Gary O’Neil was brutally sacked to give Bournemouth “a new identity and style of play,” says owner Bill Foley as the American billionaire lays out his ambitions under Andoni Iraola
Bournemouth owner Bill Foley has insisted that Gary O’Neil was sacked to give the club ‘a new identity’ as he outlined his plans to take the club to Europe under new coach Andoni Iraola.
Despite guiding the Cherries to 15th last season, O’Neil was relieved of his duties earlier this month and replaced by highly regarded Spanish manager Iraola.
Speaking of the decision on TalkSport, Foley said, “I’m a huge fan of Gary O’Neil, he performed after starts and stops in January, and then the team started building from there.
“It wasn’t about Gary, it was about a chance to give the club a new identity.”
“Gary will land on his feet. We weren’t happy to do it, it was just something we felt we had to do for the benefit of the team. The team comes first.
Gary O’Neil was sacked as Bournemouth manager despite the Cherries remaining in the top flight
Owner Bill Foley claims he replaced O’Neil with Andoni Iraola (pictured) to give the club ‘a new identity’
“We just felt we had to change the style of football we wanted to play, we had to change the management.”
He also claimed that Iraola had previously been a target for the club and they had to act quickly after Rayo Vallecano’s former boss received “significant offers” from elsewhere.
“His contract was up and we felt if we were going to do something, now was the time to do it,” he continued. “Give him the chance to add players we need in certain positions based on his decisions.
“Our plan is to go with this coach, support him, and if that means we’re relegated at the end of next season and we’ve made a mistake.”
Foley has found success elsewhere in his sports property portfolio this year after his NHL team the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup.
It came right on schedule, six years after the American promised to win the tournament within six years.
When asked if Bournemouth would make it to European football, Foley added: “I’m convinced of that, but we still have to be patient.
“Last season we finished 15th, I thought maybe we could have done a little better if we hadn’t lost the four games.
Foley (left) plans to bring the cherries to Europe in recent years
He felt they could have done better than their 15th place finish last year
“We have a terrible start to the program, people will have to be patient because we have some difficult games to start.”
Bournemouth will face Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Brighton and Arsenal in the Premier League before the end of September
He continued: ‘If we can move up a few places every year, then we can push Europe. We can do it. More infrastructure will be needed. We have to do something with our stadium, whether it’s building a new stadium or improving the current one.’
The owner went on to discuss a new training facility that will be available in 2024, but made it clear there would also be investment in the playing staff, as he claimed the club would “sign players you don’t associate with little old Bournemouth ‘.