Bournemouth sack Gary O’Neil as manager in club’s ‘best interests’

Gary O’Neil has been sacked as manager of Bournemouth despite steering the club to Premier League safety after Scott Parker’s departure.

The decision has caused surprise behind the scenes, with O’Neil understood to have been informed on Monday morning that Bournemouth wanted to adopt a different style of play to accelerate their progress.

The American owner, Bill Foley, concluded the club could not achieve his ambitions with O’Neil at the helm. Foley said last week after his ice hockey team, the Vegas Golden Knights, had won the Stanley Cup that he wanted modest improvements at Bournemouth after a 15th-placed finish.

O’Neil had two years on his contract after an extension was automatically triggered by avoiding relegation. He was appointed as manager, initially in a caretaker capacity, in August with the club bottom of the league after a 9-0 defeat at Liverpool.

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.

“Gary will go on to have a long career as a head coach or manager, but we feel that, at this moment in time, a change is in the best interests of this football club. I would like to place on record my thanks to Gary and wish