EXCLUSIVE
‘I don’t feel good about it’ – Bournemouth chief Bill Foley explains decision to sack Gary O’Neil
Bournemouth owner Bill Foley has explained his controversial decision to sack Gary O'Neil.
O'Neil was axed last Monday and immediately replaced by Spanish coach Andoni Iraola in a shock decision that left many scratching their heads.
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The Cherries managed to survive relatively comfortably in the Premier League last season despite having one of the smaller squads in the division.
There were even calls for O'Neil to be awarded the PFA Manager of the Year award but he now finds himself unemployed.
And speaking to Jim White on talkSPORT, Bournemouth owner Foley has explained why the decision was made to sack the coach.
He said: “I’m a big fan of Gary O’Neil. We put him in the position last November to give him the opportunity to be the head coach and he did deliver after starts and stops in January.
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“The team started building momentum. It really wasn’t so much about Gary not doing what he was asked to do, it was more about the opportunity to give our football club a different identity through the coach we made contact with some time ago and then initiated contact very recently.
“He was enthusiastic about coaching in the Premier League and we thought this was a situation we had to avail ourselves of. It was not so much about Gary not delivering.
“I like Gary and he’s going to land on his feet. He’s coming out with a CV showing he kept a team from being relegated and kept a team in the Premier League.
“I believe he’s going to be in coaching for a long time and is going to do a good job. We had to make a difficult decision and we weren’t happy to do it, but felt we had to do it for the benefit of the team. The team comes first.
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“That’s really the long and short of it. It wasn’t about Gary, it was about a different opportunity.
"We just felt that to be as successful as we believe we can be in the transfer market and we are going to change the style of football that we played, then we needed to go a different direction.
"I don't feel good about it, I don't feel happy about having someone move on from a position within our club.
"It was not just my decision, it was a decision made by football management and we all separately came to the same conclusion.
"So it was a unanimous decision amongst us all and I don't want to be viewed as one of these owners that fires people and goes on and fires them again.
"That is not our plan. Our plan is to go with this coach and give him every opportunity to be successful.
"If it means that we are relegated at the end of the season because of a mistake, then I will live with it. That is reality."
Bournemouth have since hired Iraola as the Spaniard's contract expires at Rayo Vallecano.
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The former Athletic Bilbao player is still in the early days of his coaching career but has courted plenty of attention in recent months, not least from Leeds who tried to hire him after sacking Jesse Marsch only to be turned down.
However, Foley admitted he is not all that clued up with the 41-year-old's coaching methods but has trusted his staff.
The American mogul added: "I believe we are going to be successful with Andoni, I really do. I don't know LaLiga and I don't know the coaches in LaLiga but our football staff have been aware of him.
"We were looking for a coach last fall and we went with Gary, we felt that stability was the best thing for us at the time.
"He was one of the coaches that rose to the top in terms of people that we were thinking about.
"We didn't make formal contact last fall but the football side has kept in touch with him over the last six months or so.
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"His contract ran out and he was available and receiving multiple offers from significant clubs.
"We just felt that if we were going to do something, now is the time to do it. Do it before pre-season, have a new coach come in with a new system and get a chance to work with the players."