Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Talk of Saints job is history
EDDIE Howe yesterday described talk of him becoming Southampton manager as history and water under the bridge. Howe takes Cherries to St Mary's tomorrow for the first time since he turned down the chance to replace Alan Pardew as Saints boss three weeks ago. The 32-year-old will come face to face with new boss Nigel Adkins, the man Southampton claimed was the only person they had offered the job. Asked ahead of training yesterday by BBC Radio Solent's Adam Blackmore why he had chosen not to pursue the post, Howe replied: I've got a fantastic group of players here. I'm very fortunate and proud to be manager here. I decided that this was where I wanted to be and feel very privileged to do the job. Howe added: I've got a lot of respect for Nigel and the magnificent job he did at Scunthorpe. I wish him all the best at Southampton, after Saturday. I haven't met him but I've heard he's a really good guy. Previewing the match, Howe said: It's a big game, the players are aware of that. We've got a good number of supporters going and want to put on a performance for them. It's all set up to be a great game. Howe said he had a couple of injury worries but declined to reveal the identity of the players concerned. Saints: (from) Davis, Butterfield, Fonte, Jaidi, Harding, Puncheon, Hammond, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert, Barnard, Mills, Dickson, Holmes, Chamberlain, Guli, Martin, Doble, Chaplow, Bialkowski. Cherries: (from) Jalal, Smith, Garry, Pearce, Wiggins, Feeney, Bartley, Robinson, Pugh, McQuoid, Symes, Cooper, Fletcher, Cummings, Bradbury, Hollands, Taylor, Partington, Stewart. ¢ See today's Echo for our interviews with former Saints and Cherries stars Dickie Dowsett and Ted MacDougall.