Enner’s rich pickings hit big spenders
BOURNEMOUTH are throwing cash around for fun in an attempt to survive in the Barclays Premier League — but Slaven Bilic’s ‘bargain’ Dimitri Payet turned this game on its head as West Ham came from behind to win.
Gone are the days when manager Eddie Howe would regularly take his players on bucket collections to raise funds as Bournemouth teetered on the brink of financial ruin.
Charity is no longer needed when this little seaside club can splash out £18million in the space of 48 hours.
But despite the expenditure and Bournemouth taking the lead here, West Ham fought back in the second half, Payet and Enner Valencia scoring stunning free-kicks and the Ecuadorian adding a third.
West Ham’s night was marred when they lost Andy Carroll to an injury early on — his seventh since signing in 2012.
Manager Bilic said it was a ‘really bad situation’ and that Carroll had hurt a hamstring, but indicated it was likely to mean a matter of weeks out rather than months.
Bournemouth have been the most active Premier League club in the January window, bringing in Benik Afobe from Wolves for £10m, Juan Iturbe on loan from Roma with a view to a permanent £14m transfer and Lewis Grabban for £8m from Norwich. There had not been time to include the trio’s names in last night’s programme.
Howe and his assistant Jason Tindall paid out of their own pockets on several occasions to keep the club afloat in their darkest League Two days, six years ago. Now the finances come from Maxim Demin, their Russian billionaire owner.
‘It’s not a comfortable feeling for me,’ Howe admitted. ‘I’ve been right through the journey. The year we had a transfer embargo, we had 13 or 14 players. To think in a few years’ time we’d be spending millions of pounds on players wouldn’t have seemed possible.
‘I take every penny we spend very seriously. I take that responsibility and try to make good decisions for the football club. Not just for now but for the long term.’
Afobe was the only one of the three new signings to start, with the other pair on the bench. And the excitement about their arrivals at first seemed to leave Bournemouth in a daze as West Ham threatened within 10 seconds of the start.
Defender James Collins hoofed the ball down the middle, home skipper Simon Francis tried to head it back to his goalkeeper and it fell short.
Valencia was able to get a toe on the ball, but goalkeeper Artur Boruc blocked with a leg.
Carroll, the club-record £15m signing, went off after 12 minutes, shaking his head as he limped down the tunnel.
And West Ham’s luck got worse when Bournemouth took the lead five minutes later. Arter struck a shot from 25 yards which was close to Adrian, but the West Ham goalkeeper could only push the effort inside his right post.
Afobe then squandered two wo chances for a debut goal. He e met Alan Smith’s crosss from the left but headed just over from close range. Then winger Junior Stanislas slipped him in with a lovely pass and Afobe went to round Adrian — but left the ball behind.
Those missed opportuni- ties could have been moree of an issue during the halflftime team talk had Boruc uc not pulled off an instinctive save justst before the break.
Nikica Jelavic, who had replaced Carroll, crossed from the right and the ball nicked Steve Cook’s shoulder and was heading into the topright corner before Bournemouth’s goalkeeper dived back to tip the ball wide.
Howe brought on Iturbe for the struggling Matt Ritchie four minutes after the restart. Grabban came on, too, in place of Afobe.
But while the new boys tried to adjust, Bournemouth’s old heads were performing well and Arter volleyed narrowly wide with a bouncing effort on the hour. Dan Gosling hit another shot, from the kind of range Arter had scored from, but this time Adrian beat it out.
Another £700,000 on top of the fee paid for Afobe would have secured Payet for Bournemouth last summer, and he showed Howe what he missed in a mesmerising second-half show.
The Frenchman levelled on 67 minutes, looping an effort up and into the top-left corner with his right foot, from near the left corner of the box.
Then he set up the second, crossing low from the right for Valencia to finish with 15 minutes remaining.
‘West Ham fans always love those kinds of players with a bit of magic and Payet has more than a bit,’ Bilic said. ‘When I see players who go for much more money, he’s a bargain.’
Payet was no longer on the pitch when, with five minutes remaining, Valencia took a free-kick from out on the left. A shot didn’t look on, but he found the near top corner.