Bournemouth fans thoughts ahead of Saturday

I caught up with Bournemouth fan Chris to get his opinion on a range of different topics ahead of this weekends fixture at Vicarage Road.

1) What do you make of Bournemouth's start to the season?

Chris: Funnily enough, 6 games in, we have collected the same number of points as we had at the same stage last season - although until the Everton game, the mood around the ground seemed more depressed and disappointed for some reason. 

From the point of view of the stands, the first few performances had not been of the same standard. The starting eleven has largely been the same as last season, with the addition of Jordan Ibe to replace the outgoing Matt Richie, and the much reported arrival of Jack Wilshire, who has begun quietly getting on with the job behind the striker in midfield.

2) What do you make of Watford's start to the season? 

Chris: I think Watford fans will be more than happy with their start to the season. There are goals in the team - Capoue has found a comfortable spot in this season's fantasy team - and I think if Ighalo starts doing the business again, Watford will have another good season. 

I can't really comment on the recruitment, because it just seems to be another batch of foreign players that I am unfamiliar with, but I think that keeping hold of key players like Deeny and Ighalo was worth 3 or 4 signings in itself.

3) What are your thoughts ahead of this weekends fixture?

Chris: For me, after the Everton game, anything could happen. After our loss against Preston there was a lot of negativity about the place. Some deluded fans that, unfortunately, the premier league is known to breed, were even calling for Eddie Howe's head at one point.
It sounds daft, but because we were so bad against Preston, and the mood was so down, I was certain than we would beat Everton. That is how football works sometimes.

I bring this up, because I expect Watford fans will be pretty disappointed about the loss away to Burnley - although, Burnley away on a Monday night was always going to be difficult.

My thoughts are that if Bournemouth stay tight and keep a clean sheet, we will always have a chance of nicking a 1-0. Our defence from set-pieces has improved massively this season, but we do have a habit of losing the ball in the wide areas - particularly Jordan Ibe.
I am always wary of Watford. My thoughts ahead of this weekend's fixture? Optimistic nerves.

4) Watford and Bournemouth have had similar journeys to the Premier League, What do you make of the transformation of both sides in the past few years?

Chris: If I am honest, I had no interest in football until I studied at the University of Hertfordshire, and lived with a bunch of massive football fans - one Leicester, one Charlton, most Arsenal, and a few Watford.

It was that year that AFC Bournemouth were in big trouble. When I was home one weekend, I decided I would turn up for a match if only to donate £20 to a lost cause. We lost 0-1. The gate was about 3200. The players were playing for free, we had winding up orders coming from all over the place, we had no ground and we were second bottom in league 2 with minus-17 points and a transfer embargo. (We were saved bottom by, I believe, Chester, who had minus-30 points...)

The next season I got my season ticket, and was present for the league 2 promotion that, in all honestly, felt the best of the three.
6 years later, and we're in the Premier League.

Money came into it, eventually. It wasn't until someway through our league one promotion season that it appeared, though. Eddie Mitchell, bless his cottons, didn't have 2 brass farthings to rub together.

We picked up Harry Arter for 4k, Marc Pugh for 10k, Eunan O'Kane for a handful of beans. Matt Richie was the big-money signing, at about £200k. What Max Demin did was mainly clear the legacy debts.

Contrary to popular belief, we weren't paying big wages - for example, in the year we won the Championship, Lewis Grabban left for Norwich and Quadrupled his weekly wage overnight.

Bournemouth and Watford had similar championship promotion campaigns. I think both teams won football matches playing 'the right way', being positive and creative.

I think most Watford fans were there when the club was last in the premier league, and that unfortunate belief that the club had a god-given right to be there might have set in, whereas a few more Bournemouth fans would have genuinely expected to lose 18-0 at Charlton and then bottle the playoffs. In terms of infrastructure and attitude, maybe Watford were better prepared for the premier league. I think getting relegated would hurt Watford fans more than it would Bournemouth fans, most of which are just happy to still have a club to watch every week.

5) Eddie Howe's name has came back up after the recent departure of Big Sam, how confident are you that you'll keep hold of him?

Chris: I think this is a non-starter. I have no doubt that he will manage England one day, but he knows that it will ruin his career if he takes it up now, with a pool of bang average players not giving him much hope.

I do, however, think he is more likelly to take over at Arsenal at the end of this season, meaning we will go down the season after that.

That said, EH has only really had a decent stint at managing Bournemouth.

Bournemouth fans will always give him extra time and patience - and would be happy for him to stay as manager if we got relegated back to league 2 in 3 years.

EH also knows that other clubs would not offer him the same time and patience, and sometimes it is that rare relationship that makes things happen.

I mean, AFC Bournemouth are in the premier league for christ's sake. Jose Mourinho could not have got these players from league 1 to the big time.

6) Thoughts on the so called derby between Watford and Bournemouth?

Chris: Oh come on. It's not a derby. It's a rivalry... maybe?
Our championship promotion season was great, because it was so close.

I think the fact that we are a very small, tin-pot outfit, attracted a lot of hate from fans of bigger clubs who simply cannot understand why they are not winning football matches - as if match attendance figures have anything to do with it whatsoever.

Watford had a unbelievable season which resulted in promotion, but the media were admittedly obsessed with the AFC Bournemouth story.

As a result, twitter was a bit of a war zone, not helped by some feisty matches between the two clubs - including the quickest sending off ever (never a red card, which made it even better).

On twitter its a derby - not in real life.

That said, the nerves I feel before Watford matches isn't like just any match. Losing hurts that little bit more, and winning feels that little bit greater.

7) A score prediction?

Chris: 0-0 would not surprise me. Neither would 3-3 or 6-0 either way.

I honestly expect 1-1 (Deeney gets on the end of a Francis mistake to cancel out a Callum Wilson Penalty).

I would hope for a 0-1 win though - depends how Watford react after Burnley!

Thanks very much to Chris for providing me with the answers to the questions! 

For what it is worth my prediction for the game this weekend is a 2-0 Watford win- we will bounce back!

Follow me on twitter @Adzrowe