Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Is it good for players to interact directly on Twitter with fans?

The recent Q&A by Steve Cook and a Newcastle United fan caused quite a stir. The Newcastle fan was perhaps being a bit gullible in opening himself up for the ultimate comeback when he said who are you to Steve Cook? The goal that Steve Scored against Newcastle United in the final minutes of the game in November 2017, at St James' Park is perhaps one of the biggest moments of Steve Cook's career and the Newcastle fan walked right into it.
Steve Cook reaches out to fans, but gets attacked as a nobody.
I like the fact that players are willing to answer questions from fans. Steve probably expected more questions from Bournemouth fans, but when you get an opportunity to rub someone's face in it who is clearly being disrespectful should players hold back? I don't see why if it is done in a cheeky manner and Steve Cook certainly let his past actions be his words.
While the fan has no comeback to playing for his team, it is perhaps hard for the fan to be put in his place so firmly, but the reply was initiated by the Newcastle fan and they might think twice before firing off at an opposition player next time. If any Newcastle Utd fans are reading this at least you can say your club made a profit of £27.5m last year, according to Shields Gazette. The only problem is that most of that will go to Mike Ashley!

Steve Cook has been very kind in allowing fans to send in questions and sparing his time to reply. It is sometimes hard to be a professional football player as everyone has a score to settle it seems with footballers, and even when you want to be genuine with fans, it's not always easy and can back fire.

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 I sent off a question myself to Steve to see if he replies and will let you know if he does reply to my question which was how worried he might be for AFCB this season if we do play to a finish and if confidence is still high?
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Monday, 6 April 2020

Are we anywhere knowing how good Lloyd Kelly is yet?

While Lloyd Kelly joined AFB in the summer of 2019 from Bristol City it seems remarkable that he hasn't yet made a Premier League debut. His position of course is under great competition with Diego Rico, Adam Smith Charlie Daniels and Nathan Aké having filled the position the most this season, but Kelly's appearances have been reduced to the Carabao Cup and U21 games.
Lloyd Kelly still hasn't made a big impact at AFCB.
It's not the start that Kelly would have wanted to his Bournemouth career. He did also get a bit of a run out in the pre-season friendlies but he has hardly put a foot on the pitch and the fans are nowhere nearer knowing if Kelly is going to be a great player for AFCB or not.

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The risk of joining a new club is always a test in the way of perhaps being a step up, but Kelly hasn't had time to assimilate to the Premier League, and while he would have had plenty of opportunity to impress with Daniels being out for so long, he just hasn't been able to recover quickly from injury. As a young player that might be considered a concern, but Bournemouth's players have traditionally been slow to recover and the intensity of the Premier League.
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Going forward, Lloyd won't have it his own way with Charlie Daniels expected to return next season and plenty of other choices ahead of Kelly. For Kelly to breakthrough he is going to have to hope that Bournemouth have a good run in the cups, and he himself is going to have to put in some strong performances while waiting for his chance. Eddie Howe has never been a manager to rush players into the first team and he won't push Kelly to get him up to speed quicker than he needs to get there, but the mental state of Kelly will be intriguing to see in the next few months/season, if he doesn't get the breakthrough having been at the club for his second year. Kelly has everything to play for, but he will only see even higher pressure on his performances as he does get back to playing levels of fitness.
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 Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Steve Cook will steer Bournemouth forward
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Sunday, 5 April 2020

Steve Cook will steer Bournemouth forward

The leadership of Steve Cook hasn't been tested more than in this current season. While he has battled with his own injury problems, it has been harder than ever for him to keep Bournemouth going in the right direction from the sidelines. When he has played, things haven't always gone well, like at Norwich, but Steve Cook is the best man to galvanise the Cherries in probably the hardest part of their recent history.
Steve Cook is AFCB's big leader.
Keeping Steve Cook on the pitch has been one of Eddie Howe's major tasks. It is not that  Chris Mepham Jack Simpson or Simon Francis can't do a job there, but Steve Cook has become Mr Bournemouth. Cook's partnership with Tommy Elphick put him very much in the spotlight at Dean Court and he has grown into being the main man.
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His play has developed and he probably makes more clearances than any other defender these days, but what really endears him to the home crowd is when he goes forward and gets his goal. He always celebrates with such gusto and you know it means everything to him. But this season Cookie has only netted once, against Wolves, at Dean Court in November in a 1-2 defeat. Getting the team to up its game has been a challenge.

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What we do know is that no club has a more dedicated leader that Steve Cook. He may not have the international recognition of others, but he is driven to see success at Bournemouth and while he remains able to play Bournemouth have always got a chance of doing well.

 Previous Post on Cherry Chimes - What's Lerma's next move
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Saturday, 4 April 2020

What's Lerma's next move?

AFCB's biggest asset may have to think what his next move will be before the start of next season. If the Cherries were to fall down a division, it is hard to see how Jefferson Lerma would be content at playing his football in the Championship on a vastly reduced wage. His best hope will be that the Cherries keep their Premier League status.
How much does Lerma want to stay in England?
The status quo would suit AFCB and Lerma. The Colombian has only tasted the Premier League with Bournemouth and while there are not many Colombian's looking to play their football in England, Lerma has been a big focus for Colombian fans to tune into the Premier League. Having arrived from Levante in Spain, Lerma has now played 53 Premier league games for AFCB and yet it is hard to know how much he will want to see his time extended in Europe's top league, as we like to think of it.

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A move back to Spain can't be ruled out, although he has been away now for two seasons. The Spanish clubs would have the capital to finance such a deal, and Bournemouth would certainly be a selling club if they did go down. We got a taste of how much Lerma likes Bournemouth life though when he scored his powerful header against Chelsea in the recent 2-2 draw. Scoring for Bournemouth is no doubt one of his dreams come true.
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How many other dreams has Lerma got though? If he wants European football he is unlikely to see that at Bournemouth. He has the talent but he is a star player in this team. It remains a great coup that Bournemouth have acquired his abilities, but they could be taken away very quickly now. Bournemouth without Jefferson Lerma would look a very modest team. If Eddie Howe needs to protect anyone in the next few months it's Jefferson Lerma. Keeping him is something all the players need to feel united about.

 Previous Post on Cherry Chimes - King probably has a big decision where to play next season
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Friday, 3 April 2020

King probably has a big decision where to play next season

The January move by Manchester United for Josh King took everyone by surprise. King is of course a Norwegian international striker and he has shown he can score more goals than he does at Bournemouth in this respect. While Man Utd may be his dream move, he'll be aware that the chance to join them again may have gone, but it will have made others aware that he is a striker with high pedigree that could now be lured away from the Cherries.
Josh King could well seek a move before next season.
Josh King has been one of Eddie Howe's greatest successes. Eddie would be reluctant to part company as would many fans, but it may be that ahead of next season King sees his best chance of getting a big move. While Spurs look to rebuild and Arsenal could also be replacing strikers, there could well be interest for King from London clubs.
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What is in King's best interest? He is getting to the point in his career when he might be expecting to have a crack at European football, and if he were to get the chance to move to a club in that position he may be tempted to move on. How much could he learn under Howe and could a different voice take his game on further?

 It could be that Eddie Howe's most difficult challenge is to put the Josh King package back in the box now that the ribbons were potentially cut last January. Much of the way Bournemouth play is to King's strengths. He is their go to man on the break and he takes the game to the opposition so well when in top flight. There would have to be some very good recruitment to replace King. Man Utd may be more struck on James Maddison for now, but now that King's eyes have been opened to the possibility of a move, it might be harder for Bournemouth to keep hold their royalty for next season.
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Thursday, 2 April 2020

Eddie Howe's pay-cut a sign of things to come for players

It was very honourable of Eddie Howe, Richard Hughes, Neill Blake and Jason Tindall had all taken voluntary pay-cuts to help balance the books for AFCB. Many company's will have big wage earners that simply want to keep their high salaries and won't be as charitable as Howe who is the first Premier League manager to make such a sacrifice, says SkySports.
Eddie Howe takes a pay-cut, will players on eve bigger salaries do likewise?
The uncertain future of people at the club is only going to increase in the weeks to come and I hope the players can take some of the pressure off of the club by making similar decisions. But, of course, it is easy for us to say such things when we are not used to the kind of salaries that these top professionals are on. Whether players do pick up the same stance or ignore it may not be fatal for a club like AFC Bournemouth, but for even smaller clubs it could well be the last straw with COVID-19 preventing all income, apart from what the government is willing to provide as a safety net through its Furloughed scheme.
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It was quite shocking to see AFCB have to make such an official statement. While the club tries to protect its staff and sets a great example to others in the footballing well, it is good to remember that this affects everyone and any small amount of help we can make for others is a fantastic thought. Putting others before ourselves is something that might not come naturally, but there will be those far worse off. It is great to see Eddie Howe and others see very early on that they are in privileged positions and an help others at this time.
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In many ways it is not surprising as we know that the people at AFCB love the club and are tightly knit. Being the first club in England to make such a move is perhaps typical of the way AFCB is lead with its heart and we all want to see the club in good health as it goes forward.
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Wednesday, 1 April 2020

Players won't be in the shape or the mood to play football

AFC Bournemouth still have a directive for players to return to the club for training on 6 April. It seems pretty improbable that that suggestion wont be abandoned in the next few days. Players like David Brooks and Diego Rico have spoken out to the Bournemouth Echo about their stories and in Rico's case it seems that his hardest problem could just be getting a flight back to the UK from Spain.
David Brooks just wants the club to stay up.
For David Brooks it was always going to be a bit of an uphill battle to be fit for games in April, but the whole squad has similarly not been able to train, and it is hard to see how any player could be match fit for the end of April. In Scotland it is starting to dawn on clubs that they need to pack things up now to protect the TV rights for the 2020-21 season. I can only assume similar thoughts will have to be taken on board in England soon.

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The players have also mentally gone through as difficult a time as the rest of us. This is not normal living and being confined to your house is already something that some of us deal better with than others. A young football player is energetic and full of inquisitive thoughts, and being cooped in a confined space is hardly conducive to being in a great mindset for going to play football at the highest level, even if you live in a footballer's mansion.

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I liked the honesty though of David Brooks when asked about whether he would rather play out the season or stay up by seeing the league made null and void. Replying to the Bournemouth Echo he said, "the satisfaction levels would be there to do it on the pitch," but he wasn't against "just staying up". He's right of course, the fans want to stay up just like the players, and if it comes by way of a defaulted season we'd take it, because it gives the club a whole season to do better than last time.


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