AFC Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic versus L'Aston Villa Pre Match Thread.

[Smirker]

Mr Merson reckons that if we lose on Saturday we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.
Is he serious, it is a bit early doors for doom n gloom.
Seriously merse, grow up.

 

I can see what he's getting at though.

[BoskoDjembaSalifou]

Mr Merson reckons that if we lose on Saturday we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.
Is he serious, it is a bit early doors for doom n gloom.
Seriously merse, grow up.

I genuinely can't believe he gets paid to give his opinion on football.

[silhillvilla]

Mr Merson reckons that if we lose on Saturday we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.
Is he serious, it is a bit early doors for doom n gloom.
Seriously merse, grow up.

he ain't the brightest so I wouldn't worry too much

[Toronto Villa]

Pretty much everyone expects them to win. I do too. But hopefully that will play in our favour.

Any fitness updates on the likes of gestede, gabby?

who's everyone? Because I very doubt that and certainly not everyone on here.

Betting markets are probably the best indication of popular consensus. Bournemouth evens, us 3-1. Most pundits too.

I think we could do with the season starting in a week or two.

If Tim can get the sort of reaction he did for much of last season we'll be fine but I think we'll need to do some adjusting. Bacuna in midfield and Kozak up front won't fill me with too much confidence

Bloody hell Matt, are we playing Chelsea away or something? I know last didn't quite go as planned but it's not like the squad is even the same. Have some faith, grow a pair and stop being so bloody miserable. It's a new season, be happy. There's plenty of time this season to get depressed surely not before it's all got going.

[KRS]

I hope TS and the staff have drummed it into the players this week the difference in pace of the game between preseason and Premier League. I fully expect Bournemouth will come out of the traps fast so they need to be focused from the first whistle and ride the storm early on...ideally grab a couple of goals on the counter and be clinical in front of goal.

[silhillvilla]

At our very shittest last season we beat Bournemouth. Let's not forget that.

[LTA]

Mr Merson reckons that if we lose on Saturday we will find ourselves in a relegation battle.
Is he serious, it is a bit early doors for doom n gloom.
Seriously merse, grow up.

 

I can see what he's getting at though.

Merse has a point.  We are such an unknown quantity this season and have lost two key players.  Bournemouth is the sort of game we need to win.

[OCD]

Merson's on TV because he's an idiot though. People laugh at the way he constantly messes up the pronunciation of players names so he's therefore considered entertaining. It shouldn't really be a surprise that he thinks that one game, the first game at that, might determine a side's whole season. No wonder he's a failed manager.

[LukeJames]

Mersons a fucking genius! "If you take away a couple of the good results they had last year they could struggle" You know were you heard it first come May.

[silhillvilla]

Was at a sportsmans lunch last Xmas in brum where he spoke. 95% was about arsenal and 4% about his time at Boro, 1% villa. As he was in brum you'd have thought he may have adjusted his repertoire a bit.
Ray parlour was far more entertaining.

[dave.woodhall]

It's sad when a talented sportsman has to play court jester to get a job. See also Lloyd, David.

[OCD]

Is he playing court jester or is he one and Sky have taken delight in using it?

[silhillvilla]

Is he playing court jester or is he one and Sky have taken delight in using it?

Bit of both, he ain't mensa yet he ain't 100% retard . He's created a certain brand that sky need to offset others.

[Matt Collins]

Pretty much everyone expects them to win. I do too. But hopefully that will play in our favour.

Any fitness updates on the likes of gestede, gabby?

who's everyone? Because I very doubt that and certainly not everyone on here.

Betting markets are probably the best indication of popular consensus. Bournemouth evens, us 3-1. Most pundits too.

I think we could do with the season starting in a week or two.

If Tim can get the sort of reaction he did for much of last season we'll be fine but I think we'll need to do some adjusting. Bacuna in midfield and Kozak up front won't fill me with too much confidence

Bloody hell Matt, are we playing Chelsea away or something? I know last didn't quite go as planned but it's not like the squad is even the same. Have some faith, grow a pair and stop being so bloody miserable. It's a new season, be happy. There's plenty of time this season to get depressed surely not before it's all got going.

I'm not miserable. I'm looking forward to this season more than I have in ages. I think we'll be fine and fun to watch. I think we'll finish above West Ham and possibly palace and Everton

I just think we're going to lose on Saturday

[cdbearsfan]

Has there been any other season, where we've been 3rd in the league, alphabetically?

No. We've been in the top flight at the same time as both Accrington and Arsenal but never at the same time as the former had disappeared before the latter cheated their way into the First Division.

The only other A-team we've played in league football is Saturday's opposition in the 1971-72 Third Division.