Bournemouth sack Gary O'Neil | Appoint Andoni Iraola

Weird but will be interesting to see who comes in - from the owner's statements it doesn't seem like they're just going to bring in Big Sam or a journeyman 'big' name manager but have an actual plan to develop players and build a playing style which is at odd with O'Neill's tactics/knowledge.
 
The only change of direction they'll be making is going down.
 
Iraola maybe? Just went to chuck a few quick on him @ 11/4 but he's flown to 1/2 now too.
 
Looks like they're already got a bigger name than him lined up. Potter perhaps?
 
Football owners have gone mental. Utterly bizarre roll of the dice by Bournemouth.

I hope they get relegated.
 
Unless they've got a name lined up already, this seems really bizarre. He did exactly what I imagine he was asked to last season
 
Weird decision. I thought they might have someone known to take his place, but decide to get a random guy called Iraola.

Can see their demise in the coming season.
 


Iraola coming in, interesting choice and might be big success or epic fail.
 
a good choice. “gary o’neil” always sounded like army slang for “taking up the harris.”
 
No idea who their new manager is but it has happened a few times, where a harsh sacking was made in order to make a step up. I can think of Adkins getting sacked for Poch and Chris Hughton getting sacked at Brighton for Potter. That said, it's probably also happened countless times for it to backfire.
 
Anyone who’s saying it was the right choice is talking rubbish. Gary o Neil did what was expected and was even mentioned by some as manager of the season.
 
It's a big call from the new owners, the fans are divided on this it seems.

Be interesting to see what players they go after now, certainly be a different style to O Neil's.
 
After Roy Hodgson turning the tables at Palace pretty much overnight, I'm going to wait and see what happens until I have any judgement on this.

These things are never purely black and white based on a one in and one out of the door change.
 
I don’t see the surprise. They brought him in to steady them and he did exactly that and probably slightly surpassed expectations but they weren’t exactly amazing and played pretty drab stuff at times. Just because he did decent doesn’t mean they should settle for that.

We’ve seen so many times a manager come in with the caretaker/temporary safety net, do really well in the short term and then eventually just gradually decline. I guess they’ve decided not to wait for that.
 
Solius said:
I don’t see the surprise. They brought him in to steady them and he did exactly that and probably slightly surpassed expectations but they weren’t exactly amazing and played pretty drab stuff at times. Just because he did decent doesn’t mean they should settle for that.

We’ve seen so many times a manager come in with the caretaker/temporary safety net, do really well in the short term and then eventually just gradually decline. I guess they’ve decided not to wait for that.
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If he was still interim then I understand, but they hired him permanently, seems harsh that he achieved expectations with that garbage team and then got sacked.
 
Baneofthegame said:
If he was still interim then I understand, but they hired him permanently, seems harsh that he achieved expectations with that garbage team and then got sacked.
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Doesn't really matter I guess. This tweet is similar to how I see it.

 
Damn, the PL delivers even in the off-season.
 
Tbf, whilst it seems harsh on him, it's a bold move by Bournemouth and makes sense if they wanna take the next step and believe they can especially if they're gonna back the new manager.
 
Solius said:
Doesn't really matter I guess. This tweet is similar to how I see it.

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I think it’s because with players, you expect them to perform to the standard they perform at. Their level is a bit more cut and dried, whereas with a manager especially coming to a new league it’s almost like a total lottery.

I think that’s what drives the school of thought, whether that’s actually acorrect assumption is another matter
 
Iraola looks like a very interesting hire. Let's see who their 5 transfer targets are and then we'll know more. I think in the end, despite O'Neill doing a great job keeping them up, Iraola may just be the man to take Bournemouth to the next level (established prem team not battling against relegation every year).
 
groovyalbert said:
It's nothing short of a miracle that squad survived last season, O'Neill was the driving force behind it. Would have them down to finish in the bottom 3 for sure now.
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Aye, I’m generally of the opinion that it often makes sense to upgrade the manager in these situations, but O’Neill keeping them up was a fairly incredible achievement. They did well in 2021-2022 but I had them down as dead certs for bottom place last season. He’s a young manager and did an outstanding job, even if it wasn’t vintage football.

It’s one where if they evolve next season and hit the heights it’s a master stroke, if they’re relegated it’ll be painful
 
DJ_21 said:
Anyone who’s saying it was the right choice is talking rubbish. Gary o Neil did what was expected and was even mentioned by some as manager of the season.
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As an AFCB fan who watched every minute of our matches last season I'll say it was the right decision. What are you basing your take on, apart from some pundits who rarely have even the faintest accurate clue about teams that aren't part of the Big Six?

O'Neil got lucky because the bottom third of the table was a bonfire in the season just gone. He did well to navigate that but also made some terrible tactical decisions along the way. He was learning on the job, and the Premier League isn't the place to do that. He'll get a Championship job now and that'll be a slightly more forgiving place to learn the trade. I hope, in time, he brings his new team up and gets a crack at it when he's more experienced. We were definitely going down with him at the helm next season.

No idea if the new guy is the right man for the job but it was a bold and correct decision to move O'Neil on.

As for what about loyalty, well he'll get a nice payoff and does anyone think he would have stayed if a bigger club came in for him?
 
Some of these clubs really do start thinking they’re entitled to more than they are. Reminds me of Watford cycling through managers at an alarming rate. I certainly won’t have any sympathy for Bournemouth if they crash and burn next season.
 
Nick. said:
Really harsh sacking.
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I'm starting to wonder why anyone would want to be a manager. The job is terrible. You're paid less than the people you manage, sacked if you fail or succeed, sacked if the club is bought by new owners, abused if you're not sacked, forced to answer questions about your owners humans rights abuses if you work for those clubs or forced to see your team deteriorate because of a lack of money if you don't.

If I was an ex player, the last thing I'd ever want to do is take a PL job.
 
acolyte said:
Andoni Iraola is already a much cooler name to be fair.
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He finished 12th in La Liga last year, is 40 and managed in Cyprus 4 years ago. His name must have swung it because I don't know what else could have.
 
Pretty sure O'Neil could see it coming after managing to get the saved from relegation, it's really a common thing to happen in these case. They ave the club and get 1 season of wages as bonus for contract termination, good for both parties.

As for Iraola, was a very good right back in the days at Athletic, he had some amazing dribbling and work rate.
As a manager, he made a fantastic job at Rayo, who is a very low budget club. Being a peripheral club from Great Madrid area, they can't attract either that much fans or big sponsors, despite the home fans being very intense.

https://breakingthelines.com/tactical-analysis/tactical-analysis-andoni-iraolas-rayo-vallecano/
 
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