Bournemouth V Aston Villa at Goldsands Stadium

For decades, genteel Bournemouth was known primarily as one of the most popular retirement spots on England s south coast and the lethargic efforts of the local football team were in keeping with that sedentary image. The list of things to do was unbelievable.

He certainly looked comfortable in his new workplace. We believe he is ready to make the step up and look forward to seeing him play in the Premier League.

In the new pavilion is a space-age hydrotherapy room, underwater treadmill to aid recovery, plunge pools, a state-of-the-art medical room, a sports science facility, a recruitment office and a video suite.

I’m not sure Tim Sherwood is the right man to mould a bunch of Ligue 1 players into a solid Premier League outfit and he’s gambled up front in a bid to improve what was a paltry tally last season.

“We are very keen to get going”. A quantum leap from a bike and a medicine ball. They are overselling limited additions and relying on the gradual destruction of the fans’ ambition to keep them turning up each week and parting with their hard-earned cash.

Mostyn remembers: “We’ve come a long way since 2008. But there are a lot of good players now in the squad, so I just have to work hard”.

Watford have spent over £23million assembling a new team and I wouldn’t be keen on backing the Hornets at 4/6 to go down, with their most crucial signing that of former Atletico Madrid boss Quique Sanchez Flores.

But Elphick also admitted: “We are not going to win as many games as we have been used to in previous seasons so that will be a big task for us, overcoming defeats when we get them”.

The club underwent a facelift thanks to the inspired management of Eddie Howe and the subsequent investment of Russian benefactor Maxim Demin, whose petrochemical fortune has bankrolled them since 2011.

“When I was going home from Everton, I wasn’t really thinking I was going to be back again in the Premier League“. When the Frenchman lifted the FA Cup as Portsmouth skipper in 2008, Pompey were Premier League stalwarts while a bust and battered Bournemouth had just been relegated to League Two.

Mostyn says: “What will it be like at five to three tomorrow?” It is well established now that keeping a clean sheet is far more valuable than scoring a goal, and if the goals-against column reads under 50 you have a good chance of cracking the top half. People who have supported the club for 40, 50, 60 years will be there. We have been working hard towards this moment during pre-season, so it has been very intense work.

“There will be nerves”. So will be interesting to see how 2 players who both hit the 20 goals mark from the Championship last season in Wilson for us and Gestede for Villa do in the higher league. Nobody expects us to do well. “Bournemouth are probably starting from a position slightly ahead of Watford because most of Howe’s team will still be together when they kick off the first game of the season”, he said. There are no surprises that we’re voting for Norwich; the Canaries earned promotion via the play-offs and have failed to add real quality to the side with their transfer activity consisting of Mulumbu, Dorrans, Brady and Andre Wisdom on loan.