Rival Lines: "Getting this squad relegated is criminal," says George Weah's Cousin

Rival Lines
Match  Preview: Southampton v AFCB
Blogger interview: Georgeweah's cousin
Twitter: @crstig

I managed to have a few words with Chris at the fabulous Southampton website - George Weah's Cousin. I wondered if a Cherries fan was the last person he'd want to talk to with the Saints in big trouble, but massive credit to Chris who was more than willing to give an insight into how the Southampton fans are feeling ahead of Bournemouth's visit to St Mary's. The questions were going to be difficult for any Saints fan but sometimes you have to hit reality head on and I want to know what a Saints fan is most annoyed about from the goings on at St Mary's in 2017/18.

CC: At what point of this season did you feel Southampton might be in a bit of trouble - was there a particular game that stood out?

GC: Pretty early on it looked like Pellegrino wasn’t the right man. He cut a confused looking figure pretty much all of the time. The 4-1 defeat to Leicester at home was the one though, as unacceptable and pathetic a performance as I have seen from a Saints team for a long time, with the added insult of being carved apart by a team managed by ‘boring’ Claude Puel.

CC: Do you think the recent game against Leicester was there to be won or could you tell from early on that Southampton were not looking like a team that would win the match?

GC: Absolutely. By now Puel has instilled his turgid, creativity drained style on the poor foxes and we should have come away with 3 points, sadly our team is bereft of confidence and don’t look like they can win in any situation at the moment.

CC: What do you feel is the general view of Mark Hughes among fans? Would you give him the keys to the City if he keeps you up or were you disappointed with his appointment?

GC: Given the situation we were in, I think he was the only realistic choice. Would we have wanted him during the Summer? No, but horses for courses. Our previous two appointments were foreign experiments that failed, with so few games left someone with Premier League experience was essential. I feel sorry for Hughes, he hasn’t been given enough time to turn it around in my opinion.

CC: Who is most to blame for the Saints situation?

GC: When any club goes through such a poor period I think it is too simplistic to blame one factor, it is usually the perfect storm of many factors. Our board’s recruitment policy that used to work so well has gone to pot. Some of our players gave up far too quickly and require attitude readjustments, but the chairman and the director of football have to take the lion’s share of the blame for leaving it so late sacking Pellegrino. Getting this squad relegated is criminal to be honest, the lowest it should finish is 13th/14th, and had they sacked MP at Xmas, we would be out of danger by now.

CC: You could have a massive game against Swansea right at the end. Do you think Swansea City are the only club the Saints can now catch to stay up?

GC: They are the main target but if we don’t beat you (AFCB) on Saturday then I think that will be it. Win on Saturday the beat Swansea and we give ourselves a chance, but 2 wins on the bounce from a team that as won 1 in 21? Seems unlikely.

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CC: What did you make of the Saints' performance against Chelsea in the FA Cup?

GC: Gutless. I think we had a certain gameplan that was working up until half time, but when you’ve got the keystone cops at the back, you are only ever one instant away from turning Olivier Giroud into Lionel Messi!

CC: Should Charlie Austin be selected to play up front with Shane Long rather than using him as a sub?

GC: I’m not sure they work as a pair, but Long can’t be relied upon to score. It’s an odd one. Austin is clearly our best striker, but I’d like to see him supported by Gabbiadini in the hole.

CC: What do you think the mood will be like for the match at St Marys with Bournemouth? After all, Southampton have a good record against the Cherries - is it a game you can look forward to?

GC: The mood will be the same as it has been for some time, quiet resignation to the fact we are in a terrible situation. I don’t look forward to any games at the moment, though I learnt many years ago that you should never let the 90 minutes of football ruin your day out.

CC: Have you got any injury worries for this game?

GC: Yep. Boufal – Lack of backbone, Lemina – Unnecessary stepover disease, Bertrand - Face like a slapped arse syndrome, Hoedt – Calumdavenportitus.

CC: How do you expect Southampton to line up against Bournemouth?

GC: McCarthy, Cedric, Hoedt, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Hoijbjerg, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, Long, Austin

CC: If Southampton are going to have a hero who keeps you up who will it be?

GC: Charlie Austin

CC: What will the score be for the match with Bournemouth? 

GC: I’m going to be surprisingly optimistic and go for a 1-1 draw. We will probably miss a host of chances, and you will equalise late. 1 point ultimately won’t be enough.

CC: It seems that the fight might be going out of Saints fans but if they were to win against Bournemouth, I think their mood could yet change. I am so used to seeing Southampton come out on top that I would not be overly surprised if they did miraculously escape the drop even now. But the view of seeing Mark Hughes at St Marys would not inspire me with confidence if I were a Saints fan. I agree with Chris though that everything will be clearer I should think after this weekend if the Saints have a realistic shot at staying up of not. Check out more of Chris' thoughts on the Saints' season at George Weah's Cousin

T-Shirt competition

You can win a Cherry Chimes T-shirt by guessing the correct score between Southampton and Bournemouth. Tweet your guess to @CherryChimes If there is more than one person guessing the right score we will pick the winner from a hat.

Why aren't AFCB establishing leads in games?

AFC Bournemouth have conceded the first goal in the first half five times in their last 10 home league games this season, having under 8 shots on target in five of these, says StataBet. There's more, AFC Bournemouth have trailed by one goal 15 minutes before half-time 4 times in their last 10 games this season. And the damming one is, AFC Bournemouth have conceded the first goal in the first half five times in their last 10 home games this season and they have conceded the first goal in seven of their last 10 home games. No wonder they have had to rely on being comeback kings.

Bournemouth have been falling behind a bit too often. Here it was against Newcastle.

The poor starts continue with Man Utd the latest team to get a goal up before half an hours play against AFCB. There had been a lot of hope that AFCB would pull through in games when they were scoring in every game, even if it was late on. But now the goals have not materialsed against Liverpool and Man United, so what does Eddie need to change for the Southampton match?

I'd like to see Eddie Howe really take the game to Southampton and he may well be hoping for the return of Adam Smith to help him do that. Adam is not always noted for the impact he has on games, but he is an aggressive and forward pushing force in Bournemouth ranks. Smith may not have made as many assists of scored as many goals as might have been expected, but he is one of AFCB's players that only has eyes on winning. It's likely that the subs bench is as close as Adam gets to the team though this weekend as he has not played in weeks.

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At this stage Bournemouth need a bit of positivity. It is not great to keep coming in at half time behind the opposition and Howe needs to make that clear when they go out for the first half at St Marys'. If Bournemouth can be ahead by half-time, they will feel well in control and from that position they may just work harder to put in a winning performance.

I don't want to see AFCB's players trooping off at half-time in this next match having been overrun by a more energetic Southampton side who have to chuck everything at it now.

Will Lewis Cook start banging in some goals?

Lewis Cook is being held up high as one of Bournemouth's great success stories this season and quite rightly so. But does a central midfielder need to be a bit of a goalscorer as well as a creator? We are still waiting for Lewis' first goal and watching him play it does appear to me that he is more often looking for the killer pass rather than setting his own sights on hitting the target.

From what I remember from Lewis Cook's Leeds days he used to be confident enough in front of goal and I hope it has not been coached out of him. AFCB are not rich in scoring central midfielders and while Eddie looks for balance in the team, it may be that he has too many similar type players in central midfield and he has to develop at least one fo them into more attacking prospects.

Lewis Cook still needs to find his shooting boots.

I believe Lewis has that potential and could be more of a goal scorer. He has that injection of speed and can zip past his man quickly to find himself in space. I don't see why he can't try more give and goes and one-twos in and around the penalty box. If Eddie is to keep Lewis Cook at the club and develop him he has to find a shooting player within Lewis and bring it out.

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I'm sure Lewis wants to add as much to his game as he can, and if he just does a little more in training on this aspect of his game he will gain more confidence when he is in a game. It is a pity that Jack Wilshere is not still doing his work at the Cherries, because Jack is the kind of central midfielder that Lewis can identify with and learn from. Now to see Lewis Cook and Jack Wilshere in a Bournemouth team would be a step up - any chance of that happening this summer?

Is Begovic getting enough cover from his defenders?

My mind isn't quite made up on Asmir Begovic. John Williams believes he has made a fantastic difference this season and has been one of the best buys Howe has made. He might be right in that a bit more confidence is given with Begovic between the sticks, but he has not found it much easier than Boruc did to keep the goals out. In fact, clean sheets are down.

Begovic is still having problems keeping clean sheets  

It leads me to ask, if Begovic is the better keeper is he not getting as good a protection as he should? While you might always hope that your keeper can get you out of trouble, he has to rely on his defenders to some extent to make important blocks and tackles. Begovic has done well in one-against-ones of late making a great save in the Crystal Palace match from Patrick can Aarnholt. But does this suggest that the cover is not always there when he needs it? I think so.

Asmir will be hard on himself when he sees playback of the first goal that Liverpool scored him up at Anfield, but he couldn't do much about the goals that Man Utd put away against him. As long as he still feels confident, Eddie Howe will pick him to do his job.

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It was at least good to see that Man Utd and Liverpool did not find away around the Bournemouth walls at free kicks. I would not be surprised if a bit of work was done on set-pieces following the Leicester away and Crystal Palace home matches. Bournemouth have enough problems as it is in general play without conceding free kicks in target range of Begovic's goal, and the Cherries did try and tackle Man Utd as high up the pitch which was an improvement on the way Mo Salah wove his way into the box. Hopefully, Begovic gets a bit of help in the remaining matches.

Can Eddie Howe reign longer than Wenger did?

I hate to think about the day when Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall are no longer managing AFCB. It was hard enough last time when they went to Burnley, and the next time I would be less likely to think they would ever need to return to the club where they have made their names. So when Arsene Wenger has lasted 22 years at Arsenal, before rather belatedly leaving, l wonder what would be a good length of time for Eddie to decide when it was time to move on?

Will we see Howe stick around to see a few
seasons with Steve Cook as a captain?

Eddie has always said that he wants the club to be established in the Premier League but I am not quite sure what that means to a club like AFCB. The club is about to enter its fourth season in the top flight and so-called established teams like Southampton, Stoke City and WBA may be leaving the top tier, so is three years enough to say AFCB are established? I was informed by TalkSport that AFCB are now established and who am I to argue, only if that is true would AFCB be closer to losing their management duo?

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I tend to prefer established to mean infrastructure as well as time in the top league and AFCB will need a couple of more years to get their stadium sorted and perhaps a few more top signings to cement their place as a regular fixture opposing the Arsenals of this division. Of course, AFCB could find themselves in a similar position to the relegated sides before a new stadium is erected and that could spell the end of Eddie's reign, although I would hope that his long record would give him the opportunity to turn it around if that happened.

We should perhaps console ourselves that Eddie and Jason have at least given us two spells in charge and just enjoy every season we get with them. They may not last a long as Wenger but they have been no less worshipped for what they have achieved and you know I'm going to say - long may that continue!

United closed the door on the Cherries

Eddie Howe seemed rather dejected that Man United had managed to find it fairly simple to block the way to goal when the Cherries tried their utmost to get back into the game having gone one-nil down. He had great admiration for Chris Smalling and Phil Jones who managed to master Callum Wilson's physical presence.

Eddie Howe only had words of acknowledgement 
and respect for Man Utd's two central defencders.

Man Utd's defenders also managed to keep the Cherries out by only picking up one yellow card whereas AFCB's discipline went a little with three bookings. The frustration did get to a few of Bournemouth's players as they were getting into shooting positions but not a lot was coming off when they needed that final ball. The spaces were just quickly closed by United's defenders and if AFCB learn anything from the game it should be to defend a little more like United did.

BBC Radio Solent' John Williams had another phrase for Man United's play "boring", although he did admit it was effective. While half of the attraction for people watching Bournemouth is that they like to entertain, there is part of the game that is aimed at destroying and breaking up good play and it is a side of the game that AFCB are still more novice at than some.

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What was impressive about United is that David De Gea was hardly needed. In the end he had to make two saves. But AFCB were not so far behind United in that respect with United only getting four shots on target. 

AFCB have found goals hard to come by this season. They now have a total of 41 goals this season which does not compare that favorably with 55 last season.

Did freshening up the midfield really work for AFCB?

Bournemouth made a change to the starting line up and the midfield change was perhaps more surprising in that Andrew Surman was brought back into the team. He has the most experience of AFCB's central midfielders and he had a reasonable game, but Eddie had clearly felt that he had to split Gosling and Lewis Cook up to have a better attempt at beating Man United.

Andrew Surman made it back into the starting line up,
 but even with his control AFCB struggled to get a hold of the game against Man Utd. 

Surman said he had been frustrated to be kept out of the team but understood that AFCB had been on a good run with Gosling and Lewis Cook. So to come in and play with Lewis must have seemed like a real boost to Surman. He has made it back into the team before Harry Arter and  with just three games to go, I'm most intrigued who will get the starts in central midfield in those games.

It has been a changeable area of the pitch for the Cherries and while Lewis Cook seems to have everyone's vote as the player who should be starting, there is now an open spot next to him and it may be one part of the team that Howe needs to look at in the summer. Some have suggested Aké could play in midfield, but I feel he is too valuable at the back for the Cherries. Dan Gosling has not done much wrong, but has played perhaps more games than he would have expected and Eddie may not have been particularly keen on dropping him, but felt that he had to change something with points slipping away.

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I'm not convinced of what AFCB's best centre midfield pairing is as we come to the end of the season, and it is possibly one of the reasons why AFCB have not been as confident this season. Arter and Surman were a solid basis and the team was used to playing with them, but when you dismantle a long-term partnership it was bound to take a while for things to settle down again, and while Howe had though Lewis Cook and Dan Gosling was the answer he could now be having second thoughts about that with recent results. 

I felt the Surman Cook combination did okay against Man United. It was better than the game up at Liverpool, but with Surman and Cook our midfield is not potent in goal power and from that aspect I don't think it really works.