 Well, hello and welcome to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast coming to you as ever from Vitality Stadium. Our job here is to bring you closer to some of the personalities connected to the club throughout the course of the season, be it first-team players, staff management or key Academy personnel. For those 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 privileged to be in the company of AFC Bournemouth's encyclopedia of knowledge as Neil Parrot joins me once again. Neil, it's great to see you. It's been a busy few weeks here at Vitality Stadium. Been a fantastic month. April, five wins out of seven games. Safety all but assured for another season in the Premier League. It's been a really, really memorable month. Three consecutive away wins as well in the Premier League for the first time in our history. What a time to be a Cherries fan. Not as successful for your non-league team though. No, sadly, New Milton Town, who my dog, Lazaro, is a big sponsor of, lost their penalty shootout, playoff, promotion, final on Saturday. So that was disappointing. Well, we'll move on from that because we've got a really exciting guest today and I have no doubt we'll be in fits of laughter over the next hour or so. Now, we're going to be talking to the man of the moment who's taken the Premier League by storm this season. He's already loved by AFC Bournemouth fans and is settled right in on the South Coast. So without further ado, we're delighted to welcome Marcus Tavernier onto the official AFC Bournemouth podcast. Marcus, it's great to see you. How are you? How are things? How's the injury? Yeah, I'm feeling great at the moment. Obviously, bit frustrating with picking up another injury, but we're going to hear what the specialist says and hopefully comes back with some good news. Marcus, I interviewed you after you'd scored the winning goal against Hamilton last month and before we went live, you said, can you just see if I've got any bits in my teeth? Because if my mum sees and I have, she'll be furious with me. So can you just please smile for the camera? I'm smiling. I didn't check my teeth before I came, so I'm hoping that there's nothing in them. Let's keep on the family theme. Now, we know your brother James is the captain of Rangers. Just just tell us about your mum. This is the first time you've lived away. You've told us that. Has she missed you? Have you missed her? Yeah, 100% I get messages every day asking how I am, what I'm up to. It's like she still wants me back at home and I'm still there because obviously I'm the youngest child. I say she loves me more than my brother might say that. My brother might say that I got it easier back at home, but yeah, she's missing me and she tries to get down as much as she can and she's been down a couple of weeks ago. So it's good to have her when she's down, but then she's got me doing jobs around my own house. Let's give her a quick name check. That's Bernie. Lovely. Now, home being Newcastle, the family home is in Newcastle. Do you get back there much at all? I know you can fly there quite easily from Southampton. Yeah, well, I've probably picked the furthest place to move away to in the country, but I try and go back as much as I can. And by the moment this season, I've just been really focused on my football and it's kind of bad to say I don't want it to be a distraction to go back home. So I left that aside at times and gone back home for birthdays of my nieces and nephews and being around my friends when I've been back up there. But I've just been focused really on football this season and trying to really knuckle down on it. How big an influence has Brother James been on you throughout your career? Yeah, he's been massive. I remember when I was younger and I got released from Newcastle under 14's and remember probably one of the worst days I had as a child. But I remember he took me to side and said if this is really what I want, if this is what I want to be, make sure you put your eggs all in one basket and that's what I did. And he just made me dedicate myself to it and really made me believe that this is what I want to do and I've never looked back since. Do you get to see him much play live? I try to, I think the last game I went to was European final in Seville and that's probably the last time I've been a proper fan in a game. It's it brought me back memories from my childhood of going to watch games and having that enjoyment of supporting the team. And unfortunately he didn't get the win but I couldn't be more proud of him to achieve what he has so far. Now, as Neil said before this season, apart from a brief spell in Milton Keynes, you never lived away from home. How have you found it? Have you settled in on the South Coast and explored the area at all? Yeah, definitely. I've got to give big fans to Jordan's more engine than me for that. I remember when I first came down, I had already seen Jordan in Dubai and the holidays funny enough and we were training out there a little bit. So when I came here it was like first set of eyes that I seen is someone I recognise. So they invited me over straight away for food and to watch some football and made me settling really easy. And I think that's played a big a big factor in me doing well and settling down because you hear about the stories of players finding it hard to find the feet when they when they move away from where they used to so much. Now, when you first arrived in Dorset, I'm going to quote you. You said, moving here, it was time for me to have a change and start my own adventure in life. How's it going? It's going great. I mean, the weather is so much more better down here. I remember speaking to my mum the other day and it was sunny down here and I'm enjoying the sun. I went on a nice walk and I asked her, what have you done? She she's telling me the weather, the weather's bad up there. It's raining and I couldn't be a bit more happy than to hear that, to be honest. Now, let's go back to where it all started. Newcastle United, you were born in Leeds, but your first club was Newcastle. Just tell us how that all came about. So I moved to Newcastle when I was when I was five with my with my mum working and then started playing football locally as you do. And I remember my mum telling me that I've got I've got scouts watching me from Newcastle. And I was probably the most excited kid you'll ever meet. And I remember got brought into the into the development at a young age. And I stayed in the system for a long time and made some friends for life from up there, who are still my friends today. And it was a really, a really good time for me. I really enjoyed it up there and I enjoyed every moment of it. And it's played a big part of my life. You just touched on being released and that day when that fateful day when you were told, just give us your memories of how did it come about? Were they sit you down or how does it all work? Well, for me personally, it was my mum got a phone call. It probably wasn't in the in the best way I got a handle. I remember I think I was still training at the time and my mum got a phone call. And the waited until I got home and then sat me down. My mum sat me down and and told me that they've they've let you go. And you know what happens in football? These are these are things which which do happen. But if anything, I think it helped me become a professional footballer. I feel like if that didn't happen, I don't know if I would be sat here with you guys today and speaking about this. So I don't look at it as a negative. I look at everything as a as a positive. And in a way, it's it's worked out well for me as I moved on to to Middlesbrough and had a great great time there as well. Yeah, I think it was a couple of weeks later. You were spotted by Middlesbrough playing in a county match. Just tell us about that. Yeah, I remember straight away when obviously when you you get released, you I just wanted to get straight back into football. So I joined joined the boys club, played a couple of tournaments. I remember representing the the county as well. And it was it was a final game against a team in I think it was Middlesbrough County, believe it or not. And then I see one of the coaches from Middlesbrough before the game. And he was just wishing me all the best. And because I think he played at a school. So he was just luckily enough it was at the same time. And I've seen him run into him. I was like, oh, come watch the first first 20 minutes of the game. And probably in the first 20 minutes, I scored one of the best scores I've ever scored in my life. And then he must have been on the phone straight away and brought me in. Now, you had a couple of games for the under 23s at Borough in 2016 before you made your first team debut against Skunthorpe United in the EFL Cup. And you were 18 and you provided the assist for the third goal. Give us your memories of that day and the sort of build up if you like and finding out you're in the team and what have you. I remember that day like it like it was yesterday, even the training session before we had Gary Monca as a manager and he used to do if you had a nighttime game the next day, we would train on the nighttime before. And obviously we went into the into the meeting the day before and I'm straight away. I'm looking at the bench, seeing have I made the bench and I couldn't see my name. So it's a bit good and I looked a bit higher up and I've seen that I was that I was starting. I couldn't believe it. And then all the little all the moments of joy just came in my body trying to keep a straight face while he's trying to tell us tactics. But at the same time, I'm just smiling so much on the inside. So we trains and then I remember after I was still so so happy. And I was really good friends, really good friends still to this day with a Louis swing and Dale Fry. So they were they were really happy for me as well. And I remember coming out of the training ground, Dale, Dale, I blocked me in and just joking, like shouting out of the car, well done. This is what you deserve. And he just stayed behind me for ages. Try to try to know me over, over welcomed these day. I remember I reversed out and put my foot down and ended up hitting Wingy's car the day before a game. And I kept that a secret for months and months. I remember him coming back in one day and saying, I've got a scratch on my car and I'm looking. I'm going, oh, how's that happened? I know I try to play it cool. Like nothing happened. I remember telling him maybe maybe a year or so later. I said, oh, you remember back when you had that scratch on your car, that's that was me. So it was a great build up to it. And then to go to the game to to the next day. And it was a long wait because it's a nighttime game. So I couldn't just, I just wanted to go down early and get ready for the game and have all my family there and also proud of me to to get there. My brother came down and everyone came up to watch me. And it was a, it was a great day for me. It was a, it was a day I'll never forget. Now in October, 2017, you scored your first goal for the first team. It was against the Cherries here in the EFL Cup. What were your first impressions of Vitality Stadium? I bet back then you couldn't envisage, you know, you'd be making your Premier League debut here. No, back then if you told me I was going to be playing for Bournemouth, I probably wouldn't have believed it. I didn't, didn't think anything of it, but that, that days, I would say that feeling I got when I, when I scored that goal is, is a feeling you can't describe. It's not something you can put into words in how you feel. I remember a Dharma running with the ball and then I'm screaming at him as loud as I can on the left side and he slides me in. And then I remember just taking a touch and I see Steve coming across and I just hit the ball, hit the ball across goal and look up and see it goes back in the net and the feeling was just, just so real. And if I could go back to that moment again, that's the one I would definitely go back to. Is it a different feeling scoring your first goal to scoring a goal now or is it the same feeling you have? No, definitely different. I don't think any feeling will, will come to the same as scoring your first goal because it feels like all that works since you're a kid when you're playing in the street and pretending you're, you're a player for me. It was Thierry Henry pretending I was him and scoring a goal and to do that yourself and it's just an amazing feeling, an amazing feeling for myself. Now your first goal in the championship, it was a pretty memorable one. It was the winner in the Derby against Sunderland in front of a crowd of almost 30,000 people at the Riverside. It was fireworks night, 2017. That must have made you a Middlesbrough hero. Yeah, I think that's what made me, made me a fan favourite early dose and I definitely got remembered for that. I remember that was my first home start in the championship. So it was first time playing there during the day and having an early kickoff and getting used to that. And I remember the build-up to the game, going to the ground, all the fans there and I've only ever been a fan at them type of games and to play in it was a great experience and to top it off with a goal just made it so much more real. I remember I meant to have a celebration in mind to do but then forgot everything and just enjoyed the moment. We'll come on to your goal celebrations later but your goalkeeper that day played quite well, I believe. Yes, that's Darren Randolph, yeah. He got man of the match that day. I'll never forget that. I don't know who it was. Someone, one of the, someone from Sky asked, Grant Ledbert, oh, who do you think we should give man of the match to? And I've came off at this point and I'm sat next to him and I'm listening to him thinking he's, because he's going, oh, shall we give it to the young lad or shall we give it to Darren? And I was listening and thinking he's got to see me, come on. He's got to see my name. I'm a young lad, first home game, scored the winner against arrivals and fortunately, if he said Darren, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe you had said it but he played great that day and he was a great keeper for Middlesbrough while he was there. Nice to have a familiar face when you come into a football club. You said about that earlier. What's it been like to see him here as well? Yeah, it's great. I mean, he keeps telling me I've got a lot older now but I make sure I tell him he's got a lot older. He's definitely, well, he's bald back then so I can't really say, I can't really say too much, hasn't grown much hair since then either but it's great for a player to have a familiar face and help someone settle down and you can tell them what the area is like and give an honest opinion. Now, in December 2017, Gary Monk, the man who gave you that first team debut, was sacked due to concerns about the club's style of play or so it was reported. What were your feelings on that? That one really probably hurt me quite a lot because obviously he's the first manager who put faith in me and really believed in me and in my ability and he made sure to tell me many, many times and told me always to work hard and the sky's the limit for me and when I got the news that he had got sacked it, it was a shock for me because we were doing well. Well, at the time I remember we were going into the game and we hadn't scored a set, I think it was a set-piece goal or we hadn't came back from being behind and that game we had done the both exact two things what we hadn't done all season so it was a big surprise for me and I don't know for the team, I can only speak for myself but I've got to give him a lot of credit for making me become the player I am today as he pushed me hard. X Cherry's boss Tony Poulis arrived and quickly shipped you out on loan to MK Don's. Just tell us about how that move came about. Now I know that you'd spoken to teammates Patrick Bamford and Lewis Baker had been there and I know your brother also had a loan spell there. Yeah, I remember as a player you want to play games and you want to just be on the pitch doing what you love so much and unfortunately that wasn't happened at Millsboro, they were a team full of great players and with some managers they love you and some managers they might not play you so it's part of the game and I understood that with the help of my brother he made me realise that so I remember having a talk with my agent and telling him that I want to just go play football and enjoy football and there was a couple of options there for me but the best one was MK Don's as I could speak to like he said Patrick Bamford and Lewis Baker and most importantly my brother who had been there as well to see what the club's about how they like to go about things and it wasn't probably the best loan spell for me I remember getting injured and having my first long injury as a player there and unfortunately we got relegated which is not the best thing and that's not what I intended to do there I tended to go there and be the saviour as you want to be but that didn't work out but it made me grope very quickly moving away to Milton Keynes away from what I'm used to and things like that so it was a great experience for me Now you had a full season under Tony Puelis in 2018-19 what was he like to work under for that duration of that campaign? Yeah he was good you can see why he's been successful for the majority of his career he was tough to work with at the same time but I understood that it was my first time transitioning really from managers so it was a lot different from the manager I had previously but it made me like I said before become a man it made me grow even more I feel like I grew up really early in my football career and with him it made that part it always kept me on my toes wanting to push to get into the team I remember going in the office asking why I'm not playing and things like that he just gave me honest answers and you can't argue with that when someone's honest with you you can just hold your hands up and work hard and try and get back in that team Now you're a cat by England under 19 and under 20 level and you also got to train with the full England squad as well just tell us about that experience and how brilliant it must have been Yeah that's probably one of the greatest moments for me to I remember when I received the call from England to go play it was due to some players being injured I was on standby for a couple of times beforehand and just missed out but this time someone got injured and I got that phone call and I remember just being so excited it's you're going with the best players in your age group in the country so it was a great moment for me and to play with my country and I got the honour to captain them in a few games which was even better and then to top it all off I got to challenge myself with the best players in the country or playing week in, week out in the Premier League and when I got that taste of training with them it's when I realised that's where I want to be and that's what my aim is What's it going to take to break into that full England squad? We've got such an amazing team at the moment lots of young talent and for you it must clearly be an ambition Yeah definitely that's always been a goal of mine I feel like if I score some more goals against Fulham I might get a bit more on the radar but now I've just got to keep working hard and continuing to put performances on the pitch and then focus on the club and then I'm sure good things will come from that Just going back to Milton Keynes it's a funny sort of place because they don't have road names they're all numbers how did you get on with all of that? It was a very strange experience for me first when I remember I heard it my brother told me there's a lot of roundabouts there and I'm thinking like why are you telling me that? I don't know what you're on about that doesn't mean anything to me and then when I got there I didn't have a clue where I was driving I was going round the wrong roundabouts I'm not the best driver in the world so I remember a couple of first days I was turned up late because I generally didn't know where I was going and that's following the sat-nav so if a sat-nav can't help you out what can? Now in a Covid hit 2019-20 you flourished under none other than Jonathan Woodgate another man who's been sat in that chair we did a podcast with him hugely popular guy here when he was at AFC Bournemouth just tell us about working with him and what he was like Yeah, he was great I remember when he took over and got the job I was delighted inside because I knew he worked under Tony Pulis and he was probably the coach I spoke to the most and was asking go away, Junior Junior Stanislaus has come to interrupt us Now I remember Jonathan Woodgate coming in and when he took over the job I was really delighted as someone I spoke to a lot and asked for advice for and I remember him asking me I thought it was a pressure question before the season started I'd just been away with England and he asked me if I wanted to come back early or have an extra week off so it was a bit of a trick question so I chose to come back a week early and he told me he had big plans for me in the season and as a player that's all you want to hear you want to hear that you're valued and you're important and he stayed true to his word and played me the most I've played in one season as a young player You certainly played under some very big characters none other than Neil Warnock being the next one come on you must have some stories about him He's one of my favourite managers I've had definitely I think he's the best man manager you can have well I've ever had so far he'll make you want to run through a brick wall for him he's very relaxed person I think he's changed from his younger days but he just loves football and he's a very family orientated man so if I preach he's in he'll take the team to home wall and then he'll bring everyone over to his house to meet his family and meet his children so I feel like he's a great manager and he's good at what he does and that's why he's still been in the game for so long Chris Wilder was your last manager at Middlesbrough now you're still young but you were even younger then you seem to have having to keep proving yourself to different managers all the time what's that like for a young player? I think it's good I mean it keeps you on your toes I believe I feel like as a young player you want the world that you feel at the same time but it doesn't come easy you've got to continue to work hard because you see players young players who have all the ability in the world and they never amount to it so it's always good to have managers always pushing you wanting more from you from a young player and that's what I had and I'm lucky for it Now no sooner had you arrived at Vitality Stadium another manager departed and another one came in and you almost had to prove yourself to another boss how have you found working under Gary O'Neill? Yeah he's been great I remember when I was going through a sticky spell not getting any numbers in terms of goals and assists and he brought me into the office to have a talk with him and he just told me to keep believing in myself keep doing the things I'm doing and all the other things that I'm wanting will come and that's when I got my on that same week I got my first goal and it was a great moment for myself but I feel like he's done a great job and it's showed in the previous performances and you can really see the style of play and the way we want to go about things in the games that we've been playing recently Just going back to last summer and the move just tell us a little bit more about how it came about because I know it was rumoured for a while and it must have been nice for you just to get it over the line Yeah it was rumoured for a long time I feel like my agent told me I think it was back in 2019 when Bournemouth were originally just interested and I always thought I don't want to hear if a team's interested if they want me they'll put a bid in and I always knew that the interest was there but in the season when my agent told me that Bournemouth are going to put a bid in and they really want this to work It was just a smile to my face as a young child all I've ever wanted to do is play in the Premier League and I remember speaking to the manager at the time and once I got off that phone call I just knew straight away that I was going to come down here Were you nervous? No, not really I feel like I'm quite laid back in things like that and I trust in my own ability and I back that all the way and it's all down to me then if I don't perform it's not no one else's fault but myself but thankfully it's worked out so far Well that Premier League debut of yours against Aston Villa it was the opening day it couldn't have gone much better could it I think you got man of the match Yeah it was a great debut I mean I'd only been here I think maybe 10 days or so leading up to the game and there was a lot of information putting from the manager and the staff but they made it easy for me to understand to get in terms with the team and that's why I say about settling down quickly and with Jordan and Jay they're making me settle down so that played a big part in me performing well on the day and it was a great start to this season we got a 2-0 win had me questioning the Premier League might not all be this and might not as be as hard as I thought it was but then we had a tough three games which made my eyes open up to the league after that Going to talk to you about one of those tough three games now your first visit to Anfield ended in disappointment when you went to watch your brother play in the FA Youth Cup and he didn't come off the bench your second visit ended in a 9-0 defeat what was going through your head as you walked off the pitch after that? I just couldn't believe it I didn't want to believe it it was just a moment no player wants to feel you're at the highest level and no one expects any team in this division to get beat I didn't score that much so I think everyone involved with the club felt the same that I was feeling that day and we just had to put things right and try and forget about it because we knew coming into the season that there's going to be a lot of highs and lows during the season but that was a law that was unacceptable but I feel like that was the pinnacle point in our season that made us become stronger everyone more together in terms of driving towards the same goal Premier League safety must have looked a long way off after that game Yeah well we had to take it a game at a time when it's a long season you play 38 games and we knew that coming into the league we had Aston Villa then three of the top teams in the league straight after that which wasn't the easiest start to a season but I feel like as the season's gone on we've only got stronger and we've started to show our identity in the league and Gary O'Neill came in and steadied the ship immediately with that six game unbeaten run just tell us about that Yeah that's exactly probably what we needed at that time we needed to start picking up some points and it made that very much easy for us to do it helped us just get that belief back in the team and that's what showed in them six games but at the same time we couldn't get too high on that because we knew that anything can happen in this league at any time so we had to just level ourselves out and just be ready for the next game continuously So every footballer craves scoring their first Premier League goal is it fair to say that your second Premier League goal against Everton was perhaps more memorable than the one against Leeds which came in a defeat? I'd probably say not because obviously I was born in Leeds I had family at the game and it was just the right moment for me to score my goal and I'm sure I had some chances in the previous games before that to put the ball in the back of the net but I remember scoring and then unfortunately getting beaten in the same sense from a good lead and it was a bit of a sweet moment for myself as I just want to be delighted that I've scored my first goal but at the same time we've lost another game and it was tough at the time but we had to bounce back and then I don't know if it was it a week or two weeks later we played Everton and we put things right and got that win and got my other goal which in front of the home fans for the first time which was great You were a Middlesbrough hero for scoring in the Derby against Sunderland and you were certainly a Bournemouth hero for scoring the goal against Southampton recently just tell us, did you really know how much that meant to Bournemouth fans? Not if I'm being brutally honest not to go into the game and after the game and being involved in it but I remember the first time we played them here and when we got beat I remember after the game hearing their fans and seeing their players go up to them at the end of the game it really annoyed me it's not what you want it made me realise that this is a big game for these two sets of fans and we had to put things right and in the second time we played them which we did and it made it ever so better that we did it at their place as well and it was a better win and it was probably one of the biggest wins that we've had all season It's been an interesting scenario here this season having Jack Stevens here on loan from Southampton he obviously couldn't play in those two games but that must be an interesting dynamic for him Yeah, it probably is so but I'm sure he's rooting for us as much as anything because he's a Bournemouth player at the moment and that's where he sees his head out so after the game he's came in congratulating everyone because we knew what that game meant for us and we knew how vital them three points were Now while we're on the subject of the Southampton game and the Southampton goal you know what's coming I can tell by your face that I'm about to ask you about the celebration Yeah, what dance do you think it is first before we go on? So I know the answer so I think it's unfair But before you knew the answer though what did you think it was? To be honest at the time my head was down tapping away I saw you score and I was like oh I need to put a tweet out here so I actually didn't see it at the time See, because I've been getting a lot of people calling it the chicken dance the duck dance but it is the turkey dance it's the turkey dance because my family my uncle and auntie were down for the game and I went to their room before the game they were staying at the same hotel and my auntie always makes me turkey sandwiches whenever she sees me and my uncle gave me the message at about three o'clock saying oh do you want to come up for some turkey sandwiches? and I can't turn that off or down so I remember going up just before pre-match and going to the room and having a cup of tea and turkey sandwich I even stuck a donut in there as well sports tightness is probably not going to be the happiest with that but I remember taking a donut as well and I remember after I had ate and I was going down for just before I was going to go down for pre-match my uncle said if you score today you've got to promise me that you've got to do a turkey dance and I said I promise you I'm going to score today and when I do you'll see it and he was in the Southampton end at the time he was in one of their players box up there so he was running around the box doing the turkey dance as well at the same time are you a superstitious kind of guy? because if you are I mean that's a turkey sandwich and a donut before every game is it not? I probably won't get away with that though with the sports scientist I'm not going to be the only person who who makes me the turkey sandwich there's a certain way you've got to make it and she makes it the best now I'm going to put you on the spot which teammates have the best and worst goal celebrations bearing in mind one of your teammates is sat in the room oh no no he's got a very good celebration junior he's got a very good celebration he's got the best I've got to give it to I'm giving it to Jayden Jayden Jayden is the career he's a big career and we always have have talks on on what we're going to do and I'm sure you've seen the celebration after I did about four celebrations in the Southampton game and we talked it was like when you go out to check the pitch before before the game we talked about and I remember saying if I score I need you over next day we're gonna gonna celebrate this one like this way and he's definitely probably I'd say he's the best creator but I might put myself up there for the best best one he's got the best celebrations even though I knee-slided for four of them what about the worst do you haven't answered the worst goal celebration the worst goal celebration I don't think there's a worst I don't think we haven't we haven't scored as many goals I'd be like so we there's not been too many goal scorers so I can't can't give it a worst one now now we'll move on from Southampton there's been so many highs and so many lows I just want you to sum up the season really we haven't even mentioned that goal against Fulham which must be one of your highs I feel like right right now this point it's it's gone great because we're nearly at that point where we've all been working working towards and that's all I wanted to do to come here we had one job and that's to stay in this league and although you can think of a personal level it was always to me about the team and to get to get that safety and to stay in this league for many years to come and that's what that's what we've nearly achieved so so far so I believe that's probably the highest point so far and then the lowest personally is injuries that's something I haven't had too much in my in my career but I feel like every every setback always always makes you it makes you greater and I've had junior as a as a mentor to that city fair he's always kept me on the on the right track when injuries have come my way and gave me that motivation to continue to do good when I come back we'll um we'll get a move on because it looks like juniors nodding off over there so you can't choose any of your goals choose a goal of the season winner dangle against Tottenham it's not the actual goal but the moment itself was just unbelievable I remember I was on the bench and I had felt like I scored I was ready to to run on the pitch and we've got the medical team and everyone in the inside the stadium supporting the bomb supporting bomb of celebrating like like our lives depend on it it was just such a great feeling to to to go to a top team at a crucial stage in our season and and get three points what do you do in your spare time I love college I love to play college that's my I like to tell everyone that football is just my my hobby and college is my full-time job but apart from that I like to just sit on the sofa like a normal person on watch TV there's this story knocking around about Ben White saying Harry doesn't like watching football it's his it's his job you're not one of those sort of people are you no no no I like to I like to watch football and keep up to date with what's going on in the in the league and and the top teams you you as ever since I was younger I used to to watch players and see why they're why they're so great and what they do which is different to what I do what what I can implement in my game so I do like to watch football I know some really picturesque areas in and around Newcastle particularly north of Newcastle have you found anywhere like that where you go around here maybe into the forest or the perbex or anything like that yet no I was being telling Zoe that I need a dog I need a dog to go on a walk but I can't look after it for for the times we we go away and and the best place I go is probably just walking around when I was at the nickies to go to the to the beach when I had family down or go to a local coffee shop with with junior as well now me and you have had a conversation about co-parenting a dog I take it that's off the cards now yeah I can't co-parent it needs to be it needs to be my dog but I don't want to give it away at the same time I needs to be mine and I don't know what you're like with dogs I don't know if I can trust you I don't know I mean ask David bricks I look after his dog all the time so I might have to speak to broxy but he might just be nice saying that to you he might say something else to me that's why I've not spoke to you about it since you never know you're trying to second-guess me now now is it true you're going to be gunning for loot in town to win the championship playoffs impossible impossible I've been rooting for middlesbrough season and just because I've got a lot of friends there and ultimately I want to play against them next season it'll be a great experience to to go back to a club I grew up playing for and came through the ranks and to to go back there it'll be interesting to see what what reception you get because you never know what you're going to get as a player but I'm hoping they they can stay strong in the in the playoffs and and come up we've got some fans questions to move on to but we're just going to ask you for your 10 favourites so I'll start with the first five your favourite holiday destination I'm going to say Dubai Dubai yeah your favourite other sport basketball your favourite boxer or flying male other is that what we're doing retired or current well go for retired and current so retired flying male other current Giovanna Davis your favourite actor or actress Denzel Washington and your favourite flavour of ice cream vanilla no no sprinkles no no jam or whatever it is just straight vanilla now your favourite film or series game of thrones it's the best ever if you haven't seen it go watch it right now your favourite away stadium to play at I didn't get to play there so I was at one I've played at or again give both so to play out would be Emirates because growing up I was a an Arsenal fan but the best away one I've played at St James Park your favourite player perhaps someone that you've never played with Paul Pogba I used to love him just growing up favourite takeaway Juniors Mrs Food the best you need some Caribbean food she needs to she needs to create a business and she'll be she'll be a multimillionaire if she does your favourite performance this season that you've played in personally my favourite one um there's probably two I'd give it to the leads one on a personal personal level it's probably the best game I I probably played but the other one I would say for them for coming back from my my injury and making an impact in the game I'd probably say that was that was my probably my favourite one as well and it doesn't doesn't go too bad when you when you score a goal so got some fans questions just to finish off with Jake Stokes is asking has the move to Bournemouth been what you hoped it would be I probably say it's been better I didn't didn't know what to to really expect obviously I I've came here to to play football but I didn't know that I was going to be loved by the fans straight away or how they would take to me and the the players I kind of asked for a bit of a bunch of teammates to to help me settle down and and create friends with Sam is asking what is your favourite thing about the town of Bournemouth the town of Bournemouth I would go with the coffee shop me and junior go to it's the best coffee I've ever I've never used to really drink coffee and until I until I came here and that coffee shop does the best vanilla latte ever so for free coffee for the rest of your life which one is it from this place what it's called yeah ounce okay Henry Smith is saying why are you such a baller I don't know I think my my mom and dad might have the the right genes and and create in creating the good footballer I don't know because obviously my brother's not doing too bad as well so you'll have to speak to my mom and dad Cassie wants to know what's your favourite tattoo oh my toes hmm I don't know if I've got a favourite one maybe I don't know no I don't know I don't think I can pick just one I like all them everyone mean has a meaning behind them so I can't just pick one of them and Joanne we sort of touched on this she wants to know if you've got a dog which we found out that you don't but if you did what breed would you get chow chow well there we go Joanne a chow chow is what Marcus would have well Marcus it's been an absolute pleasure having you here with us we've loved hearing your stories and loved your company this afternoon thank you very much for your time now if you've enjoyed listening to our podcast we'd 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 the AFC Bournemouth related or just the general football fan can enjoy it too. Our thanks again to Marcus Tavernier and from Neil Parrott and myself Zoe Rundle thank you for tuning in to the official AFC Bournemouth podcast