Francis is not finished yet

Simon Francis has had his fair share of knockers this season. He must be approaching the end of his Premier League career, but he's not going without trying to recapture some of his old form. Against Aston Villa it was a surprise to see him start ahead of Steve Cook, but during the game he showed why he was worth the starting place.
Simon Francis did well enough to keep his place for the next game.Francis was very much involved in the game making some important challenges and clearance in Bournemouth's box. He looks much happier at centre-half than at right back and finds a little more time to get into position, when playing centre-back. There was little slow play around Bournemouth's box against Villa and the decision to launch the ball up field quickly worked well for the Cherries.


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Francis was also instrumental in setting up Bournemouth's first goal with the cross to Dan Gosling. I think we have forgotten what a good crosser of the ball he has been in his career and he did well to pick Gosling out. But it was the defensive game of Francis that was particularly strong against Villa. Francis was determined to win his challenges and I thought he was an inspiration to the rest of the team on the day.



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We'll see how long it takes Francis to recover, but I'd not be surprise if Steve Cook has to wait a little longer before he gets back into the team.

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