Saturday, 6 February 2021

Birmingham are just as desperate as AFCB for a win

Birmingham City are sitting right above the Championship's relegation zone and maybe feeling they are in with a great chance in this game when look at how Bournemouth have been playing in their last few games. Aitor Karanka would love to get a win over Jonathan Woodgate, who he tutored while at Middlesbrough, and he'll know that a defeat could leave Birmingham in the bottom three. Bournemouth will know that if they can perform to somewhere near their best, this is a game they should win, but a new manager, new signings and a lack of confidence could make lead them to further turmoil.

Will we see a new and revitalised AFCB?

Birmingham have brought in a few new players in January. They picked up Rakeem Harper and Yan Valery on loan, while Keyendrah Symmonds and Sam Cosgrove have signed permanent deals with the Blues. Birmingham have been having trouble scoring goals. Jeremie Bela is top scorer with three, along with Scot Hogan, but Lucas Jutkiewicz could keep his place up front, while Jon Toral could play just in behind the main striker.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

A 0-0 draw against Wycombe Wanderers away in Birmingham's last match might seem like AFCB have nothing to fear. But Bournemouth will be doubting themselves with the run of results that they have had. You have to go back to 16 December to find Birmingham scoring more than one goal in a league match and even then they lost 3-2 to Cardiff City. Their last away win was against Middlesbrough on 16 January, but then you have to go back to 9 December when they got a great 1-2 win over Reading. Yet, if Bournemouth had to pick a side to play next, I think Birmingham would be pretty high up in their wish list as they have only won one of their last 10 games.

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Bournemouth themselves have a couple of injury concerns with Solanke a doubt and Stanislas, who has an ankle problem. It may mean that Shane Long is given a start and Brooks and Danjuma might take up the wing positions if Stanislas is struggling. It seems that Cameron Carter-Vickers was putting himself about in training and he must fancy his chances for replacing Chris Mepham who had a shocking moment last game to give Sheffield Wednesday their opening goal. Midfield could also see a change or two with Ben Pearson perhaps given a start after the flat performance of Wilshere last game when he was subbed at half-time.

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Everybody should start with a clean sheet with a new manager, but I am sure Woodgate will know Bournemouth's main players well enough to ask them for a reaction rather than make too many changes. Tindall couldn't make them perform, what can Woodgate do? We'll have a good idea after this game. He'll boost his chances of becoming permanent manager enormously if he can find what is missing in this Cherries side. Here's hoping, as it seems a long time ago when the Cherries last won a game.

Birmingham City Away Form
WLDWD

AFCB Home Form
WWDLL

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Terry, Vieira, Howe, Lampard - is Woodgate really top choice?

Possible AFCB line-up
AFCB Subs: Dennis, Rico, Mepham, Smith, Billing,
Wilshere, Riquelme, Surridge, Anthony 


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Friday, 5 February 2021

Terry, Vieira, Howe, Lampard - is Woodgate really top choice?

The last few days must have been like a whirlwind move for Jonathan Woodgate. At first, he is coming in to be a first-team coach at a new club and the next moment he is thrust into being the favourite to take over the manager's position and is named interim manager at AFCB. Last time Bournemouth's board didn't look much further than their own backroom staff, but could things be different this time?

Who can get more out of this squad of players?

Woodgate has a good CV as a player. He has played for England, Real Madrid, Leeds Utd and Spurs as well as Newcastle and Middlesbrough and a few others. Looking at his managerial career though, it's clear that he has only just had his first taste of management and was perhaps lucky to be in the right place to get the Middlesbrough job in June 2019. He had Roy Keane as an assistant manager and perhaps the good cop, bad cop, duo appealed to Middlesbrough with Woodgate a local lad. But it backfired within a year.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

It's true that Woodgate had to make a huge cull to his player list and many players were released or left on free transfers in July 2019. John Obi Mikel, Jordan Hugill, Steven Downing, Randolph, Flint, and Martin Braithwaite all left the club and were not replaced. Woodgate was sacked with eight games of the season to go as he failed to inspire the players who fired with relegation. At the time Boro were only above the relegation zone on goal difference. Middlesbrough ended up finishing 17th, but the team was supposed to be going for promotion.

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It was a heavy blow for Woodgate as it was his home club. He learned under Tony Pulis and wanted to change the way Middlesbrough played by getting them to play from the back, but Woodgate has admitted that they didn't have the players to do it. So does this make Woodgate a good fit for Bournemouth? I think he'll learn more about playing out from the back, but I don't see him as a good choice to be the first-team head coach or manager. He is not a leader yet and found the Championship hard going in his first managerial job. To add the pressure that Bournemouth have to win promotion is a step too far in my reckoning for Woodgate.

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Woodgate needs to learn the ropes. I hope he does well and wins games while he is the interim manager but he needs time and guidance and a senior figure to learn from. It's funny that Bournemouth legend Tony Pulis was the man to bring Woodgate on as a coach and Woodgate has ended up at Dean Court - it's probably no coincidence. But Bournemouth fans won't want to see the Cherries taking on a Pulis style again. It may be that Woodgate has only a very short stay at the club if Bournemouth do look elsewhere. Looking at Woodgate's record, the board has to ask themselves what has changed since Woodgate was the manager at Middlesbrough and is he full of the same kind of passion, enthusiasm and ideas as a young Eddie Howe was? if the answer is no, might the board still take the risk? They really need to find an experienced manager for this job who is good at getting teams promoted from the Championship. Of course, ironically Middlesbrough has one of those now in Neil Warnock. 

And for those who say bring back Eddie again, let him move on. Eddie and Jason may pair up again to prove to themselves that they can get another team to the Premier League - that is their unfinished business. The Burnley record is what sits uneasy with Howe.

But finding a new saviour for Bournemouth could land the board wondering if they take a chance on John Terry and Patrick Vieira. I think Vieira might be great manager potential, but it is more a popular media story than anything else. It would be a media frenzy as would Frank Lampard, and either choice would probably of little help to the players. I suppose we should be thinking how far AFCB have come to be linked with such playing greats as possible managers, but such a move would be a short-term gamble on big names that would only see AFCB as a stepping stone. I'd like to see Gary Monk or a similar type of manager come to Bournemouth. Monk taught so much to Edie Howe when he got started. Perhaps Woodgate could work under a manager like that.

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth had to make the change - but who is next?




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Thursday, 4 February 2021

Bournemouth had to make the change - but who is in next?

Jason Tindall's record probably doesn't sit too badly against some former AFCB managers who won't have had the chance to have managed in the Championship. But when the Chairman and owner told the fans before the season began that promotion was the goal, then Tndall had to fall on his sword with the promotion places slipping away and four defeats and one draw in the last five league matches.

Taking the manager's job is always a gamble
and it just didn't work out for Jason Tindall.

After 27 games, 11 wins and nine draws it is the seven defeats that have shot up in recent weeks that have seen the end of JT. The logic of sacking Jason now is probably not that great having just had a window and let him pick the players he wanted to come in. Arguably the decline could be seen at the end of December and Bournemouth should have acted then, but Jason's long history with the club probably gave him more time.

Now the club must look forward. It has been a tumultuous last eight months with Eddie Howe and Jason going along with many senior players. The club needs a new standard to get behind and an inspirational manager. I know that Johnathan Woodgate, as interim manager, is in the prime position to take the role, but I don't see that as lighting the excitement flame with the players and fans. It's the steady option that won't cost a fortune, so Woodgate is rightly favourite to move things on.
I'd like an expressive and progressive manager. Frank Lampard has been linked but his wage bill is going to be high and his aspirations are no doubt much higher than seeing AFCB return to the Premier League. He has good recent experience though with Derby in this league and I think he would inspire people at the club with fresh ideas, but he'd also bring the media circus with him as would John Terry.
There will be some who will hark back to Eddie Howe and another return but Bournemouth need a fresh face now and a real desire to win games. I hope board looks carefully at up-and-coming managers perhaps in the Championship or League One. Too often the club looks internally to make appointments and this is a chance to shale things up. I also think Slaven Bilic would ruffle a few people and get the players working hard, but the style of football might be less than desirable for the fans. Gary Monk could be a safe pair of hands who plays more attractive football, but like Tindall he might just be too nice a guy for a team that probably needs a few truthful words said to the players in their 'overly quiet' dressing room. It's a shame Chris Houghton joined Forest in the autumn, I think he is the kind of manager that would have worked well at Bournemouth.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

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Wednesday, 3 February 2021

90th minute Sheffield Wednesday winner heaps more misery on the Cherries

Match Report
AFCB 1 v 2 Sheffield Wednesday
3 February 2021

AFCB have lost their way - a managerial change coming soon?

Bournemouth are still finding it hard to put away opposition in the bottom half of the table. They found Sheffield Wednesday in sharpshooting mood and Begovic had to make a few saves before the mistake by Mepham let them in for their goal. Tindall was clearly not happy with the team and replaced three players at half-time. Wednesday continued to fashion chances but it was the quickness of Surridge that led to the penalty and Stanislas put away his ninth goal of the season from the spot. It looked like the Cherries might go on to win the game from there but a break in the last minute of normal time saw Jordan Rhodes head Sheffield Wednesday in front again. This defeat is going to see some soul searching. It will have drained the players and if they were low before the game, they will need something special to pick them up now. I'm afraid we may be saying goodbye to Jason Tindall very soon.


UPDATE: This morning Jason Tindall has indeed been sacked by the board at AFCB.

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Bournemouth gave a first start to Jack Wilshere since his new contract and Lloyd Kelly returned from injury and Junior Stanislas was also given a starting place. Ben Pearson was on the bench after signing for Bournemouth in the January window.

Match Description
The Cherries got an early warning of their need to defend their box well in the first few minutes as Elias Kachunga found himself clear in the box with only Begovic to beat. Luckily the Sheffield Wednesday player slipped and hit his shot at Begovic.

Lewis Cook was looking most likely to create something with Solanke trying to get past the last man, but Soanke didn't time his run well enough to be onside.

Bournemouth's loss of possession saw Sheffield Wednesday counter and Barry Bannan's shot from outside the box brings out the best in Begovic with a superb save to keep the game goalless. Calum Patterson then blazed wide following the corner.

The Cherries finally won a corner after 23 minutes. Kelly got in behind and his pul back to Danjuma saw a deflected shot go for a corner.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

Adam Reach then went close with a shot from distance that Begovic saves. Stacey plays a good pass to Brooks who cuts inside but he's fired just wide.

A mistake at the back and Callum Paterson has scored for Sheffield Wednesday. Mepham passed it straight to the Sheffield Wednesday player instead of finding Begovic. A costly slip.

Brooks fires wide again, before the half closes with Bournemouth trailing 0-1.

Second half
Lerma, Smith and Surridge replace Wilshere, Stacey and Solanke. Kelly and Danjuma link well Before Brooks fires over at the near post.

Paterson them comes off for Jordan Rhodes to come on. Sheffield Wednesday force another corner. and Tom Lees heads wide.  Rhodes heads on to matt Penny, but the shot is high and wide.

Bournemouth force a couple of corners, but nothing is happening for them in front of goal. Adam Smith plays a ball through to Surridge and he goes down - penalty! Stanislas makes it 1-1 on 66 minutes.

Josh Windass replaces Kachunga. Lewis Cook has a shot saved. Lerma heads wide after a cross from Danjuma. Mepham plays a long ball and Brooks has a shot saved. It's all Bournemouth now.

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Dunkley replaces Urhoghide, Harris is on for Palmer and Luongo comes on for Pelupessy on 79 minutes. Dunkley brings down Surridge when he was through, but it's only a yellow card. Stanislas goes close with a 30 yard Drive that Westwood saves.

Riquelme is on for Stanislas. Kadeem Harris gets down the wing and Spurs in a cross to the far post where Rhodes has made it 1-2 t the visitors on 90 minutes. Lerma has a chance but it's saved by Westwood for a corner.

Summary
Another home defeat for the Cherries and to the second bottom team. Wednesday have done the double over Tindall and with two different managers. This defeat will hurt more than the first one and while Bournemouth made changes they still made mistakes and got punished. I suppose the team is lucky they haven't got a crowd watching them in the stadium. They just can't put a performance together and you have to ask why not by now? Tindall has to come up with some answers if he is given the chance to. It's just not going to happen if the team continues to drop points like this. Losing a game in the 90th minute make sit all the more harder to swallow. We may be looking for a new manager this week as the pre-season target of promotion is looking more distant than ever.


AFCB Subs: Dennis, Smith, Rico, Carter-Vickers,
Lerma, Pearson, Billing, Riquelme, Surridge.

Sheffield Wednesday: 1 Westwood, 2 Palmer (Harris 79), 6 Hutchinson, 15 Lees,
19 Urhoghide (Dunkley 79), 14 Penney, 10 Bannan, 8 Pelupessy (Luongo 79), 11Reach, 5 Paterson (Rhodes 55), 45 Kachunga, (Josh Windas 67)

Sheffield Wednesday Subs: 7 K Harris, 13 Börner, 16 Green, 17 Dele-Bashiru, 18 Windass, 20 Rhodes, 21 Luongo, 23 Dunkley, 28 Wildsmith

UPDATE: This morning Jason Tindall has indeed been sacked by the board at AFCB.
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Tuesday, 2 February 2021

Sheffield Wednesday are in the bottom three but it's Bournemouth's form that is dire

Bournemouth will need to find away to get back to winning games. It has been a shocking run of results in January that has put Bournemouth on the verge of falling out of the play-off places having been in an automatic promotion place in December. A change of face and voice may be a help on the training pitches as Graeme Jones' position has been taken up by Jonathan Woodgate.

AFCB desperately need a win - will it come tonight?

Sheffield Wednesday are just the sort of team likely to be a problem for the Cherries. They have already beaten Tindall's team at Hillsbrough back in November 1-0 and the odds of them doing the double should not be that large. The Owls have won three of their last five games losing just one, but their points have come from home matches. On the road they are suffering more than Bournemouth with one point from their last five games.

Bournemouth in comparison have hit rock-bottom in their form. Even at home they have just picked up one point from their last two games. The goals have also been in short supply with just two goals in their last four league matches. Tindall can't afford to be afraid of making changes now. Bournemouth have been floundering. He has to pick a side that is going to work hard and generate far more chances than of late.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

It is likely that Ben Pearson will get a debut at some point during the game against Sheffield Wednesday, but Jack Wilshere may be thrown straight in at the start. I'd like to see him paired with Lewis Cook but Tindall may prefer a bit more height in the team, so Lerma will likely be kept in the side. I'm expecting Junior Stanislas to start having scored last game. It's perhaps time for David Brooks to rest for a game. Bournemouth need players that are hungry for a win. I still feel Surridge has been underused and yet I expect it will be just Solanke upfront with two wingers in support. Well, that was my feeling until last night when Shane Long was signed from Southampton on loan.

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What Tindall does at the back is also up for grabs now. I have a feeling that things will stay the same though as the back four in the last game. Steve Cook seems undroppable, but with Mepham and Carter-Vickers available, it is still likely to be Mepham that gets the nod to join the captain. I'd like to see Jack Stacey also start again on the right ahead of Adam Smith. On the left side it has to be Rico and Bournemouth need him to find his crossing form that was once so good.

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Bournemouth's Home Form
LWWDL

Sheffield Wednesday's Away Form
LLLDL

Possible AFCB lineup

AFCB Subs: Dennis, Smith, Carter-Vickers, Pearson,
Brooks, Riquelme, Billing, Surridge, Long

In other news, Nnamdi Ofoborh has joined Wycome Wanderers on loan for teh rest of the season. Jack Simpson has joined Rangers on a permanent deal, Josh King has completed his long goodbye by joining Everton for £5m and Shane Long has joined Bournemouth on loan until the summer from Southampton.

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Monday, 1 February 2021

Gosling leaves for rivals Watford

The signing of Ben Pearson has given Bournemouth's central midfield players the chance to see if they can extricate a way out for the club and Dan Gosling surely felt he was out of favour in recent weeks and has fled the nest. Looking at Bournemouth current plight and the option to play for Watford, who are chasing promotion hard, you can see it being a decent decision for Gosling to try and get back to Premier League football.

Gosling departs for Watford.

Dan Gosling has been a big hero at Dean Court. He was part of the Cherries' promotion-winning team in 2014-15 and had that Premier League experience to help push the Cherries on at that time. I always felt Dan was a solid performer and he always had a goal or two up his sleeve which has been rare for Bournemouth midfielders.

Dan has clearly felt that he was being almost pushed out and if he is not getting games it is only right that he seeks football elsewhere. Going to Watford though will annoy some people, as Watford are likely to use Gosling well and get the best out of him. We may see that Gosling is an even better player than we thought he was, as he has probably been needing a new challenge to get the best from him.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

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Whether Ben Pearson will be as popular remains to be seen. I'd probably rather seen Philip Billing leave the club than Gosling, but there is still time for other deals to be done. Hats off to Watford though. They have picked up a hard-working midfielder who has been pretty reliable over the years and while Tindall didn't use him much, we know what he did for the club in the Eddie Howe era. He'll be remembered as one of the greats for Bournemouth in the Premier League, especially with those goals against Chelsea and his sheer joy whenever he did get on the score sheet for AFCB.

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In other news, it's a good time to tell you that Cherry Chimes will sign off from posting on 13 February 2021, eight years since the blog was started. 

Chimes Newsletter - out today!
Cherry Chimes' January Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. The newsletter has a special story - It's now or never for AFCB to push for the play-offs

To sign up for the newsletter just complete the form below - like all good things it's free!




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Sunday, 31 January 2021

Would Bournemouth be doing Ritchie a favour to resign him?

It has been suggested for quite a while that Matt Ritchie wants to return to the south coast. His love affair with the Northeast looks over with his time spent mostly on the bench. He may have liked being up north when he was playing a big role in Scotland's team, but has not been selected in recent squads. Whether he still intends to have a punt at making the Euro Championships later this summer may depend on him getting a move and playing regular games, so I can see his interest in Bournemouth.

Matt Ritchie could be back at Dean Court today.

I don't think playing for Scotland is his overriding concern. Matt just loves playing football and if he isn't getting games at Newcastle why wouldn't he want to return to a club he knows inside out and who need good characters to help them get back in the promotion race? Dropping down to the Championship would mean a lot of games and Matt has bundles of energy so it looks a good fit.

Bournemouth may have expected David Brooks to have moved or to have raised his game further than he has been able to this season. It may not hurt him to have some real competition for his place in the team and with Ritchie's free kick accuracy, it is never bad to have another deadball specialist in the squad. The question I have is, wouldn't Bournemouth benefit from bringing in more players that haven't been to the Premier League and who are hungry to get there like Ben Pearson.

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The Disrupted Season (2019-20) completes the story of Eddie Howe's reign at AFC Bournemouth 
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order

The relationship Ritchie had with the fans was as good as many players while he was at Dean Court, it was just the surprise of his desire to head up north that shocked people at the time. But our fans know that he played a major part in getting the team promoted to the Premier League and he'll always be owed a great debt for that. So, in some ways, I am open to a return if that is what he wants and Bournemouth can benefit. Tindall, like Howe, seems to love surrounding himself with AFCB friends and I'll not be surprised if Ritchie is seen around Dean Court in the next few hours.

I know some will grumble if Ritchie does return. Looking at the team at the moment, it needs quality because the price-tags of the current squad don't bear up to how they are performing. We know you get quality deliveries with Ritchie and it might be something that helps boost Solanke's service in front of goal. So Bournemouth might be just as much in need of an eager Ritchie, as Ritchie's own desire to open another chapter of his Bournemouth career.



Chimes Newsletter - out tomorrow!
Cherry Chimes' January Newsletter brings you the best stories on the blog and the thoughts behind them from last month. The newsletter has a special story - It's now or never for AFCB to push for the play-offs

To sign up for the newsletter just complete the form below - like all good things it's free!




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