CARLISLE 2 BOURNEMOUTH 4

The Eddie Howe extravaganza goes marching on. Another win and another three points, giving the returning Cherries legend 7 points out of 9, 2 wins out of 3 and the team a total of three wins since Mr Groves removal. What difference a couple of weeks make.

“If the current situation is to be the judge, then the manager is more important than the players”

We still cant believe that this is the same team from a couple of weeks ago. This raises the question, why couldn’t they win with Groves in charge. Guess its shows the importance of the right man in charge. If the current situation is to be the judge, then the manager is more important than the players.

It didn’t take long for the Cherries to assert their authority. With only eight minutes gone a long ball from Arter, we could say pinpoint, landed at the feet of Marc Pugh running into the area. A pull back bamboozled the defender and goalkeeper and the ball was slid into the back of the net. The Cherries were still creating chances when a weak MacDonald header landed at the feet of the opening Carlisle scorer. With half an hour gone Marc Pugh picked up a deflected ball and did his ‘trick’ a couple of times and somehow managed to squeeze the ball between past the keeper. Piss poor defending but we will take that.
Carlisle assistant manager Graham Kavanagh summed its up perfectly, “We defended terribly and it was a frustrating performance. To be fair to the lads they kept going, but the sooner we turn it around the better.” He also went on to say, “We weren’t very good. Once we conceded the second goal there was only one team in it.”

The second half saw the visitors start where they left off and again they struck early on with Lewis Grabban finally remembering how to put the ball into the net. The fourth came ten minutes later and Lee Barnard was involved again, with his speculative shot deflecting in for number four. The Cherries were still creating chances and could have scored more. The final goal of the game demonstrated that the Cherries defence is its weak point (Addison/Elphick) and to continue the climb up the table Howe will need to add the issue to his to do list.

A well-earned win and their is definitely something in the fact that Eddie Howe is a lucky manager. The Cherries had 9 shots on goal, 4 on target and 4 goals and even Lewis Grabban scored. If Groves had been in charge we would have lost 2-1. We are still not convinced that Addison and Elphick are the right choice in the centre of defence, how many times have we said that? Many. Hopefully, Howe will give Zubar and Cook a chance to prove their worth.

Ridiculous as it seemed a couple of weeks ago, the Cherries have a very realistic chance of making the play-offs. We are only 7 points behind 6th-placed Notts County (who we drew with) and only 14 points off Tranmere (who we beat) in top spot.
Championship here we come?

@eddie2276
Legends, the bloody lot of you 🙂 @MarcPugh7 @HarryArter2 @ShaunMac20 @jamosfoundation @chazdaniels13 #afcb
@ianwadleyecho
#afcb impressive going forward but still a few problems at the back. Arter, Pugh, MacDonald and Barnard all very good today.
@KerryCherries
156 #AFCB travelling fans doing the 700 mile round trip to Carlisle to see the Cherries win.. Round of applause to you all..
@CUFCtalk
Told to “look on the bright side” by an #AFCB fan on the way out. I told him the sun shines on the East Stand and even that’s falling down.
@bigfatolly
#afcb 7 points off the playoffs and 13 off of top spot #believe
@NickDCase
We all knew these players had the potential to do well, just needed a messiah to lead them. Eddie is that messiah, long live the king. #afcb