IT remains to be seen whether Paul Groves’s application for the vacant Cherries manager’s job will be successful.

His probationary period ended with a workmanlike, if unspectacular, victory over a downtrodden and dispirited Preston North End outfit.

While Cherries’ owners Eddie Mitchell and Maxim Demin ponder their options, the groundswell of supporter opinion suggests Groves would not be the preferred choice.

A number of reasons have been cited, including a lack of experience and little improvement in performances since he took the reins.

Groves is considered by many as the “cheap option”, while some fans are convinced he and Shaun Brooks, his likely number two, would simply be Mitchell’s “yes men”.

And with a former international manager and ex-Cherries favourite Steve Robinson understood to have shown an interest, the appointment of Groves |and Brooks would indicate a lack of ambition, claim some supporters.

The task of finding a suitable replacement for Lee Bradbury is not a popularity contest and Mitchell and Demin have been charged with making arguably the most important managerial decision in the club’s recent history.

A second season of underachievement could have catastrophic consequences. Supporters weaned on attractive and free-flowing football will not tolerate a repetition of the dross served up for large parts of the past nine months.

And although Demin has yet to show his hand, he is probably keen to start seeing a return on his vast investment, with potentially disastrous repercussions in store should he ever lose interest and pull the plug.

Only Bradbury will know how he managed to transform a hugely talented group of players – fortified at great expense in January – from promotion contenders to relegation candidates in the space of a month.

And while some feel performances since Bradbury’s departure may have shown little in the way of improvement, Groves, at his interview, could justifiably have pointed to being saddled with his predecessor’s portfolio.

Left to pick up the pieces in March, Groves has resisted the temptation to publicly criticise or blame Bradbury, a tactic often used as an easy excuse by incoming managers to defend the start of their tenure.

A measured and thoughtful character, Groves has also indicated that he is unlikely to leave himself open to ridicule during interview or court headlines for the wrong reasons. Hyperbole and hysteria are not in his vocabulary.

His team would probably not have been the better side for the first two minutes before they went 3-0 down in the early stages at Sheffield Wednesday or needed to score more goals after scoring none at Oldham.

A strict disciplinarian, Groves acknowledges the current squad is capable of mounting a challenge but insists ability alone will not lead to success. In his short time at the helm, the 46-year-old has already had to deal with several off-field issues.

“Everybody recognises there is a degree of ability within the team,” said Groves, whose eight-match spell yielded 10 points. “But it’s not just about ability. There is hard work, organisation and discipline, on and off the pitch.

“There are lots of areas that need to be addressed and, if they are, then I am sure this football club, with the backing the owners are prepared to give, is more than capable of making strides.”

Having seen Cherries concede leads in their past two games, Groves must have had one eye on the clock as a late flurry of Preston pressure briefly threatened to cancel out Charlie Daniels’s 51st-minute penalty.

Groves said: “They had a spell towards the end but I felt we looked reasonably comfortable. You are always looking to improve and the improvement would be that we controlled that period of the game.”

Daniels rifled home from the spot after Donal McDermott had been tripped by Luke Clark. The goal, Cherries’ 23rd in as many league games at Seward Stadium, ensured they would end the season with the fewest at home since 1925, when 21 games were played.

Their profligacy was summed up when Wes Thomas, who has had a beast of a time having netted just once in his past 18 games, lost his footing and fell over when clean through in the closing stages.

It was perhaps an appropriate end to what has been a season to forget, highlighted by the most muted and apathetic final-day celebrations in recent history when supporters even had to be coerced on to the pitch.