Cherries: Eddie can see pros and cons of mid-season break

08 January 2010 07:00
Cherries boss Eddie Howe has remained non-committal on calls for a mid-season break and says he can see both sides to the argument.[LNB] His comments come following the postponement of Cherries' trip to Rotherham tomorrow a year after their fixture on the same weekend also fell victim to Arctic weather conditions.[LNB] The recent cold snap has ignited the debate among managers and players up and down the country over whether a short winter recess should be brought in.[LNB] Howe told the Daily Echo: We are disappointed our match was postponed because we were looking forward to it, although it was clearly the right decision.[LNB] The last thing we need is a fixture backlog, especially with such a small squad. We are quite well up with our games even though we have had two postponed in quick succession.[LNB] It will give us a two-week break and provide an opportunity for a couple of our returning players to get their fitness levels up.[LNB] I can see the pros and cons of having a mid-season break. The players have a hectic schedule and it would give them a chance to recharge their batteries. In return, that would probably lead to better quality football being played.[LNB] On the flip side, it would disrupt the flow of playing games every week and the players may see it as having to do a second pre-season when they came back.[LNB] Howe is hoping to run the rule over Watford's Jordan Parkes and Weymouth-based Sam Charles, who has been playing for Montana State Billings in America, in Cherries' next reserve outing, which is scheduled for Monday against Southampton at Staplewood.[LNB] Meanwhile, Cherries' attempts to persuade Notts County to reschedule their League Two clash in front of the Sky Sports cameras have been dashed.[LNB] The Dorset club's operations director Neill Blake asked County officials whether they would be prepared to restage the fixture on Monday, February 15.[LNB] Cherries offered a 50-50 split of the £40,000 broadcast fund to County, sacrificing £10,000 of their own entitlement from the Football League kitty.[LNB] However, their request fell on deaf ears and the clash will now take place at Dean Court on Tuesday, February 9 (7.45pm kick-off).[LNB] Sky had offered to screen the match on February 15, although County were reluctant to travel just two days after they host league leaders Rochdale at Meadow Lane.[LNB] Blake told the Daily Echo: We had further discussions with Notts County but, for their own reasons, they were unwilling to change the fixture.[LNB] We are disappointed the match will not be shown on Sky Sports but hopeful they will see fit to screen one of our games later in the season.[LNB] The original fixture, which was due to be played on Monday, December 21, was postponed just two hours before kick-off due to a frozen pitch.[LNB]

Source: Bournemouth_Echo