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As FDR said in 1933, we have nothing to fear but fear itself

As FDR said in 1933, we have nothing to fear but fear itself

For whatever reason — the seaside location, the tiny stadium, the club’s brush with oblivion until it was rescued by Eddie Howe — AFC Bournemouth seems to be regarded as a bit of a joke by some Newcastle United fans.

Any match against the Cherries is seen as three points for the taking, though the reality is somewhat different, especially on the South Coast.

In the 61 seasons since we first visited Dean Court aka the Vitality Stadium, United have won only three of 11 games. There have been five draws down there and three defeats, the most recent of which, last season, sparked the infamous exchange of views between Kieran Trippier and one of our disgruntled supporters.

Members of the Toon Army were less than delighted this August when they left Dorset after a 1-1 draw, though if VAR had not intervened to disallow a late home goal it would have been a pointless visit. Incidentally, the handball decision was one that Howard Webb’s review panel, which examines the work of VARs, who themselves study the on-field decisions (do try to keep up!) reckoned the goal should have stood. Next time we shout “VAR fix”, that’s worth remembering.

Our fans are by no means alone in looking down their noses at Bournemouth. There’s a general snootiness in the media and among supporters of what could be called heritage clubs, the ones with a long history and plenty of silver in their trophy cabinets, however dusty it might be.

That was shown by the almost universal outcry when Gary O’Neil was dismissed in June last year by the owners of the club formerly known as Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic. The consensus was: “What are they doing? He kept them in the Premier League? Isn’t that enough?”

The rentaquote pundits came out with the inevitable “careful what you wish for” nonsense. The sub-text was that fans of the Cherries should be grateful they were in the top flight and anything other than survival was unrealistic. Anyone who lived through the Ashley era knows that’s nonsense. He almost achieved the impossible feat of destroying all hope with his ambition-free regime.

O’Neil’s record was not that good: 20 defeats and only 11 wins from 37 games in the 2022-23 season. His replacement was what Alan Sugar might have called “yet another Johnny Foreigner”, a young coach who had worked in Cyprus and his native Spain. Andoni Iraola has transformed the way Bournemouth play, insisting on the high press with which he made his name at Rayo Vallecano.

On paper, his stats are not great: 21 wins, 12 draws and 22 defeats since replacing O’Neil. This season they have four wins, three draws and three defeats in the Premier League. Sounds familiar. Our record so far is identical, though Bournemouth are one place above us because their goal difference is plus-one while ours is zero.

Iraola has had to adjust after the club sold top scorer Dominic Solanke to Spurs for £55m a few days before the season kicked off. He had been signed by Howe five years earlier for £17m. It was a big investment on a young and unproven striker, one that didn’t work out in what became Howe’s last season in charge of Bournemouth. In 32 Premier League games the former Chelsea trainee scored only three goals, all at the end of an elongated campaign that saw Bournemouth relegated. Fast forward to last season and he notched 19 in 38 league games, helping Bournemouth to finish 12th.

They have done more than all right without him, beating Arsenal and Man City in their two most recent home games. Our draw down there in August now looks to be one point gained rather than two lost. Bournemouth should be respected by fans of other clubs and given due praise for their achievements. After all, we get hacked off when the BBC announces “Arsenal drop points” rather than “Newcastle beat Arsenal (again).”

Next up for the Mags is a meeting against another team arguably punching above their weight, Nottingham Forest. On Saturday night, after dispatching a woeful West Ham, they sat third in the table.

Forest gave us the runaround at St James’ Park last season, with Chris Wood poaching a Boxing Day hat-trick. We exacted revenge at the City Ground six weeks later, when a Bruno Guimaraes double helped us to win 3-2.

Three months ago we qualified on penalties after a 1-1 League Cup draw in Nottingham. This is not an easy fixture, regardless of our wins against Chelsea and Arsenal.

There’s a lesson here, one summed up by the fictional hero Jack (no middle name) Reacher: Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Eddie and his Hot Rods should be high on confidence. The team are playing far better than at the start of the season. Momentum is building. Man City, beset by the level of injuries that derailed us last season, are faltering. Arsenal are wobbling. Liverpool are leading the table, though they were comprehensively outplayed in the first half at Anfield by Brighton this weekend, who should have been three up.

Here’s another thought: we have nothing to fear but fear itself. That’s from the 1933 inaugural address of Franklin D Roosevelt. In the week of a US presidential election, as well as our visit to the City Ground, it seems somewhat apt.



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