When the final whistle went at the Vitality Stadium, there was an atmosphere at Bournemouth you have yet to see since the Cherries joined the Premier League, genuine worry about Premier League survival and the future of manager Eddie Howe.
This is the worst spell in the clubs Premier League history as they suffered their ninth loss in eleven games, without a win since their early November win over Manchester United. With only a draw against Arsenal and surprise win away at Chelsea the only points they’ve picked up. This has seen them drop into the relegation zone, currently placed 19th and two points off safety. They face a relegation six-pointer away at Norwich on Saturday and a loss in this game could be one which really confirms the trouble the south coast side are in.
Eddie Howe has been manager since 2008 with the exception of the short period in between the two spells at the club where he managed Burnley, but for the first time, he looks in danger of losing his job and is now the bookies favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked. Howe was linked with the Arsenal and England jobs at the peak of his time at Bournemouth and whilst the chances of those jobs are now hanging by a thread, being sacked by the Cherries will all but end those hopes.
Eddie Howe living on borrowed time?
A few years ago you would never have thought Eddie Howe would be sacked after the job he has done at the club but then we were introduced to the sackings of Claudio Ranieri and Mauricio Pochettino. These days no manager is safe and it only takes a few bad results for owners to panic and hand out the P45.
The question is what do Bournemouth do now? They have to get results right and get the likes of Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser back to their best and get Harry Wilson at the standard he set at the start of the season.
I feel that Bournemouth will be fine but I can also see it all going horribly wrong. Even though they are in bad form I feel that the sacking of Eddie Howe would not do the club any favours. Look at when Blackburn sacked Allardyce and when Pulis left Stoke. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
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