 Hello and welcome to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast coming to you as ever from Vitality Stadium. We're here once again to bring you closer to some of the personalities connected to the club, be it staff, players, former players or management. Now for those of you who are new to our podcast, my name is Zoe Rundle and I'm part of the media team here at AFC Bournemouth. Today I'm once again in the company of the AFC Bournemouth Encyclopedia that is Neil Parrott who's been covering the club for over 30 years. Neil, thank you for joining us, it's been a strange September with just the two games but an unbeaten September nonetheless. Thank you, thank you Zoe. Very good September, started at the end of August, let's not forget with that fantastic point against Wolves, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, great results, manager nominated for manager, interim manager nominated for manager of the month, that just shows how good it was Zoe and long may it continue through October. Absolutely, well we've got a really exciting guest today who won two promotions with the cherries back in 2003 and 2010 plus he featured in the unforgettable great escape season of 2008-2009. He joined the academy coaching staff at Vitality Stadium in 2015 and was elevated to head coach of the under 18s in July 2017. In his five years at the helm the youth team have finished in the top two of the EFL Youth Alliance every season and in 2018-19 they reached the sixth round of the FA Youth Cup for just the second time in the club's history. So without further ado we're delighted to welcome Alan Connell onto our official AFC Bournemouth podcast. Alan, thank you for joining us, how are you doing? I'm very well thank you Zoe. Let's go back to where it all started for you Alan, tell us about your time in the academies at Tottenham and Ipswich. Great memories, I was playing Sunday league for Enfield Rangers, I'm from Enfield in North London, I very quickly got picked up by a few clubs were interested and a scout called Dicky Moss who's been, was at Tottenham for a number of years, was a regular at our games and I went trial and obviously signed I think I was eight years old at the time so I would have been under nines and that's six years there that were interesting, there's some real highs in there, some lows and it probably shaped obviously a large part of my playing career and obviously now I'm coaching, I can sort of relate back to them times and think about why is it coaches acted how they acted or how I dealt with situations but I far enjoyed the experience, all bit of very different academies compared to the modern day one and then Ipswich, it was a great experience, I was I didn't get a scholarship at Tottenham, I went to college for a year in South London, it really made me grow up and stand a mine two feet and become independent and getting a train across from north to south London every day and it was a football program along with a sports science course and a two-year course but halfway through doing that and performing for the college in some rough situations when being honest it made me grow up but I thought I did quite well and after going for a period of being probably a late mature and not being physically capable really at 15-16 by the time I was 16-17 I was in a better place and when I went on trial Ipswich I was in a place where I could go and have a real impact and I did that on trial and had two years there as part of the youth team and a very successful youth team with some players that went on that great careers and I look back at my two years at Ipswich probably the biggest building blocks in my playing career because I just learnt so much of some really good people around me. Two fantastic clubs and both gave you a really good grounding Alan, they didn't give you any first team football and you got that opportunity when you signed for Bournemouth you were only 19 just tell us how the move came about. I was getting released by Ipswich I was nowhere near the first team with regards playing I didn't even I don't think I even play for reserves 18-19 year old but that disappointed me but the quality was really high around me people like Darren Bent was in front of me as a fellow striker so I knew I wasn't going to make the grade there but I just used every day to improve myself as much as I could I go into my day off the old classic bag of balls sort of thing on my own and I did that every week and I just took everything I could out of it and then I went to some exit trials that were at Lillishall and I had a good few days there and I was picked I got offered trials at Macclesfield, Doncaster and Bournemouth and Bournemouth was my first choice and it was Mike Calderon, Jeff Baskerville with a scouts for Bournemouth at the time as you would know Neil. A ranger trial came down under Shauna Driscoll and Peter Grant remember meeting some stalwarts of the club even in them days of people like yourself Mick Cunningham, Neil Vacher, Bernie Malton, Joe Roach, some real sort of stalwarts of the club like I said club legends and I loved it and I was fortunate to be offered a professional contract that summer at the age of 19 in July 2002. Now you made your debut as a late substitute for James Hater in a 0-0 draw with Kidamints to Harriers in August 2002. What do you remember of that day in that game? I remember it I probably played about 10 minutes I remember it was 0-0 and remember it was Kidamints I didn't know it was for James Hater. I had a reasonable preseason I think and then we picked up I think Warren Feeney got injured who's one of our main strikers at the time. Big Fletcher was still injured long term so there was a bit of an opening for me but I kind of got thrown in a bit earlier than expected and I was just I was a boy really I left London as a or Ipswich and then London really as a 19 year old boy and I just didn't even really know much about the football league I was a you know always just watched the top flight never knew much about the lower leagues and I just just threw myself I had no fear and I just I remember we were obviously in a bad we just got relegated and then we're near the bottom of league two as it was then so it was higher pressure games but I wasn't really aware of that at the time if I'm being honest. Well I was going to say another sub appearance came during a 2-0 defeat at Swansea the club crashed 90th out of 92 in the football league you say you didn't know much about the lower divisions but what were you thinking after that and how much did that teach you as a young player? There's a lot I forget about my career but I can remember post-match against Swansea I remember actually playing at the Old Vetch it was next to the prison I think it was Neil and Warren Finney got injured I think that day actually I think if I'm right in saying I do have a reasonable. Neil Young got sent off towards the end? Okay that doesn't surprise me but bless him but he was a brilliant character to learn from and I was fortunate at that age I was the youngest in the squad and I had some unbelievable characters to learn from Big Fletch, Neil Young, James Hater, God there's plenty of people I'm missing out, Neil Moss eventually came back that season but yeah going back to the Swansea questions I remember playing at the Vetch came on early I think in the first half I think four on Finney I remember after it was literally like I'd realized I was in a serious situation from a football club point of view because as a youth team player I'd never had that and it was like serious questions being asked I remember Sean O'Driscoll, Peter Grant it was a proper inquest of why we're basically like you said 90th out of 92 clubs and it was a real eye open and the pressure was building on players and I think management at the time as well. I'm going to read you some names because you mentioned that dressing room there Jason Tindall, Kyle Fletcher, Marcus Browning, Neil Young as you say, Warren Finney what was the dressing room like with all those big personalities in there? I can't really miss Kyle Fletcher I mean Kyle Fletcher is probably if not one of the best players I played with all around footballer looking back now obviously I'm an older person now he just had a mentality that was he was just a winner and he was quite ruthless with it at certain times but he was ultra professional with demanded standards and what a player and got a really good move to West Ham and had a great career off the back of that. Wade Elliott was a terrific talent as everyone knows obviously had a great spell at Burnley after the new half three spell of us and I feel really fortunate that I was in that changing room and with the characters you said because they were unbelievable characters and the big personalities as well and it was old school values so to speak and a ruthless mentality but also we had some great times and there was some real real good footballers looking back at that spell like there was some good footballers that had some really good careers. Your first goal came away to Macclesfield proved to be the winner the only goal just relive that goal for us and who did you dedicate it to if you can remember? Yeah I remember yeah it was end of August wasn't it and it was our first winner of the season I started it might be my first second start I think it was the flip the shot came from the edge of the box hit the referee and a little slight ricochet didn't it? I think you were there yeah and it was a nice arrival almost just arrived and stooped in and headed it past the goalkeeper in front of the traveling fans and that was an unbelievable I can remember it picture it I can remember the coach home it was just I scored a winning goal in the football league it was just amazing from I just complained you've seen football a few months ago just totally bypassed the reserves every part from a couple of trial games so Bournemouth yeah my granddad was there probably the first ever professional game he'd been at because my nan and granddad moved to Shropshire when I was young so we had regular holidays up there so Macclesfield to Shropshire isn't a million miles away and my nan passed away the previous Christmas so nine eight nine months later I remember I did an interview I think it was with yourself and it was the back page of the echo which I've got home somewhere that was a goal dedicated to my nan so yeah it was a special day and instead in front of my granddad it was even more special that was the first of seven goals you scored during an eight game purple patch and you were the most prolific teenage goal scorer in the country at the time you must have thought you had the world at your feet yeah again like a little bit like I said earlier about the no fear mentality that I was playing with at the time I didn't really realize what I was doing and I was relatively grand I couldn't believe the sort of exposure I was getting in the local press with obviously that daily echo for example and the interviews I was having to do and then there was little snippets and stuff about interest all of a sudden as you would especially with a headline like that and that was a nice headline and like I said I couldn't believe what was actually happening I was just riding the crest of a wave looking back and again I felt so privileged to be in that position at the time and honestly I couldn't have been any happier with the way it was going scoring goals big goals well for all them goals I think they all were pretty much equalizers or winners at the time and I think in relation to Zoe's earlier question we went from near the bottom to near the top quite quickly and that's in the eight game spell I think as is often the case in football huge low follows a massive high that's exactly what happened to you on that fateful day at Brisbane road the home of late and orient in October 2002 tell us what happened that day remember it clearly um yeah nil nil was a quiet game um for myself really and I think it wasn't much happening in the game the second half Matt Lockwood was a left back really nice left foot uh sort of chased him back towards my my own goal he chopped back on his right foot and as I turned I just felt my knee go so to speak I knew I'd done something I remember the orient fans were on me and thinking I was diving and cheating or whatever I knew I'd done something and I thought it must have been adrenaline and just youthfulness I suppose I got back up I thought I could play and I'm pretty sure I think I had a half decent chance back on the pitch I think that I think connect with properly but little did I realise that I ruptured my ACL at that time and I think I'd done some cartilage damage as well and I remember leaving on crutch had all my crutches had all my friends and family at the game because it was obviously in London um and eventually had a scandidae then I needed an op and I was going in for the op thinking I'd be out for six weeks because I don't think the scan picks up the ACL and I remember waking up in Oswestry it was which was not far from where um my nan and granddad well my granddad was living at that time uh and Sean O'Driscoll rang me and I've since found out he knew that it was bad news but I didn't know at the time and eventually the the surgeon Diarese his name was came around and told me what I'd done my ACL and it was like to say it was my world had fallen apart at that point just for the record Andy Harris was playing for late in Orient that day now his son Archie is one of your current under 18s it's a small world isn't it it's funny yeah he's a lovely guy Andy um I didn't realise that until a few years ago and yeah just how quickly time can go and Archie wasn't even born when that came when we played against each other and now he's a like I say he's one of our under 18s now so yeah maybe there'll be some more of them sort of quirky facts to come in the years to come who knows now we've seen pictures of you celebrating promotion at the Millennium Stadium in 2003 just tell us about your emotions that day you must have had mixed emotions yeah I played a reserve game just before so I'd I'd only been out six months by time I actually had the op I think nowadays obviously we've got a player in the 18s at the moment with an ACL it's pretty much a year injury to get the I was sort of back playing a reserve game after six months such as with my desperation to play and I warmed up on the pitch before which was a great experience and I think I don't know if I was fully fully fit to be in consideration I think or I think I might have just just about been but I wasn't in the squad I wasn't selected or I wasn't ready I can't quite remember the exact reason but warmed up on the pitch which was a nice experience and felt at the time as much I wanted to play it was still I still felt like I contributed in the early part of the season and it's still an incredible day my family are all there and at that point I'd realize what a special sort of change room I was a part of and we got to know all the families really well of all my teammates and some of them are still friends now so it was it was a really nice celebration after in the players lounge with all the players and and and all our families as well so yeah great support from our fans that day well I think we had I think it's about 20,000 maybe Bournemouth fans that went about that sort of number and it was a great occasion under under the roof and so Carl Fletcher was immense on that day now the following season you made just seven appearances you've been quoted as saying it took you around 18 months for you to feel like you were back to your best that must have been quite a tough period for you you know as Neil said having the world at your feet and and all of a sudden you're struggling to find your form yeah I was I was struggling to move properly my knee was not right I think if memory serves me right I had that following season I made the seven appearances I had another cartilage issue I think I disrupted my knee and it's something I maybe reserved game I can't remember so I'd have another six week up then I had my appendix out towards the end of that season as well so it was another disruptive one and we were sort of near the top of league one that year sort of pushing for the playoffs and it was yeah it was a horrible watching me I just got I got used to being injured I got used to just being around the place and doing my rehab and it wasn't from like you say from having the experience I had in my first few months here it was just it was a long and painful road back and I didn't feel 100% right and sharp until probably it was the start of the following season so the summer of 2004 I had a good pre-season you're offered a new contract at the end of 0405 but up till against staying did you have a question that decision to leave yes it's probably the biggest question of my career because I've stated before and I think anyone knows me know how much I love this club and how much it's given me I left I left for the right reasons and I left for the right reasons and I had some great experiences at other football clubs so I can't regret it but I also regret I mean I could have maybe end up staying and doing the hopefully would have done even more things at this club if I'd have stayed for a longer period of time I just had missed that much football Toolki had come in for me and kind of offered me like you know you play every week and being a main man and fletching big fletching James Hater were doing really well as a partnership so I'd played a lot that 0405 season but quite a lot from the bench and I just felt that I was just desperate to start every week as I had done at the start of 0203 before I got my my ACL injury and I wanted to get back in that rhythm of playing every week so I do regret in some ways but the experiences I had other football clubs and the people I've met in I can't regret it but that's the biggest question I asked myself now and look back at my playing career was it the right thing to do but as I say to players I deal with now you can only make the decision at the time that you think is right and as long as it's for the right reasons and you can't have them regrets and I went because I wanted to play football more regularly and play 90 minutes every week and with fletching hates in good form and with a really really good partnership I just thought I'm not gonna play every week while you were at Toolki the cherries tried to re-sign you on loan just tell us what happened there did you turn them down or did they turn you down or how did it all come about it was a strange one I got a similar to my Toolki story was similar to my Bournemouth one I started really well scored a lot of goals quite quickly and felt bang in form albeit I wasn't playing with players it was good as the Bournemouth ones and I didn't enjoy the over I didn't get a nice not not a nice feel but I just wasn't I think I was still sort of longing to be at Bournemouth I just felt it wasn't that I didn't feel at home there like I felt at Bournemouth and that's nothing against Toolki but I thought I did well up until I broke my foot in the October November time come back and manager had gone new manager didn't fancy me so I was I was kind of surplus requirements at that point and Bournemouth came in for me it would have been February March time I can't remember exactly how it came about I've had a call from agent at the time and I was just like yeah just do it whatever it takes I remember pushing it pushing it pushing it and I think in the end Toolki put a block on it and it wasn't I don't think for a football reason I just I don't I think at the time a chairman might be in a bit awkward about it well I don't know because maybe because he knew I was desperate to go back I don't know it was weird I can't quite remember to be honest but I just remember being deflated that it didn't happen and I knew my season was going to fizzle out because I think the manager changed again and it and I was just I was just way out of favour I couldn't wait for that season to end to be honest and your next port of call was Hereford United tell us about your memories of Edgar Street well I've really enjoyed it it is what I would say but it comes that point where I was I'd kind of like like you said I'd probably three two and a half three years ago before my injury there was some big clubs watching me and when I was seven as the highest growing teenager in the country and then I was scraping around but it kind of it probably built helped build me to what I am today as a person I suppose where I wrote to every single club in league one and league two put my own portfolio together I sent it out you know posted stamps obviously very different to the modern day way but I wrote to every single club because I was I was only 22-23 at the time and I was I didn't feel like I'd made it as a footballer I had a couple of good spells at Bournemouth and Toolkey at the start and I was like no I need to prove to myself that I can do this as my dream has always played football be a professional footballer and I'd had a taste of it but not a sustained period of playing every week for a whole season and Hereford came in and it was like where's that and it was obviously quite a long way west never yet west and but it was oh I went there and I just threw myself into it and I barely went home and I played 50 games I think played in all different positions and we were on the sort of borderline league two playoffs for for quite a lot of that season we fell away at the end but a great experience I learned a lot played like I say 50 games scored a few goals and sort of reestablished myself and it was the first season where I played that many games and it would turn out to be a really good move and they tried to keep me in the summer I'll never forget they offered me a new contract and I think it was either an extra 10 or a week or an extra 25 could be I can't which one it was and I was like because the chairman was also the manager Graham Turner I've managed Wolves-Naston Villa back in the day so he was the chairman and the manager it's a bit unique in that way but I love playing at the club and he was a good man but it was like I was just I thought I did I thought I'd done a lot better than that and it was so and then I learned some interest that summer really so it and it was it was so far out the way and I was so detached from a lot of places Bournemouth and London it was like ideally I wanted to obviously move on really and that's what happened. Well you then had a season with Brentford and you were big fans favourite at Griffin Park just sum up your time time there. I really enjoyed it, core Waterfootball club so from Hereford to Brentford felt like the same league the same league but it was like yes this is I couldn't have picked a better move I'm being honest move back home for a couple of months while I was sorting out a house to move into near Brentford I just loved it I just Waterfootball club like just obviously it's gone on from strength to strength but I love the old school the four pubs on the corner the mentality of supporters like it was it was probably firm but fair would be able what I would say if you weren't doing it they'd let you know and they weren't afraid to let you know and the club had just got relegated from league one to league two so there was a bit of expect expectancy to do well but there's a big turnover in players I scored on my debut but in that game against Mansfield I scored a good goal I tweaked my fire in the warm-up I strained my fire so I was out for I played I made my debut with a fire strain and scored but I was not right and then I was out for a few weeks after that so that was a bit of a shame but what a club we started poorly really as a team Terry Butcher was the manager which was a big appeal at the time as well what a lovely man he is pleasure to get to know him unfortunately results weren't good enough and he ended up getting a sack around November December time and Andy Scott was his assistant he took over and I had I had an okay start to the season but we were struggling as a team Andy Scott came in and the next six months from probably December to end the season was probably the best six months I'd ever played looking back in my career I was I thought I was good at the time I thought I was impacting games scoring goals felt like the main man pretty much a one of the main men I would say with a good team spirit young team I was probably one of the oldest at 25 and yeah that six months Griffin Park was a was a proper old school place to play in the fans got right behind us because we were pushing for the playoffs by end of the season and I love playing at Brentford loved it at Griffin Park and I say probably the best six months spent my career was that second half of season at Brentford in August 2008 Yuri joined the Cherries Eddie Howe was the first team coach under Kevin Bond at the time before we go into it just tell us about how the move came about I couldn't have been happier at Brentford to a point actually but then Brentford bought in Charlie McDonald who's a good goal scorer and it seemed like a really good preseason at Brentford score goals and just thought I was going to start the season but I didn't I was on the bench and I kind of my head had gone a little bit if I'm being honest because I thought I'd play well for for a second half of season under the manager and I just felt like I deserve better than that and but I was happy to start Brentford I was still part of the plans but I knew there was a little bit of interest from Bournemouth I didn't that quickly accelerated and by that time I was like no I want to go back to Bournemouth it was like everything I'd hoped would happen almost in some minute I left and as hard as it was to leave Brentford it felt like the right decision and almost weirdly even I'm from London it was almost like going home and yeah I don't regret it your first day back at Bournemouth didn't quite go to plan did it tell us about that yeah I mean apart from when I broke my foot at talking as out for six weeks the only place I've ever been injured is at Bournemouth like so like here I've played every game you know my later one will come onto my career again like I've never been injured but all my injuries came at Bournemouth and yeah I hurt my knee it was my other knee on the first day of training gutted obviously the club is a starter of minus 17 years so you know I was brought back to help the club try and stay up and it didn't pan out that way really and done my knee quite badly big bucket handle cartilage tear on the outside and I had to have an operation yes I did I was out for six to eight weeks but look I think in hindsight should have been longer again the situation we were in I was rushed back to try and have an impact I was nowhere near it I was miles off I was literally when I did play which I was I wasn't even half fit remember the game we lost at home to Barnett at Christmas and I was getting a lot of swelling in my knee at the time and I remember warming up and I couldn't bend my knee over about 90 degrees and the warm-up and I'm and I was thinking I'm back to play a game here where we've got a win and I can't even move and it was just that was the sort of that's what minus 17 was like it was sort of all hands on deck and I didn't do myself justice and I probably people would have watched and thought well he's not very good and they would have been right but I was trying to do what I thought was right I was trying to get through it I want his desperate to be on the pitch and help and ultimately I was injured as the my knee still wasn't right so I got through to end of the season I played a handful of games that season come on in a few and but I was nowhere near where I was at Brentford nowhere near it and then either another operation that summer it was a 12-week rehab which was what probably what I should have done the first time around proper rehab and then I started the leave to promotion season I was pretty I thought I was fully fully fit yeah so ready to have an impact just after you joined the cherries in august 2008 Kevin and Eddie left the club that must have been quite tough for you to take yeah Kevin especially is a good man I've seen him around a few times since he signed me and I think the next day after I got injured on day one day two we lost at Port Vale and he lost his job so that I never got to play for him obviously Eddie I knew him from being a teammate of his back then and obviously she was massively sorry to see him go and then it was a it was a I mean other that period was so bizarre with the new manager that came in the owners it was it was it was it was a bit of a soap opera really and the club were just desperate to survive on the pitch and off the pitch as everyone knows now we'll document that spin and it's it it's even now look back at what I look where the club is today and where it was then and people that weren't here would struggle to believe it and us as under 18s now our players get miles more than what the first team got in those days and you try and obviously get that message across you don't want to live in the past but you think it's important that people that are new to the club know where we've been and without going harping back to the old days just understand the journey the club's been on and why you know we're all in such a privileged position today but um yeah that was a tough season that year it was obviously a tough time for Jimmy Quinn to come in how you played a couple of games you've mentioned the Barnett game which was his last game talk about the Blythe Spartans Cup game away yeah yeah that was just before the Barnett game when I've been out for probably I don't know eight weeks ten weeks where it was again desperate to come back we'd stayed in um I think we lost or drew away somewhere in Rochdale and we stayed up in some like chalets in the northeast of England yeah somewhere it was it was bizarre it was a good cup two or three days um pretty relaxed I remember Blythe I think was a Monday night on Satana Sports Live and uh yeah I just it was we had Blackburn at home or away if we'd have won it was a big draw the club need the money yeah did it and then I think we even had an extra incentive shucks on the top of whatever was going as well but probably shouldn't say that but um so we had that incentive from uh to win as well because the club needed that win financially so much and we oh we drew at home didn't we first full sorry and then we we went away so we drew at home to Blythe Spartans which is not a good thing and then it was a long journey up uh we stayed over like I said and then yeah we got beat one now I came on at nil nil I can remember the goal that we conceded um and I just I remember I was quite I remember being quite bright when I come on had a shot just wired but yeah we lost we ended up with 10 men didn't we as well and it was just it couldn't get any worse at that point um albeit we had the threat of obviously getting relegated from the football league hanging over our heads but that was a real low point I remember getting back to the stadium we played at night I remember sleeping a bit of the coach on the way home and laying in the um weird the things you remember laying in the middle of the coach on the actual floor bit um I remember arriving back at the at being called at 7 a.m that that next morning and where'd you go from there yeah Eddie was appointed manager soon after that there was one game where his unbeaten start as a permanent manager came to an end it was a way at Chesterfield on a Friday night in February 2009 now I remember you having a penalty saved in that game and I remember conducting what was a very emotional interview with you after the game I know you were struggling a lot because your mum was very ill at the time just tell us about that period of your life yeah form was all over the place at the time as I said um but I'd got back to some sort of um level I suppose and I came on at half time I remember having an impact I thought in the second half and I thought we as a team played better um when I was on the pitch and we got a penalty and I'd always back myself and myself on penalties especially I may not later on in my career score quite a few penalties especially for Bradford but um yeah I didn't catch it I would want to catch it I'd like to say I've been injured all season when I was fit I wasn't right my mum was really unwell at that time um and I remember when I put the ball down actually thinking of her at that time which may not have been a good thing because obviously it can distract you from things but um we lost 1-0 and we were obviously near the bottom of football Lee kind of aware left us uh and I was gutted and I remember getting back on the coach and I think it speaks volumes speaks volume with the man Eddie Howe is because he said come and sit next to me and we spoke and he just spoke as a human being and as a caring man that we know he is and you know he's he's team where he's manager just lost a big game and he was more interested in making sure I was all right because he knew that I had a lot going on in my life at that point uh and that was very satisfying I suppose that's the right word very comforting probably is a better word and that's obviously what Eddie can be like obviously he's got the other side where he needs to be ruthless he he most definitely is but he's a he's a good man a caring man he showed that and I'll never forget that um but yeah that penalty miss like yeah that hit hard that night it's quite topical at the moment um with players and what's going on in their lives and we've seen England players getting vilified this week in particular Alan but sometimes people need to remember that there are human beings and there might be things going on as well as well as trying to perform at the top level if you like yeah yeah that that season the great escape season and even the lead to promotion was probably the hardest two years of my life um for different reasons other reasons apart from just just my mum passing away um but that great escape season was one where like my mum was desperate to know her chest and couldn't be gotten on a saturday and things like that and then she was you know get not in not well at the time and I knew she wasn't well but it was only the like a few days before that she did pass away that it sort of hit our unwell she was it was it was sort of coming but we didn't know it was properly coming into a few days before um and like you say very topical at the moment you know we've all everyone has as a life away from their jobs and um yeah it was it was tough at the time obviously I wasn't playing well there's a lot of things going on off the pitch uh with me as well and family issues and stuff and yeah that was obviously that was it was a real trying time but I come back to what I said at start about this club and the people here like I couldn't have been in the better place no any more support and there's something that I'll never ever forget your mum Sue passed away soon after the the Chesterfield game Alan how much strength have you taken from your dad Vic since then and how much strength has he taken from you we often see him at under 18s games when he can come come down um yeah it's something that um as people have been through similar it never leaves you um it makes me as a person I can't speak for myself more determined than ever to be successful and I think my career apart from a couple of good spells before that 2000 before march 2009 a lot of it was disrupted by injury but a lot of my better things that happened in my career were after then and I just used it as the biggest inspiration ever to try and you know make my mum proud make my dad proud all that sort of stuff and um yeah it was always been in my mind um my dad was obviously going for a difficult time and like I said it never leaves you it's always difficult but yeah always at games still obviously under 18s games now like you say and yeah really tough time really tough time my dad's saying if like if your mum can go for everything she's gone through you know you can get back to fitness and form and all that sort of thing so a real motivation at the time um and I used it and so much better things happened in my career after you know Wembley appearances promotions and stuff and I wish my mum would have been there to see that and even the job I do now I love my job and I'd love to be able to speak to my mum about that and you know all that you know how you know I'm now in the coaching management side of things um so they're the things you miss out on and I'm so I'm not the only one in life that misses out on things like that that's par and parcel um but yeah I do you know there's always as as happy as I am in lots of aspects of my life now there's always that that gap that as people will know that that can't be filled and um my dad's has always been a massive driving force massive inspiration for me uh and my mum and my brother growing up um and I've always had unwavering support from them all and then obviously um after mum's passing in March 2009 um my dad and brother you know couldn't have done any more for me and and continues to do that to this day you mentioned Eddie just then he went on to mastermind the greatest escape he obviously played under him but what have you taken from him and his management style into your own you know management career now yeah you often hear don't your ex players say they'd take a bit from every manager um I probably have taken the most from him because others fortunate to be I think we realized that when we were players under him even earlier on we were in the presence of someone that had you know really was going places and then from my coaching time um I was learning when I first started coaching maybe eight years ago I was around it a little bit just watching and learning it was Eddie Howe Jason Tyndall uh learning from them then it was and also Stephen Purchase and Carl Fletcher who did 21s and 18s at the time so they were probably the ones I learned the most from consistently obviously you since then I've seen other people work mainly at this club but you see bits and pieces from other clubs but I was fortunate to to see Eddie and be part of his team and then be part of his staff all bit from an academy perspective and learning and um I think the legacy he's left is is is massive from a coaching perspective the way we work uh the demands that we set the standards that we set you know he for me has created that um and left that legacy and that's probably the thing one of the biggest things people don't see is is that side that he's left here people see the promotions and whatever the Premier League times but he's left the legacy of how how to how to be dedicated to your profession and get the most out of players which is what we pride ourselves on you're a mainstay of the 2009 10 league team promotion winning season you capped it off by that crucial goal at Burton Albion what are your memories of that day I know a lot of AFC Bournemouth fans hold full memories I remember speaking to my dad on the I mean there's a lovely team photo actually after that game and I'm the only one not in it because it wasn't because Neil pulled me for another dodgy interview it wasn't that it was because uh I just thought I'd only come on late on in the game and I'd always felt in my career I had some good games and scored some goals but up until that point I hadn't had a standout moment uh and I knew at a time scoring that goal I just knew it was a moment um and I can look back on that and obviously I get asked the question sometimes as I am now about it so I knew it was a moment that would never be forgotten and that made me proud that there will always be in the history books and I remember just after the game as soon as you got in change room it was like everyone was celebrating uh and I just went out and called my dad obviously what we just spoke about it was only a year after my mum's passing and so it was an emotional phone call and just my dad was really happy and yeah it was I'm proud to be part of that team and squad and also that day because it was a special day and a lot of people have a lot of special memories that day and I was I was fortunate obviously to have a lovely moment with the um the the goal you left that summer that must have been a wrench how did those talks with eddie go in the march time there was talk of between uh eddie and my agent of a new contract which I was desperate to stay over to stay for half the money I was on a I just yeah I mean the club had supported me through the most difficult time of my life unbelievably well welcomed my family uh eddie in particular but everyone Warren Cummins and Steve Fletcher I'll never forget came to my mum's funeral club sent flowers Liz Finney was was class the whole club was class and so supportive in every way and I was desperate to stay it wasn't about the money it was I love living in Bournemouth I still do now um I love playing for the club I loved it I just wanted to stay and in March I thought there was a chance that I would be I finished the season strong I think my seat my form got better as the season went on obviously after the the injury that I had before and it was a wrench we had the open top bus parade on a Sunday for promotion and in the Monday was the contract talks for every player and I got ed pulled me in and said we're not offering you a new contract and that's the reality of football that's someone that I know that we know we get on well to this day but he fought for his team to move forward he said we couldn't sign anyone for 18 months he felt we needed to bring new players in which mean a few had to go so he had to feel he had to freshen freshen the squad up and I was devastated um in tears in his office and it wasn't easy for him to deliver that and we've since sort of spoke um a little bit about that time um especially when his mum passed away a couple years later we've sort of shared um some conversations around that uh so yeah difficult to to leave the football club I'd say I was there was a lot going on in my life at that stage and um I was a massive crossroads in my not just my career my life as well at that point you went on to Grimsby how you had a fantastic season at Grimsby I don't want to dwell on that too much I just want to ask you about one particular game New Year's Day 2011 you beat Mansfield 7-2 you scored a couple of free kicks that was easy pickings against one particular Mansfield defender wasn't it Steve Cook what's he up to these days where is he um Steve Cook played for Mansfield yeah he did and I was a little bit older than cookie and obviously at that time I still am um and it would all click for a sat day we had a lot of we had for the level we had some good players at Grimsby um we just didn't really it just never happened as a team but fortunately for me I'd kind of I just went to Grimsby I remember Lee I remember driving up north tears rolling down my eyes like what am I doing where am I going um like I say I was at crossroads in my life at that point in my career um and I didn't with respect to Grimsby but you were unbelievable to me I didn't want to necessarily go I wanted to be at Bournemouth but the decision was taken out my hands and I look back and I speak often speak to the young players I work with now and have worked with that resilience and and character and I think like a lot of the experience I've spoken about in my career about plenty of lows and there's some highs don't get it wrong but the lows are the ones that add you bounce back how do you um believe in yourself and maybe others don't and and I went to Grimsby uh Grimsby and I just knuckled down lived and breathed football and I played pretty much every minute that season um 50 games it was I remember it was 50 games scored scored a lot of goals um and just dedicated my life to it for nine or 10 months and I was on a two-year contract there was a lot of interest in the January uh there was in the summer that I was happy to wait until the summer and even had another year I just you know I knew there were clubs interested and I didn't want to get a little bit nearer nearer south again um but Grimsby was unbelievable I had so much love from the supporters there the people there and I loved loved playing for Grimsby Town a great football club I'm so pleased to see back in the football league now and doing well and I can't thank them enough um and the supporters the way they got behind me was incredible made me feel a million dollars at a time where I needed it now it can only happen in football Alan but the Grimsby chairman one week said you're not for sale and the next week you were sold can only happen in football when you went to Swindon yeah it was the summer of July July that was I remember I started pre-season it was they knew I'd wanted I want to move on um and I knew it was going to happen eventually like obviously you wanted a good price from whoever and I knew Swindon were interested and that was where I really really wanted to go um and I remember I thought forced the move they wanted me to hand in official transfer request so I was like living a nine year old actually hand wrote a transfer request and it was the most basic one ever um and it was technically a transfer request and that was on the Friday morning and I think Friday afternoon or even I was I was heading to Swindon and um packing up another house which is always a daunting prospect for people that have done it and uh yeah down to Swindon I went and and yeah really excited for that now we're here mainly to talk about your time with the cherries but we have got a few quick fire one-line answers about certain areas in your career firstly Paolo Dicanio what was it like playing under him mental absolutely mental every single day um is the honest answer what a charming man I haven't seen him since the day I've left I would love to just see him for five minutes and just catch up and just see what he's like like now and just but I wish he had a bit more belief in me he didn't he didn't I thought I'd done well that season but if he'd have really believed in me I'd have done what I'd done the previous year at Grimsby and scored 30 goals especially in the team I was playing with at Swindon but yeah great man charming man but yeah mental like mental mental you and Paul Benson both scored 11 goals when Swindon won the league two title in 2011-2012 can you remember who scored 10 Matt Ritchie oh that was absolutely rapid that one it was 13 Zoe but 11 league goals so I let you off of that 11 league goals is that that's what that's what Neil meant when he jotted it down on the questions yeah fair enough scored an FA cup against Wigan and knocking him out obviously don't count in Neil's eyes now as an Arsenal fan as a boy how did it feel knocking them out of the league cup when Brad with Bradford in 2012 surreal strange happy because I was Bradford player but yeah it did feel different I've been obviously you win many games in your career this was a game that we won that I did feel differently about I'm a big Arsenal fan still and today I was brought up that brought up that way it's in your blood isn't it as anyone who supports the team is and but yeah it was it was a great night for for Bradford City and an incredible night to to be be a part of and scoring a penalty shoot out and yeah again spoke about standout moments with the Burton goal obviously in Bradford history that's a huge night and obviously I played a part in that so a strange feeling but a great memory to look back on what was it like to be an unused substitute in the league cup final at Wembley in 2013 devastating devastating um paid every round up until the semis Swansea would obviously had a great run it was unheard of what was happening we're a lead two team albeit a big club at Bradford and we got to the league cup final and beat obviously some big teams on the way the prep was unbelievable which just felt like at Bradford City anyway you felt like a Premier League player anyway because especially because we were having success they'd had so many years of failure really we come along and we give everything for the shirt the crowd like we were winning games crowd loved the group players and Phil Parkinson as a manager and you just felt a million dollars playing for Bradford City it was I loved it I absolutely loved it and um but it got to the league cup final it was all the you know the cup final suits the media day it was stayed at the Grove Hotel it was like almost living your childhood dream on FA cup final day when you're watching that that um and we planned I was a bit similar to what I was saying at the start with Big Fletcher and James Hater Necky Wells and James Hansen were flying at the time as a partnership and I because we had so many games that season I still played my fair share but I was sort of the one where we were quite a direct team and if I came on it would be then we'd try and play through me a little bit kind of thing and I scored some important goals and contributed leading up to that that league cup final and we worked in the week of if we were chasing the game that I'd come on and in behind Wells and Hansen and you know obviously we changed sort of play a different way and we're two and a half time and I'm thinking and I'm sure I've the fitness coach called someone over and I thought it was me and it wasn't and then our goal he got sent off John McLaughlin who's now at Glasgow Rangers no he come on from Matt Duke Matt Duke got sent off sorry and that was one sub down uh and I didn't get on and I just I've always remember thinking before that game during it even now after but I'm never going to be in a league cup final again in front of night I need I have to play in this game I have to at least come on didn't happen and that's the that's the reality of football but still a great experience to be part of but you did get to play at Wembley in the playoff final in May 2013 what was that like yeah it was yeah looking back it was it was a great experience I'd say I've been fortunate I've been part of some really good dressing rooms like Bradford was it was some great people some great characters uh and I say what a football club I feel privileged to have played there uh okay yeah we'll be we'll be you know Phantom 3-0 they were in the suits done the tour the day before we've done all that three months earlier in the league cup finals so we turned up didn't go to the stadium before just turned up in our track suits like a normal away game and we were three no up in half hour and it was it was job done uh so yeah great experience and yeah what a season to to get to the league cup final and get promoted at Wembley on the playoffs and yeah the celebrations and and all that are amazing and back in Bradford after in front of all the supporters and like I say love playing for Bradford City what a club a couple of spells in non-league haven't and Waterlooville you won another promotion with pool town in 2015-16 do you ever regret hanging up your boots no I was done I was absolutely done maybe injuries had sort of caught up on me I think Bradford I was I remember I said this is how quick it can change I was 30 years old we just got promoted that when you said in league two I was just about start a league one preseason and I was fit as anything and I was I honestly I fought so much to give had a good preseason score goals sharp um season started uh way to Bristol City due to all didn't come on Wells and Hanson were the favour two and they've done incredibly well and and rightly so but I was getting frustrated um I started in the league cup I think it was a Tuesday after where Huddersfield did a riot but I always felt like I had to score a hat trick to stay in the team and I've had other like Grimsby I could have not scored in three or four games and still played it just so you know you feel you're the main man sort of thing and Bradford I never was um I knew my place but um I don't regret hanging up boots because then I'd gone from that situation went left Bradford on deadline day in January went to Northampton bottom of the football league thought I'd done quite well but I didn't score goals on the Chris Wilder we stayed up luckily uh but I didn't I didn't have the impacts I wanted so I didn't get a contract there then ended up moving back to Bournemouth and and signing haven't got injured early there and I never recovered and I went I thought going part-time it'd be you know I could rest more and all that but I just lost any fitness and sharpness I had and I lost motivation by dropping down I lost that um and struggled to stay fit and I just I got that's when I started sort of was I 31 31 32 started I'm gonna look at the coaching and I started part-time in the academy with the younger age groups and I was like this is where I want to go and in pool town I was I was like I say I wasn't in the best I wasn't in the physical condition I was in a few years before they were playing one up front and I was obviously it wasn't didn't suit my game to run the channels on my own at that stage um and it just was was not quite the right fit good people there that I like a lot but it wasn't the right fit and um I wasn't enjoying it I knew I was done and I was I was enjoying getting to grips with a coach and I knew that was the way I wanted to go so um difficult um because if you just said to me two or three years before you'll be done in two or three years I'd be like no way what I'm gonna do but at that point I was like no I've had enough and like I say fortunate that that I could sort of start working here part-time in the academy as you said coming back to Bournemouth 2015 you joined as a part-time coach in July 2017 you were promoted to take charge of the under 18s just tell us about how that whole process worked for you and how pleased you are to see so many players having progressed through the ranks during your time there so yeah 2015 I did two years part-time with the under 12s and also I was like in and around a little bit like I said I would watch the first team or I'd be around Perture or Colflex with the 18s or um I'd maybe do a little bit of one or two the older or younger age groups just but just generally I was really under 12s and I was working at Leaf School as well like almost like a football program but it's like part-time it was just because my money had gone from I was earning good money at Bradford so within 18 months I was on peanuts really compared to not that I was on massive money far from it but after my money had dropped so much I was like I need to be working I've never worked in my life apart from football so I was working at Leaf School while I was learning the coaching and enjoying it at the academy part-time and uh yeah two years did like I think I did I put the hard yards in in the coaching world I think for those two years and and it's still it's probably even harder now to be fair what's got with with how hard we try and work um and then to be offered that role was a surprise uh Joe Roach said you want to go for a coffee and I did and that's what when he told me and I was shocked I was emotional I was yeah over the moon I yeah I can't explain it I was yeah I was where do I even start with this um I haven't got that experience really but obviously I've been coaching for two years a bit very different than the 12s to the 18s and I just yeah just sort of try to carry on the good work of Carl Fletcher before me really and again just a word on those players that you've seen progress through you know we've had so many in the last few years yeah I think it's it's hard to describe I could only imagine it as my dad often says about when he watched me play football and you kind of obviously had that nervousness watching all that emotional attachment albeit obviously these kids ain't mind so to speak but you know there's when you see Jayden Anthony doing what he's doing with the first team you can remember things that he'd done for the 18s or when Christian Sadie scored his goal against MK Don's in the league cup that was a big moment for for him and he'd been for a lot as there's so many names you could reel off um it's testament to everyone really because there's a lot of good work that goes all over down um in younger age groups it's not just the coaching there's sports science there's medical there's you know uh player care there's analysis there's so many departments that that bring it all together so it's a massive academy team effort and I suppose I'm at the front of it I suppose but in my role um and maybe in the in the media a little bit more but it's so it's so rewarding seeing that and not just the ones that make it here to see the ones that are obviously playing out online is a great feeling or the ones that don't end up quite having you know playing our first team they're playing at whatever level seeing them you know money and have a career playing football still rewarding but there isn't when you watch especially when I watch um an academy player playing our first team like there is a little bit of extra something when they're on the ball you have a nerves or excitement it's hard to hard to describe now Neil recently spent a day with the under eight teams during an away game he said it was a really real eye-opening experience to see what you know goes into an away match day with the six o'clock starts I think the music on the uh on the coach took took him by surprise as well but just tell us a little bit about that a brief summary of what an away day with the under 18s looks like to get the boys on a to get the boys in the best frame of mind on saturday I always try and I like to give them challenges and that will naturally come by also want to give them the best environment possible to perform at their best and that's not just me that's all the people that I work with um so like even the week build up will be like I what kit are we in saturday okay and then I'll text dunks and make sure like we've got the right kit and then it will be how are we getting is it a minibus is it a coach okay what time should we leave me checking google maps what time we're going to leave make sure that the waters on the friday or at camford okay what do we need okay we need the kits we need to get all the the eskies a little the protein shakers the the warm-up bag or the cones the bibs is a it's a long list and like to fair the boys do a great job in in making sure it all goes on um and then obviously you've got to train you want to prepare them physically and tactically and technically as best you can and psychologically here for the game so there's all that stuff just to even get to a saturday at say 11 o'clock in the morning um and then we get there and yeah sometimes it's we know sometimes i i'll drive the nine-seater and there's a minibus drive all drive the minibus and as it was on that day nil uh stop at the services pre-match sort of thing we encourage and try and give the boys the best possible food and drink but obviously you know we can't we don't stop at hotels for a away game unless maybe it's an effort youth cup game so there's a lot that goes into it to make sure the players are right at 11 o'clock on a saturday when we kick off so you almost you feel so invested in it because you know how much goes into it not just for me but from all the people i work with and i know how hard our boys work um so you want it to to go well on a saturday for them for for the academy as a whole so it's uh it's a mass it's a big um operation i'd say to get everyone ready and firing hopefully at their best on a saturday and a lot is made of the category system in in academies and this club is working very very hard to improve its category status as and when that happens what differences are we likely to see for players for staff for facilities even we know that there's work being done on the facilities now yeah there is the free geez i think it's been documented being built at canford at the moment over by the golf course which we own so hopefully that's not too far away hopefully that's going to be followed by improved facilities that would enable us to move from a category three academy to a category two academy it would be huge short-term you hopefully will see benefits long-term i think there should be massive benefits i suppose examples would be we've lost i think in the last three years we've probably sold five or six players um in the age group of around that boys that are between the age of like 16 and 18 so those players you know if we'd have been in a higher category they may still be here so they'd be players that potentially be pushing through but they chose to leave and most of them were for reasons that were so they could play what they would deem at a higher academy level so obviously as its frustrations but that's par and parcel first team players get sold because they move on to bigger clubs as well so that's par and parcel but i think as we move forward i think we'll have a better chance of keeping those players our younger age groups i think nine to 15s would play on sunday's arsenal tottenham chelsea them types of team is part of their program 16s 18s 21s would be we would move into a league would be our meal bristol city red in birmingham so real them sort of teams in category two so it would make a huge difference i think to the opposition our players are playing against um and it could only benefit everyone uh and i think facilities hopefully will improve obviously with the potential of the new training ground it would i think it's where we deserve to go as an academy and i think there's i'm so pleased that the the club have seen and supported that as they always have done because they've always backed us and given us resources and hopefully we're going to get even more to progress what i think has already a lot of good work going on but this can only improve everything in my opinion alan you lost three games on the trot recently what was that like horrible horrible like it's not the beel and end all but because winning games at our level isn't the beel and end all but you've like i said earlier you know how much you and others and the players put into it and you want it to go well now i look back at the players though you mentioned earlier or we spoke about i can remember jaden and gab missing penalties away x are in on a saturday morning in a league cup quarter final i think it was and then i mean both from rince here's so that them experiences kind of you know that that's what the players have to go through so losing's part of the journey um for me as a coach for them as players from and for the staff as well uh but i just it just makes you realize what a first team manager must feel when things aren't going the way that you want them to go or expect them to go but it was that's not nice because we have high standards and and that's not something that ordinarily happens to us very often and i think i said to the players you know we have a certain level of expectation at the club that albeit results aren't you know i don't think you know the hierarchy gonna be knocking at my door if we lose a couple of under 18 games but it's still not something we're used to but it does give opportunities to all the experience i spoke about in my playing career to bounce back to show some resilience to show some characters to back yourself and things are difficult because it's easy when you when things are going well is to show you a good player can you show you a good player when things aren't going so well and i said it to the boys last week when in the game that we won today the game wasn't for me about what we showed as players it was more about what we showed as people and i think after free defeats that would have been the first time that some in players had experienced that like show show me what you're about and i included myself in that i had to lead that you know obviously from the front with those boys and and um the boys produced a decent performance on the day one last question from us before we ask you some fans questions you've got a young family now you've got a very time consuming job how do you switch off relax and unwind i don't is probably the answer um i spoke to coops about it all it was coops about the time i said how do we switch off and coops answer was you don't you just just crack on you just you have your family life but you like i'm cuddling my little girl watching watching a movie with a laptop open watching the game back or watching training back in an evening and and that's that's the reality um obviously i'll make sure maybe sunday i'll have your time with the family and whatever um there is time consuming but i'm just like i said i've been brought up in the eddy hell era of of work and detail and i want to know that i've given the players everything i can and i don't want to think oh if i'd have watched that game back if i'd have planned that session a bit better if i'd have you know if we had done something different on a match day that might have got us they might have got you know that might have helped the players a bit in a different way or so i just don't i don't i can't have i don't want to have regrets i definitely can't have regrets if it's for a lack of um a lack of preparation so a balance is hard and it does put a stress on stress on things um but it's hard to switch off even one or two one or two days off which is quite rare you just you're not off because your phone's ringing or you're watching something back or you're planning or thinking so it's it's difficult but i can't imagine what it's like in the first team environment now as nil said we've got some fan questions questions submitted um via social media quick fire quite light hearted some of them especially this first one deborah on twitter how do you keep your hair in such good condition and do you have any tips i feel and say it's a hairdresser i mean that's good enough good enough i mean but that's not i wouldn't say that's why it's in good condition i think i'm fortunate my mum had a lovely uh head of hair my dad is in his early 70s now and he's he's he's doing all right as well so good jeans i think is uh is something i've been blessed with uh and other than that just i suppose i get haircuts at home which is which is a nice bonus as well good jeans and a fiance that's a hairdresser that doesn't sound too bad does it uh luke on twitter how hard is it having a conversation with a player that you're going to release yeah it's horrible it really is i've been here i've been i've been that player and it's you never enjoy it especially that we had one last year i've been here well i've known him since he was 11 literally one of the first players i have a coach to i don't think he was 11 and i was released him at 18 so like that's tough because you see when especially when you're in the same academy as i have been for a long time now you see him literally come all the way through so that was a particularly tough one there's been others there's been others that that stick out uh and it's never easy uh we try and let the player know that and i think they understand because we are hopefully offer a caring and supportive environment every day they know that you know it's we don't enjoy delivering that news um but it's part and parcel of the job unfortunately a lot of conversation david on facebook is saying there's a lot of discussion on young players who don't make it to first teams not just here but at all clubs how does this club help ensure that any players making sure that they're prepared for life whether or not they make it to the first team i mean that's why in my job i feel i don't have pressures the right word but i feel i look back at my youth team experiences for two years it switched and it prepared me i think my job is to prepare the players for the real world of not just football but sometimes life like silly things like i'll make sure that they they'll wash the bibs and they'll they'll actually turn the washing machine on type things sometimes like silly like actual life skills we try and encourage that we have some reviews with players without the parents so they stand on their own two feet we obviously given the jobs old-school type jobs and values that we spoke about before so there's lots of things we try and ensure we as and when we if they get released they'll be their profile goes out uh joe roach is moving to a new role um of basically supporting the PD the professional development phase and a part of a big part of that is when players are released seeing that journey through over next year or two or three years to make sure they're provided support dorm roach um provides a lot of support and and offers courses uh through the pfa um that's pt referees coaching uh they there's spanish lessons under 20 ones at the moment so there's lots of things that the players are entitled to as members of the pfa so i'd like to think we we do care um but it's such a ruthless industry that there's only if you want to be a player there's only ever going to be a certain amount of sort of spaces available like it's like england squad you know there's only going to be 11 players that start the world cup and there's loads of good players out there for england but it's just that's the way it is it is a competitive industry and no matter how you try and prepare them and what experiences you offer and give them they'll always be disappointing for the ones that don't achieve their dreams really steve on twitter is asking have you ever been mistaken for eddy how or have the two of you ever been anybody ever thought you were brothers uh yes i have been mistaken many times and yeah i'm sure the brother comparisons happened yeah that's probably the one good thing about him leaving was that i'd probably get the eddy hell shot a bit less um i think if we if i'm not in my ball month gear or we would just stood next to each other no one about an idea as soon as you put that if i've got the ball month gear on the badge and that i got and obviously blonde hair it's just it's time and time again and i've i've been walking past and like people go is is him is it is it i'm like i'm not saying yeah i know what you're thinking but no it's not i'm not ideal like i've had it so many times honestly um but i suppose yeah there's worse people you could be compared to i suppose and the last one from sarah on face but what is your advice for a young boy that wants to be a professional footballer and make it into an academy setup great question uh enjoy it i will be the the main thing i think a young age in particular they've got to enjoy it um work hard even if you're under eight and nine you know give give everything to play with that passion um an ambition that probably got you you know recognized in the first place i think it's important that we educate the players and also the parents i think the parents need a lot of educating about what the academy journey looks like you know everyone thinks their boy is going to make it and everyone but the reality is they may well not so i think they need to be educated on what it looks like i think they need to be respectful of what the club not just our club any club's trying to do because there'll be certain situations either to to to to my players where you put them in because you want to see how they react and it's not a lack of support but it's when do we support them when do we challenge them when do we stretch them there's all different situations we might put them in um and i think sometimes i'm i'm guessing maybe parents don't see that they just see why is mine not by is my boy not playing every minute or why did you say that to him and it's that it's a lot of thinking and context that go behind a lot of things in in youth development um so the parents i think need to understand that it's there's so many life skills they learn from it as well that hopefully it's only going to benefit their son and i think just knowing that you may not become a professional footballer but enjoy the ride enjoy the journey and and and see where it takes you kind of thing and i'll give that advice to the player as well make sure your education's right make sure you sort of have a backup um but just work hard every day enjoy it play with a passion like i said and um and and see where it can take you um and i said the biggest thing i would say is don't have any regrets so many players and i've worked with players before and you think end up leaving and you just think they didn't give everything over that last two years three years four years whatever it may be so i think there's no regrets there's always a a cliche but it is so important well alan we thoroughly enjoyed having you here on our podcast thank you so much for taking the time to come and chat we've had some brilliant stories and uh and we've really enjoyed your company thank you zoe thank you nil now if you've enjoyed listening to our podcast we would absolutely love it if you could like and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on we'd also be very grateful for any shares on social media so that other fans be at AFC Bournemouth related or the general football fan can enjoy it too our thanks again to alan connell and from nil parrot and myself zoey rundle thank you for tuning in to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast