Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries feature: Murry's risk and reward
CRESTFALLEN in the Rotherham press room following a second defeat as Cherries' caretaker-manager, the last thing Eddie Howe probably expected would have been a permanent job offer.[LNB] Successive reverses in his first two games were hardly a ringing endorsement of his managerial credentials, while Cherries' display at the Don Valley Stadium had been far from encouraging.[LNB] The League Two table also made for grim reading following the 1-0 defeat by the Millers on January 17. Marooned one off the bottom, Cherries had a paltry seven points on the board and were 10 adrift.[LNB] Even Rotherham boss Mark Robins, who, like Cherries, had seen his club docked 17 points, was sceptical of their chances, with or without Howe at the helm.[LNB] Robins, now Barnsley manager, said at the time: It's going to be very, very difficult. They have got to win three or four more games than one of the teams above them and it's going to be tough.[LNB] Howe was certainly making the right noises: The lads are united. They are hurting more than anyone. We spoke frankly after the game and know we need to get results quickly.[LNB] As the Cherries team coach headed home, Howe took a telephone call that was to shape his year and, in all probability, the rest of his career.[LNB] Cherries director Adam Murry must have seemed like his fairy godfather. Somewhere on the M1, Howe was offered and accepted his first managerial post.[LNB] We are satisfied that Eddie is the right man to take the team forward because we have seen an improvement since he came in, said Murry at the time.[LNB] Fast forward 12 months and Murry's crystal ball has proved priceless, his words prophetic. His consortium, which gained control of the club in June, has certainly reaped the benefits.[LNB] It was a risk I took which I knew could have finished me, said Murry last night. If it had all blown up in my face, I would have been hounded out. But seeing the ability Eddie had, I was confident it wouldn't.[LNB] Without the team's achievements under Eddie, I feel sure we would have gone under. It would have made it almost impossible for me to bring together a consortium to take the club forward.[LNB] What Eddie has achieved here in a year is nothing short of remarkable and, in my opinion, he will certainly go on and continue to be an extremely successful manager.[LNB] Howe's next league match in charge will be his 46th, the total for a full season. With a win ratio of more than 57 per cent, the first 45 matches yielded 85 points, enough to have guaranteed promotion from the bottom tier in all but one of the previous 20 seasons.[LNB] Having masterminded Cherries' escape from the drop last season, Howe has guided the same squad of players to the dizzy heights of second in League Two.[LNB] It's been a fantastic year for the football club, said Howe. If anyone had said a year ago that we would escape relegation and then be challenging for promotion, you wouldn't really have believed them.[LNB] We've had the same squad and it's been a fantastic effort from the players. They have managed to transform themselves from relegation candidates into promotion hopefuls and they are the ones that deserve all the credit because they've had a lot to deal with in the past few years. As a team, they look to have come out the other side and the future certainly looks better than it did a year ago.[LNB] For me personally, it's been a great experience and I wouldn't change a thing. It's been a fantastic journey. I came into it full of hope but you never quite know how it's going to go.[LNB] We've had highs and lows but, for the majority of the time, it's been steady progress. Things can change very quickly and we just want to try to maintain our push in the coming weeks.[LNB] You can't look back in football and we're looking forward now. We are desperate to achieve our aims and dreams and the next 22 games will see where we go.[LNB]
