Steady Eddie
HISTORY LESSON KEY FOR HOWE AT CRUCIAL MOMENT
EDDIE HOWE will draw on the lessons he learned 11 years ago as he attempts to steer Bournemouth clear of relegation.
Back in 2008-09, the Cherries were on the brink of an abyss far greater than the one they face now.
They had been handed a 17-point deduction and were 10 points adrift at the bottom of League Two when Howe arrived. And it took three wins from three at the end of that season to keep the club’s head above the water and maintain their position in the Football League. The decade that followed that escape saw Bournemouth rise to the Premier League but, after five seasons in the top flight, they now have just two games to prevent a return to the Championship next season. Relegation from any division is heartbreaking of course but Howe knows there is a perspective to it all considering where the club has been in recent years – and where the world has been in recent months. He said: “We have at times definitely looked back and without going back in time, used certain things from that period. “This is a new situation and I don’t think the players necessarily want to hear too much about the past.
“But for us as coaches, having experienced that definitely helps us and still can help us in the next two games.
“That’s because you just never know in football.
“It has such a way of swinging things around in a very short period of time. History has told us to never believe anything is final until it is done – we are in there fighting and we believe it’s still possible to stay in the division. “The situation has definitely driven me mad. “Football just has a way of sinking into you, your whole psyche. Everything is around the job and around what you are trying to achieve.
“I’ve been absolutely committed this season to try to achieve success.
“It has been a really testing time personally because it hasn’t always gone as I would have wished it. “But when you do look back at the other situation – when we were fighting for our whole existence – that’s a healthy thing to put into perspective.
“Because I still sort of feel like that anyway in this situation – that we are fighting for our existence in a slightly different way.”
The coronavirus pandemic has reminded fans of football’s importance in the grand scheme of things.
But Howe, whose side face Southampton today and Everton next Sunday, added: “When you are in the game, it is the most important thing. “And you have to act that way and feel that way because it is your life. “We understand that it is not life and death and that there are bigger and more important things going on in the world.
“People’s lives have been at risk because of the virus and it’s had a huge effect around the world.
“But this is our world, this is football and the importance of it will never be diminished.”
‘We are in there fighting and we believe it’s still possible to stay in the division.’