AFCB need to stay a forward thinking club

It still gives me a terrific buzz just looking back at some of the videos and pictures of AFCB's fantastic run in and deep down there is something inside that says this is going to be the start of something really good. The players look very hungry to achieve more and I can imagine that when the first goal goes in for the Cherries in the Premier League, the TV cameras will be red hot with the celebratory scenes. But I know that the success has come because The Cherries have been a forward thinking club and it will have to stay that way to do well at the next level.

While there is a summer to get through before AFCB can kick that first ball in the Premier League there will be a lot of work going  into the job of trying to keep the momentum going. The signings that the club make will go a long way in building the excitement along with the pre-season games capturing an even greater buzz of expectation as we get nearer to 8th August. There will not be too long to reflect on what has been achieved. It has been amazing and we have to be thrilled for what the players have achieved, but it is important that they don't feel overawed by the task ahead and feel ready to beat the teams at the next level. It is going to be strange seeing those fixtures next Wednesday but AFCB has to be ready for the challenge.

A good team spirit and hard work has taken the Cherries a long way.
Will the additions of Atsu, King and Federici add much improvement to the team? 

Knowing that Eddie Howe is there to help them push on even further is all that I believe the players will need to excel in the Premier League. You can tell that by the way that Simon Francis recently spoke about Eddie and what he means to them all. Steve Cook was just as enthusiastic for his manager and I hope that Eddie can achieve all he wants to by staying at AFCB for many seasons yet.

Next season will be all about establishing the club at this new level. After that it won't be any easier if AFCB survive their first Premier League season as other clubs will be looking at what progress has been made at Dean Court and looking to see if they can attract any players or even Eddie and Jason to a new challenge. I think a lot will depend on what Maxim Demin wants to do with regards to building the club and sorting out the best way of making the stadium right for the Premier League. If AFCB can provide the kind of forward momentum that make it a centre of excellence for football then we have seen with some other clubs that you can grow in the Premier League even if you are a new member to the group.

Finally, good luck to both Shaun MacDonald in Wales Euro qualifier against Belgium and Josh King who is in the squad for Norway v Azerbaijan.

What should AFCB's ambitions be in the Premier League?

It is a priority for AFCB to stay up in its first season in the Premier League, but what should the club be aiming for above that? We have seen how difficult it is for new clubs to come in and really take it to the biggest clubs in the league, but would 17th place in the Premier League be a much better achievement than winning promotion to this league in the first place?

Is there a carefully planned strategy for next season?

When you consider that finishing one place above the relegation places would mean AFCB would only need to beat the equivalent of two teams that have come up and one other such progress might seem small, especially if it also meant a budget spend well in excess of previous seasons. I am not for one moment expecting Norwich and Watford to be two of the teams that finish in the bottom three next season either, as I believe all three promoted sides will cause problems for other teams next season. It will be important for AFCB's players to respect the opposition but not buckle just because it is Man Utd or Chelsea in front of them on the pitch. Just like when AFCB got to the Championship they have earned the right to be there.

Some fans will expect Bournemouth to do the impossible even in their first season at this level and that kind of support could have a positive effect on the team. I am more worried about AFCB fans who give the team no hope and start saying as much if the team gets off to a bad start. Everyone needs to pull together. I am not saying that AFCB could do as well as teams like Southampton, but look at what the Saints have achieved in just a few years - they are now in the Europa League! Nobody expected that at the start of last season with a group of new players and a new manager. Organise a side well though, add belief and not a small amount of quality and not to mention a huge amount of transfer cash, and the reward Southampton received will surely have delighted their fans.

AFCB are going to aim to do something similar in a few seasons time, but while the Cherries have not got the budget or experience of sides like Southampton it doesn't mean they can beat such sides in the course of a season. There will be good days and bad ones for every team at this level and I hope Eddie Howe sets his sights far higher than on attempting to finish 17th next season.

In the meantime, I expect Eddie Howe has already been studying the release list from Premier League clubs this summer. Can you spot any players that are worth picking up?

Will shortened Premier League parachute payments hit hard?

No club wants to be relegated from the Premier League and this week we heard news that there is an even bigger reason for teams to keep away from the dreaded bottom three, as the Guardian revealed that the period for payments being made for relegated clubs will be shortened from next season. While it is always a source of annoyance for Championship clubs to have to compete against fallen Premier League clubs with their extra cash to help them restructure in the lower league, it has now been decided that from the 2016-17 season, when the new TV deal comes in, relegated Premier sides who have just come up in 2014-15 will will miss out on a year of payments if they go straight back down.

It will be a steep fall for the clubs that slip out of the
Premier League in 2015-16. Fingers crossed it won't be AFCB among them.

This could have big implications for how money is spent on transfers this season for AFCB, Norwich and Watford. We have not seen any big transfer fees paid out from the Cherries yet and while the wages are hopefully also being kept a close eye on we might not see the new Premier League clubs splashing the cash in a big way to compete with the existing Premier League teams. Hull, QPR and Burnley will still receive £64 million each split over the next four years - £24m, £19.3, £9.6m and £9.6m.

In the 2016-17 season those parachute payments are expected to rise though from what is currently being offered so will teams that get relegated be worse off? I think it will just encourage them to be more careful with what they payout in terms of wages and transfer fees and with what they pay in the Championship. Shorter contracts might also be signed to allow restructuring of wages when clubs are relegated. I wonder though should some funds also come off the top clubs as well? I can understand the need to reward successful teams but is it also another way of stopping smaller sides from climbing the ladder and upsetting the status quo of the top clubs that continue to get richer? I'm all for distributing more of the Premier League revenue but this should this not be evenly spread across all 20 clubs?

It does make me think that perhaps the leading clubs have more reason to be happy with this agreement than those that have recently joined the Premier League. There is already more than one tier within the top league and this may just make it even harder for yo-yo clubs to try and make the transition to a club that manages to stay year after year in the Premier League.

Finally, Crystal Palace have announced that their U21 side will play AFCB's Development Squad on Tuesday 4 August - time and venue to be confirmed.

Dwight Gayle: a price too high for the Cherries?

It is good to hear that the Cherries are being linked with exciting Premier League young talent. Among those in the shop window at the moment is Dwight Gayle who can play as a striker or out wide. His record at Palace has been rejuvenated since Alan Pardew has been back at the club and there are reports that AFCB might even have made a £6m bid for the player. If the Cherries have made such an offer it will have been the highest in the club's history and while it would demonstrate that AFCB are not just chasing players that once graced the Premier League but are past their best, it is important that the club does not financially cripple itself before it's Premier League journey has begun.

AFCB also want players who are keen to come to Dean Court and have a willingness to work hard and do well without ripping the wage structure apart. The two challenges of big transfer fees and affordable wages have clearly made the summer transfers more hazardous than what would be ideal, but AFCB are playing with the big boys now and compromise tends to favour those that are in the driving seat over deals. In this case it seems that Dwight might be wanted by other clubs as well and Palace are keen to drive the price upwards towards £10 million if recent reports are correct, perhaps in retaliation for Allan Pardew's enquiry for Callum Wilson being rebuffed.

Given that the Cherries have already signed Josh King and Christian Atsu, Eddie Howe may feel he has time to look elsewhere for another forward if Gayle is too much. Eddie seems to like dual-purpose strikers that can also switch to be wingers though and Gayle fitted that role well. AFCB have been exceedingly good at landing the right kind of players to improve the squad although getting it wrong now is going to be more costly. It might be time to pull out of this one and not get burned, but we have seen AFCB continue to up bids when they are really keen on a player they want. Somehow I don't expect Dwight Gayle to be at Palace at the end of this season, but he might at a club that has a bigger budget than the Cherries are willing to spend on him with Newcastle Utd said to be waiting in the wings.

One player who is making a move this summer is former Cherry Danny Ings and I have a look at his Anfield move on Premier Talk.

Getting to see the Cherries often may be trickier this summer

The way the ground improvements have to be carried out before the start of the season have really played havoc with the pre-season schedule for AFCB this summer. While there is a home fixture against Cardiff City and not to far to travel to get to Salisbury, and the newly announced Exeter City and Yeovil Town games, the Premier League status of the team now has certainly pulled out some big fixtures away in the USA, France and Germany.

AFCB will be on the road a lot this summer.

It is important that the team does get at least one game to play at home before the start of the season as any time on the home pitch will be added experience for the players with the new surface and floodlights. I do imagine that the club will probably provide an internet link perhaps through YouTube like they did last summer for the FC Copenhagen game, and that should give us all a pretty good idea of how Eddie Howe is integrating the new players into the team.

The lucky few will no doubt find the cash to travel around the globe to follow the Cherries, and while AFCB are abroad I'll hope that they pick up a few new supporters in the places they visit. I know from statistics on Cherry Chimes that the club has a good following in the USA and in Germany and it can only help to grow the supporter base even if they are further away than the home fans. I know how special exiles feel when they can get to make a trip to see AFCB play at Dean Court and one day some of those new fans will hopefully be able to make a trip like that.

In the meantime I am also expecting there to be a few local fixtures for the Development Squad which continues to improve and some of the players could well find themselves playing a reasonable amount of football perhaps on loan. 

Arter's debut for Ireland lifts dull international friendly

We had to wait 62 minutes before Harry Arter got the signal that all Bournemouth fans wanted to see from Martin O'Neil to enter the fray for Republic of Ireland v England at the Aviva Stadium. Glenn Whelan of Stoke City was withdrawn to make space for Harry in what looked very much like a summer training exercise rather than a full blooded international. All I wanted to see was if Harry would get a chance to swing that majestic left foot on goal.

Ireland are perhaps not the team with an abundance of creative ability and while they posed some problems for England it was a bit of a dull affair in the Dublin sunshine, as end of season friendlies often are. Arter's job was to try and find Shane Long and Jonathan Walters. Harry certainly caught the eye on 73 minutes when he plundered the ball off of Ross Barkley and let fly with his left foot. The shot was only a couple of meters wide. Harry then upset Irish fans by misplacing a pass in the box that could have set Walters in.

Arter get's his first international under his belt.

Still Harry was making things happen as he had all season for AFCB. Trying to get the ball up and near England's box was the difficulty though. Possession had swung in England's favour after numerous second half substitutions. Arter's job had turned into more of a marshaling job in front of the back four. As a whole though, the contest had been fairly even with little work for either keeper.

If O'Neil wants to add some excitement to his team he should start to pick Harry Arter more often as the Irish only managed eight attempts at goal in the 90 minutes, and one of those shots was one of Harry's when Ireland had started to do more defending. Ireland were solid enough against England and they'll need that when they take on Scotland next weekend. Whether Arter has done enough to get a start for that game is perhaps doubtful with a few of Ireland's players coming back to full fitness, but he did not look out of place. The game ended 0-0 and I guess you could have predicted that I suspect after the first 10 minutes of this game.

Arter deserves his chance to show his class

Lining up against England will surely be the biggest game in Harry Arter's career so far. While it is a friendly Harry will have a great opportunity to show that he is as good if not better than some of England's World Cup players and I expect him to be like a terrier around the park if he does get the nod to play some part in this game.

Harry has worked hard to get his chance. I hope he gets to play today.

For Harry it will be a chance to see if he can make his place more permanent on the Republic of Ireland team. He has plenty of competition for his place and while being involved in the squad call up last time he really will want to get on the pitch. Arter will have to try and displace seasoned internationals like Everton's James McCarthy, Robbie Brady, Aiden McGeady, James McClean and Glenn Whelan of Stoke, but Harry always gives his all and on enthusiasm alone it will be hard for Martin O'Neil to ignore him.

Poland's last outing was a 1-1 draw with Poland away from home. They needed real steel to get that result and they will show great determination against England. Arter had to watch from the sidelines in that game, but this must be a good chance to see how he could go against the kind of players he will come up against next season.

With Matt Ritchie also demonstrating how well he can do at international level, it will be on Arter's mind to impress and if ever there was a game when his character could be tested not to get himself booked then this is surely it. Best of luck Harry - and yes I'm an England supporter!