AFC Bournemouth League One promotion: part two - Eddie Howe returns

We have spoken with some of the players who played big roles in that League One campaign, and have a series of pieces to bring you, looking back at some of the key moments from the season.

After the poor start under Paul Groves, it was time for a popular face to return…

“AS SOON as Ed came back, the whole place just changed.”

In need of a lift and some sort of inspiration to haul the talented group of players up the League One table, Cherries turned to the best man possible.

Early season struggles under Paul Groves had left Cherries struggling down near the third tier relegation zone.

Having kept the club afloat from going out of the Football League in 2009, Howe guided them to promotion the following campaign and started well in League One in 2010-11.

But he opted to leave and move up into the Championship midway through that campaign to join Burnley.

Fast forward to October 2012 and everything aligned for Howe to make a hero’s return. Keen for a move back down south, Howe decided to step down back into the third tier.

His presence alone sparked Cherries into life. Caretaker Dennis Rofe oversaw a home game with Leyton Orient as Howe and assistant Jason Tindall watched on from the stands a day after his return was confirmed.

With just one win in their first 11 games, Cherries sat in the relegation zone, but goals from Lewis Grabban and Marc Pugh against the O’s got them on the march.

• Part one: Cherries 'all over the place' as Groves loses his job

Howe then took charge, guiding the team to a remarkable 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Reflecting on that period of change, right-back Simon Francis, who played 48 games that season, told the Daily Echo: “You could see that obviously Dennis wasn’t the man for the job. He was a nice enough guy, but if anything, the lads would’ve taken advantage of him in that period and not taken it seriously enough really.

“Not until the noise of Ed coming back. We had spoken to Hughesy (Richard Hughes) a little bit, because he was obviously close with him and he was in the dressing room at the time.

“I just remember the impact the day he came back. It was like almost everything changed there and then.

“The first beach walk we had, when he went round individually, every single player, which was really impressive.

“And knew all the players’ strengths and weaknesses, had a good chat for five or 10 minutes.

“For me, he didn’t have to do that at all. He could’ve had a meeting with us and impressed us that way, but he took us down the beach and spoke to everyone one by one.

“Right from there and then he just made everyone feel really welcome and connected really, which was what we were missing over the past six months prior to that.”

Fellow defender Tommy Elphick added: “I think anticipation of him was huge.

“Even the game that he was around to watch but wasn’t even involved in, that just brought more out of lads straightaway, performance-wise.

“Even the lads that maybe you would not have as your strongest XI were going above and beyond what they were capable of, just in that game with the presence of Ed and JT coming back.

“The first day he walked in, on the Monday, we went down the beach.

“You could just feel there was a real personal side to him, a side that he wanted to know everyone and your background and how he was going to take you forward.

“He was just really interested in the person behind the player, which was huge for that group, because we’d all had a lot of setbacks at the time. And the way he brought all those stories back to channel us and to motivate us as a team was phenomenal really.”

Elphick continued: “I remember his first training session, I think Kevin Bond had come in to watch and he just did a real standard four-team tournament.

“Everyone had to bring 20 quid in each and the winning team took the prize home.

“It was just little techniques like that that he had that showed us the importance of winning and taught us techniques of how to win and set up and got us thinking straightaway.”

Those sentiments were echoed by midfielder Wes Fogden, who was in fact ruled out through injury when Howe returned.

When fit again, he made his mark, netting in a 4-0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge in the FA Cup in early November.

Fogden went on to feature regularly, albeit often off the bench, for the rest of the campaign.

“As soon as Ed came back, the whole place just changed,” he recalled.

“The fans changed because of what he had done before, but just how we brought everyone together and made every individual feel important and part of the squad.

“The detail in training - I was watching Newcastle last season when he first took over, and the things that he had them doing, which they weren't doing before he came into his role, was exactly the same as what he wanted to do with us.

“Hard work, overlaps, underlaps, creating two-v-ones, and you can see why he's doing so well up at Newcastle now.”

Fogden added: “I think my first game under Eddie was in the FA Cup, I’d come off the bench and scored.

“That kind of kickstarted me after injury and I think Eddie trusted me after that moment.

“Obviously it was a great season, but I knew my place in the squad and what my job was and what my role was.

“It was just a great time to be there and playing under probably the best manager, or one of the best managers in England and in world football, in my opinion.”

Howe’s first game back in charge saw Cherries welcome unbeaten league leaders Tranmere Rovers to Dean Court. After 12 games of the campaign, they were already seven points clear at the top.

Cherries trailed at half-time, only to storm back and win 3-1 with Francis among the scorers.

He smashed in from around 25 yards when a free-kick was tapped to him to shoot. It was his first goal for the club and, in over 250 further appearances, he would only score twice more.

Asked if he thought Howe was about to turn him into a goalscoring full-back after netting in his first game in charge, Francis said: “I didn’t score many since then! I don’t know where it had come from.

“I think I was on free-kicks and corners at the time. I remember he likened me to Kieran Trippier, Ed did. I thought he was taking the p*ss to be honest!

“I know Trippier has got a lot better delivery, but it was nice of him to say that.

“I don’t think he kept me on set-pieces for long after that. He preferred me either at the back or trying to get my head on them in the box.”

He added: “The first session that he (Howe) came in, connected the group straightaway, built a competitiveness that we needed, built a desire to win and the unbeaten run straightaway was 17 games.

“You could just tell from then. The run we were on. Everyone started to believe, everyone knew the direction we wanted to go in, it just couldn’t have been a more perfect time for him to come in, to be honest.”

Midway through that run saw the return to the club of another popular face in Brett Pitman.

Like Howe, Pitman had played a key role in keeping the club up in 2009 before helping them to promotion the following year.

The Championship came calling in the summer of 2010, the striker departing to join Bristol City, signing off with a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Peterborough United.

In November 2012, he returned as Howe’s first signing, quickly getting among the goals as he forged a partnership with Lewis Grabban up front.

Reflecting on his expectations when stepping down to rejoin Cherries, Pitman said: “I think just seeing where the season went, really.

“When I signed Eddie had taken over not too far before, and I think since he had taken over, they were unbeaten.

“We ended up going on a long unbeaten run. I joined partway through that.

“There was a belief within the squad that we had a good team, we had a good squad, and obviously, once Eddie come back, we had a very good manager, so I think there was belief that we could do well. But promotion probably wasn't really spoken about.”

Pitman added: “I just remember us being a real good team at that level.

“I think if Eddie would have had us from the start of the season, we would have got comfortably over 100 points.”

Check back to our website tomorrow for part three of the League One promotion: A decade on story, as a five-game losing run threatened to derail the club’s bid to reach the Championship.