EDDIE’S RUN-IN
THE great adventure could be coming to an end.
As they were beaten for the third time since football’s return, Bournemouth’s wretched 4-1 defeat at home to Newcastle on Wednesday brought the threat of relegation from the Premier League ever closer.
They are second from bottom with six games left, visiting Manchester United tomorrow with Tottenham, Leicester and Manchester City still to come.
It would be a daunting run at the best of times – but now one being taken on the back of 16 defeats in their past 21 games.
In two extraordinary spells, boss Eddie Howe has lifted Bournemouth from the basement to the Premier League. He has been in charge for 11 years, taking over aged 31 in 2008 when they were in League Two and on the brink of bankruptcy.
He has been linked with the England manager’s job, and with Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham. But on Wednesday night he was asked if he had received any assurances about his future from the Bournemouth board. One man who knows all about staying a long time at a club, almost becoming a part of the building and then seeing it all crumble, is the former Charlton manager Alan Curbishley.
He was at The Valley for 15 years, 11 in sole command, taking them up into the Premier League and establishing them. He left when he thought he could do no more – only to watch as the Addicks plunged into League One after his departure. He fears the same thing could now happen on the south coast.
Curbishley said: “Bournemouth is probably the smallest club that has been in the Premier League, apart from Wimbledon. Their stadium holds less than 12,000.
“That is the worry. It is so, so hard to keep a small club at that level for a long time. The job just gets harder.
“The other fact is that Eddie has spent an awful lot of money and some of the signings have not worked out, like Jordon Ibe and Dominic Solanke.”
Ibe cost £15million Liverpool and was released last week after not appearing since September; Solanke cost £19m and has scored once in 18 months.
“That’s why the criticism starts,” said Curbishley.
“People expect more. You become established at a club, you have success and people expect it to get better. Eddie has done fantastically well. This may be a blip. If he finishes outside the bottom three he can carry on. But he has a real job on his hands. Eddie is going through stuff he’s not really gone through before.
“He is a victim of his own success. Before, people were not expecting too much. Now they are. Now he has to accept the criticism.” Bournemouth announced a loss of £32.4m in March. Spending on players
BANKS
from was £94.2m, as the likes of Jefferson Lerma, David Brooks and Solanke arrived.
Although that is underpinned by the ownership of Russian tycoon Maxim Demin, who has invested some £193m in the club since 2011, what happens if relegation becomes a reality is a worrying prospect.
Goals have been a problem, the team scoring just 30 times in the league this season – and only once since the restart.
Last year, they scored 56, the year before it was 45, in 2016-2017 it was 55 when they were ninth and, in their first season, it was also 45.
Ironically, they have conceded only 54, with their lowest total in their five Premier League seasons being 61 from 2017-2018.
What happens to Howe? The Cherries board would be reluctant to axe a club legend, but the 42-year-old could decide to walk away.
Curbishley warned: “Like me at Charlton, Eddie has stayed loyal to his club but, if that speculation is going to continue about him and his future, he has to stay in the Premier League. Simple as that.”
Bournemouth’s final six fixtures of the season: TOMORROW – Man Utd (a) JULY 9 – Spurs (h) JULY 12 – Leicester (h) JULY 15 – Man City (a) JULY 18 – South’pton (h) JULY 26 – Everton (a)