AFCB may well have trouble holding on to their captain

The Sun is suggesting that West Ham are after Bournemouth defender Steve Cook as well as Josh King. Steve Cook has been a central pillar at Bournemouth since the League One days, so it would be strange not to see him in a Bournemouth shirt, but would his sale leave a big whole?

Steve Cook is now in demand

I think it would be a major loss because with Steve Cook you don't just have a defender but a captain and a player that others look up to. Having let Simon Francis go and with the sale of Nathan Aké, it has meant that Bournemouth have been shedding defenders with lots of experience. Losing another such defender may leave Bournemouth a bit light at the back for stature and leadership. But in other ways, it is time that Jack Simpson was more involved in the team, and with Chris Mepham and Lloyd Kelly, Bournemouth would be left with a very young group of centre-halves.

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Jason Tindall may well have to weigh up whether it is good to have a fresh start. If Steve Cook does go, then many of the defenders that were criticised for not doing well enough in the Premier League will have left the club. With Adam Smith and Diego Rico also possible targets for Premier League clubs, Bournemouth's backline could be very depleted come the end of 16 October.

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It will put much more importance on the performance and leadership of Chris Mepham who found it hard going at Wembley the other night. He and Lloyd Kelly would most likely be the centre-back pairing that Jason Tindall would turn to if Steve Cook does depart. A new partnership may work well, but there will be some uncertainty with how Bournemouth will do without Steve Cook. We have perhaps become too used to seeing the same faces and we know their game inside out. 

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It does seem strange though that players that were not good enough for the Premier League are being snapped up to play in the top flight again. While Tyrone Mings found that a club move did his game the world of good, perhaps Steve Cook will also find another level to his game if he does move.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - An extract from the Disrupted Season: Not even VAR could stand in AFCB's way

Fraser and Wilson strike force to be kept together?

While Ryan Fraser has left Bournemouth already and had been expected to join Crystal Palace, the Sun has rumoured that Fraser might yet be picked up by West Ham, who are also looking to land Callum Wilson. The thought of repairing Fraser and Wilson is clearly seen as a positive for West Ham, but whether they could get Callum Wilson for the Sun's suggested £18m might be short of the mark.

Callum Wilson is expected to have different team-mates
soon but Fraser might be among his new colleagues.

Callum Wilson is expected to leave the Cherries and going to a London club would not mean such a major disruption for him and his family. West Ham are a good sized club and he would still be well seen if he played well there, which would help him in the England fold. He probably wouldn't mind joining up with Ryan Fraser again either.

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Whether the two players would hit it off though at West Ham, I am not so sure. Things worked well in 2018-19 but they had gone stale for a while at Bournemouth with the two players unable to create as many chances last season. I know that Fraser was clearly influenced by transfer talk, but I also think that both he and Callum played a fair few games and that burnout could also have been part of their problem.

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Getting the right price for Callum is what it is about for AFCB now. If Tottenham are said to be interested then I'd venture that Wilson would want to hold out for their offer and I don't suspect for Bournemouth it matters where he ends up, as long as they get a good fee for him. The Newcastle player and cash offer was intriguing but Bournemouth don't seem to be buying that one. 

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If the club can get over £20m for Callum then at least they would have recouped more than they shelled out for Dominic Solanke. While Callum hasn't played for England for a while, Bournemouth could perhaps force his price up to £25m as an international player. It's not going to be anything like the sums we had been talking about for Wilson about 12 months ago, but it is time to get the players that are looking to move out of the club and to concentrate on those that want to be there. 

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth defender may find Burnley hard to resist

Can AFCB hold on to key midfielder?

There are several players that we can expect to see leave in the next few weeks. Some of them, Bournemouth will know they have to sell. But there are others that they would really like to hold on to and David Brooks is a high priority among those players.

Official AFCB photo: Does David feel he needs to get a full season underneath hm at AFCB

While David Books has shown he is a natural at Premier League level and there is plenty of interest in him from the likes of Leicester, West Ham, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace. Holding off one club is not to problematic, but when there are three or four it is going to be a stiff task to keep Brooks.

Of course, David knows he has not played much for the Cherries and may feel some loyalty. Bournemouth may also be able to offer him improved terms, if they can sell a good number of their players to increase their salary pot. But Brooks also has his Welsh international aspirations to think about, and may have to talk with Ryan Giggs, if he really wants to try and help Bournemouth win promotion from the Championship.

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If David feels Bournemouth have enough in their squad to get back at the first attempt to the Premier League, it is not inconceivable that he might give Bournemouth a season to see if they can do it. But I imagine he will see some lucrative offers to ply his trade elsewhere.

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If David does move on, it is essential that Bournemouth get the maximum amount possible for him. That could be in the £30m bracket or they could allow the interested parties to fight it out and see how much the price could rise to.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Ramsdale next to go?

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First goal-itiss - did it contribute to AFCB downfall?

Steve Cook was clear that he felt a lot of the poor results that AFCB had in the season were not helped by conceding the first goal. Even when Bournemouth did score first that didn't always hold on to a lead. It was curious how well the team could play at times when they were really up against it, like at Man City and Everton and yet they couldn't perform at home after the restart with the exception of the Leicester City game, when even then, they didn't score first.

The first goal didn't come often enough for AFCB.

I am not sure what was happening in the players minds after the restart. They still had a good opportunity to beat the drop, but only mustered seven pints from nine games which is relegation form. West Ham pulled in 12 points, as did Brighton and Aston Villa won 10 points, only Norwich and Crystal Palace gathered less points than Bournemouth and Watford, who bot took seven points.

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Scoring first was perhaps on the teams mind, but it just didn't happen. The crushing free kick that was struck by Crystal Palace's Milivojevic completely deflated any confidence that had been gained from the pre-restart games with Chelsea and Liverpool. it was a downhill spiral from then conceding first goals to Wolves away and Newcastle at home. The Man Utd defeat was different because the players did score first and came out fighting - they were just beaten by a better team. The writing was on the wall by then, but still Bournemouth could have saved themselves. The failure to either beat Spurs and Southampton at home proved very costly. The away form had been bad all of 2020, so it was likely to turn at some point and Everton was a game where Bournemouth couldn't afford to have nerves. They duly delivered, just too late.

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Of course, Bournemouth were considered a team that made great comebacks in previous seasons, but these didn't materialise in 2019/20. The worry is not for me that the first goal didn't always come, but that the players are perhaps burnt out and will soon have to play again as a new season gets underway.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth just weren't good enough

Should Bournemouth fans care about West Ham v Watford game?

Tonight there is a big game at the bottom of the table that doesn't include Bournemouth. The West Ham v Watford match could be pivotal for which of those clubs secure early safety, but if there is a loser, or a draw it could well open the door for a rejuvenated Bournemouth side to sneak past one of them on the final two games. So, should Bournemouth fans be eagerly watching the game or hiding behind the sofa?

Dare you look up and watch tonight's game?

Well, whatever Bournemouth fans or players decide to do tonight, they can't affect the scoreline. So the brave ones will watch the game and those who can't stomach seeing another team climb to safety had better stay well clear. The result matters as well as the scoreline with the goal difference possibly becoming more key as we reach the final few games.

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Most pundits have encouraged that a West Ham win would be best for Bournemouth survival hopes, and a thumping good win at that. If Watford win, Bournemouth have no doubt they'll need to get points from both of their remaining games as West Ham have a plus 10 goal difference on Bournemouth, as well as the three points. Watford are only three points and four goals ahead of the Cherries, and while the points won't get any closer after this game tonight, the goal difference could start to come back towards Bournemouth's total. 

West Ham's remaining games are better only, because they have Aston Villa to play as one of their remaining games, but there is nothing to say that Villa can't win that and West Ham won't be favourites against Man Utd. Watford would have to pull off a shock result against Man City or Arsenal to add to their points total after the West Ham match, so tonight's fixture is really a must win for West Ham and Watford.

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Bournemouth and Aston Villa will be ready to pick up the pieces. Villa are not out of it yet, if they can do something against Arsenal and West Ham in their final game. It is still two from four, but after tonight we may be saying two from three who will join Norwich City.

I think I'll brave watching the game and hope that West Ham knock up table tennis score against Watford.

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In other news: Football Survey on local identity importance
The 2021/22 season will be the 30th season since the old first division was replaced by the Premier League. A research team from Sheffield Hallam University are studying the importance of developing local players and local identity in the English game from a supporter's perspective for a publication to mark the 30th season. To take part in the survey complete the following online survey (which usually takes 3-5 minutes). https://sircsurveys.com/f/1297295/6cbf/

For those who might like to participate on a opinions on key aspects of local players there is another six question survey https://www.sircsurveys.com/f/41504606/13fe/ and the option for short 15min interviews with some participants.

Some positives for AFCB fans

While Bournemouth have lost their two opening games of the restart, there are a couple of positive thoughts that Bournemouth fans can take into the next few games. There have been a lot of negatives, but Eddie Howe needn't put his head in the sand just yet.

AFCB have too look at whatever positives they can find.

The first boost for the Cherries is that West Ham and Norwich haven't done any better in the first two games after the restart. Although Brighton look a win away from safety now, Watford and Aston Villa have only managed a point from their games, so it really is all to play for with four teams really battling it out to not go down with Norwich City.

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Another positive has been that the goal difference hasn't increased to such an extent that Bournemouth can't get ahead of West Ham and Watford in a few games time, if Bournemouth can get some positive results. Bournemouth also only lost by one goal to Wolves, whereas West Ham lost 0-2 at home which might give Bournemouth players a bit of confidence that they are doing slightly better than West Ham on current form.

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The big positive though has been the form of David Brooks. Although he has not scored, he has looked Bournemouth's best attacking player and extremely lively. He should be even sharper as we come to the third and fourth games. and he doesn't usually go too many games without either making an assist or scoring.

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Aaron Ramsdale has played okay without having an absolute blinder yet. I get the feeling that Aaron may have a big say yet on whether AFCB stay up or not, and he could make some big saves yet that secure him AFCB's player of the year.

Bournemouth now have just one away game in their next four matches and they have to believe they can get points at home, no matter who they are up against, if they can perform at their highest level. These may not be that many encouraging signs, but AFCB fans need whatever they can hold on to at the moment to keep some belief going.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Why can't Kelly start for AFCB?

Is Eddie ready for his biggest test?

Bournemouth go back to training and it will eventually fall on one man to be either successful of not in Bournemouths fight for survival. Eddie Howe is up against a couple of bosses that have brought teams up in Daniel Farke at Norwich and Dean Smith at Aston Villa as well as a new Premier League manager in Graham Potter and old pros, in Watford's Nigel Pearson and West Ham's David Moyes. Is Eddie Howe good enough to beat three of these men in his planning and game management?

Come on Eddie - can we see you at your very best in the next few weeks?

The question will soon be answered. Eddie Howe has an enormous amount of pressure on him and yet he'll see it as more of a challenge than a nightmare having had the experience of keeping AFCB in the football pyramid in his first management year. The difficulty this time is not that dissimilar as the financial impact will be huge of dropping back to the championship.

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What is perhaps of most importance is that Maxim Denim is still prepared to back Howe and hasn't yet fallen out of love with football. If he did then Bournemouth would be in a much more perilous place and perhaps and have forgotten how unstable things used to be in the past, before we had such a wealthy but fairly silent owner.

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Bournemouth have lots of things going in their favour going into this relegations scrap. They know what it is like to fight for their lives and in Aaron Ramsdale they have recent experience of a couple of relegation scraps from lower in the football pyramid. As usual there are bigger clubs in this battle, but Eddie Howe likes to challenge himself against the best and if he comes through this test, it will go side by side what he did in his first managerial year for me.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Barcelona youngster could become AFCB summer signing

Who has the toughest run in among bottom six?

Everyone admits there are no easy gams in the Premier League, but many are harder than others. For example AFCB have never managed to get a point off of Man City and it is one of their remaining games, so perhaps that cuts the Cherries down to eight games to count. But other teams also have tricky games with Liverpool among Aston Villa's remaining matches, Chelsea will line up against Watford and West Ham will take on Man United and Tottenham in some of their remaining fixtures. It's going to be tough and yet the fixture that jumps out in a lot of the remaining games is the name of Burnley, who may well have a deciding factor on who goes down.

AFCB have it all to do if the season resumes.

Luckily or not AFCB have already played Burnley twice and suffered the consequences. But Brighton, Watford and Norwich all have to go away to Sean Dyche's side and West Ham have to play them at the London Stadium. Of the teams that have to play the top six the most we can look least favourably on Brighton & Hove Albion, who have to face five of the big guns in their remaining fixtures. Bournemouth have four such fixtures as do Aston Villa, but Watford have only three as do West Ham, while Norwich have two such fixtures left. So getting results against top teams is going to be most important for Brighton and Bournemouth.

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There are several six pointer games as we like to call them as well. Bournemouth are not in those having played all their games against the bottom six. Southampton are the lowest team that Bournemouth will have to pay in the run-in. But AFCB fans will be watching carefully on games like Norwich v Brighton, Norwich v West Ham, West Ham v Watford, Watford v Norwich, West Ham v Aston Villa. Norwich are involved in three of these games as are West Ham indicating that their fates well may rest on these bottom six fixtures.

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However, you call it we can expect it to be a tight race with a few more twists and turns yet. The odds probably favour Watford, West Ham and Brighton to stay up, but four wins from Bournemouth would very likely be enough to keep them. However, adding the points from these games last season to AFCB's potential total, from their remaining fixtures this season, is not good news. This time around we could expect something like eight points from these games. which may not be enough to beat the drop.

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For me the best fixture list in the run-in is probably Norwich's run of games, but they are playing catch up and may well have to much to do now. After that'I'd probably go for West Ham and Watford's fixtures, leaving Brighton, Bournemouth and Aston Villa with some less attractive fixtures to try and stay up. But who knows what might happen and even if these games will be played out.

In other sad news, Dickie Dowsett, former AFCB striker and commercial manager passed away at 88 on Sunday. Dickie's head features as the iconic figure on the AFCB crest to this day and is the sixth-highest all time goal scorer for AFCB. AFCB has Dickie's obituary on the website and The Bournemouth Echo also has a good piece on Dickie.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Has Gosling got a big season left in him

A strong Bournemouth performance at Anfield but no points

We keep hearing similar comments after Bournemouth's away games. The team has not played badly and should have got something from the game, but as usual they didn't pick up any points. That may be okay at the early part of the season, but when points are desperately needed, Eddie Howe needs a change in results as well as performances now.

Bournemouth will next have to seek points at home.

Liverpool are a unique team and are going to give any team problems. But it must frustrate Howe that his players coped with Klopp's team rather well for most of the match and yet couldn't pick up any points in a game that had its moments for the Cherries. Is it all bad luck? I think when it comes to injuries to Steve Cook and Philip Billing, then yes, Bournemouth are being unlucky. But the results only change if the squad is good enough on the pitch.

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Picking up points has been difficult away from home and mistakes have been made. Last Saturday was no different and the players have to somehow put that behind them and feel that they can change so that the results in forthcoming games are more positive. There might not have been any points, but there were good moments against Liverpool. When we look back at other away games this season, the Liverpool game was better if unsuccessful.

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Fans can draw on the fact that Josh King and Harry Wilson were not available. They will both be likely to come into the team in the next match. Bournemouth were playing well at Bournemouth, but did not score when it had chances to so the addition of these two attacking players could be the extra ingredient that stretches Crystal Palace.

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It's all about the points now and nothing else really matters. Luckily West Ham and Watford are still within striking distance and just getting out of the bottom three would give the players a huge lift.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth push Liverpool all the way but remain in the bottom three

The Cherries are still bang in trouble

Eddie Howe won't get carried away with the point against Chelsea. The point is a welcome one, but it wasn't enough to keep the Cherries form falling back into the bottom three with the results that Watford and West Ham Utd got.

The Cherries are still short on points.

The table was going to change and is likely to keep changing in the final 10 games. The run-in is upon us and it's as much about not losing nerve now as anything else. If the team is winning games it will get to safety, but there is an uneasy feeling that so many of the teams around Bournemouth have also stepped up their game and have started to pick up points.

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It is pretty much anyone's guess as to who is going to stumble, but I think you have to look at who is scoring goals. Bournemouth have their swagger back and are on the rise along with Watford and West Ham. That could make it difficult for teams such as Norwich City, Aston Villa, Brighton and even Newcastle who are not finding goals as all easy to come by.

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Where Bournemouth are still having problems is on defence. The second half against Chelsea was anxious because the players defended deeper and deeper and it gave Chelsea impetus to get back int o the game. Bournemouth were at their best when they were pressing for a their goal, but we just didn't see enough of it once the team had got ahead. It is a fine balance and while risking it by pushing players forward, it's easy to get caught on the break.

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The table doesn't lie, Bournemouth have not been good enough this season so far but they are on terms with several other teams and can pip them, if they have a better run-in than three of the other struggling teams.

Is 35 points enough for safety this season?

It seems strange that so many teams are finding wins difficult to come by at the bottom of the Premier League. This week was the second week in a row when none of the bottom six managed a win and Brighton were the only beneficiary, by moving a point further clear with their draw against Sheffield United. It does make you winder is 40 points going to be the safety line or can we draw it closer to 35 points this season?

Can AFCB claw themselves away from the bottom three?

Well if the bottom six continue to fail to put points on the board then the situation might not change that much. There will be a few six pointers to come, but most games for the bottom six are against higher table opposition. It looks like there is going to have to be some strange results for various teams to get passed 40 points mark, and Bournemouth need to just start picking up any kind of points to give themselves a real chance of putting themselves out of reach.

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I'm not convinced that Norwich City are capable of putting a run of results together to keep them up now, but Watford and West Ham have the ability to beat top sides and Aston Villa will keep motoring along trying to get the odd point and making things as hard as they can for other teams. Bournemouth and Brighton have been looking like they will be caught, but they still sit three and two points above the drop zone, and yet with just one more result going against Bournemouth you'd sense that they would become as highly backed as Norwich City for the drop.

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On the other hand a win to take them to 29 points would be a massive step towards safety if those below pick up nothing for another week. It's more a race of attrition as no club looks like escaping the pull of relegation. If it is a slow point accumulator we could see one of the lowest points total on the board with a club still staying up - not a great record to have, but one that any of the bottom six would take right now.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Has Surridge been unlucky not to get more minutes?

Bournemouth will lose touch if they can't get something against Brighton

Obviously the table doesn't look great at the moment. It could look a lot worse after Tuesday as well if Bournemouth don't pick up any points. With Burnley beating Leicester and Watford playing Aston Villa on Tuesday night, there are teams that are going to pull away from the bottom and the gap is going to grow, so it is vital Bournemouth hold on to Brighton's tail and pick up some points.

Simon Francis is likely to lead the team and Adam Smith should be at right back.

Bournemouth can bring Brighton & Hove Albion right back into the relegation scrap with a win. The two teams are not far apart in terms of skill and quality and Bournemouth have all the advantages of playing at home. Brighton have only won one more match than the Cherries and Eddie Howe's team are the only team Brighton have beaten in their last four games. That just might make Brighton over confident.

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It is probably fair to see that it is any three teams from the bottom six clubs now. Bournemouth have to get on terms with West Ham, Aston Villa and Watford as soon as possible and then try and have a better run-in than those teams, if they want to stay up. It is pressure football now and the players have to try and relax and play to their ability and play the match rather than the table, but in some ways it is going to be exciting for them as well as the fans, as every game is going to have something on it now until the end of the season.

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If Bournemouth can just pick up three points they will give themselves a chance of making an escape. The first league win of 2020 has to come soon and it has to be used as a springboard to put pressure on the other teams near the bottom. If Bournemouth continue to fade they can't expect other teams to just find a bad period of form. With games to play there is still a chance, but Bournemouth need to keep up with the others hovering just above the relegation zone.Try and enjoy the game tonight - UTCIAD!

Possible AFCB line up

AFCB Subs: Boruc, Kelly, Simpson, Surman, Billing,L Cook, Surridge

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