AFCB v Rotherham - Highlights & Reaction

With talk of Thierry Henry and David Wagner being the favourites for the full-time position of AFC Bournemouth manager, Jonathan Woodgate continued in his role as caretaker boss for the visit of Rotherham United to Dean Court.

Gone are the days of these two sides meeting in the fourth tier of English football, both with the hangover of 17 point deductions, now they meet in the second tier of English football following successes that have seen both clubs rise through the divisions.

Woodgate made four changes, most notably bringing in Sam Surridge in the lone striker role, dropping Shane Long to the bench. Jack Wilshere was also rested, in favour of Lewis Cook.

Man of the match against Rotherham

Billing

Lerma

Carter-Vickers

Someone else

After the game Woodgate was asked not only about the match, but what he knew about the vacant managerial position at Dean Court.

He told Sky Sports…

“I don’t know what is happening yet. I will speak to the board and see where we go. It is a boring answer but I will take it one game at a time. That is the right answer. I have always had an appetite to be involved in football. I am a lover of football at the end of the day.

“It was a battle. We knew from the start of the game what it was going to be like, but the players stuck to the task and got the 1-0 victory. It does not matter how you get the victory as long as you get it in the end.”

Speaking to the Daily Echo he was asked about Thierry Henry being linked with the job, Woodgate said…

“So has David Wagner, so has Patrick Vieira, so has Eddie Howe, so has a lot of different managers.

“Managers get linked with different posts. How much money does it take to change a market in betting? Not that much.

“If someone gets a sniff that it’s Thierry Henry, they’ll go and put a few quid on. They will tell their mate, they’ll go and put a few quid on and that’s when the prices start dropping. So, who knows?”

If this proves to be Jonathan Woodgate’s final game in temporary charge of Bournemouth tonight, he’s been a very effective plaster for the club. Unbeaten in four, three of those wins. Can see that each success has meant a lot to him too. #afcb

— Chris Wise (@chriswisey) February 17, 2021

Thoughts from this evening 💬

Hear from Jonathan Woodgate after our win over Rotherham at Vitality Stadium. #afcb 🍒

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) February 17, 2021

"That was an absolute grind"

They got the points though 👊#AFCB caretaker boss Jonathan Woodgate spoke to @kristemple after the Cherries saw off Rotherham United this evening 🔊👇 pic.twitter.com/bZ6uD2ioRG

— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) February 17, 2021

"We knew it was going to be a horrible game"#AFCB defender Adam Smith thought the side really battled tonight

He spoke to @kristemple after the 1-0 win over Rotherham

Listen to his reaction 🔊👇 pic.twitter.com/8PlGZdSiyY

— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) February 17, 2021

https://twitter.com/lloydkelly4/status/1362336644645478406?s=20

red_house wrote…

No lack of effort

Some ideas lacking but we battled like every other team has done against us this season.

I think Woodgate just told them to play ugly. None of this sideways crap we’ve seen, even Kelly was looking to get it forward. Clearly, it was all about the result.

SteveJonesLegend wrote…

I agree with you on this but… this is now 3 ugly league wins… At some point, we need to start seeing performances that match our ambitions…

Happy with 3 points, but desperately want to see a team performance again, and not 11 individuals trying to blag their way through 90 mins…

ChampagneCherry wrote…

We have gained 4 points on Brentford in two games, who a short time ago looked out of reach. They have become beatable and we are now hard to score against, let alone beat.

The most important thing this month had to be results. I saw a game where we were on top, took our goal and choose to defend it for our 12th clean sheet of the year. From the goal onwards, how we played didn’t suit the stats or many of the players, but it did suit our defensive unit. In particular, call it ugly if you like, but we did attempt a significant number of low percentage but safe longer passes (clearances) rather than get caught in our half with short passes.

What we would have liked is a 2nd on the counter-attack to allow us to be more expansive.

On their chances and how many saves Bego makes, we generally are so solid that we have only conceded a goal every other game from open play, so if we don’t give them a set play, Bego saves quite a few longer shots that don’t trouble him. The one real chance they had was the one he saved when they were offside.

Looking at the last 3 games of the season, if we can beat Brentford at home in late April, maybe with supporters back in, then our final 2 are winnable. In contrast, the others have to play each other and have tough away games. Therefore, if we can close the gap by 2 points every 6 games, then we give ourselves a chance at Automatic, but either way a solid play-off position.

We shouldn’t forget no matter how talented we think some players are, this is a tough league so maybe we can accept there isn’t a need to invent reasons why everything is broken when we’re not doing that bad, and instead give the players credit for what they have achieved thus far rather than slate them for achieving our dream season. – Join the conversation, click here.