Marked for Marcus Tavernier
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Nov 2026
A 2‑0 win over Barnsley, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Alex Scott takes the afternoon — 8.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alex Scott provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Eli Junior Kroupi, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.37
A mark of 8.37 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad9 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market9 Nov 2026
Amine Adli wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Bournemouth hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market9 Nov 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bournemouth has been clear about where Marcus Tavernier stands, which is more than many ever get.
Match7 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alex Scott. 2‑1 against Leeds United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.97 for the rest of it.
Market2 Nov 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Match31 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Bournemouth's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Bournemouth has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Eli Junior Kroupi is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Bournemouth will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Michele Di Gregorio
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Marcus Tavernier asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Match31 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Benjamin Harris chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Gustavo Ramírez out for 96 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bournemouth will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market24 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done: Lamine Cissé joins from Stoke City in a deal worth $7.8M. Now comes the harder part.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
No sign of nerves from Eli Junior Kroupi at 20 — 7.64
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Eli Junior Kroupi did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Michele Di Gregorio was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Lamine Cissé arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Lamine Cissé has, at Bournemouth, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 20 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Adrien Truffert has left for Aston Villa in a $34.2M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Bournemouth have gone to Stoke City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Bournemouth heard it as anything else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tyler Adams and Bournemouth agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $8.3M — a club that wants Róbert Boženík enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Bournemouth asked and Stoke City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
The Ryan Christie conversation is coming
Everyone has stopped pretending: PAOK will make the call about Ryan Christie this week. Bournemouth have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
No hiding place for Juanlu
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juanlu, and the manager let it.