Peter Neil Bell's Blog: Cherry Chimes, page 2

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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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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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.

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.

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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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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

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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 Ricthie 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.

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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 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.
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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.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Bournemouth continue their slide with a 3-1 defeat at Reading

Bournemouth continue their slide with a 3-1 defeat at Reading

Match Report29 January 2021Reading 3 v 1 AFCB  Another poor performance leaves the Cherries well off the pace for promotion.

The Cherries found themselves 3-0 down in 43 minutes as they struggled to contain the hosts. While Danjuma looked lively early on, it was Reading that were hitting the target with Laurent and McIntyre firing Reading well ahead before sharpshooter Lucas João made it three before half-time. At this point, it looked like a salvage respectability mission in the second half. While their subs were the immediate response, it took until the last 10 minutes for Bournemouth fas to have something to cheer when Junior Stanislas converted a free kick into the top corner.

Bournemouth made three changes to the starting line up. David Brooks, Jack Wilshere and Lloyd Kelly made way for Dominic Solanke, Jefferson Lerma and Chris Mepham. The other big news was that Junior Stanislas was back on the bench. One onlooking spectator would also be Ben Pearson who signed from Preston North End, but there were also rumours that Matt Ritchie could be heading back to Bournemouth, while Josh King announced he would be staying until the end of the season at Bournemouth.

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The Cherries started in a 4-3-3 formation with Danjuma on the left-wing and King on the right side. Danjuma had the first pop at goal with a shot from outside the box which was saved on five minutes. 

Reading looked closer to the opener when João raced between Mepham and Begovic to pick up a back pass. He passed to John Swift who shot just wide of the post with Steve Cook covering the goal. 

Reading scored following a corner as Mepham blocks a shot from McIntyre only for Josh Laurent to find the net from close range. Danjuma then had his shot blocked.

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Things got worse for the Cherries when Rico made a foul and was booked. The free kick from Olise was saved by Begovic but the ball spilled out to McIntyre who made it 2-0 on 30 minutes.

John Swift was also booked for a foul on Solanke. Solanke had a header blocked following a corner before Solanke's header was saved in the top corner.

Bournemouth mounted the first attack of the second half with David Brooks' cross was met by Adam Smith's header which was too high. Begovic then had to make a save from John Swift's attempt from outside the box.

While Lewis Cook shot wide from distance, it was Reading looking more likely to score. John Swift was getting in good positions and had another shot go over. 

Reading then attacked with Ejaria firing wide. Bournemouth switched with King playing alongside Solanke up front. But the change didn't work as Reading went 3-0 up after João cuts inside and beat Begovic on 43 minutes.

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Bournemouth made three changes for the second half on came Brooks, Wilshere and Smith to replace, Danjuma. Lerma and Rico. 

Josh King's burst of speed took him to the box but his shot was deflected for a corner off Rinomhota. Dominic Solanke missed a chance from the center of the box, before Billing had a shot saved that was headed for the corner of the goal. Steve Cook added the frustration with a header from a corner that was saved.

Lewis Cook was next to miss following a corner. Semedo replaced Swift for Reading who had had a good game. Reading were back testing Begovic with João having a shot saved and Laurent shooting from distance. Aluko then came on for Ejaria.

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Stanislas made his return coming on for Billing in the last 10 minutes. Wilshere won a free kick and Stanislas founds the left corner - Bournemouth were on the score sheet 3-1.

King then had a shot blocked. Reading subbed Olise, João and Holmes for Esteves, Meite and Yiadom. Six minutes of added time go up.

Esteves shoots too high. Wilshere's cross is headed over by Solanke. Meite's shot is saved.

Summary
It's hard to know how Jason Tindall is going to turn this around. The team were out of their depth and just unable to compete. There's no leadership or willingness to make things easier for one another. The pressure is on and Bournemouth haven't been able to respond. They are in free fall and this is a problem that may not be a quick fix. The players have lost their confidence and their motivation under Tindall. It will be quite something if the Cherries can pick themselves up from this. There have been too many off days and it's really starting to show now.

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Reading: 33 Cabral Barbosa, 29 Holmes (Yiadom 88), 4 Morrison, 5 McIntyre, 3 Richards, 8 Rinomhota, 28 Laurent, 7 Olise (Esteves 88), 10 Swift (Semedo 73), 14 Ejaria (Aluko 77), 18 Lucas João (Meite 88)

Reading Subs
2 Esteves, 11 Meite, 15 Gibson, 17 Yiadom, 22 Southwood, 24 Aluko, 30 Semedo,
34 Tetek, 46 Onen

AFCB lineup

AFCB Subs: Dennis, Smith, Simpson, Carter-Vickers,
Wilshere, Stanislas, Brooks, Riquelme, Surridge.
Previous post on Cherry Chimes - The Cherries don't want to see a 20-year unbeaten run against Reading slip

The Cherries don't want to see a 20-year unbeaten run against Reading slip

If the first game between Reading and Bournemouth at the start of the season held some tension, then this latest encounter has watched that up about 10-fold. While Reading were the Championship's runaway leaders early on in the season, they were caught and have been trying to re-establish themselves in the play-off places, while Bournemouth have slipped below them again. This game could catapult one of these teams into contention for an automatic promotion place, but the loser may well see a very difficult second half of the season.

The Cherries know this next game against Reading could see them put themselves back in contention for a high finish.
Reading are in relatively good form having won two of their last three games and having not lost in five if the FA Cup defeat to Luton is excluded. They have two more wins than Bournemouth and have Lucas João still banging in the goals - he's up to 14 now (17 in all competitions). He should have one more but missed a penalty in the Royals' last game against Preston North End. Michael Olise is also a winger who has several Premier League clubs looking on admiringly - including the likes of Man City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. Where Reading have wilted a bit is in their defence having succumbed to 28 goals against in their 25 games.

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All indicators are that this will be another high scoring game like the 4-2 result for Bournemouth earlier in the season. Clean sheets look rather unlikely. Reading haven't beaten the Cherries since winning 2-0 in March 2000. To keep that record going Bournemouth need to find something that has been missing for the last five or more league matches and that's plenty of shots on target. Keeping Jack Wilshere into the starting 11 may be one easy pick, but Tindall has to fathom a way for Bournemouth to be better in possession and prevent the number of shots that Begovic is being made to save currently.

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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

Winning the game would put Bournemouth back on track, but defeat now really will see them start to fall away from the top six if they are not careful. 

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Reading Home Form
WLLWW

AFCB Away Form
WLDWL

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Has Wilshere done enough to grab a starting place for AFCB in the Championship?

Has Wilshere done enough to grab a starting place for AFCB in the Championship?

The start that Jack Wilshere made for Bournemouth in the FA Cup against Crawley couldn't have been much better. He wanted to make an impact and he certainly did that. He wanted to score his first goal for the club and he wanted to start paying back the debt he perhaps feels he has to the club for how things ended in the past. He is keeping his end of the bargain but is he ready to take on the best in the Championship?

Is Jack ready to play his part?
It would be easy to give Jack Wilshere a ticket to start straight away in the next league match. Tindall will have to decide not only whether this is best for Jack, but also whether it will sit okay with the other players in the squad. Everyone says Jack is hard working and has been well accepted by the players at AFCB. But Jack doesn't want to sit around on the bench. He wants to be a force in the team and that will mean needing to accommodate him and in preference to one of the other midfielders.

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It is most likely that Lewis Cook's position would see the most immediate threat. Jack is similarly creative and yet has shown he can also skip past players and hit the target. His vision and understanding of the game are no doubt at a higher level than many of Bournemouth's players having starred in an Arsenal team and less so in a West Ham team. He is willing to teach what he has learned to other players like Lewis Cook who will be battling with him for the same place, and I expect he will do what he can to win as many people over as he can. But the best way for him to do that si on the pitch.

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If, on merit, Jack is the right and best option to start, then he should. It might be hard on the likes of Dan Gosling and Philip Billing as well, but Bournemouth need winners if they are going to climb back up the league and Wilshere is surely a winner. Just looking at the ease at which Jack scored his goal against Crawley underlined that he is a special player that can make the game look like child's play. Teams like Reading in Bournemouth's next match won't give Jack as much time and space as Crawley gave him, but I am sure Jack can step up a few more levels yet in his performances. It may take him a while to know what Josh King and Dominic Solanke's wavelengths are, but AFCB are only going to get the best out of Jack by playing him. So I'm all for getting him in the team, even if it is only for 40-50 minutes at first.

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In other news, the Bournemouth Echo reports that Jason Tindall believes Jack Simpson and Nnamadi Ofoborgh have made their minds up to joining Rangers either in this window or in the summer.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Wilshere scores first goal for Bournemouth in 2-1 cup win over Crawley

Wilshere scores first goal for Bournemouth in 2-1 cup win over Crawley

Match reportFA Cup Fourth roundAFCB 2 v 1 Crawley Town26 January 2021

Bournemouth get back to winning ways.

Jack Wilshere scored his first goal for Bournemouth in the first half to put the Cherries in control, against Crawley but a second-half equaliser from Tom Nichols made it an intriguing cup tie. Bournemouth slipped back ahead with a Josh King goal that was just enough to get them a ticket through to the next round away at Burnley.

Bournemouth took Crawley very seriously after their conquering of Leeds United and named a strong team. There were only four changes, Jack Wilshere, Arnaut Danjuma, Philip Billing and Lloyd Kelly started. The players taken out were Adam Smith, Josh Solanke, Jefferson Lerma and Cameron Carter-Vickers. It looked like the Cherries really wanted to progress to the next round.

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Bournemouth got Wilshere on the ball and the first corner came after five minutes. Steve Cook headed wide after Rico had followed the corner with a cross.

Billing made a chance for Danjuma shortly after from range, but Morris made a save in the bottom left corner. Bournemouth stepped up their efforts with another corner when Philip Billing's header hit the post. 

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Crawley's first shot came from Nadesan who forced Begovic into a save on 11 minutes. Lewis Cook saw an effort go over as Bournemouth kept regained possession. Rico then missed a half chance following Danjuma's pass. Bournemouth continued to shoot on sight with Brooks firing over.

The goal finally came when Jack Wilshere shot from outside the box having taken the ball from King's clever back heel. The shot flew in the bottom corner. Luton were guilty of giving Bournemouth far too much space. Wilshere's finish was so calmly taken with his left foot from the edge of the D.

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Tsaroulla was subbed for Josh Wright. Bournemouth kept up the pressure with Brooks shooting wide of the left post. Brooks also saw a further chance go wide following a corner.

The second half began with Adebowale being carded for a foul on Danjuma. Steve Cook was doing his best to get on the score sheet putting another header in the danger area from a cross from Rico. Jack Wilshere couldn't convert the flick from Cook as Morris made a great save.

Danjuma then smashed a shot wide. No shortage of effort, but Bournemouth needed to keep testing the keeper. Crawley subbed Adebowale for Sesay. Josh King hit a shot on target, but there was not enough power.

Begovic makes a mistake and gifts the ball to Nichols but the keeper makes the save for a corner. Bournemouth escaped there.

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Nichols and Nadesan received yellow cards. Crawley then got level with Tom Nichols scoring from close range. Danjuma picked out Wilshere but the shot was weak and the keeper saved.

Bournemouth struck again when Josh King put the Cherries 2-1 up on 66 minutes. Danjuma raided the penalty box and found King who stroked it into the bottom corner 2-1.

Bournemouth subbed Billing, Wilshere and Stacey to bring on Solanke, Smith and Lerma on 67 minutes. Smith hits a shot well but Morris saves.

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Rodari is on for Matthews. Brooks has another attempt from 25-yards that is saved. Riquelme replaces Danjuma. Josh King gets a good shot away but the keeper saves. Into the last 20 minutes. Surridge is on for King.

McNerney has a header saved. Lerma has been booked. Rico finds Brooks and his shot goes narrowly over. Kelly is booked. Riquelme has a shot blocked.

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Summary
A solid performance by AFCB. They worked the keeper but will probably be thinking that they should have been a bit sharper in front of goal. Still, there wasn't a great deal for Begovic to do and it's clear that Wilshere is a massive addition to the team. This result will have boosted the confidence and they won't get carried away having seen Crawley also get on the score sheet,

AFCB lineup AFCB Subs: Dennis, Carter-Vickers, Smith, Kilkenny, Lerma, Riquelme, Anthony, Surridge, Solanke

Crawley Town: 1 Morris, 17 Adebowale (Sesay 51), 19 Tunnicliffe, 5 McNerney,
6 Dallison-Lisbon, 20 Matthews (Rodari 69), 39 Hessenthaler, 8 Powell, 25 Tsaroulla (29 Wright), 10 Nadesan, 16 Nichols

Crawley Subs: 18 Sesay, 21 Bulman, 27 Khaleel, 28 Kowalczyk, 30 Wright, 35 Rodari, 37 Nelson, 38 Tilley, 44 Wright

Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Crawley - a great game for Wilshere to step up

Crawley - a great game for Wilshere to step up?

Listening to the pre-match press conference from Jason Tindall, TalkSports the Ian Abrahams was clear that he felt Jack Wilshere should start for AFCB against Crawley. I wonder if Jason might even give Jack the captaincy if he plays a very youthful team against Crawley.

Jack is about to extend his AFCB career file.

There are no shortage of players for Tndall to pick for in this game. Wilshere comes to mind as he hasn't had hardly any minutes, and he needs to get up to speed if he is going to help Bournemouth get out of the Championship. It might be even more interesting to see who Jack is paired with. It may well be Philip Billing who had a bit of an argument over hist fitness with Tindall last week. Whether that has annoyed Tindall further, or whether he gives Philip the go-ahead we will have to wait and see. Dan Gosling has done nothing wrong and might be the preferred option in any case.

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It may be that Rodriguez Riquelme is given an opportunity, as we haven't seen him start too many games, and last time he started I believe he was subbed at half-time. Danjuma has also been short of games of late and he could be the big weapon against Crawley, although Gavin Kilkenny also deserves a run out at some point.

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At the back, we could see Chris Mepham make his return to the team having been injured for the last month. I would like to see Mepham lay with Cameron Carter-Vickers in a centre-back pairing. Bournemouth have looked a bit unstable in a three at the back formation so perhaps Tindall will go back to 4-4-2 for this game.

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It should be another opportunity for Will Dennis to show how he is doing in goal and Begivic deserves a break to be fair. The striker role will surely be led by Sam Surridge and maybe Jaidon Anthony will also be given a go. I don't mind Tindall taking risks in the cup, but if a player plays really well then they should be given a chance to play in the Championship. After all, AFCB have not been doing that well in the league and it will give a reminder to a few others if they find they have been replaced for not performing.

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