20 Previews in Twenty(ish) Days: AFC Bournemouth
Stadium: Dean Court (capacity: 11,700)
Manager: Eddie Howe (4th season)
Nickname: The Cherries
2014-15 Record: 90 points (26-12-8), 1st place in the SkyBet Championship (promoted)
For a club that’s spent the majority of its playing history in the English 3rd Tier and only six years ago was playing in the 4th tier League Two, you could forgive Bournemouth supporters if they are pinching themselves right now.
This coming season will be the club’s first ever in the English Premier League and first in the top flight in any form (the Premier League formed in 1992) since the club’s formation in 1899. So it’s been quite the whirlwind for the Cherries needless to say
They earned promotion to the SkyBet Championship by finishing 2nd in League One in 2012-13 and then last year in their 2nd season in the Championship winning the league outright.
It was one of the most parity-filled Championship seasons in recent memory and Bournemouth managed to win the league by a slim 1-point margin. They also led the league with 98 team goals scored and had the 2nd fewest goals allowed, only surrendering 45 goals.
There is no man in the Premier League and maybe even in the entirety of England currently who has meant more to their club as a player and manager than Eddie Howe has to Bournemouth. Howe came up through the Bournemouth youth system and made 254 appearances as a defender for the Cherries’ senior team from 1994-02 and 2004-07.
After retiring due to injuries and coaching the Cherries’ reserves, Howe was thrust into the Manager’s role with at the end of 2008 with the club deep in the League Two relegation zone and Howe led the club to survival and promotion to League One in 2009-10.
In early 2011 Howe left and took over at Championship side Burnley, but left after two seasons in October 2012 guiding the club to 8th and 13th place finishes in his two seasons at Turf Moor. From there Howe has led the Cherries to unthinkable heights and cemented his place as a club legend.
Currently the club has by far the smallest stadium, although Chairman Jeff Mostyn has talked about expanding the stands at Dean Court (currently known as: Vitality Stadium) or building a new stadium entirely.
To me there’s always a charm to watching footballing heavyweights like Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and the like play away from their giant stadia in a place like Dean Court.
New Faces: Christian Atsu- right winger/attacking midfielder (Chelsea- LOAN), Filippo Costa- left back (Chievo Verona- LOAN), Artur Boruc- goalkeeper (Southampton), Adam Federici- goalkeeper (Reading), Sylvain Distin- centre back (Everton), Tyrone Mings- left back/centre back (Ipswich Town), Joshua King- left winger/striker (Blackburn Rovers)
Like most teams entering their first year in the Premier League in a long time (or ever) Bournemouth broke the club record for a transfer when they paid £8 million for Ipswich Town left back Tyrone Mings. It was a great return on their investment for Ipswich Town, who bought Mings in 2012 for £10,000 from 7th tier side Chippenham Town. The 22 year old was rumored to be the target of a bid by Crystal Palace and interest from bigger sides like Arsenal and Chelsea, where Mings’ father is a scout.
Artur Boruc spent all of last season on loan at Bournemouth after he lost his position as first choice goalkeeper at Southampton. The Polish international, who has been nicknamed “The Holy Goalie” for his devout Roman Catholicism, impressed with 16 clean sheets in 37 appearances. He moved to the Cherries permanently after being released by Southampton during this offseason.
There will be some competition for who will be the first choice goalkeeper, as the club also brought in Adam Federici who had been with Reading since 2004. Last year Federici started all of Reading’s matches in the FA Cup where the Royals had an impressive run and lost in the semi-finals to Arsenal.
Just looking at the Cherries’ acquisition this offseason, they have gone with a good mixture of experience and youth. They acquired promising youngsters Christian Atsu (Chelsea) and Fillipo Costa (Chievo Verona) on season-long loans from larger clubs, while also acquiring 37-year old Sylvain Distin who made 174 appearances as a centre back in the Premier League for Everton from 2009-15.
Finally, the Cherries added promising 23 year old winger and Norwegian international Joshua King from former Championship foe Blackburn Rovers. King can play as a winger or striker and while he had only 5 goals in 64 total appearances at Blackburn, he has the pace and talent to play in the top flight.
Familiar Faces: Callum Wilson- striker (23 goals in 50 appearances), Matt Ritchie- right winger (15 goals in 51 appearances), Charlie Daniels- left back (2 goals in 43 appearances), Yann Kermorgant- striker (17 goals in 42 appearances), Tommy Elphick- centre back (1 goals in 50 appearances), Steve Cook- centre back (5 goals in 49 appearances)
Considering the success Bournemouth and Eddie Howe have had the last few seasons, it would behoove the club to not make too many changes to a group that clearly plays quite well together. And to this point, Cherries’ management has done just that.
There have been rumors that Callum Wilson, after leading the club in scoring in all competitions last year, is being pursued by the likes of Aston Villa and Arsenal. Wilson joined the Cherries last year from League One side Coventry City for £3 million, not a small price tag for a Championship side and now will likely command way more money than that if he does indeed move to another club.
While Wilson’s departure is just the stuff of rumors at this point, the club did sell striker Brett Pitman to Championship side Ipswich Town after he scored 14 goals in 39 total appearances last season.
Sill the Cherries do not lack for scoring options, as they return four players who scored at least 9 times last season: Yann Kermorgant (17 goals), Matt Ritchie (14 goals), Harry Arter (9 goals) and March Pugh (9 goals).
The question is whether or not they can get enough goals to stay up from a group of strikers with not much top flight experience. The only attacking player they brought in was Joshua King, and he was not really a prolific goal scorer even at a lower level like the Championship.
However, the Cherries return all of their key men from what was statistically the Championship’s 2nd best defense and added a record signing with the aforementioned Tyrone Mings at left back. The centre back partnership of ChaTommy Elphick and Steve Cook will be especially valuable and the duo have combined over 200 appearances with the Cherries.
Charlie Daniels, the incumbent starting left back has also said publicly he looks forward to competing with the record-signing Mings throughout the pre-season and healthy competition is never a bad thing. For good measure last year’s first choice right back Simon Francis (42 appearances) also is returning.
Completely Unscientific/Somewhat Unbiased Predicted Finish: 18th
There’s a reason I put the phrase “somewhat unbiased” in the above section title. I have been charmed by Bournemouth as a small club that’s outperformed all expectations the last few years to even get this far. I love underdog stories and if Bournemouth could establish themselves as a Premier League side, that would be nothing short of incredible given their lack of top-flight history.
Eddie Howe has done more for one club than any current manager in England’s various football leagues. While he hasn’t managed in the Premier League before, Howe has made short work of every other level he’s managed at so I won’t count him out at this level.
As much as Bournemouth supporters would surely rather see Callum Wilson not leave at all, if another club is willing to pay a big transfer fee then it might actually be a good thing. After all transfer drama has killed more than its fair share of teams’ chemistry and I think Wilson will command an exorbitant fee because he is young and English.
Howe also seems to understand how valuable it is to be difficult to score on at this level and invested heavily in what is already a pretty good defense. Teams with good defensive records generally have a much easier time surviving the rigors of the Premier League.
I still think it is much more difficult to make the jump from being a good Premier League defender to being a good Premier League striker from the Championship. And there is really no striker on this roster who is a proven goal scorer at this level. There have been rumblings about Eddie Howe coveting QPR’s Charlie Austin, although that’s a tad unrealistic. I think Crystal Palace’s strikers Glenn Murray and Dwight Gayle, to whom Howe has also been tied to, are more realistic targets and have both shown flashes of Premier League quality.
Regardless of their exact finishing position I feel fairly confident Bournemouth will be in that pack of clubs from about 13th place or lower battling for survival. But they’re a team that is used to success at all levels and even if they do get relegated it will be by the narrowest of margins.
