Is the Bournemouth management hierarchy literally staffed by idiots? Bournemouth have unceremoniously and ruthlessly sacked manager Gary O’Neil, even though the guy led them to safety just a month ago.
Well, my first relegation prediction for next season is now Bournemouth.
Despite dragging a beaten, battered, and bruised Bournemouth side from dead last in the division all the way up to a comfortable 15th place finish, Gary O’Neil has been surprisingly sacked by the Bournemouth hierarchy after only 7 months in charge. And, if you couldn’t tell, I absolutely despise this move.
Perhaps there is some behind-the-scenes issues or controversies I’m not aware of that resulted in this sacking, but I think this move has just doomed Bournemouth back down to the Championship.
I mean, why the hell would Bournemouth fire a manager who not only was the first man to lead the club to consecutive stays in the Premier League since Eddie Howe did so back in 2015-2020, but also helped them survive relegation after a disastrous start to the season.
Have the minds of the Bournemouth hierarchy really been so rotted to the point they have forgotten the Scott Parker era of this football club? It was only back in last August Bournemouth went 1-3, had a goal difference of -14, and had lost 9-0 to Liverpool to see them slumped to 20th in the Premier League table.
They were on the verge of getting relegated in OCTOBER…until Gary O’Neil was hired.
And, after a tough start to his managerial career, Gary O’Neil was able to guide the Cherries to a 7-9-0 record in their final 16 matches of the season to secure safety and a place in the 2023-24 Premier League campaign. Or, in other words, if it wasn’t for Gary O’Neil, Bournemouth would be a Championship team.
That’s just a matter of fact.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, the only reason why I could justify this sacking is if O’Neil and the Bournemouth board had a falling out of some kind. You know, an argument over transfers or player wage bills…which is exactly what happened to Scott Parker.
Obviously, going 1-3, losing 9-0 to Liverpool, and scoring just 2 goals across 4 games wasn’t going to cut it as the Bournemouth manager, yet it is also true that Parker got into a public dispute with the Bournemouth board.
In fact, their fight got so bad that the Bournemouth board simply sacked Parker without any pause or hesitation after the 9-0 Liverpool loss, even though it only was the club’s fourth game of the season. So, if something like that happened, then I totally understand why the board sacked him.
Though, if that did happen, I would also say that the Bournemouth board are a bunch of moronic idiots as they just caused two managers to walk (and one good one) over their strict transfer policies.
Nevertheless, if that did not happen and the only reason why the Bournemouth board sacked O’Neil was to bring in former Rayo Vallecano manager Andoni Iraola, then they’re the biggest morons in the United Kingdom.
Why would you mess with the spirit and unity of a squad that had just earned the club another year of Premier League football to hire a young (Iraola is only 40), creative manager who has never had any experience in the Premier League.
I don’t want to sound like one of these English manager absolutists who only care about hiring and ensuring English managers work for English teams, but O’Neil knew what he was doing with Bournemouth.
He was a good manager working with a limited transfer budget, a squad of Championship level players, and from a disadvantageous position after Scott Parker’s stint.
Iraola better be the next coming of Pep Guardiola or else this squad is doomed for the Championship if new players are not brought in.
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