AFCB is close to Jermain's heart - he's coming home

Well, Jermain could not fall silent forever. The Black Cat is soon to be let out of the bag and into AFCB's squad having had a medical at the club already. He is clear that he wants to focus on his England games coming up, but has admitted on Sky Sports that Bournemouth is "a club very close to his heart".

While Jermain Defoe wants to get his head down, he has found it hard not to speak out about club football even though he is set to leave Sunderland. Speaking to Talk Sport he said that he felt it was unfair to speak about joining a new club so soon after the Black Cast had been relegated, but he must know that media attention in him is heightened and will have grown even more in the build up to the England matches.

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I hope that Jermain can now get on with his preparations for the upcoming internationals as the match against Scotland is especially important for World Cup qualification and for Jermain to cement his place in the national side. I felt a sense of disappointment in his voice that the news about him joining AFCB was "out there," but you can't always set the agenda when people talk and it's a huge signing for AFCB who will benefit enormously by giving him what is said to be a three-year free contract worth £20 million.

Jermain has said all the right things of course for the Cherries' supporters - "it's a special place, with a top manager, and a team that's done so well from where they have come from - it's kind of like a unique story." 

While it was a long time ago that Jermain was at the Cherries as an 18-year-old on loan from West Ham, he will certainly find a warm welcome when he comes and I think the fans will be just as excited, if not more, so than when he signed as a teenager. Bournemouth will also now have a full England international player on their books and I think as a player to look up to Bournemouth could not have picked a better personality. 

Who is next on the list after Begovic commits to AFCB?

The signing of Asmir Begovic has started the summer transfer window for AFCB with a well known Premier League player. The transfer of the Chelsea keeper was always expected since last January, but who else would be a great compliment to the Cherries' squad, and just who will be next?

Is Nathan committed to Chelsea?

You have to look at where AFCB have done well and where they have had problems this season to start to draw any conclusions about the players that they could bring in. We know they have let in lots of goals, and it was important that the keeper situation was reinforced as Boruc doesn't play every game in a season.

In defence, I am hopeful that Nathan Aké will sign for the Cherries, although that deal may depend on Chelsea themselves finding a replacement for John Terry who no longer looks set to come to Dean Court. I believe the John Terry situation is the deal that may suddenly unlock other departures from Chelsea, but if Terry is not sure where to go from the offers he has, it could be a long summer to also see what will happen with Aké and the close we get to July the more likely he wold stay put. If Aké doesn't come, then spare a thought for the likes of Harry Maguire at Hull City who has been highly praised as being one of the best players for the Tigers and he has all the eagerness that Howe likes to see from players that were in the lower leagues.

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Eddie likes to get his signings early in the window so that everyone can get involved in the summer tour, but things are looking difficult already with few whispers of clear targets. The England U21 team has been a good bed rock for AFCB's attentions and if Eddie wants more quality in the middle of the park as Andrew Surman finds injuries are having an affect on the number of games he can play, don't look any further than James Ward-Prowse at Southampton as possible target - the current captain of the England U21s. Yes, the Saints would hate to lose such a player to the Cherries and see him as a future captain, but if there is as much dissatisfaction with Claude Puel's management at St Marys, as has appeared in recent weeks, then players become unsettled and it could be a good time to test the waters with a bid for the midfielder's services.

Up front, I'd say that the Cherries will be happy to have a front line of Wilson, King and Defoe with one of them on the bench at any one time. But if I had my eye's on one young striker from the Championship it would be Cauley Woodrow at Fulham, who has been on loan at Burton Albion and helped them stay up. He is out of contract in 2018, although he'll have an option to add another year at Fulham. 

Who do you want AFCB to sign?

In other news, Lewis Cook's assist helps England's U20's beat Mexico 1-0 to set up a semi-final with Italy in South Korea. Former Cherries' striker Matt Tubbs is to become a coach at Verwood Town.

AFCB need cover for Adam Smith - so no sale Spurs!

While Spurs are said to be keen on making a bid for Adam Smith, it will be important for the Cherries to keep hold of him and bring in another right back in my opinion. If there is one AFCB player who is almost guaranteed to get a heavy challenge or two against him in a game it is Adam Smith. I cringe every time he goes into a challenge that he is not favourite for, as he is not that big a defender, even if he never shirks a 50:50. His cover is usually Simon Francis if a replacement is ever needed, but it's about time he had a regular challenger for his place in the team and perhaps Eddie will look at that this summer.

Adam Smith may be a target for Spurs, but AFCB really
need another right back even if Adam stays.

It's often the case that one position in the team tends not to be as well covered as the other and it's fairly evident that AFCB have relied on Adam Smith to play a lot of games. While this is good in itself, the difficulty will come when the games begin to take their toll. Simon Francis is also going to find it harder to make the energetic runs that he was always renowned for when he played in the position, and if Adam does find he is out for a few games at any stage, wouldn't it be better to keep Simon Francis playing at centre-back?

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The type of right-back that AFCB need as a back up has to have pace and must be extremely fit, and really it favours a younger player that Smith to learn the role. One player that comes to mind is Nathaniel Chalobah at Chelsea. He had a season pretty much on the bench, but he played excellently for Reading in the second half of the 2015/16 season and a loan option would be good business for AFCB if Chelsea didn't want to sell. He's also another England U21 player with a lot of loan experience behind him - Watford, Napoli, Burnley, Middlesbrough - to name a few.

Whatever player that has to deputise for Adam Smith is not going to feel they can easily get in the tam though as Adam only missed two games last season. You never know where the problems are going to come though and I'd certainly feel happier if Francis could now fully concentrate on his centre-half role to make sure he nails it against the best attackers in the league.

In other news, Harry Arter puts in a man of the match performance against Uruguay as Republic of Ireland win 3-1.

Is Brad Smith the unluckiest AFCB player?

Brad Smith is likely to be involved in some big matches for Australia in the next few days. First up is Saudi Arabia on Thursday 8 June, then Brazil on Tuesday 13th June before Germany on Monday 19 June. It's a tight schedule, but Brad must be relishing the chance to get some minutes in on the pitch, as he found it tough going in England last season with the form of Charlie Daniels to contend with.

Brad Smith warms up at Dean Court.

It must have crossed Brad's mind that it should have been a good move to come to AFCB and to play more games in the Premier League than he was getting at Liverpool. All he is seen though is James Milner deputise for Liverpool's lack of a fit left back, and at Bournemouth he has seen the number 11 shirt or rather the back of it in most games, as he looks on from the sidelines. He must have done something very bad in the past you'd think and yet when he has played for the Cherries in the cup games, he has not looked out of place. As far as the Premier League goes though, it's just five appearances last season two of which were as sub.

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The difficulty he has had is getting a run of games and he knows that Charlie Daniels is always going to make a fight of it for the left back position. Eddie Howe always wants two quality players for every position, but even Howe must have thought that Brad has been unfortunate not to make more appearances for the Cherries. Ange Postecoglu, Australia's head coach, has to trust that Brad Smith is just as good as he was when playing for Liverpool, because he can't have seen him play many games in the last year.

Whether Brad is happy to stick his time out at AFCB or not, he will be needing to play well to give himself some confidence and to try and get Eddie Howe to give him more of a chance. The match against Saudi Arabia is likely to be his best chance to really shine in an offensive manner, but he'll also want to show what a good defender he is when the Brazil and Germany matches come up. He is on test for sure in these games and if he does well, it could give him a run in some of the friendlies that AFCB are starting to line up this summer.

Arter must be ready to make an impact for Rep Ireland

Harry Arter was hoping to play a big part in the Republic of Ireland's match against Mexico on Friday and the following Sunday when Rep of Ireland take on Uruguay. He did not play though against the Mexicans last night, and he has only made four appearances in a senior international shirt. He is kind of having to catch up on lost time now having missed the European Championships with an injury and it doesn't seem that he is yet fit enough to make the most of the latest batch of friendly games either.

Harry has been waiting for this chance to play for Republic of Ireland.

Arter's quality has been well monitored by Roy Keane who we have seen at Bournemouth's ground many times. There was some talk last summer that Arter might hold out for an England call up, but he always wanted to play for Rep of Ireland and reassured Martin O'Neil of his commitment. Now he has to show that quality on the pitch.

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The players that have done well in Ireland's team are players that Arter has come up against in the Championship and Premier League. The likes of Roby Brady, Wes Hoolahan, Jeff Hendrick, Jonathan Walters and James McClean have all been on the end of an Arter tackle or two but it has taken the former Woking player longer than most to make it to the international squad and I was pleased that he gave himself this chance by missing out the last game of AFCB's season to give it a real good go for Republic of Ireland.

What Martin O'Neil knows is that he will get a player with a big engine who will chase down lost causes and will work hard in the centre of midfield. Arter's passing has been improving and while he has not scored many Premier League goals, he has had the players around him to do that task at AFCB. He may get more opportunity for the national team to make an impact and his shooting is usually fairly sensational when he does have a pop at goal from distance.

The Republic of Ireland didn't find it easy against Mexico and went down 3-1 last night. I'm hoping that Arter may be able to get in shape for the game against Uruguay. Uruguay are known only to well by England fans having been knocked out in the last World Cup by the Luis Suarez in the front line. Colombia ended their World Cup last time in the Round of 16. They are ranked 15th by FIFA and are probably a stronger opposition than Mexico who the Republic of Ireland lost to 3-1, but it will be good to see Harry come up against stars that have already graced football's top competition.

Schedule
Sunday 4 June
Rep Ireland v Uruguay 6pm



In other news, Yeovil Town are on AFCB's pre-season tour away at Huish Park on 2nd August.

Just how good is Jermain Defoe?

Some England players have their critics, but Jermain Defoe is generally accepted as a dangerous forward who will get goals in any team. He's certainly good enough to play for AFCB and would be another full international player to add to the squad, which is surely the sort of players that AFCB should now be looking to sign. On the big international stage he has notched up 56 appearances with the most recent this year in Gareth Southgate's squad to play Lithuania and of course he scored to make it 20 goals in an England shirt.

Jermain Defoe - is he about to join AFCB again?

Defoe may well have scored more goals for the three lions and won more caps had he not entertained a move to the MLS in 2014, when he played for Toronto FC. Yet, even here he scored goals and was watched by the England camp. While having spells at Bournemouth and Portsmouth, he is best known for his time at Spurs and West Ham. To only play for one club that has been in the top six is perhaps a slight disappointment in his career, but he did well at Spurs and was arguably at his very best when he left in 2014.

We all thought then that he would fade into the history books, but it just shows how determined he is that he came back to England to play for Sunderland and kept them up in 2015/16 and still scored 15 goals in a relegated side. He even scored against the Cherries from the spot to sink AFCB 1-2 in November last year.

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Surely, Defoe is best when he plays with a big forward who knocks balls on to him to finish, but he has got better at scoring from all kinds of angles and can run from further out to unlock defences. While many forwards have lost pace in their latter years, that doesn't seem to have happened to Defoe which makes him a prized asset for any club. Importantly, it should be noted that he has played 37 games this Premier League season just gone, so he does remain fit and will be another England international like Jack Wilshere, who can help aspire other AFCB players to make the jump to the international scene.


The interview Defoe gave this week seemed to distance himself from making a clear link with AFCB, and he is more concentrating on the next England games before making any decision. If Defoe decides not to come to Dean Court, I hope that AFCB have other targets. While he is leaving his options open, I still believe Jermain will find it hard to turn down AFCB is they can agree terms.

Will the predominantly English nature of the AFCB team last much longer?

There was a statistic on the BBC match preview for the Leicester City game against the Cherries that made me proud and at the same time a bit sad. It read, "11 English players have made 20 or more league appearances for Bournemouth this season. This last happened in the Premier League with Aston Villa in 2000-01." What is remarkable about AFCB not only staying in the Premier League for two seasons is not just that they've done it, but they have done it with many players that have come from league one and just as surprising with British players in the main.

Lewis Cook has impressed out in South Korea and will have
his eyes set on a starting place at AFCB in 2017/18. 

Just think though, 17 years since such an English team played 11 players for 20 or more games in the top tier. The fact that AFCB have done it in 2016/17 is a testament to the fact that English players can do it at this level if they are well trained. There is a proviso though. AFCB have brought a lot of players through the leagues with their promotion runs and they could not probably have been able to recruit the English talent as easily if they had been promoted with a handful of players from the British Isles. It will be interesting to see what Brighton and Huddersfield Town decide to do with their transfer policies.

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Championship clubs ask for high prices when Premier League clubs come calling as we have seen with Tyrone Mings. Eddie Howe did well to also sign Lewis Cook from Leeds Utd and Benik Afobe from Wolves, but I believe it is getting harder to sign English players from the lower leagues. It's not only the fees, it's the competition from other Premier League sides such as Burnley, WBA and sometimes West Ham, who tend to sign the odd English player as will the newly promoted clubs. Another option is to sign players from the Premier League that are coming to the end of their careers, but even AFCB won't want to many of these players they want to continue building a youthful squad. 

One player from the continent that has been strongly linked with AFCB is Dijon's hot shot Lois Diony, but TalkSport are suggesting the Cherries would need a kitty of £13m to land him for next season.

The question is, if AFCB can't find the players from the Championship to sign can it make a step up to signing more continental players and will this weaken the character of the group? Stoke City and Leicester City have signed players from abroad in bigger numbers than AFCB and the mid-table sides have been doing that for a while. But that is playing a whole different transfer game where teams from the continent are also going to be looking for the best talent as well. 

While few English players go abroad to play, there is a focus for Spanish, German and Italian leagues to study feeder leagues like the Dutch league and Ligue 1 in France. AFCB have already looked at Juan Iturbe and Lys Mousset, but have not plundered the continent too highly yet. But I expect the trend to start increasing soon, which means even AFCB's make up will lose more of it's English DNA in the next few seasons.

In other news, Lewis Cook skippered England's U20s through to the quarter final in South Korea with a 2-1 win over Costa Rica. England's next match is on 5 June.


Cherry Chimes' June Newsletter is out today and brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. You can also find out what's our season's rating is for Eddie Howe?

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