THE carpets running through the corridors of Dean Court must be looking fairly lumpy these days.

It appears that, despite our leader article yesterday urging Jeff Mostyn and Steve Sly to step up to the plate and either back or sack manager Kevin Bond, the broom has been grabbed with four hands and the brushing under the Axminster continues.

Yes, the unlikely duo saved an ailing club from almost certain extinction. And for that, we are all grateful - not least this newspaper, which has a duty to its readership to be first with the news filtering out of Dean Court.

With that in mind, we have taken a brave step as a newspaper in demanding, with uncharacteristic aggression, answers from the powers-that-be who reside a mile or so up the A338.

Now it is time for Mr Sly and Mr Mostyn to show some of the same character and mettle that bubbles under the foundations of their football club.

Once again, the Echo was unable to contact either Mr Mostyn or Mr Sly yesterday - and with just two days sandwiched between this morning's paper and Cherries' must-win home clash against Walsall on Saturday, even the hard-nosed hacks of Richmond Hill have been surprised by such a catastrophic PR blunder.

We realise we are not the only vehicle for communication, as the club has its own website which it could use to address the fears of the fans.

But even their own mouthpiece has been sadly lacking any input from the owners of late.

The Cherries faithful, that loyal band of paying, hardy supporters who Mr Mostyn and Mr Sly appear to have forgotten, has overwhelmingly backed yesterday's editorial calling for the board to remove the shutters and speak up.

But still there is silence, still there are unanswered questions and still it looks very likely that the Fitness First Stadium could be about to witness its lowest ever crowd this weekend.

Like the fans who continue to stick their hands deep into their pockets, however, the Echo will be at Dean Court on Saturday and the headline-writers will be begging for words laden with positivity and progress after weeks of uncertainty.

But what we could end up with is more of the same: A pressured Bond, whose true belief that he can turn around Cherries' shocking run of results is possibly all that has stopped him from walking away, trying his hardest to keep the press at bay and doubtless fielding questions about his future.

And those above him? They will simply keep an increasingly undignified silence.