Ibe is back! But what has he been up to since he was called back from Pride Park (or iPro Stadium) the first time. We spoke with Neil Meldrum, author of AFCB: The Fall & Rise and also covers AFC Bournemouth for The Athletic to find out about Jordon Ibe's time on the South Coast. You can follow Neil on Twitter here.
What were your initial thoughts when he signed permanently for Bournemouth?
Initially, he stood out as a player with huge potential and someone who could really
build a future at Bournemouth. I wrote in 2016 how Ibe was a reason for optimism among the Bournemouth fans because he had that air of unpredictability that you don’t often see in wingers these days. He had the ability to beat full-backs and make things happen, but very quickly it became clear that it just wasn’t going to work out for him at Bournemouth.
Where did it go wrong for Jordon Ibe at Bournemouth?
Ibe has massive ability and at the age of 24, should be a regular in the England squad. But the biggest thing that
has held him back throughout his career are off the pitch issues and that was the main problem at Bournemouth. He’s already alluded to problems with his mental health in recent years, which were no doubt exacerbated by being charged with motoring offences after he drove his Bentley into a shop in Bromley in 2019 and the very public criticism that came his way after he was photographed having a haircut during the coronavirus lockdown.
Where there any bright spots for him during his time with The Cherries?
There weren’t many, beyond rare glimpses of what we all knew he could do. He scored a few decent goals, one against Arsenal in 2018 and a nice finish against MK Dons in the League Cup the following season, but he lacked consistency. He’d have a really good game and you’d think ‘finally he’s going to come good’, then he’d go missing in the next two matches and your opinion would be back where it was before.
What was the main frustration with him amongst Bournemouth fans?
The main frustration was they knew he had the ability, because they’d all seen it – it’s just they didn’t see it often enough. It wasn’t like he had a terrible attitude. I rarely looked at him and thought he was going through the motions as such, but he was just ineffective in the way we all knew he could be.
What can Derby fans expect from him?
Based on his comments after signing and his Instagram post recently that revealed some of the mental health struggles he’s had, I think Derby fans can expect to see a different player to the one we frequently saw at Bournemouth. As he alluded to himself, it’s a fresh start for him and he has happy memories of his time at Pride Park before, so if he hits the ground running, makes an early impact and maybe grabs a goal or two, it could be the making of him. He’s a player who needs an arm round him at times and one who thrives off confidence, but, equally, can become eaten up by negativity or poor performances. He’ll need to make a good start at Derby and he’ll need some faith from Cocu, then Derby may well see the best of him.
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