Howe refuses to commit his future to Bournemouth

Eddie Howe has avoided committing his future to Bournemouth beyond tomorrow’s all-important showdown at Everton, saying only that he will “see what happens next” after the season has ended.

If Bournemouth are to avoid relegation, they must win and hope that Watford and Aston Villa both lose, against Arsenal and West Ham respectively.

Howe has not hidden the emotional strain he has felt during this battle, admitting last month that the struggle had “consumed him”.

Asked yesterday if he wanted to be Bournemouth manager next season, he said: “My commitment to the club has never changed, from day one. I do my best for the club, and that will not change. We will have a sit-down at the end of the season, regardless of what happens, and see what happens next.”

Howe’s association with Bournemouth began in 1994 and he provided another insight into his personal difficulties this season by describing his attempts to switch off from midweek matches involving Aston Villa and Watford.

“I decided to take my two sons to a golf range to try to get away from football,” Howe said. “My plan was to stay out for a few hours, maybe take them for a walk. I then found myself back in front of the TV somehow, about an hour later. I don’t know how that happened. I just couldn’t not [watch it].”

Ahead of the trip to Merseyside, Howe said he hoped that his side would take inspiration from the drama of the final day of the Championship season.

Swansea City moved into the play-off positions on goal difference thanks to a six-goal swing, while Barnsley escaped relegation with a stoppage-time winner against promotion-chasing Brentford.

“The Championship showed just why everyone loves the game,” Howe said. “It’s the end of a long season, the Championship is such a physical grind, and you saw so many swings and different emotions. Some teams were celebrating, some collapsed on the pitch in disappointment.

“That’s a great thing for us to see before this weekend. We can only control what we can do. We’ve got to try to win a game of football and hope other results fall our way.

“The Championship opened up a lot of possibilities, showing that some things look clear-cut but you never know. Have I seen a lift from the players? They have trained very well. I have not seen one member looking like our fate has been decided.”

Howe never made it to the Premier League as a player and he said being in the competition was something his players had “cherished”, especially those who had come up through the leagues with him.

“When a lot of my players look back on their career, the ones who have been through the journey from League One know how hard we worked to get out of the Championship into the Premier League,” he said. “Those guys know how the prize of Premier League football should be cherished.”

Meanwhile, Howe refused to comment on the future of defender Nathan Ake, who has been the subject of an inquiry from Manchester City.

“Nathan is a big part of our squad,” Howe said. “Whether he is fit for Sunday, we’ll have to wait and see. He has a minor groin problem. It’s still undecided whether he’s fit enough to play. He hasn’t trained or done anything physically in between the injury to now.

“He is a very good player but he is our player and he is focused on trying to keep us in the division.”