Bournemouth ready for Premier League challenge

With under a week to go till the start of the season the questions will start to be asked. Facing a weak Aston Villa team, it was quite clear that their biggest problem this season will be finding the net. We were free-scoring past year. What the team lack in experience they thrive in work rate and flair. In fact, Bournemouth have brought in a total of seven players despite only spending £8 million. We’ve got the smallest ground in Premier League history – 12,000 if you round it up.

Perhaps even more impressive than giving his players a chance to test themselves against some of the world’s elite is the fact that Howe will be doing things his way.

“He’s a great signing and he’s been brilliant in pre-season”. Look for Mings to have a breakout season. We need to consolidate and improve again. All the newly promoted sides feature Scots, while plenty of other internationals will be hoping to assure their places in Gordon’s squad with their displays down south. Here’s who to keep an eye on…

Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores has replaced Slavisa Jokanovic as manager, while player recruitment has been high at Vicarage Road in an attempt to boost their survival chances.

Slogging away in League Two led to this path for O’Kane, who was born in the Co Derry village of Feeny but opted to play for the Republic, winning U21 caps, and following team-mate Harry Arter in the senior squad is a real aim. A Junior Cherries meal cost £2.50 last season and the price remains the same, while a season ticket for an adult and child in the family stand averages out at under £22 a game. The Argentine almost looked like he was managing the club last season at times so to lose such an influential figure is massive for the club.

While the 2015-16 campaign will surely be testing for Bournemouth and Atsu, the Ghana winger must be dying to get out onto the field and prove that he can be a decisive operator in the Premier League. How they respond to losses this season will be key.

The re-signing of Dick Advocaat could be the best bit of business Sunderland do this summer.

The midfielder joined the Cherries from Middlesbrough this week, signing a three-year deal. “Midfield players who are good on the ball”. The pressure of surviving the drop the first time out, and retaining Premier League status is enormous, with Bournemouth, Norwich and Watford set for a testing and stressful campaign.

It is poised to be one of the standout matches of the weekend, and Howe, who has presided over the club’s stunning three promotions to the top tier of English football, is hopeful a challenging off-season will pay dividends this term.

Tim Sherwood will assess several of his new players before deciding whether to hand them their Aston Villa debuts.

It isn’t really a weakness, but they haven’t tasted defeat much recently.

“We want to stay in the Premier League for a long spell and if we want to be there for four, five, six years we have to play good football”. The club name was changed to Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club in 1923 and further shortened to AFC Bournemouth in 1972. Will there be other clubs in the mix this year?