Cherries fans want to see Mings unleashed

The surprise about AFC Bournemouth’s record summer signing was more the fact that the big money was spent on a defender rather than a striker. Tyrone Mings was good business according to Mick McCarthy, who was not standing in the way of the Cherries’ record £8m bid for the player.

Yet, Tyrone has never played in the Premier League and is not an international player at the moment, so what gave AFC Bournemouth such confidence in a young player that still has to fight hard just to win a place in the team?

Tyrone excelled at Ipswich Town. He was seen as the jewel of Portman Road – a quick and powerful left-back that had come from Chippenham Town. He only had three seasons with the Tractor Boys but was arguably the best full-back in the Championship, winning the Sky Bet Player of the Month award in October 2014. Now he has to move up to the Premier League and with a new club. That would be quite enough for any player but he also has the record signing tag on his back to carry as well.

The player though is confident that he can do great things with the teaching of Eddie Howe. AFC Bournemouth fans of course hope that he is right, although Charlie Daniels is also a crowd favourite who plays in the same position. It should be quite a battle for that spot and Mings has to start his AFC Bournemouth career in top form if he is to win his place in the team. That gives me the impression that he will be one of the players that people soon start talking about when the Cherries are mentioned. Why hasn’t he started yet? How good is he? And when he does play will other teams see why the seasiders were prepared to make him the club’s record buy?

AFC Bournemouth are said to not be a team of stars, but this lad could be one in the making. He is tall and fast and Howe will use all of his attributes to get the best out of him. He will have to take on some of the best right wingers in the Premier League though. It will be a very quick learning curve but players are in the Premier League to test themselves. How much AFC Bournemouth will be on their back heels is hard to tell at the moment, but Tyrone will be one of the players that Eddie Howe is likely to look to who will be charged with getting the team back on the front foot and pressing teams high up the pitch.

Tyrone could have had his pick of Premier League clubs some say, but it was no fluke that he picked AFC Bournemouth. He wanted a team that was going to develop in the Premier League and he had first-hand experience of how well the team played in the Championship. Now it is up to him to show everyone that he made the right choice and deliver an exciting season for the supporters, as well as for himself.

Check our Peter’s Bournemouth blog at http://www.afcbchimes.blogspot.co.uk.