Bournemouth fires Parker 3 days after 9-0 loss to Liverpool

BOURNEMOUTH, England — A 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool and veiled criticism of his club’s strategy in the transfer market was too much for Scott Parker to survive as Bournemouth manager.

The former England midfielder was fired on Tuesday, becoming the first coach in the English Premier League to lose his job in August — traditionally the opening month of the season — since 2004.

Parker lasted only four games of Bournemouth's return to the top division, the last one being that rout at Anfield which marked the south-coast team's third straight loss and tied the record for the heaviest defeat in the Premier League's 30-year history.

After Saturday's game, Parker said some of his players “are ill-equipped at this level,” with Bournemouth having come off a 4-0 loss at Manchester City and a 3-0 loss at home to Arsenal in its previous two games.

Parker said there were “a million reasons” why the club had not brought in higher-quality talent in the summer transfer window, which closes on Thursday. In a summer of record spending by Premier League teams totalling more than $1.75 billion, Bournemouth has brought in three players on free transfers and signed two others for a total cost of around $27 million.

In the club's statement announcing the departure of Parker, Bournemouth owner Maxim Demin didn't mention the Liverpool game but, tellingly, did say it was “unconditional that we are aligned in our strategy to run the club sustainably.”

“We must also show belief in and respect for one another,” Demin said. “That is the approach that has brought this club so much success in recent history, and one that we will not veer from now.”

Parker was hired by Bournemouth in the offseason of 2021 and guided the south-coast team to promotion.

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