Four steps to surrender

Bournemouth 4, Athletic 1

ABJECT Athletic fell into the relegation zone due to the least spirited half of football produced all season.

At the interval, having kept Bournemouth and their supporters quiet, the prospect of a point appeared good for under-pressure Paul Dickov and his men.

By the time the final whistle had put an end to their misery, the only semblance of appetite remaining was for collecting petty yellow cards.

The defending to concede four times in 45 minutes was one thing – woeful – and the attacking was little better. The less said about the midfield, the better. This team melted away like butter in the midday sun.

Let’s examine the four goals which extended Athletic’s poor run to one league win in six matches: –

GOAL ONE: Harry Arter was allowed to roam and set himself not once but twice, before scuffing a 25-yard shot which fell fortuitously at hat-trick hero Lewis Grabban’s feet. The former Boundary Park loan striker simply poked home. Nobody closed down Arter.

GOAL TWO: Just over a minute later, Jean-Yves Mvoto’s weak clearance fell to full-back Simon Francis, who crossed low from the right. Grabban got in front of Cliff Byrne to clinically side-foot the ball past helpless Bouzanis. Mvoto should have cleared the stand.

GOAL THREE: Athletic couldn’t cope with runners from deep and, blind panic caused Mvoto to throw himself into an ugly foul on Arter. The midfielder got up straight away to assume the penalty responsibility. Though his spot-kick was superbly saved by Bouzanis, Mvoto was not as hungry to claim the follow-up as Grabban. Athletic had already given up.

GOAL FOUR: Athletic invoked more Dog and Duck defending to let Charlie Daniels skip into the box and plant a free header from a Marc Pugh set-piece high into the net. It was the sour cherry on a cake of relegation fodder.

Matt Smith’s late response, a second shot on target the team managed in the whole game (out of touch Jose Baxter was the other man to test former England ‘keeper David James) may look meaningless.

But after a third of the season, the man who has started games only twice in 2012-13 perhaps showed in his neat headed flick from Reece Wabara’s cross a way forward in at least causing discomfort for the opposition.

Athletic are currently incapable of reproducing the sort of football of the kind which destroyed teams only last month.

Three-goal Smith has scored only one fewer than Matt Derbyshire this term. The on-loan Forest man has recently been left feeding on scraps, whereas the 6ft 6inch Smith poses  problems for defenders on the back of deliveries of a lesser quality.

He may just be perfect for the massive game at rock-bottom Hartlepool tomorrow.

Athletic failed to make even five-yard passes here. Perhaps it is time for a change in tactics, utilising Smith’s strengths from the start. The current plan isn’t working, after all.

Athletic were without their captain (Dean Furman) and vice-captain (James Wesolowski); Bournemouth were bouncing into the game on a run of six wins in seven games under the watch of talismanic boss Eddie Howe.

But the 209 Athletic fans who had made the journey still had every right to expect more fight of the kind which showed itself in the first half.

Robbie Simpson and Youssouf Mchangama won enough second balls in midfield to keep the visitors holding firm.

The only chances Bournemouth had in that time were down to slips on a greasy surface and even then, Bouzanis wasn’t tested.

The closest the home side came was a long-range shot from Lee Barnard which landed on the roof of the net threeminutes b efore half-time.

After that? The second half was shambolic at best, spineless at worst.

Boosted by a bank account totalling goodness-knows how many petrochemical roubles from Russian investors, ambitious Bournemouth suddenly had threats swarming all over the pitch.

Pugh schooled Reece Wabara on the Cherries’ left flank, Josh McQuoid terrorised all over the field and Grabban’s pace running direct and straight downfield with the ball – something Athletic simply do not manage themselves – caused all sorts of misery.

As the carnage unfolded in front of him, Dickov folded his arms, furrowed his brow and stood motionless in his technical area. Assistant Gerry Taggart was two yards behind, hands in pockets. There was nothing to be done but wait for it all to end.

Trudging stony-faced past the journalists waiting to conduct the post-match autopsy with downcast Dickov, Athletic’s players clearly knew they had failed their manager.

Against Crewe, Preston and Sheffield United, the same men deposited points into the bank through fine performances.

After this horrible defeat, the credit has been entirely used up. Athletic are in the red zone.