Andy Munro watches as Blues go down 3-1 to AFC Bournemouth.
Yet another reverse, and now we’ve got a fortnight of stewing on two back to back defeats. In fairness, while I’m angry it’s about the one that got away in midweek rather than an almost expected defeat against a Bournemouth side who still have plenty of Premier League quality to call on.
If Riley McGree had scored after two minutes instead of scuffing his attempt, the story might have been different but nobody 
can deny the Cherries’ overall superiority. While the Blues side selected looked decent tactically, I still question Aitor Karanka’s revolving door selection policy. For example, when a player comes in after a period out he is never going to be razor sharp, with Maikel Kleftenbeld being the latest example.
Personally, I think that Karanka needs to pick his strongest side for whichever is his preferred formation (and that’s a question in itself) and stick with that for at least two or three games. To worry about burn out after just one game makes me question whether the players are fit.
On the plus side it was good to see Scott Hogan get a goal, although hauling him off soon afterwards may negate some of the desperately needed confidence that the goal will have given him. Jeremie Bela also looked bright when he came on and he is one of the few game changers that we have. In fact, overall it wasn’t a bad performance; maybe six out of ten against a side who unfortunately rated eight or nine.
We now have some winnable games ahead of us starting with the Sky Blues so let’s hope Karanka decides to Kerank it up and go on the front foot to put pressure on the opposition and not the other way round. It’s still early days for our new manager with a squad of players that probably are still learning each others names, but…
