Gary O’Neil has been surprisingly sacked as Bournemouth manager, just three weeks after the end of the Premier League season in which the former Bristol City midfielder successfully led the Cherries to 15th place and top-flight survival.
Bournemouth's billionaire American owner Bill Foley claims the decision has been taken in the “best interests” of the club with reports indicating that O’Neil was informed on Monday morning that the hierarchy want to pursue a different brand of football. A few hours after confirming O'Neil's exit, the club appointed former Rayo Vallecano manager and Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Iraola as his replacement.
O’Neil was initially placed in caretaker charge of the club in August following Scott Parker’s departure after a disastrous start to the 2022/23 season and was given the role full-time at the end of November in the wake of Foley’s takeover.
