Harry Arter willing to battle on for Bournemouth’s survival

Harry Arter remembers the dark days. Six years ago this week he was playing in front of 447 people for Woking against Bath City. They lost 5-0 and for a brief moment he considered packing in football. Arter was 19, had been let go by Charlton and the Conference South was not treating him kindly.

It was a long way from Stamford Bridge, where Bournemouth travel on Saturday evening. Arter never doubted his ability to make it to the top, though, he just needed a manager willing to give him a chance.

He is now a Republic of Ireland international, was voted Bournemouth supporters' player of last season and is getting accustomed to high praise. He is expected to feature against Chelsea despite suffering a minor hamstring injury in the 3-3 draw with Everton last Saturday and that is not solely down to Bournemouth's worsening injury crisis, but also his own determination.

To appreciate the hunger that burns inside, you need to go back in time to that “horrendous day” at Bath. “My target at that point wasn’t the Premier League,” Arter recalls. “I was young but I was realistic. My only ambition in the Conference South was to get back to the Football League, whether that was League Two or League One.

“Looking back now it’s quite mad that I didn’t impress that many managers because at the end of that season there were only two clubs that wanted to take me. It was Bournemouth or a little sniff from Swindon.”

Suffice to say he made the right choice but Arter will not rest on his laurels, now he is desperate not to drop back down. “I’m never happy with where I am. In League One, in all honesty, my aim was to get a move to a Championship club because Bournemouth weren’t challenging. It was ‘work hard, impress, get a move’.

“Being second-bottom isn’t where I want to be – even if I’ve come a long way in six years. In hindsight if someone had said to me six years ago that I would be here, then I would bite your hand off. But this position now? I don’t want to be here.”

Past achievements

Footballers do not reflect much on past achievements. There was little time to celebrate winning the Championship – Arter fittingly scored at Charlton on the final day to help secure top spot – as focus immediately shifted to getting ready for the club’s first season in the Premier League.

The story of Bournemouth’s remarkable rise is well known but Arter’s own ascent runs parallel to it. Still, the time for self-congratulation will come when he has retired.

“If you pat yourself on the back, you’ll be bottom of the table and back where we were last season,” he adds. “It’s funny how quickly you can go from being on top of the world to feeling down. We need to stay positive and stay in this league. Looking back isn’t going to help that.”

There is an unmissable self-assuredness about the midfielder, a steely layer beneath his silky touch. He bristles at criticism, yet pays heed to every comment about Bournemouth's struggles in recent weeks. With each game the desire to shut up detractors is increasing and suggestions from some, notably Martin Keown on Match of the Day last month, over their style of play, are not taken kindly.

“I’ve been a little baffled,” Arter says. “Martin Keown said Bournemouth need to change their style of play to stay up. I can’t figure out what he meant by that – he says we’re attacking, but you have to do that to win games. I did find it so strange that he wants us to go route one.

“I’d like to get every single person that says we need to change how we play to come up with a solution. Maybe we should give them the team for a few weeks and see if they can get some results. I don’t think they would.”

Arter takes note of every comment but one voice matters above all: his brother-in-law, Scott Parker. “He is someone who I can always fall back on. I respect him more than anybody in football because he is brutally honest with me and has my best interests at heart.

“He’s ruthless with his opinions but I know everything he says is to help me become a better player. He played at the highest level, captained his country, and if I can achieve half of what he did, I’ll be a happy man.”

Roy Keane also imparted some wisdom when Arter was with the Ireland squad for last month's play-offs against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

“We spoke about being in the Premier League and he told me about his difficulties at Sunderland and how to try and deal with it. I really appreciated that. It was good to get new ideas from people who have played at the top of the game because Eddie (Howe) is the only real manager I’ve had.”

At the same time Arter knows results need to improve soon. Their last win was against Sunderland on September and 19th Manchester United and Arsenal must also be faced this month.

It’s a daunting run for a team still getting used to the demands of the Premier League and particularly the idea that they can no longer monopolise possession.

‘Lose concentration’

“It’s the one thing I’ve had to learn quite quickly. We have always dominated the ball – it was very rare to play a team who had more of it. This season we knew it was going to be different but the feeling wasn’t nice with teams keeping it from us. Psychologically it’s tough – especially when the foundations of our game are built upon doing that. I’ve had to change my mindset, not to get frustrated and lose concentration without the ball.

“As a group we are all learning. Most goals at this level are down to a split-second lack of concentration and if you’re not switched on for a second, the ball is in the back of your net. Adjusting to that has been tough but we need to figure out different ways. I feel we’re starting to do that.”

Saturday’s is a fixture Bournemouth will not be expected to get a result from and that lack of pressure means it is viewed almost as a free hit. After a pair of draws against Swansea and Everton, the latter earned in the 98th minute, avoiding defeat again would be a sizeable confidence boost.

“There isn’t pressure from the outside, so it’s a free game for us,” Arter adds. “If we pick up a draw it’s seen as an unbelievable result.

“In-house we put pressure on ourselves that we can all walk off the pitch feeling that there wasn’t anything more we could have done. I’m confident we can do that – not leave a blade of grass untouched and physically not do any more than what we can.”

(Guardian service)