This is a fan’s personal view of AFC Bournemouth from the outside looking in. It reports on the daily official activities reported by the club and comments made by individual fans on social media and fanbase websites. Life as an AFCB fan is never dull. As a life-long supporter of the Cherries, it is the friendliness of the staff, fans and my enthusiasm for the club that inspired me to write this blog.
AFCB's home form has been nothing to get overly excited about of late. You don't get anything for poor home form or inconsistency in the Championship and its about time the Cherries won a solid three points at home. They will need a raucous crowd to help them on their way. With a few low home crowds of late, there is still a feeling of Dean Court waiting for something special to get the crowd really up and expressing their delight in the players this season, so I'm hoping it is today when AFCB have lift off!
The home crowd needs to keep with the team and really get behind them to get the second home win of the season.
It is at this point that you wonder whether some superstitions are being changed to help bring a bit of luck. Good fortune usually comes to those who deserve it, so on the balance of AFCB's performances they are due something of a turnaround. In past seasons I have been worried when the Cherries go a goal down, but this season it seems more troubling when they go a goal up. The main ingredient I want to see is the players being committed to the full 90 minutes and to see them keep doing the things that Eddie has told them they must do for the course of the match.
This second season in the Championship is no easier than last season. We need the crowd and team to be at their best and this is the perfect game to build on the Carling Cup win. Wigan are a big club and keeping above them in the table must be the aim come 5pm. It is unlikely that the Cherries will climb many places even with a win, but to be within striking distance of Derby at the end of the day would give the players an added incentive for Tuesday night as well. UTCIAD!
If you have plenty of time before the game why not pop into Village Urban Resort where you can get food and drinks from 12pm. It is just a short walk from Dean Court and you can get free parking!
While Steve Cook may be 50:50 to make Saturday's game it appears that players are queuing up to get a run in the side now. Tuesday night saw several players get some minutes who have not had much of a run at all this season. That can only be good for a Cherries side that is now looking to improve its league position and should have plenty of quality to bring on when Eddie needs to make some changes.
Shaun MacDonald has been patient with his recovery.
Shaun MacDonald was back in the fold and he always gives his best when he wears an AFCB shirt. Playing in Wales would have no doubt pleased him, but he must keep the pressure up just to try and win a place on the bench at the moment. I have already talked about Dan Gosling who now looks attuned to AFCB's play and should be a starter in the near future. Whether Ryan Fraser was being rested on Tuesday or has a knock I am not sure, but I also hope we see more of him in the coming months.
Tokelo will want to get involved, but Pitman and
Kermorgant are probably ahead of him.
The hot position to call though for me is the left back position. Charlie Daniels has been the preferred choice when he is fully fit and while Ian Harte has played well (we will forget the penalty at Watford) I get the feeling that Charlie will be back in the first 11. He showed he has his running game back against Cardiff and getting a goal certainly will add to his confidence. It was nice to see that Ian Harte was equally enthusiastic about Charlie Daniels scoring - he certainly is a team man.
The need for three points at home now is going to be very plain for all to see for AFCB. Having only taken four points from a possible 12 at home, it is not the start that Eddie Howe will have wanted to make. Now the team plays host to a Wigan side that have made a slightly slower start to the Championship and have not won away from home yet. The pressure is truly on for both teams with just one point between them in the table.
Wigan and AFCB last season at Dean Court.
In such circumstances it might not be a bad time to play Wigan, but there team is packed with quality and has players we know only too well. Callum McManaman is a handful on the wing, but came off after 36 minutes against Ipswich with a dead leg and James McClean came on for him. Still, Shaun Maloney is also be the player that has the ability to unlock defences with great ease, so I expect a very hard battle to win the ball in midfield. It is a young Wigan team now though, and Adam Forshaw, who was at Brentford, and William Kvist, who signed from VFB Stuttgart, are who they rely on now. Uwe Rosler is a tactical master as well and he'll be keen to get Wigan winning away and playing as well as they have been at home. Marc Antoine-Fortune, Andy Delort and Oriol Riera have not got off to a great start this season up front. Martyn Waghorn and Andey Delrot have also been used as strikers. Grant Holt is also on Wigan's books, having spent some of last season on loan at Aston Villa, but has not played since the 2-1 Capital One Cup win against Burton Albion.
Wigan's players warming up.
Repeating last season's 1-0 home win is not beyond AFCB, but they need to keep their heads against a very strong Wigan side. It is the kind of match that would give the Cherries a tremendous boost and put their season back on track if they can get that win, but to do so Francis and Daniels must win their battles and push Wigan back on the wings. Try and see if you can make time to listen in to the Jesus was a Wiganer podcast as they have some great commentary as ever on Wigan's recent performance against Ipswich and some not so confident predictions on how their team will do against the Cherries this weekend. Wigan Away Form: LLLD AFCB Home Form: WLDL Referee: Gary Sutton Assistant Refs: Mark Derrien and Matt Foley Fourth Official: Colin Lymer Get you match bets on via Free Bet Negotiator
I have already enthused about 19-year-old Baily Cargil taking to first team action like a duck to water in the last few months. Having aided AFCB to a clean sheet away at Cardiff City and having played in the other rounds of the Capital One Cup, I don't expect any AFCB fans to have any doubts about seeing Baily play in a Championship game very soon. With the groin strain that Steve Cook felt on Tuesday night it may well be that Baily takes that step this weekend when AFCB face Wigan Athletic at home.
Steve Cook may struggle to make the team
this weekend, but he usually pulls through.
I can only guess at what it must be like to run out in front of a packed Dean Court to play your first Championship game. It is something that Steve Fletcher was unable to experience it this level, but I bet he is one of those who will have a big smile on his face when Baily does get his chance. Eddie Howe has been grooming Baily all along to this stage, and while the young centre back may have allowed himself a moments thought about when his big day may come at home in a league game, I suppose nothing will prepare him totally for the moment. He will be excited, but in this AFCB side there are plenty around him to see him through any difficult parts of the game and Baily will be well used to playing with those around him now. If he comes in for the Wigan match then Baily will have a big job to do. Martyn Waghorn and Marc-Antoine Fortune could well be Wigan's strike force and Baily will be eager to get the Cherries a clean sheet and to stay on his feet. I don't think defenders can ever worry about whether they might make a mistake, they have to be positive and play whatever situation they face with full determination to come out on top. Here's hoping Baily soon shows us all how well he can do the job he has been trained to do.
Dan Gosling had quite a match against Cardiff City the other night in the Capital One Cup. He kept his record of scoring every round, and even added a second on the night after what was a glorious first goal. Dan showed really tight control and was able to whirl away from his man almost effortlessly, and he brought the crowd to life with that first strike. Now Eddie Howe has to find a way of getting him into the team more regularly.
Dan Gosling is getting up to speed.
I would be surprised if Dan was to start against Wigan though. I suspect that he will be on the bench as Harry Arter has been playing well, and Andrew Surman is available for the weekend's fixture against the Latics. Whether Dan will be a regular starter though in the coming weeks is harder to gauge. The habit he has for popping up in the box and putting away his chances is something that Eddie Howe is going to find hard to ignore. The pressure is really on for the midfield places now and with O'Kane still trying to get on the score sheet and Shaun MacDonald coming back, AFCB look like they have one of the strongest crop of midfield players in the division.
Dan has the quality to excite fans.
It had been Harry Arter who has been the most selected player in midfield and Eddie Howe must feel his industry and hounding qualities put him ahead of a few others. We could see a change though as the games are mounting up now. I know many fans want a settled side, but at this stage of the season, it is not clear what the best starting 11 is. For example, it might be intriguing to see Dan coming into the team next to Andrew Surman in the coming weeks. I am pleased that the cup run continues though and fans have a lot to thanks Dan Gosling for that. His opener, against Cardiff, set the game up for a confident performance. A home tie against West Brom is a great reward and will have many fans thinking of the 2011/12 season when we last played the Baggies in the League Cup, let's hope we can do better this time against Alan Irvine's side.
There has been a bit of discussion about whether Lee Camp has been unfortunate to lose his place in the Watford fixture to Artur Boroc. It is always hard for players to be squeezed out of a team, especially when someone from outside comes straight in. Having just had one training session with AFCB, Artur Boruc was immediately thrust into the starting line up having only been at the club some 24 hours.
Lee Camp will have to try and prove he is
worthy of his place ahead of Artur Boroc.
Tough on Lee? Well I guess we have took at Lee's performances in the last few games and assess the abilities of Artur Boruc. The first questions about Lee really came at the end of the Rotherham game when Jordan Bowery headed home a late goal from a corner. I have the feeling that Eddie Howe was not pleased with Lee who stayed on his line and he commented that he likes the way hat Artur Boruc comes for crossing in his interview that introduced the new keeper from Southampton.
I am slightly more convinced that Lee might have done more about the Leeds goals. He did have time to set himself to narrow the angle on the first goal from Doukara and the free kick, while being 'a worldy' saw Lee beaten from a long way out. Whether he would have done better to have three in the wall, allowing him to see the kick better is something that only he will know. The one-against-one with Antenucci for Leeds' third was one of those that on a good day he might have saved, but you usually back the forward to score in such circumstances. In all, I don't think Lee has been overly below par in his performances. Eddie possibly just had the opportunity of a top Premier League keeper offered to him and considering the need for competition in the squad it would have been mad to turn such an offer away. Lee has probably found it hard in not having many shots to save in matches as AFCB have been playing well, but when they needed a keeper to pull off a fantastic save it has not happened for him in the last few games. Whether Artur Boruc does any better we will have to see, but at Watford you can argue the same thing happened to him and AFCB should have got more than a point. My News Hub stories of the week - click on to view AFC Bournemouth reaching the Fourth round of the Capital One Cup - AFCB v Cardiff City Sam's no longer on a hammering - West Ham v Liverpool Leicester outfox United - Leicester City v Man Utd
You could sense a bit of trepidation among some AFCB fans as the team was announced. However, there was no need to be alarmed. The Cherries made short work of a Cardiff side that had just lost its permanent manager and the first half display basically blew Cardiff away and saw AFCB through to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup. It was the name of Baily Cargill on the team sheet that had me all excited. There were seven changes in all from the team that started against Watford and Eddie Howe was obviously keen to give Artur Boroc more time with the defence as Lee Camp was left on the bench. The big pluses for me were the return of Dan Gosling and Shaun MacDonald who had been carrying injuries. I also had my fingers crossed that Brett Pitman would have one of his blindingly good games.
AFCB set up 4-5-1 but Steve Cook injured himself during the warm up so Tommy Elphick came into the starting 11, leaving AFCB with six on the bench. Pugh had the first shot of the game that was pushed out for a corner. The good start was confirmed though when Dan Gosling kept up his record of scoring in every round of the cup when he scored in the ninth minute with a shot from the outside the box that went in the left bottom corner. AFCb kept the momentum going with another corner as they started to silence the home crowd. AFCB had to defend a free kick that Junior Stanislas conceded, but were soon back on the front foot as Charlie Daniels won another corner. On 21 minutes it was 0-2 as Charlie Daniels scored with a left foot strike close to goal with Marc Pugh making the assist! AFCB continued to apply pressure with more corners and Golsing had another one disallowed. Artur Borus made his first save from Maynard on 29 minutes, then it was back to business for AFCB. Dan Gosling in the Cradiff box hit a shot to the bottom right corner and it was 0-3 after just 32 minutes. AFCB had had 61 per cent possession at this point and had had three shots, all on target and all found the back of the net! After a double substitution Cardiff came back into it late on in the first half with Maynard and Macheda having shots, but they couldn't beat Boruc. Cardiff ended the half with a corner, but went in 0-3 down! Cardiff were in the ascendancy at the start of the second half and Macheda had a goal ruled out for offside. Teh second half had trouble living up to the first 45 minutes, but AFCb kept winning corners. Juniro Stanislas took a powerful free kick on 63 minutes that was deflected behind. Cardiff's best chance came from Adyemi who shot over the bar on 73 minutes. Macca was then subbed on 75 minutes and Harry Arter who replaced him went for another shot just like he scored from on Saturday, but this time it went well over.
The last 10 minutes saw AFCB again come close with a breakaway with Arter, Pitman and Stanislas having shots blocked. Harry Arter then hit the bar! Final changes were made with simon Francis coming on for Smith and Rantie replacing Stanislas. Final score 0-3. AFCB official match tweets The teams are out here at the Cardiff City Stadium. Late change for #afcb as Elphick replaces Cook in the starting XI. #CCFCvAFCB
Cook appeared to pick up an injury in the warm-up. McCarthy takes Elphick's place on the #afcb bench. #CCFCvAFCB 01: The game is underway here. 03: Brayford lifts the ball over the #afcb defence towards the far corner but it's a comfortable catch for Boruc. #CCFCvAFCB
