Leyton Orient or Rotherham to complete the Championship

The new look Championship will soon be in place. Following QPR's promotion yesterday and Derby County's unlucky day at missing out, Leyton Orient and Rotherham United will fight it out this afternoon at Wembley for the final place in next season's Championship. While we have seen Jalal and Stockley go to Orient on loan this season and former Cherry Mathieu Baudry is still playing for the London club, my preference is certainly for the London club to make the leap up to the Championship. Orient have been up and near the top two for most of the season and I would like to see Russel Slade take his side up a division.

AFCB players could be warming up at Leyton Orient again next season.
This picture sees the AFCB players at Brisbane Road
in 2012/13 - do you remember Jalal's indecision during that game?

The difficulty is that Rotherham stand in their way and Bournemouth have other stories there in the shape of Wes Thomas, Miles Addison and Matt Tubbs. Thomas scored in the play-off semi-final against Preston and is finding his form again after his long spell without a goal at AFCB. Addison only made six appearances for the Millers when he was there on loan, but Matt Tubbs was also at Rotherham for a while on loan before joining Crawley for most of last season. So AFCB have played their part in the fortunes of both clubs last season.

Whichever team gets up they will have a good chance to follow in AFCB's footsteps, but they too will be looking to strengthen their squads and some of our players that have been out of favour could well be seen as possible fits for such clubs.

This match hasn't hype associated with the play-off for the Premiership, but it will be no less appealing for the fans of Rotherham and Leyton Orient. It would be great if either Mathieu Baudry or Wes Thomas get the winning goal today and for one of them it will be a fabulous prospect to know that a win will see them get the chance to meet up with old colleagues next season.

Last season's home fixture pictures against Brighton & Hove Albion on 30 November 2013 have been uploaded to Cherry Chimes Facebook page. You can download the phone app to quickly see the pictures or do a search on Facebook for Cherry Chimes.

We also have a new story on World Cup Chimes - All Roy needs to do is to get to penalties. Enjoy the sun today!

Will Eddie be in for Wes Foderingham?

There are changes already afoot at AFCB with players like Shwan Jalal becoming a free agent in the summer, while the future of Darryl Flahavan has not been cleared up yet. Shwan had a few loan deals in the last 12 months and has not been such a part of the first team squad as in recent years but his departure will leave space for a keeper to join the team. This will be made even more evident if Darryl Flahavan's one year contract is not renewed and with Lee Camp and Ryan Allsop the main contenders for the number one shirt, there could be a move for a player such as Swindon's Wes Foderingham who Eddie Howe is said to have been watching a few months ago. 

Who will make a good support keeper for Lee Camp?

I think another young support goal keeper to push Ryan Allsop would be a good thing as Ryan will need time to get his performance levels up to what we have seen from Lee Camp. If Lee were to get injured then you wonder if Ryan has overcome his first season nerves in the Championship and could now be the confident goalkeeper that we saw in League One. Coming for crosses and making decisions on when to narrow the angles for one-on-ones and distribution from the back are all things that I would expect Ryan to have been working on, because his chance to play at the Championship level again is going to happen sooner than later.

Is Ryan ready for his second season in the Championship if he has to step up?

Whether Foderingham is the right keeper to come in as another understudy to Lee Camp is something that AFCB might well be pondering, but I don't feel that Darryl Flahavan has really been available enough to win another contract. If he does though he must be showing something amazing in training. Darryl Flahavan's contract runs out in June 2014.

I've loved coming down to Dean Court

Saturday afternoons are going to be a bit quieter in the coming weeks. As the football season draw to an end I'll be putting my feet up a bit more often rather than travelling the miles to and from Dean Court. I have always looked forward this season to making the journey down to Dean Court. Just the see the crowds assemble outside the ground and to know that there is another match soon to kick off has been fabulous to see, because we all know that we have a special team.

There's no better place to be.

There are bigger grounds and more expensive teams that have been assembled in the Championship, but Dean Court has an atmosphere that is all its own. What is more it is great to see that the team responds to the crowd which physically lifts the team's performance. That hasn't always been the case in the past, but as Eddie Howe has been commenting, there is a united force that is propelling this club forward. It is not something that you can put your finger on or tap if you are another club. It is to do with the experience that we have all gone through in the last few years that hasn't come to a conclusion yet. There is a sense of unfinished business even though the club has completed a season in the Championship near enough.

We all know we'll be back for more next season and the anticipation will build over the summer. While everyone starts from zero points again in August I feel that AFCB is already pointing towards another successful campaign to come and that makes the summer all the more enjoyable for me. 

There was one Forest supporter who tweeted me after their recent defeat at Dean Court. He could not understand why AFCB fans had a pitch invasion to celebrate finishing outside of the play-off places, even though he understood it was the club's highest ever points tally in the Championship. He probably didn't get the fact that we are a close-knit club with a real appreciation of our players and staff, and the feeling of togetherness that was made even stronger through the difficult years is still galvanising us today to achieve greater things. I actually felt sorry for the Forest supporter because he will probably never have that family club feeling that AFCB have and, while it is great to see the club grow I hope we don't lose sight of where we have come from.

Finally, having read that Matt Tubbs could be offered a permanent deal by Crawley according to the Bournemouth Echo and that Shwan Jalal could be on his way to Bury, there could be a lot of coming and goings over the summer, so if I was after a quiet period I might just have to think again!

Ritchie can regain his form

Matt Ritchie has been quite open this week about his own belief that he has dropped from his very high standards of late. It has been there for all to see and is perhaps not so unexpected when you consider he didn't have much of a pre-season and when he came into the matches over the Christmas period he came in flying and set the place alight. He simply couldn't keep doing that and today Eddie Howe has said Matt was playing on adrenalin.

On his day Matt Ritchie is probably our most skillful player. He does things with the ball which are spell binding at times. I certainly think that some of the opposition teams are aware of Ritchie's talents and do look to do a job on him to keep him quiet. Even so he managed a few great crosses in the Leicester game and while he did not have many efforts on goal he is still the man I like to see a chance fall to out of all AFCB's players because 9 times out of 10 he'll probably hit the target.

Matt Ricthie is a special player and will soon be back to his best.

Having seen the performance of Ryan Fraser in the first half against Leicester and with Marc Pugh not in the squad for the Leicester game the wing positions are an area where AFCB need some good news. It does not help that Mohamed Coulibaly has not made a league appearance, but that may change soon. With Charlie Daniels also out the service from wide areas is not looking such a strength at present for AFCB.

So Eddie Howe will be asking Matt Ritchie to get back on his game and to start doing the things that he was doing so well when he came back in the early winter months, early crosses, plenty of shots and quick link up play. Ritchie will not hide. He likes to receive the ball and when he does the level of expectancy always goes up. I hope a bit of rest in not having to play a full 90 minutes will have helped him. All Ritchie needs is a goal to lift his spirits and that might come against Bolton wanderers at the Reebok stadium.

Finally, good luck to Shwan Jalal who starts a months loan at Leyton Orient today.  

Nervy AFCB fans await transfer news

Transfer windows are supposed to be tense and exciting and this one is potentially a key one for the Cherries. The latest transfer speculation at AFCB is getting a bit nervy as news is slow to filter out of Dean Court.

Twitter conversation is rife between Charlton and AFCB fans on the future of Yann Kermorgant in particular. There are doubts whether Kermorgant will sign for the Cherries now, while Rhoys Wiggins has been offered a 4.5 year deal to stay at Charlton Athletic, according to BBC Solent's Kris Temple. Kermogrant may wish to stay at Charlton but could also still be tempted to go north to Celtic so perhaps Charlton fans should not rejoice quiet yet if Yann does not come to AFCB.

Meanwhile, there are strong reports that AFCB tabled a £1.5m bid for Cardiff City's Joe Mason that was turned down, although a fresh bid could be imminent. Other clubs now said to be chasing Mason include Championship rivals Bolton Wanderers, Brighton and Sheffield Wednesday.

While the talk is all about whether AFCB can secure the services of Kermogant, Wiggins and Mason I am happy that news is deflected away from any of our players. So far no bid news has come in of big clubs looking to steal away our young crop of talented Championship players and yet I am sure that some are waiting until the last minute. Shwan Jalal is the only likely mover so far to Bradford City, while Partington is likely to extend his loan to Aldershot, says the Bournemouth Echo.

Although Eddie Howe has remained fairly quiet about transfer targets it appears now that he certainly has been given funds to go and strengthen the squad and some major efforts are going in to bringing in more players. The starting 11 on Saturday could have one or two new names in it. The injury list that includes Daniels, O'Kane, Fraser and Rantie may mean that it will be quite a different team any way.

I would expect the Kemorgant and Wiggins deals will be sorted one way or another today, but the Mason target is the one that I believe Eddie Howe has been after for a long time and will more likely conclude tomorrow if successful.

Sit tight, it could be a long day and an even longer evening tomorrow night. UTCIAD!

Can the Cherries succeed without spending big in January?

Eddie Howe has said in an interview on the BBC that he is not sure if he will have any money to spend in January, but that he hopes to strengthen. Be careful Eddie, some managers in Wales have been told to resign or get sacked for less!

While I am not surprised that Eddie is in the dark over any potential available funds he has to be trying to make things work out well with the players he has already. If he and Jason can get enough points with the players we have to ensure that AFCB are in the Championship next season, I would be pleased that AFCB hadn't spent a stupidly huge amount of money this coming January window.

Rantie was Eddie Howe's last big spend and Tokelo is still trying to
prove his transfer fee. Spurs fans know spending is no guarantee of instant success.

I also feel that it may be that Eddie can start to trim some of the squad who he feels will not be in his plans. If AFCB can cut the wage bill a bit it has got to be good for the club. Does Wes Thomas have a long term future at AFCB and are there others who could be on their way?

It hasn't escaped my notice that Matt Tubbs will also find his loan period coming to an end at Rotherham. Stephane Zubar is also still on the clubs books and he told us back in October that he would be due to be starting some kind of training at the end of this year. I hope he is recovering well.

We also have players who have not really featured this season like Joe Partington, Wes Fogden, Donal McDermott and Miles Addisson. We have already heard that Shwan Jalal can leave and it may be that Lee Camp does not get the move he wants to AFCB with West Brom's new manager. It is understood that Eddie Howe has also been looking at Swindon's Wes Foderingham.

The situation seems very fluid with regards players at the moment, which I hope does not have an unsettling feeling on the squad. I am also keeping quiet about the possibility that some players could also be targets of clubs in the January window. 

The question is though do AFCB need to spend? I feel that a player or two will be bought to make the team a little more solid. That could be in midfield or in defence, but I personally don't think Eddie will buy another striker until next summer when better deals are available. I may be wrong but I still feel leaking goals is more of a problem for AFCB than scoring them at the moment.  

Vote for what position you feel Eddie Howe most needs to strengthen the team this January. See the poll on the right hand side of the blog.

Yesterday Cherry Chimes spoke to Owl Alive about the Sheffield Wednesday squad prior to today's match. Check out how Wednesday fans are feeling about their team by visiting Rival Lines.

Jalal may still make the grade, even if not at AFCB

In some ways it can be little surprise that Shwan Jalal is said to be free to leave the club in January. Jalal has not really had many opportunities in the last season to make a comeback and if he wants to develop his career it is perhaps best all round if he finds a club that will enable him to progress. 

It is funny though with goalkeepers you always remember their mistakes and not their great saves, but Jalal had his moments for both and he did brilliantly in the season when AFCB got promoted to League One. A few more routines were probably required though to establish himself at AFCB, but having got over his back injury he may well prove some people wrong now. 

I think Eddie Howe knows how hard the Championship is though and with Allsop being chosen as the keeper to develop at the Cherries I guess there is not room for a long list of keepers at the club. 

Cherry Chimes wishes Jalal all the best. 

Jalal at Leyton Orient where he played his last game for AFCB.

I also read that Flahavan had hurt his thumb and was being sent out to Italy for further assessment, which is not great news. So our keeper problems continue.I have not known a season like it for AFCB keepers. AFCB's luck must start changing soon.

But it does look like Lee Camp could be joining the club on a more permanent basis, as long as West Brom appoint an understanding new manager. If it doesn't happen it will be a priority for Eddie to sign an experienced keeper between the sticks, as I don't think Allsop and Flahavan are going to do the job between them until the end of this season.

Jalal and Allsop.

Cherry Chimes hopes for Premiership opposition in the FA Cup

The Third Round of the FA Cup is held this afternoon and Bournemouth will be ball number one in the draw at 4pm on ITV. I for one am hoping that the side draws a top Premiership club at home, because a packed Dean Court is a fantastic experience. If it were to be Arsenal, Everton, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Man City, Man Utd or the like it will perhaps be as big as Real Madrid, but the prospect of AFCB taking on teams like that would no longer be seen as a forgone conclusion for the Premiership outfits. Please can we have Southampton? Ah, go on please!

Last season Bournemouth had a good run in the cup that was ended in the third round replay against Wigan at Dean Court. Eunan O'Kane scored a great goal in the first leg and sadly we were knocked out in the replay by a Boselli goal. The fact that Wigan went on to lift the cup gives me a sense that AFCB are not so far away from having a big day in such a competition. Perhaps the Wembley Arch is something that AFCB supporters will see one day either in the cup or in a play-off.

In that second leg against Wigan, AFCB had Shwan Jalal in goal and it might be a chance for Ryan Allsop to come back into the team for the cup games or perhaps even more likely Darryl Flahavan, who deserves his chance in the spotlight.

While the glamorous ties may well escape AFCB, it is not so daft to hope for a  lower team in the cup, because at home especially AFCB supporters would turn out in their numbers if we can get a good cup run going. Recent away performances also give a lot of credence to the thoughts that AFCB could reach a quarter final stage. We have seen other Championship go all the way to the final so why can't AFCB get a bit of cup luck - you can't say we aren't due some.


Update
Oh, well the draw comes out as Bournemouth at home to either Fleetwood Town or Burton Albion on 4 or 5 Jan 2014. Not quite the biggest of ties but maybe a chance to progress with a home draw. Whether one or two of those coming back from injury get to play will be intriguing. I was getting a bit worried that our Number 1 ball was not in the pot being the penultimate ball to be drawn but I had guven up by that stage saying to myself we don't want that team, I would like this one etc.

Lee Camp - any chance AFCB can keep him for longer?

Just when I thought lee Camp was going to get his first clean sheet for AFCB, up springs Danny Ings to deprive Camp and the team of a victory in the final minutes of the Burnley match. As a whole I though Lee had a pretty good game. I do think he brings experience and some authority to the back line. He comes for crosses and he appears a good organiser. 

There were also several saves that had to be made in the last game and he was brave on occasions as well. I was particularly amazed at the same he made to Sam Vokes after 64 minutes when the Burnley striker looked offside, but got his shot away which Camp go down to on his right and with finger tips pushed it on to the post before safely getting the rebound. Camp also made the save from Treacy's free kick right at the end of the game look easy but it certainly saved AFCB a point on the day.

The goal that Ings did score was a bit bewildering from an AFCB point of view. Once Cook lost the first header against Vokes the Cherries did not go and attack the ball. Camp took a few steps back. I am not sure if Lee thought that Ward was going to deal with the ball or if he thought Ings would be offside, but that moments hesitation meant that Ings could get in between Camp and Ward,  the last defender. AFCB had looked so solid and Burnley had run out of ideas, but the Cherries just seem to be a bit unlucky against the top teams.   

After so much hard work by the team at defending so gallantly it was a shame that they had the three points taken away from them in the last few minutes. On the balance of play though it was perhaps not so surprising. If AFCB had won the game Burnley would no doubt have felt that they had been robbed.

I would like Bournemouth to retain that steely determination of being hard to beat away from home. Sometimes you need to play a bit ugly to get the points and I suspect that AFCB have not quite got that quality yet. A little more meanness and playing the clock is perhaps something that has not happened too often for AFCB this season. Getting the first goal has proved difficult. But the team got the lead at Burnley and so nearly held out. I do think that having a solid keeper between the sticks gives the players so much more confidence and that clean sheet would be good to achieve against Derby County.

What are the chances of AFCB extending Lee Camp's loan?

Looking at the forward fixtures AFCB only have the services of Lee Camp on loan until 29 November so it will be interesting to see what happens when AFCB play Brighton at home the next day. Ryan Allsop, as we know, has glandular fever at the moment and Shwan Jalal is the only keeper cover, although Darryl Flahavan may be ready to play by then. I don't suppose their is any chance of extending Lee Camp's loan?

Eddie Howe looks set to bring in experienced keeper - Lee Camp

Despite Neil Moss giving Ryan Allsop a vote of confidence this week after the young keeper's misjudgement at Leciester City, last weekend that arguably led to the winning goal, Eddie Howe is reported by the Echo's Neil Meldrum to be closing on deal to bring West Brom's Lee Camp to Dean Court on a month's loan.

The move is not a great surprise considering that Howe made a similar move for West Ham's Stephen Henderson last month but it underlines that Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall feel that an experienced keeper is required at this level and that perhaps it is not a position where they can have any uncertainty.

Lee Camp (29) has played in the Championship at Derby County and Nottingham Forest and has qualified as a Northern Ireland international. His experience is something that has attracted him to the Cherries as injuries to Stephen Henderson and Darryl Flahavan have ruled them out of contention, while Ryan Allsop and Shwan Jalal are inexperienced at the Championship. The short loan period of just a month may mean that Darryl Flahavan could be favourite to come back in goal when the loan period is up.

It is likely that Bolton Wanderers will also have a new keeper in goal for the game on Saturday as their No 1 Adam Bogdan has a knee injury which has meant Arran Lee-Barrett has come in as cover for at least six weeks.

Allsop must start believing and we must support him

For Eddie Howe it would probably be easy for him to think about bringing in another keeper to take Allsop out of the heat, but Ryan Allsop will not learn if he is taken out of the equation. While Eddie does not feel that Allsop is lacking in confidence, it is going to be a big boost for Ryan that his manager is sticking by him, because when the game comes when he is man of the match and makes some great saves it will be all the more pleasurable for both Allsop and the manager.

Ryan Allsop at the King Power stadium.

During the Leicester game Eddie underlined that Allsop had a decent game apart from the second goal that AFCB conceded. Eddie said that it was also "something that is an easy-fix". Perhaps the Leeds sending off was in his mind when Allsop was facing Vardy one-on-one, but more communication and decisiveness is the way forward. Francis seemed angry that Allsop started to come out and left himself stranded, but with Elphick on the pitch next week perhaps the calling will be louder to help the keeper make the right decision. 

I would go along with the fact that Allsop made some good saves and even more pleasing was the sight of seeing him come for crosses and catch them. He made it look easy at times, so I am not sure why he had not been doing that in his last few performances. But I thought he could have possibly got a hand to Leicester's fist goal which did bounce before him, but was not so out of reach that he had no chance. Perhaps I am being hard on Allsop there because the defenders gave Nuget far too much space, and Cook perhaps unsighted him a bit, but now and again you want your keeper to make a great save or two.

Allsop has to believe he is the number one keeper and that no one is going to score past him. If Ryan can build that feeling of invincibility he will perform much better on the field. However, if his distribution can't improve and he becomes too worried about making mistakes then Eddie will have to get another keeper in. I hope it does not come to that and that we can get behind Allsop and get him concentrating and applaud him when he makes a good save or sets up a good attack.

We have seen similar worries with Shwan Jalal when he has been in goal and I expect Shwan is working very hard no to see if he can get a chance of playing in the first team again. If he can push Allsop it will be helping the team. I do fear though if Eddie makes another keeper change in the next couple of games Allsop's confidence would suffer and I hope that Ryan is doing what he can to keep the mental side of his game strong. Conceding goals every week rather than keeping clean sheets is tough on any keeper and seeing the goals against column going up cannot be easy to live with, but Allsop has to believe that he can make a difference and a positive difference at that.

Whether Eddie Howe dips looks to bring in another keeper or not remains to be seen. When I look at the best teams in the division they all have keepers that are well respected and seasoned campaigners. Those options may simply not be available to Eddie Howe in which case we have to give Allsop all the support we can. 

It's a big week of training for Ryan Allsop.

Getting his opportunity again is a bonus for Ryan. He has to see it as an opportunity and not a given that he will be in goal. I feel that he could do with a big match where he makes many good saves and helps the team to a good win. Perhaps that will come on Saturday against Bolton Wanderers. Whoever plays in goal we have to back them and give them our full support. It is the hardest position on the field when things have not been going well. There is nowhere to hide so as fans we have to encourage our team and help get the best out of them. UTCIAD!

Sad blow for Henderson

Seeing Stephen Henderson on the floor at the City ground after Simon Cox's late challenge really had me shuddering. It is not something you want to see although incidents will happen in sport. I am not too sure if Cox really meant to do as much damage as he did, and he did come over after a while to apologise to Stephen and no action was taken by the referee on Cox for the matter.

Henderson and Allsop warm up at the City ground before kick off.

For AFCB though it is a cruel blow. Stephen would have been great to have playing in the team until January and there is now a real worry over how bad his shoulder injury is. We will never know if he would have been able to save Lansbury's shot on the day, but Stephen Henderson's absence now is much bigger than missing him for just one match, being out for an expected six months having had a dislocated shoulder. 

Ryan Allsop was turned to by Eddie Howe and it is likely that Ryan will be selected again for the Leceister City game next weekend. I was not alone in thinking that Ryan is still looking as shaky as he was during the Blackburn Rovers match at home. I can't quite understand how he has lost some confidence all of a sudden, but he did not come for crosses and he is still learning to throw out quickly from the back when he seemed so assured last season in League One.

Henderson was looking a great addition to AFCB's squad and it must
be devastating for him to get injured now. 

I would like to see Allsop under more pressure from our other keepers like Jalal and Flahavan and it is important that Darryl gets back to fitness really quickly now.

Henderson will be looking for a clean sheet

I think Stephen Henderson will get the nod to start in goal against Forest. This week Stephen he have been training hard at trying to ensure he is at his best, while staying ahead of Ryan Allsop in the pecking order. Keeping a clean sheet at the City ground would be a great achievement, and that must be the first aim of the Cherries as they take on a top four side. Eddie and Jason sounded quite delighted that Stephen is joining the Cherries for such a lengthy loan period and it is a good chance for our defence to work with a keeper that has been working himself in the shadow of Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Like Jack Collison, Henderson will be looking to show that he should be involved in West Ham's team and the only way he can do that is to play well for AFCB while he is with the Cherries. Henderson played some 20 games last season for Ipswich Town, so he should be well aware of the challenge ahead of him and it will be intriguing to see if he can make our defence more solid. Being such a specialist position most teams do not seem to change their keepers very often, but AFCB have struggled to find a regular keeper that can hold down the position over the last few seasons. Jalal, Flahavan and Allsop have all had their turn and had varying degrees of success while David James also kept for the Cherries last season.

Henderson at the Goldsands stadium for his debut against Millwall.

Eddie Howe would probably prefer to have a keeper that was a clear number one and to have an unchanged keeper in the Championship. While that stability has mainly been achieved with Ryan Allsop, I think Henderson's arrival will lift all the other keeper's performances and should help ensure that they are all working to improve their game.

Looking at AFCB's away games this season it is apparent that clean sheets have not come easy. They have only achieved that against Doncaster Rovers and if AFCB want to keep in the top half of the table this is an area where they can try and improve. The team has a pretty settled back four of late, although Daniels and Elphick are obviously keen to get back into the side, injury permitting in the case of Daniels.

I have already mentioned in another post how Stephen Henderson is a keeper that likes to come for the ball on crosses and dominate his area. That is something that I don't think AFCB have been seeing enough of an, if Stephen can make some good saves as well, early on in the Forest match, it could set him up for a big spell as the Cherries number one in the coming games.  

Please check out our Rival Lines post this morning if you have not don so already we have Forest 24-7 and Forest fan Rob Jovanovic to tell us what has been happening at Nottingham Forest this season.

Flahavan now has his chance

With Ryan Allsop unfortunately picking up a straight red in the Leeds match he will be automatically given a three match ban. Eddie Howe has just said he will not contest the decision. While it is hard on Ryan, especially with the pressure he has been under I did wonder if it was time that he was taken out of the heat for a game or two. He is still learning the game at this high level and he will make mistakes like any young aspiring keeper. Eddie Howe will no doubt say he was right to play Ryan, but I and many others thought that Allsop was not quite right on Saturday.

Flahavan was on top form at Leeds.

I don't think having a couple of games where decisions and incidences go against Allsop are necessarily a bad thing in the long term. While points lost look bad for the team, Ryan will be learning all the time he is exposed to making quick decisions that have to be the right ones pretty much all of the time for a keeper.

When he came out to prevent Ross McCormack from scoring, he could well of stayed on the pitch another day. Timing is crucial and whether the keeper or the striker gets to the ball first. If there is a touch on the ball and the player still goes down, the striker could just as easily be carded for simulation. It's a lottery half the time. AFCB don't seem to be getting the breaks at the moment.

Darryl Flahavan did not seem to put a foot wrong from the moment he came on. He has experienced similar situations and was on form all night with decision making, distribution and saves from what I heard of the commentary. So Darryl is now in the front line for the next game against Millwall. I am confident that he will do well. I don't envy any of the keepers it's certainly the hardest position to play on the park. I wonder if Jalal will be recalled from Oxford?

I also think Allsop will come back all the stronger.

Who has been keeping the bench warm at AFCB?

No one wants to be sitting games out and I sometimes feel it is even more depressing if you are a player that is fit and yet raring to go but have to settle for a place on the bench. As you might expect, king of AFCB's bench warmers so far this season is goalkeeper Darrel Flahavan. He has kept the bench warm on no less than seven occasions, but I guess that is seven times more than Shwan Jalal. Darryl is only on a one-year contract so he must be hoping to get a chance at some point. The FA Cup games may be his first chance to get selected for the first team.

Behind Darryl on five bench visits is Wes Thomas. Wes may well come under more competition to keep that place as well as the forward line is going to be stronger still with Tokelo and Josh looking to play a part in the team. I feel the most unluckiest player to be waiting for his opportunity is Eunan O'Kane. We all know he has the quality and is well able to do as well as any one in midfield, and the signing of Andrew Surman will be an added challenge for him and others. Eunan has been on the bench four times so far.

Flahavan has kept Jalal away from the team but has
not had a chance to play in the Championship. 

You may wonder how come I haven't yet mentioned Tommy Elphick? Well his injuries mean he has only been picked as a sub three times and many other players have been just as friendly with the AFCB bench. In all, I counted 20 players that have been selected to be a substitute so far this season. Eddie is really using the squad with seven players allowed to be put on the bench in league games. The squad of course is bigger than this and there are a few that have not made the bench for the first team yet. Straight off I can think of Partington, Purches, Fogden and Jalal. 

Lots of bench sitting for Donal.

Stephane Zubar is still listed as a current AFCB player as well from all sources that I can find and yet we have had no news of how he has been doing since making some pre-season matches and the transfer to Bury that never seemed to happen. I have not seen Stephane's picture in the MatchDay programme this season, so I am not sure what is really going on with him and the club. 

Anyone required before the transfer window shuts?

Eddie Howe did not sound as though he was expected to delve into the transfer market before it shuts tonight. The official club website only talks of possible loan players. The final purchase would seem to have been Tokelo Rantie, although he did not rule out the possibility of spending cash if a target did become available. SKY Sports has not dismissed rumours that AFCB could still be chasing Wigan's French forward Nouha Dickov. At this moment I think most AFCB fans would be more concerned about possible news of any departures.

Having seen the start of the season that AFCB has made, I am not sure that any club would have learnt much more about our players from last season. Eddie Howe hinted that he was not really looking to reduce his squad but that some players might need to go out on loan if they were not getting enough games. That makes me think that players like Jayden Stockley and Sam Matthews would be favourites to go out to another club for a short while.  

If someone came in for Miles Addison or Shwan Jalal, then I wonder if AFCB might listen to offers. While Ritchie remains injured it seems that he will escape the attention of Paulo Di Canio at Sunderland. The performances of Harry Arter so far this season have also not made any Championship or Premiership think about a move for him.

If AFCB did suffer an injury to a major player Eddie has to feel that the players we have in the squad can cover okay. There are some positions where I feel the number ones are a fair bit better than any replacements that we could put in. I do not want to see Allsop, Francis or Daniels picking up anymore injuries for example. Without these players the Cherries would look much weaker and while a top class striker is what all the top clubs have in this division, we have to hope that our new signing and the strikers that helped get AFCB to the Championship can do a job at this level. I don't think our goals per game have been as good as Eddie Howe would have liked but keeping them out at the other end has certainly been the priority in the last few weeks, especially at away games.

Those waiting in the wings

The Capital One Cup tie against Watford will give a few of those waiting in the wings a chance to press their claim for a place in the first team. Eddie Howe has said that rotation will play an important part during the season and he does not feel that some of the players outside the first 11 would weaken the team if they come in. The test will come today, when it is likely that Howe will rest some players ahead of the Doncaster match at the weekend.

Some players still need to get some match fitness soTommy Elphick and Elliott Ward mat form teh centre back pairing. Eunan O'Kane was probably pencilled in for the Watford game but he came off with a twisted ankle injury during the Huddersfield match. Wes Thomas is likely to get a run out and perhaps Richard Hughes, while Donal McDermott, and Miles Addisson could even see some action. It was not mentioned whether Pugh was on the bench for tactical reasons last game or if he would have struggled to play 90 minutes. Meanwhile, Surman only played a half before being taken off.

The slowness of some of AFCB's players to come back after injury is now starting to show. Eddie Howe has said that players will be returning this week and that could mean that Wes Fogden, Mohamed Coulibaly and Charlie Daniels get some opportunity to play. There is also Stephen Purches and Shwan Jalal and Darryl Flahavan who have not played many games.   

It is questionable just how much of the team Eddie will rotate. He could field an entirely different 11 from the Huddersfield game or he could pick a few combinations to keep some consistency. While Eddie has said that he wants to do well in all competitions, the real test will come on Saturday and how the team performs against Doncaster. Still, no one wants another drubbing against Watford so it looks like he will not make too many changes.

How serious will Eddie take the Capital One Cup?

It's not good news for Pompey supporters, because I think Eddie Howe would like nothing better than to add some silverware to that lovely new trophy cabinet AFCB has in its club shop. That would mean fielding a pretty strong side for the Portsmouth game on Tuesday night. To go out in the first year against Oxford on penalties was just heartbreaking and sent all the wrong signals out at the start of last season. AFCB needs a good cup run this tie around.

Portsmouth have just played Oxford Utd of course and they suffered a heavy 1:4 home league defeat so they will be licking their wounds. But the pre-season game we hosted against Pompey was only a 2:1 win and as usual Pompey give their all against us. I see the Capital One game as one of no pressure for Pompey players, apart from Guy Whittingham wanting to see a reaction from his players. That means it will be no easy game for the Cherries.

With Coulibaly limping off on Saturday and Ryan Fraser taking some heavy knocks it is possible that Andrew Surman could come into the starting side. It could also be a chance for Richard Hughes to play against his old team or Eunan O'Kane could come in. It is certainly likely that Tommy Elphick will need some game time having missed out at the weekend. I missed his pre-match ritual last game. Pitman too is likely to feature along with Flahavan or Jalal. So I see a pretty strong line up for the Cherries.

It's about time we did better in the cups so let's hope we can start doing that tonight. UTCIAD!

Salisbury's sink their new Conference teeth into Cherries

Salisbury FC 4 v 0 AFCB Development Squad

31 July 2013

Attendance 400

The match against Salisbury FC was dubbed a chance for some triallists to go under the microscope, while some of our top development players like Matthews, Chiedozie and Wakefield would get more match experience. Picking Jalal in goal you would hope would give the team a bit of confidence, but with Warrne Feeney lining up against the Cherries as well as hot shot Ben Wright, the Cherries were in for a torrid evening at the Raymond McEnhill Stadium.
 
Here are the main Official AFCB tweets: 
 
After 10 minutes, only a fine finger tip save stops Sam Matthews opening the scoring from the edge of the area. Bright start for the Cherries! Then Baily Cargill brought down his man two minutes later in the box. Ben Wright scored from the spot to make it 1:0 to the Whites!
 
Trialist Elliott Legg replaced Baily Cargill on 19 minutes. Ben appeared to have injured himself conceding the penalty. Things were only getting worse as well for AFCB as on 24 minutes another penalty was awarded to Salisbury. Triallist Michael Parry committed the foul. And yes, GOAL to Salisbury 2-0 up on the Cherries. Shwan Jalal got a hand to Ben Wright's penalty but couldn't stop him scoring his second of the evening. Jalal will save a penalty one day I expect.
 
Little happened of not then until 36 minutes when Elliott Legg chipped over from 20 yards. Josh Wakefield also tried his luck, with 42 minutes gone, from the edge of the area but his shot also went over.                

      

Half-time: Salisbury 2-0 Cherries. The hosts are in front through two Ben Wright penalties.

 

On 46 minutes Jacob Cleaver and Emir Kujovic came on for Brandon Goodship and Jordan Chiedozie for the second half. And within seconds it was Salisbury 3-0 Cherries. Ben Wright converted from close range to complete his hat-trick. AFCB are learning all about Mr Wright this evening, no relation to Ian I suppose.

Before the hour mark it was 4-0 to Salisbury and Ben Wright was again the one who tapped it in.       

 

AFCB then made some subs on 60 minutes with Aristide Bassele and Mark Molesley are on for Josh Wakefield and Harry Cornick were taken off. Chad Collins and George Colson then came on after 66 minutes for Shwan Jalal and Sam Matthews, in a double substitution.

 

Finally, on 82 minutes Jack Simpson went on for Michael Kamara for the final few minutes.

The final score was 4:0 to Salisbury. Salisbury were clearly revved up for this one with their Conference campaign about to begin, but there will be much to think about for Hargreaves and Purches after this one. I hope they have learnt a lot.
 

 
Cherries XI: Jalal, McCarthy, Cargill, Parry, Kamara, Losasso, Matthews, Wakefield, Cornick, Chiedozie, Goodship      

Substitutes: Collins, Legg, Bassele, Molesley, Cleaver, Colson, Kujovic, Simpson

AFCB goalkeeping choices - only one man for me

Darryl Flahavan looked like he enjoyed his spell in goal against West Ham, but I am not convinced he is the best candidate to wear the AFCB keeper's shirt come 3rd August. While I think the central defenders were more at fault for West Ham's opener and the left back for not doing better at stopping the initial cross, there was not a lot Flahavan seemed able to do when Nolan headed the ball towards goal. I have always been concerned with Darryl's height and it took West Ham no time at all to see that they had a small keeper to beat in the Cherries goal.

I agree that other aspects of Darry'ls game are often excellent like the shot stopping and his anticipation. Coming for crosses though is not his strong point when he has to beat a 6ft plus attacker. His kicking was found out early on when he almost gifted West Ham a goal in the opening minutes last weekend, but it is better than Jalal's kicking in my opinion.

I hope to see Ryan Allsop in goal for the Real Madrid game unless he is injured. He seems well ahead of Jalal and Flahavan in my books, but I can only hope that Eddie Howe sees it the same way. We do need to give Flahavan and Jalal some games though as Allsop could be injured in an early league match and in the Capital One game I expect a change in goal to whoever plays in the Charlton match.

Having injured a finger in training I would think that Jalal has slipped down to the third keeper position at the moment, but things can turn around quickly. It sounds like Jalal had a good game against Poole Town so he is back in contention again. As long as the keepers are all pushing each other to do better it is a position where I feel we have some strength and all of them need to be on top form come the start of August.