Reading v AFCB - Lowlights & Reaction

AFC Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall went into the game making just two changes from the side that had creeped past covid stricken fourth-tier side Crawley Town just a few days earlier.

This saw a return of the back four with a shakey Chris Mepham on the right side of a centre-back pairing of Steve Cook, Lloyd Kelly picked up an injury in the FA Cup match so Diego Rico was a left-back with Jack Stacey at right-back.

The central midfield boasted England Under-20 World Cup-winning captain Lewis Cook, Colombia international Jefferson Lerma and Denmark international Philip Billing. A trio which combined cost in the region of £50million and has all the potential and individual quality to dominate any midfield. Waiting in the wings on the bench was former England international Jack Wilshere with his undoubted individual excellence.

Against Reading and far too often this season, however, as a unit, a team it was poor.

Upfront it was Dominic Solanke supported by Danjuma and Joshua King, a trio which is yet to show any form of cohesion, link-up or intelligence together.

After the match, Tindall told Sky Sports…

“It was a disappointing first half. Individual responsibility let us down and we gave ourselves a mountain to climb, especially with conceding two goals from set-plays. The goal right on half-time made it extremely difficult for us.

“There are still 60 points to play for. There’s opportunity with the way the Championship is and how thick and fast the games come. There’s another game on Tuesday and we certainly need to perform and get a result. There’s no two ways about that.”

Man of the match against Reading

Err

Umm

Stanislas?

No one

An honest assessment from the boss after a tough evening 👇#afcb 🍒

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) January 30, 2021

"We don't want to associate ourselves with that kind of performance"

Jack Stacey labelled Bournemouth's first half display as "embarrassing"

Listen to @jackstacey_ with @kristemple 🔊👇 #afcb pic.twitter.com/MYLQ6gjktR

— BBC Radio Solent Sport (@solentsport) January 29, 2021

Written by Red_Dez

First and foremost sort out the roles behind the scenes, it’s embarrassing. Jason Tindall claiming he doesn’t know what’s going on with player contracts, miscommunication with Billing (suspect someone at the club pulled him out of that game thinking we were going to offload him to Newcastle), claiming the future of the club is the young players then watching Josh King welcomed back from exile at the expense of Surridge, watching Rico, Lerma, Billing putting in substandard performances week after week then rewarded with a starting place whilst the likes of Zemura, Oforbh, Simpson don’t get a look in and eventually get farmed out. Wouldn’t surprise me if the men behind the scenes are telling JT who needs to play so as to keep them in the shop window.

I can understand wanting to change the setup of the club after Howe’s top to bottom control, but we are trying to implement it without anyone experienced in that type of setup managing the transition – there are obviously lots of things not being managed well and whilst there are huge question marks over JT’s tactical acumen right now I do wonder how much is being forced on him….and in doing so, it’s no surprise half the squad are seeing through it and not putting the appropriate effort in.

Max and Hughes need to take some accountability for this situation. – Join the conversation, click here.

langham wrote…

Improved second half but still woeful for much of the game. Centre Backs wobbly, midfield was largely absent until Wilshere arrived. Lack of commitment and energy throughout until the last 20 minutes.

There’s something amiss in this squad and I’m guessing JT lacks both tactical qualities and man-management skills. We may have to look elsewhere because the squad is capable of far, far better. Put this together with the Derby shambles and it’s a grim picture. – Join the conversation, click here.

AFCB_Liam wrote…

There are plenty of players who need to take a long, hard look at themselves. Teams going down from the prem can either roll up their sleeves and fight to get back up or believe their own hype and wait for a move away. Too many in the second camp for us. – Join the conversation, click here.