Opposition View: Bournemouth – Cherry Chimes
The 2019-20 season is turning into a right slog for Bournemouth – so much so that the Cherry Chimes blog is even predicting relegation for Eddie Howe’s side come May.
That prophecy came in the aftermath of Saturday’s 1-0 defeat away at Norwich City. The Cherries have now picked up just four points from a possible 36 and sit 19th in the Premier League table.
Brighton though aren’t exactly going great guns at the moment either. And the last time we won at the Vitality Stadium was when Dean Cox and Bas Savage scored in a 2-0 win in September 2007. If there’s any team that Bournemouth can kick start their season against, then it’s surely the Albion.
We put that to our Bournemouth friend Peter Bell from Cherry Chimes. He wasn’t convinced – and here’s what else he had to say ahead of a relegation six pointer by the Dorset coast on Tuesday night.
It’s less than a month since we met at the Amex. What did you make of the game that day?
Eh, not the result we wanted. But Brighton were good value for the win. I was most impressed with Aaron Mooy who dominated midfield and seemed to have all the time on the world to plate strikers in. Bournemouth were out played and didn’t look like getting anything from the game after Brighton had taken the lead.
From the outside, Bournemouth look like they are closer to relegation than they’ve ever been in their Premier League days so far. Do you think you will have enough survive?
I said before the Norwich City game that if Bournemouth didn’t get three points at Carrow Road, I think we will go down. Not optimistic for a fan I know, but I just can’t see the team recovering after losing there.
Our fixtures in April are very difficult and now we’ve dropped points against Norwich – and with Aston Villa and Brighton to come in a couple of other six pointers – I don’t see how we will catch enough teams to stave off relegation.
Eddie Howe is currently leading the next manager to leave his job market. Is there any chance that Maxim Denim might be considering a change?
I don’t believe the majority of fans want a change. Maxim Demin is a close friend of Eddie’s so I think he would give Howe every chance to try and get out of relegation.
If the club went down, you have to look at who would possibly takeover who would be better placed than Eddie Howe. I can’t see a manager who would do a better job than Eddie. If we got Mauricio Pochettino in next week for example, then would he do better at scrapping in a relegation fight?
I think Pochettino would be great for the young players but if he couldn’t keep us up he wouldn’t want to manage in the Championship. I think Eddie Howe would be okay to carry on a level down – he’s only had four seasons managing at Championship level.
What do you think you need to do over the remainder of the January transfer window in order to strengthen?
I’d like to see a loan striker come in. I don’t think the club has the money to spend though. Michy Batshuayi would be a great deal but Chelsea would probably want Nathan Akee in return. I wouldn’t mind Jermain Defoe coming back from Rangers, but I don’t think Eddie Howe sees Defoe as the answer.
And if you had to sign one Brighton player in the window, who would you take?
I like Mooy but we need goals so I’d pick Neal Maupay on current form.
Brighton have a terrible record at the Vitality Stadium, having not won there since 2007. Any favourite memories of when the Seagulls have come along the south coast before?
I actually remember the home match best in September 2017. We were having a bad time of it and needed a win just to get going in the league. I think it was the first points we got in the 2017-18 season. We won 2-1 after Solly March had scored first, but we came back with goals from Anderw Surman – a very rare occurrence – and Jermain Defoe.
It looks like the relegation battle is going to get right down to the wire. Who are your picks to be dropping into the Championship come May?
Sadly, I think it will be like this: 18th Bournemouth, 19th Aston Villa, 20th Norwich City. I just hope we can drag West Ham United or Burnley into it.
Finally, a prediction please?
I predict that Brighton will do the double over us this season and come away with a 3-1 win. Records get broken and Bournemouth just aren’t playing well.
Thanks to Peter from Cherry Chimes for answering our questions ahead of Bournemouth v Brighton. You can also catch up with their refreshingly honest take over on Twitter.
