{"id":888203,"date":"2026-05-11T08:45:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T08:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/888203\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T08:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T08:45:21","slug":"cherries-closing-in-on-european-football-is-kind-of-bonkers-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/888203\/","title":{"rendered":"Cherries closing in on European football ‘is kind of bonkers’ – Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bournemouth captain Adam Smith<\/a> says “it’s kind of bonkers” that the Cherries are so close to qualifying for European football this season for the first time in club history.<\/p>\n

Long-serving stalwart Smith told BBC Radio Solent: “It’s an exciting time to be at this club, whether you’re a fan, player or staff member.<\/p>\n

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“To potentially be in the Champions League or Europa or Conference is what dreams are made of.<\/p>\n

“I never thought this club would be anywhere near that. It is kind of bonkers.<\/p>\n

“The players we have at this club is scary. Somehow the club finds these players and credit for them for doing that.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got a good group here which means you can bring in new players and they settle really quickly.<\/p>\n

“It’s a privilege to be here.”<\/p>\n

Smith came back into the side for Saturday’s win at Fulham<\/a> and replaced Alex Jimenez<\/a>, who has been dropped from the squad while the club investigates posts on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As captain, he said he “didn’t do a meeting or anything like that” with the players, but he did call for them to keep their focus.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been in this game a long time and it’s something you can’t prepare for,” added Smith. “It’s a tough time and I didn’t expect to play, but it’s under investigation.<\/p>\n

“I just told the lads to concentrate on the game and they did so credit to the lads for not getting distracted.<\/p>\n

“I felt we all stuck together out there and that’s all we can do. Deal with it with professionalism and we done our job.”<\/p>\n

Listen to Smith on BBC Sounds<\/a><\/p>\n

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