HOWE’S NOT READY TO THROW TOWEL IN
EDDIE HOWE says Bournemouth worked too hard to get into the Premier League in the first place for the next fortnight to be their Last Dance in the top flight.
In 1996, the Cherries — a perennial third and fourthtier team — came within 15 minutes of extinction but were saved by a supporters’ trust. They were a League One side when Howe returned for a second spell as manager in October 2012 but within three years he had led them through the Championship and into the Promised Land. Since then, Bournemouth have been a Premier League staple, finishing as high as ninth in 2016-17.
But in the last two seasons they have drifted closer and closer to the trapdoor and, with four games left this time, they are bang in the relegation mire.
Now they have a couple of weeks to save themselves if they want to be among the elite next season.
Howe (left) said: “The players know what the prize is.
“To stay in the Premier League is where we all want to be.
“We know how good this league is, we know how tough this league is from this season.
“But we worked so hard to get into the Premier League. The journey here was enjoyable, of course, but it was tough and there was an incredible amount of effort that went into it.
“We don’t want to give that up easily.”
Bournemouth have arguably the most difficult run-in of the relegation-threatened sides with Leicester today, Manchester City, Southampton and Everton to come – but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Howe said: “This season, for whatever reason, we have performed better against the bigger teams, our results have been better and more consistent.
“It has been frustrating because it’s almost like we know we can lift our game against the top teams, so if we can do that, why can’t we do that consistently through the season?
“But that is in the past.
“All we can control now are the next four games and hope that ability to lift ourselves is going to be there.”
In what little downtime Howe has, he has been watching The Last Dance – the Netflix documentary which charts Michael Jordan’s career with the Chicago Bulls.
Howe said: “I am using it to help with my work rather than take myself to another world.
“It is all based around sport, and learning, and trying to get another viewpoint from another sport that can help me in this one.”