challenge that Symons has to rebuild this side at the back and in midfield. The keeper position is intriguing as Symons has usually gone for Marcus Bettinilli, a 22-year-old who was at Conference side Dartford on loan only a couple of years ago and gained a fair amount of experience at Accrington Stanley in the last two seasons, but he has made 15 starts in the Championship now. Mark Steklenberg is still at Fulham on loan, but has not played this season. 

Konstantinos Stafylidid, 21, has been a regular starter wearing the number 3 and is the Greek player is on loan from Bayer Leverkusen. Right back Tim Hoogland also came from the Bundesliga in the summer. Bulgarian Nikolay Bodurov is a central defender that also signed last summer.

It's the same story in midfield with young players being knitted together to replace the former Premier league high earners that were at the club. Mark Fotheringham was a summer signing and Lasse Vigen Christensen only made his Fulham debut in the FA Cup third round last season, while Emerson Hyndman only made his debut against Ipswich in August and Frenchman Seko Fofana has only been at Fulham a month and has been getting high praise for his midfield performances.

Considering such an influx of new and young players, and I have only picked out a few hear that have played their part in the Fulham squad this season, you can see that it is understandable that Fulham made a slow start, although I expect Fulham fans also point towards Magath, who did not exactly win many games in the Premier League or the Championship. But this is a team that is learning fast as it has had to and their upward march to mid-table proves that they are becoming a good side and with the striking power they have Fulham can be one of the teams of the second half of this season.

Can O'Kane be the best Championship enforcer?

High on the list of players that AFCB fans have been pleased to hang on to this summer is Eunan O'Kane. There are still some transfer time left so I hope the situation regarding him does not change. He really found himself playing in a deeper position in front of the back four last season that suited his attributes particularly well and his reading of the game and assured passing was matched by some superb tackling and breaking up of play when the back four needed protection. So can Eunan become the best enforcer in the Championship?

Eunan has to put the work in to keep pace with the growing squad.

We have seen some great players in the World Cup play in Eunan's position like Macharano for Argentina and Schneider for Germany. It should have been of small surprise that these two teams with their strong defensive set ups found a way to the final even if they did not dazzle all the way through the tournament. The key position of the defensive midfielder is what finally slowed the amount of goals that were such a feature of the earlier rounds of the World Cup.

For Eunan to reach the next level he needs another solid season in the Championship and to help reduce the number of chances opposition teams have to hurt our defence. It is not just a one man job though and he needs to be reliant on other just as they are in him. I like the confidence that Eunan has and the way he has grown and adapted to whatever task Eddie and Jason have asked him to do. I am glad he still showed against Yeovil last season that he is capable of getting forward, beating a few players and unleashing unstoppable shots and if he keeps that up he could soon find international caps coming his way.

Eunan has the belief in his ability to excel in this AFCB side.

Eunan has not played that many games just in front of the back four and he has miss timed a few tackles that have resulted in penalties. This part of his game Eddie Howe may have to look at so that he is not charging in at the wrong moment.

There are other in the Championship who are equally respected for their dogged displays in defensive midfield like Scott Parker at Fulham, Craig Bryson is another at Derby and Ben Watson at Wigan, but Eunan can develop his power and trickery further from what I have seen and could well be the one that every one is after come next summer. Peter Beagrie at SkySports has his own favourites but Eunan could be among them next time around.

Arter-Gosling partnership is something to look forward to

I don't always believe that Harry Arter gets a fair press. His full-blooded style and ball-winning enthusiasm are just a couple of his signature characteristics that have won him a lot of applause in recent seasons. I felt that in the last campaign he found it a little more difficult to stamp his authority on games, but with a year in the Championship behind him now he is one of AFCB's players that I believe we will see get better still.

Harry just may have a bigger season to come at AFCB.

In the 2014/15 season he is likely to come across his brother in-law Scott Parker who will have suffered a relegation with Fulham. In some ways the two players show similar traits although Harry is yet to calm some of his challenges and in front of goal Harry perhaps is a little more relaxed at putting his chances away. The fact that we can even speak about an Ex-England player and Harry Arter in the same sentence confirms that Harry has been on the rise along with AFCB.

Is Arter going to be scrapping for his place?

Full international reward has not come Harry's way yet, but I don't think it will be long before he is involved in the Irish squad and that should help him further. Arter remains a preferred choice for Eddie Howe and he has not found himself sitting on the bench for very long. Now Arter will have some real competition or perhaps be able to quickly form a partnership with the newly recruited Dan Gosling. Either way, the aim for Arter must be to see if he can start dominating central midfield in the Championship and start firing a few more goals in. It is good that the Cherries have a gritty player who does mix it with the opposition as it does give them a way of changing the game. Arter's contribution to the team remains big and I am pleased that he may find a bit more pressure on himself to keep his place next season. It should also be interesting to see him play alongside Dan Gosling at times.
World Cup Chimes features -  first games and opening ceremonies

You can still join the Chimes Fans league on the FIFA/McDonalds World Cup fantasy website but hurry up! Just visit the site and select your squad then search for Chimes Fans to join the league.

World Cup viewing
De Vere's Urban Village Hotel in Bournemouth are sponsors of Cherry Chimes and have a special event for the World Cup opener tonight.

First Carnival Day
Thursday 12th June, First game of the tournament.

Brazil V Croatia
- Live DJ, Brazilian Carnival Dancers & children’s face painting.
- Entertainment commencing from 18.00, kick off at 21.00

Food service extension
- The Victory will be serving food until 22.00 for the entire duration of the world cup with the exception of England’s first game (Saturday 14th June) which will be until 23.00.

Download the complete game planner for the Victory pub and kitchen.