'We used to BEG Saints to play friendlies and loan us players'
BOURNEMOUTH host Southampton tomorrow in the richest-ever clash between the south coast clubs – but home boss Eddie Howe still cannot believe his side are no longer the poor relations.
The two teams will be crammed with hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent as they battle for supremacy in ‘El Clasicoast’.
But Bournemouth boss Howe vividly remembers the Cherries’ potless days not so long ago, when he used to beg for loan players and ground-filling friendlies from his counterpart at Saints.
Howe said: “Southampton, historically, have always been in the Premier League. We had never been here before so we have always had a good relationship.
“We have had loan players from them and looked to them for help with things like playing us in pre-season friendlies.
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“When I first took over at Bournemouth, we had a scout who offered to work for free and he did that for a year. That was in League Two. We had a couple of others who did some part-time work.
‘‘It was skeleton in comparison to what we have here now – and we’re trying to widen our search around Europe and the rest of the world now to find the best players for the club.”
Bournemouth know a win this weekend will take them above Southampton in the Premier League and complete another major milestone on their meteoric climb from the foot of League Two to the top flight of English football.
This time eight years ago the Dorset club were 91st in the Football League and were on the point of extinction as the taxman prepared to call in his debts.
Howe says midfielder Marc Pugh is another illustration of just how far his beloved Cherries have come after the player ®Êby ALEX CROOK scored the winner against champions Leicester in midweek. Howe recalls getting a foul-mouthed ear-bashing from his chairman when he was made to pay a paltry £100,000 to sign Pugh from Hereford.
Howe said: “I remember getting the news we had to pay £100,000 for Marc. There were a few swear words being chucked around by the chairman as we felt at the time it was excessive.
“We were newly-promoted to League One and that was a huge amount of money for us. Now we can look back and laugh and feel it was an absolute bargain.
“Marc has been a key part of our rise and a key part of us staying in the Premier League last season. He has had to be patient this season, but his ability has never been in doubt.”
Historically, Portsmouth are Southampton’s bitterest enemies, but Howe believes the battle for superiority between Saints and Bournemouth will continue to grow.
Howe, who had an injury-hit playing stint at Pompey, added: “The rivalry between the clubs will grow in time, the more we play each other. We have not been in the Premier League for long and I do think it takes a bit of time to form those connections, so we’ll see how the game goes. “Last year they were two really contrasting games for us against them. “There was a good atmosphere in both games – we did well at home and didn’t do so well at St Mary’s – so it will be good to play them again.” Bournemouth’s recent good form has led to talk of a shock European push from some of Howe’s players, which will only intensify if they beat Southampton. Howe is keeping his expectations in check, however, saying: “One of the biggest challenges in management is having the ability to remain grounded. “You have to let everyone else get high and low. You can’t change how people react to certain things, you can only control yourself. “I think that’s one of my strengths, that ability to look longer term, to keep to the plan and not to deviate from that. “Naturally, you feel the same emotions as everyone else when you win or lose, but you have to make sure the players don’t join those extreme emotions either. There’s no benefit to that.”