10 cup finals for the Cherries to go

It's that time in the season when Willo usually has his first look at the fixtures to come and what might just be achieved this season. I guess he will have a happy smile on his face when he does look at the table and those remaining cup final fixtures that AFCB have ahead of them. In some ways it is the best and worst part of the season, as if you play badly everything can fall away in just a few games, but if you get it right to peak at this time when you're already in a great spot then the rewards are almost unimaginable for a club like AFCB.

The Fulham win was massive for AFCB and now they have momentum.

Planning out the next 10 games though is rather a lot to take in one go and I expect that Eddie will be looking at the games in small clusters of two and three matches and trying not to look too far ahead. The next two matches are perhaps not as likely to be as testing as the upcoming Middlesbrough and Ipswich matches, but they are no less important and Blackpool and Cardiff need to be beaten on the pitch and not in peoples' minds so there is lots of work to do and AFCB can't sit back and think things are just going to happen for them after the Wolves and Fulham wins.

I'm interested to see if some of those who have not played as much can play their part not just in training. The likes of Eunan O'Kane, Dan Gosling, Shaun MacDonald, Baily Cargill, Junior Stanislas, Ryan Fraser, Ian Harte, Elliott Ward and others may just be the ones that seal a promotion and there is every chance that one of them could do something very memorable in the next few weeks. We don't know what is to come but as long as everyone is prepared to excel if given their chance AFCB should be in a very good place. 

UTCIAD!
It is good to see that the AFCB youth team are also doing well under Carl Fletcher and Joe Roach.

The Cherries didn't want to come unstuck

This is the most difficult pint of the season for any team. The league has taken its shape and the need for wins is crucial because any slip ups seem magnified as everything is so tight at the top. I am pleased to say I have not wanted to check every game that Derby, Ipswich or Middlesbrough have coming up as it is all about AFCB now and the performances they put in. That is the beauty of being top of the league.

Okay, no new signings but the squad
has stayed together for a promotion push.

When we get down to the last 10 matches is when Willo traditionally says he looks at the table to see where AFCB might finish. I suspect that he might have already had a sneaky look and I don't blame him for that. The pressure on the players though is high enough. They know exactly where they are and how close they are to creating something very special. It's up to them to make it come true and I think the recent defeats against Leeds and Norwich City have refocused their mental drive to be on it for every game now. The players have seen their league lead come down to goal difference but they'll soon have more chance to widen the gap when they take on Derby at home.

The table could have looked much different had Watford won at Dean Court last Friday. The gap to seventh place is something that Willo said was important, as like all AFCB fans we are always looking at worst scenario first and the team has to try and be sure to at least get at a play-off spot. A few months ago that would have seemed unthinkable for such a club as ours, and yet now six place and a chance to go up through the play-offs is not something that we quite see as the main aim now. By the way Willo, you are busted if you know how many points clear of seventh place AFCB are!

It is the home form that needed to see an improvement for the Cherries, and now that it has I sincerely hope that some wins against the main rivals near the top of the table will see AFCB over that winning line come 3 May.

While some fans will be disappointed that no signings were made apart from Artur Boruc in the January window the important fact is that none of the first team squad was the subject of interest from other clubs and now the squad can concentrating on achieving what they want to this season. It would have been great to add some momentum with a key new signing like Demaria Gray, but sometimes a new player can spoil the balance what you already have. Somehow I imagine that the large amount of money being banded about could also be put towards some important ground improvements over the summer instead. The loan window opens in a week as well so there is plenty of options for Eddie Howe if they are needed.

Finally, let's hope that Eunan O'Kane recovers quickly after sustaining ligament damage in the Watford game.

Can Rantie do the business this time?

Tokelo Rantie will need to produce the goods soon and he seems well aware of that. I kind of get nervous for him with the tag of the biggest signing AFCB have ever made hanging around his neck. Still, he has shown a speed of turn and quickness of thought to liven up any match and his finishing ability may soon get the chance to register as the ball has not really fallen kindly for him in front of goal yet. Still, he managed a sublime turn and pass to see Ryan Fraser get his first goal for the Cherries in AFCB's last home game.

I want to see Rantie with a striker alongside him for 90 minutes.

While the ball falls to Grabban in front of goal like a magnet I am not so worried that Tokelo is still on a blank, but for his confidence I want him to score. He so nearly managed that against Blackburn that you get the feeling it is coming. I also believe that when he gets one goal he is the type of player that could easily go on the rampage and get two or three. With the exception of Pitman (and his goals are mainly from the penalty spot), I don't see AFCB's other goalscorers often getting more than a single goal in a match.

Rantie is going to break his duck soon - trust me!

At Elland Road he had to play most of the match as a loan striker and things were not much better for him in the Blackburn Rovers game. So if he can have 90 minutes with a strike partner on the pitch perhaps we will finally see what the South African can do. 

John Williams at BBC Radio Solent can't stop raving about TK but we need to see some return on that investment. You can't ask for a much better game to do that in than against Millwall at home before the international break. Come one TK, break the net for us and well be delighted to celebrate with you. UTCIAD!

A good call to play Harte

I was really pleased that Ian Harte has been given a go in the team. I know he has had a difficult time in getting used to the way AFCB play, but he has been a good pro over the years and I could not believe that he wouldn't get things right eventually. Bringing him in for the Leeds game was very clever by Eddie Howe in my opinion. A familiar setting to him, playing at Elland Road looks like it got the best out of him. Now he must reproduce that at the Goldsands stadium.

Ian Harte was inspired at Elland Road.

He has had his critics and I was one of them, but I just believe he needed some time to adjust. There was one point in the commentary when Willo even admitted that Harte was getting up and down the wing just like Daniels and overlapping. He is starting to get the hang of the way Eddie and Jason want him to play and while his legs might not let him do as many runs up the left side as he used to he is starting to positively initiate moves. He also took most of the free kicks and made several clearances during the 90 minutes.

While the team only had 10 men for an hour of the game on Tuesday against Leeds, it is still a fact that AFCB let in two goals in the second half despite their gallant efforts to get something from the game. It can't help matters that the system keeps changing and the personnel are not always the same, but AFCB have to dig in and pull out a win now from somewhere. I believe a win is just around the corner.

Ian can really play a big part in the game on Saturday with his free kicks.

Whether Harte has done enough to feature against Millwall on Saturday will be very interesting. I suspect that he may indeed get a starting place. It will enable the team to play the way it has been so successful in the last few seasons as a 4-4-2 and with Collison in midfield the grit and determination that almost did them so well at Leeds may bring the three points that everyone wants this Saturday.

All Deaprtments' Kangeroo Court is now out discussing Leeds Utd 2: 1 AFCB with AFCB fan Damien Hill from the Family Stand. You can listen on the All Departments website or on Cherry Chimes by scrolling down the right hand panel on the site to the Kangeroo Court listing. 

If you missed my View from the stands in the Blackburn Rovers programme that is also available to read on the All Departments website.

Testing times: Coventry inflict another defeat on Cherries

Match Description

AFC Bournemouth  0 v 2 Coventry

Match Attendance: 7411 (727 away)

For those of a nervous disposition, look away now. If AFCB were a marathon runner it is fair to say that we might be feeling the effects of hitting the wall at the 18 mile mark or as a cyclist in the Tour De France, we would have scaled the Pyrenees in style only to find that the road to Paris was like wading through mud. Yes you guessed it, AFCB tumbled to their third defeat in a row last night and having failed to score in their last three matches. The Cherries are finding that it's not  hard in this league to give everything and still come up short.
The Cherries kicked off trying to score at the Steve Fletcher stand end. But the game took a while to get going as Coventry's Dickinson had a blood injury, courtesy of a Fogden elbow, early on that took five minutes to sort out. However, by the end of the night it was the Cherries who had been given a bloody nose.

Bournemouth were set up in a 4-4-2 formation with a change of team - see my earlier post - as Eddie Howe tried to get back to winning ways. It was Coventry who made the early running. Leon Clarke and McSheffrey were getting the ball for Coventry early on. Yet, Tubbs had a good left footed strike on 14 minutes, although he was pulled back for off-side. McQuoid was blazing up the left and Grabban missed a great chance that Fogden laid off to him with a header on the quarter hour mark that was fired over the bar.  

I was listening to Cherries player as I could not make the game and had Willo examining the game in every detail, while I was trying to keep up with the Cherries Match blog and various fans' opinions on Twitter. On BBC Solent Willo commented that if the pitch is not great why do we play out from the back? He had a point as our boys were finding it difficult to control the ball on the hard and bouncy pitch.

Fogden was playing well on the right, but Tubbs kept getting caught off-side. Tubbs did get a one on one but slid it wide of the goal on 20 minutes, after Dickinson gifted him a header. Coventry then made a chance with Christie bursting past McQuiod and Moussa had a shot well saved by Jalal who recovered before Clarke could get in. Josh McQuoid was in on goal a few minutes later but his shot was harmlessly deflected safely to the keeper. 

Then it all went wrong. Cook and Seaborne were having a relatively quiet first half, but they got confused with Leone Clarke getting past them and, before you knew it, he had slammed the ball into the roof of the net from 15 yards and Bournemouth were one nil down! It was totally against the run of play, in stoppage time. Arter then managed to pick up a yellow card! That's certainly 10 cards now and a two match suspension for him. Not a great first half for us.

The Cherries fired in quick corners in succession virtually all night, but Coventry were strong on the break. Jalal had to make a good save from Clarke after 54 minutes as the defenders went missing again. It was turning into an open game with both sides being stretched. 

AFCB had four good chances in the first 20 minutes had not really tested Murphy since then in the Coventry goal. Matt Ritchie then picked up a yellow on 63 minutes and Pitman and Fraser came on for Tubbs and Fogden with 20 minutes to go. Coventry also brought on Bell for McSheffrey. Grabban and McQuoid had chances with 15 minutes to go, then Fraser was unlucky with a goal attempt. AFCB kept trying with Steve Fletcher coming on with 10 minutes to go to replace McQuiod and Fraser switching to the left. 

However, the game virtually ended when Coventry won a free kick against Ritchie for lying on the ball. The decision bemused home fans, but worse was to come. Grabban was accused of hand ball from the resulting free kick and Baker took the penalty in the 84th minute and scored. A couple of AFCB corners followed but it was not going to be our night. Moussa was taken off for Edjenguele near the end. Even at the death the Cherries had an effort cleared off the line.

I felt before the Sheffield, Coventry, Orient and Doncaster games that AFCB would need six points from them to stay in the mix, now it is really a hard task. Howe remains defiant that we have quality players and that things will turn around, but we can't seem to get enough shots on target at the moment and we are making sloppy mistakes at the back. 

Talking about the sides' current form and the players brought in to the team for the game, Eddie said: ''It doesn't concern me, because I know the quality I've got. I expect people to write us off. We believe we are a good side and one of the best in this league....We are in it together. He added that, "We are in uncharted territory for this club. To achieve something at the end of the season would be rare."

I have not given player ratings for this match as I was not at the game but Ritchie seemed to be the best candidate for AFCB according to BBC Solent. Bournemouth are now seventh in League One and outside the top six on goal difference.