IF you have been anywhere near social media over the past week, you would have no doubt seen the #10YearChallenge.

While the global hashtag means to compare yourself between then and now, the term itself is particularly apt for one legendary Cherries figure.

A decade ago tomorrow, Steve Fletcher agreed terms to reunite with boss Eddie Howe and become the pied-piper of the Dorset club’s improbable Football League survival bid.

It was a monumental task to keep up the club who were 10 points from safety in League Two, having faced a 17-point deduction at the start of the season.

But Fletcher’s decision to discard the 18 months remaining on his contract at Crawley and risk it all with his beloved Cherries was a choice which will always go down in Dean Court folklore.

It was a call which looked a massive gamble on paper, but for Fletcher, who was 36 at the time – it was a no-brainer to link back up with one of his closest friends.

“I had 18 months left on my contract at Crawley. I was 36 and had to decide to give it all up for a six-month contract at Bournemouth,” he told the Daily Echo.

“It was less money, more pressure, with no guarantees at the end of it being 10 points adrift of safety at the bottom of League Two.

“If Bournemouth had got relegated, I’d have been coming up to 37. There was no club that would have taken me after that. Maybe in non-league but that wasn’t what I wanted to do.

“But I just woke up in the middle of the night, woke my wife up and said ‘I’m going to do it’.

“If it wasn’t for Eddie, I wouldn’t have come back.

“But it was Eddie. I loved the club and I wanted to do something in my life where I wanted to make an impact.

“I wanted to do it for me, for Eddie, for the club and at least have a go. Then, if it hadn’t have come off, I could look myself in the mirror and think ‘I had a crack at it and I didn’t shy away from the challenge’.

“When I came back, I played every game for Eddie Howe like it was the last game of my career.

“Because Eddie had shown the faith in me, I wanted to pay him back.

“The rest is history!”

Talisman Fletcher defied the advice of some of those closest to him to make his Dean Court return.

He was given a guard of honour in training the day before Cherries’ 3-1 victory over Wycombe – Howe’s first game since taking the job on a permanent basis.

“When I left after 15 years in 2007, I didn’t think I would ever come back in a footballing capacity,” he said.

“When I played against Wycombe, it felt like I was making a one-off appearance. Almost like a charity match where the old regime come back.

“When we beat them 3-1 and they were top of the league, it hit home that it was all for real.

“I don’t know any other way to describe it. Looking back it just fills me with pride and great memories – the best memories of my career.”

Of course, the fairytale finale to that campaign climaxed with Fletcher scoring the winner against Grimsby in April to confirm survival.

So, 10 years on and now assistant first-team coach as Cherries sit 12th in the Premier League, how much has changed for the legendary target man?

“I’m still the same,” he said.

“I’ve had to cross the line on to the dark side as the players say! I see everything from a different angle.

“You look back on your career when you are in the coaching department and wish you could change a hell of a lot. I would change thousands of things.

“All I can do is make sure I try not to do the wrong things now. You can imagine being in and around people like Eddie and JT, how meticulous training is and it just makes you a better person and coach.

“I have probably grown up. When you are a footballer you are a child. You live in a bubble until that bubble bursts.

“I am a lot wiser now. In the 10 years, the older, wiser head of me has come out.”