CHERRIES have this evening released the following statement to the club's official website, following intense speculation over the future of manager Kevin Bond.

  • "Cherries chairman Jeff Mostyn has ended speculation over the future of manager Kevin Bond by offering Kevin the full support of the board for the foreseeable future.

The statement was made following a meeting that took place between the chairman, Steve Sly and the manager at the football club this morning.

The chairman went on to say, that, everyone at the football club has understandably been disappointed with the results so far this season, but there are many factors to be taken into consideration."

STATEMENT BY JEFF MOSTYN

When Steve Sly and I got involved with the club last October, many people were interested, or at least said they were interested, in investing in the club.

By the time we took over the club in March, there we only two people left to save the club from disaster, Steve and I.

Without our commitment then and our continued commitment now, there is every possibility that there would not be a football club to support.

Many people have said the club has been in steady decline since the Winter Gardens days of 1997.

Certainly, 10 years on, the financial position of the club would indicate those comments have some justification about them.

We inherited close to £4m worth of debt and spend every day trying to pay off creditors in order for the club to survive.

To date, only one other investor, John Piper, has made a significant financial contribution to help the club going forward.

The effect of the debt means that there has been limited money to spend on players. Last year, Kevin had the support of Playershare, providing support for up to 10 loan players. This year they have been unable to provide the same support. The result has been that the club has had to pick up the loan player wages in addition to permanent staff.

Few people are aware that we made great efforts to attract additional quality players to the club in our attempt to support Kevin and strengthen the squad. Offers were made for Steve Lovell, Paul Furlong, Martin Paterson and David McGoldrick. We actually offered more money than they are currently being paid.

At the start of the season it was very much "work in progress" both on and off the pitch. Kevin understandably wanted to change a squad of players who were not performing and had not performed for some time. I believe we had averaged just over a point per game over the two seasons prior to Kevin's arrival.

The position we're in now is no different, other than currently Kevin has only 12 fit players to choose from and we are all expecting miracles.

Even at the beginning of the season it was going to be "work in progress" with the team.

We were aware that the squad had to be strengthened gradually to have a chance of competing in this division. We started with some encouraging displays and then the Northampton Town match arrived and a player injury crisis followed.

To call for the manager to be replaced in these circumstances is ludicrous. The manager is going nowhere.

I do not think any manager would take on this job at present, with 12 fit players to select from and no ability to bring in new players. There may also be a raised eyebrow if I also asked a new manager to work without any pay.

This is the time for everyone associated with AFC Bournemouth to galvanise together and give their full support to me personally, the board, the manager, the players and staff.

This is your football club. We need you to support its survival.