Bournemouth Appoints Andoni Iraola as New Manager
Bournemouth Football Club has appointed Andoni Iraola as their new manager, just two-and-a-half hours after sacking Gary O’Neil. The Spaniard, who turned down a move to Leeds earlier this year, has signed a two-year deal with the Cherries. Iraola is a former Athletico Bilbao defender who took over at Rayo Vallecano in 2020 and guided them to promotion to LaLiga in the same season. In the first season back in Spain’s top league, Iraola led the club to the semi-finals of the Spanish Cup. Last season, he managed to help the club to an 11th-placed finish, missing out on the top ten only by goal difference.
The decision to sack O’Neil came as a huge surprise to many at the club. O’Neil was informed of the shock decision to sack him early on Monday morning. The former Norwich man guided the Cherries to safety after replacing Scott Parker. But American owner Bill Foley announced out of the blue that he wanted to take the club in a new direction, with a new high-octane style under Iraola.
Explaining the shock decision to sack O’Neil, Foley said: “Gary’s achievement last season is one I will always be grateful for. This has been a difficult decision, but it has been made with great consideration to best position ourselves ahead of the coming season. As a club, we have put plans in place for long-term success with improvements being made to infrastructure, most notably the development of a new state-of-the-art training facility and the ongoing discussions around upgrades to our stadium. We have also identified a number of significant targets in the transfer market this summer and believe this change in direction will provide us with the best platform from which to build.”
American billionaire Foley, who completed his takeover of Bournemouth in December, is planning to invest heavily in the playing squad this summer and wants to give Iraola time to implement his style during pre-season. Following the announcement of Iraola as their new boss, Foley said: “We’re so excited to welcome Andoni to the club. With his contract in Spain coming to an end this summer we wanted to act quickly. He was highly sought after by other clubs across the continent, and his style of play has been an important factor in making this decision.”
Iraola will take charge of the South Coast outfit at the start of July when the players return for pre-season training. He will take the squad on a warm-weather training camp in Marbella. Bournemouth begin their 2023-24 campaign at home to West Ham on August 12. That is followed by a brutal run of fixtures against Liverpool, Tottenham, Brentford, Chelsea, Brighton and Arsenal.
Fans on Twitter simply could not believe former Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Ham midfielder O’Neil had been dismissed – more than three weeks after the end of the season. One said: “Not even a Bournemouth fan but that’s got to be a joke right?” A second wrote: “What? He did so well considering you have the single worst team in the league.” Another commented: “That might be the worst decision I’ve seen from a football club in a long time…” A fourth replied: “A legend in my eyes, overcame so much doubt (including myself regretfully) and kept us up. Thank you Gary!” And a final user simply added: “Gobsmacked.”
In conclusion, Bournemouth Football Club has appointed Andoni Iraola as their new manager, just two-and-a-half hours after sacking Gary O’Neil. The decision to sack O’Neil came as a huge surprise to many at the club. American owner Bill Foley announced out of the blue that he wanted to take the club in a new direction, with a new high-octane style under Iraola. Iraola will take charge of the South Coast outfit at the start of July when the players return for pre-season training. Bournemouth begin their 2023-24 campaign at home to West Ham on August 12.