Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: Eddie can see pros and cons of mid-season break
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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Meanwhile, Cherries' attempts to persuade Notts County to reschedule their League Two clash in front of the Sky Sports cameras have been dashed. The Dorset club's operations director Neill Blake asked County officials whether they would be prepared to restage the fixture on Monday, February 15. 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. 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). 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. Blake told the Daily Echo: We had further discussions with Notts County but, for their own reasons, they were unwilling to change the fixture. 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. 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.