Bournemouth are on the hunt for a new manager just four games into their return to the Premier League.
Scott Parker paid the price for defeats to Arsenal, Manchester City and most recently Liverpool, where they were embarrassed 9-0 by a raucous Reds frontline.
The next manager at the Vitality Stadium will be tasked with leading the Cherries away from the relegation zone at this early stage of the season. They’re 17th and require some investment in the transfer window before it closes.
Here are some of the contenders linked with the vacant Bournemouth job.
Clubs managed: Watford, Burnley
Sean Dyche has been tipped as the early frontrunner to succeed Parker in the dugout at the Vitality Stadium.
The 51-year-old has vast experience in the Premier League owing to his time at Burnley, who earned a reputation for being one of the tougher sides to beat under his stewardship. At their very best, Dyche’s side finished seventh to reach the Europa League qualifying rounds, though they couldn’t reach the group stages.
He’s also got a bit of a point to prove. The Clarets never got going during the 2021/22 season and in April he was sacked before they were relegated under caretaker Mike Jackson. Bournemouth could use a firmer hand with more emphasis on work rate and combative defending, and Dyche would bring both in abundance.
Clubs managed: Alfreton Town, Halifax Town, Oxford United, Northampton Town, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough
From one gravelly veteran to another, current Middlesbrough manager Chris Wilder has been linked with Bournemouth’s vacant post.
Posts in the lower leagues eventually led to Wilder earning the Sheffield United job. He would take the Bramall Lane side from League One to the Premier League under three years since his appointment. The Blades finished ninth in their first season back in the top flight, but Wilder left by mutual consent the following year having taken 14 points from 28 games.
He took over at Boro in 2021, missing out on a play-off spot last season by five points. They’ve started somewhat poorly this time around, winning just one of their opening six Championship matches, but whether he can be tempted away just yet remains to be seen.
Clubs managed: Middlesbrough, Bournemouth
Cherries fans are probably thinking, ‘we’ve been here before’. That, of course, is true.
Jonathan Woodgate was in charge on the south coast as recently as 2021, taking over from the sacked Jason Tindall on a temporary basis before being appointed head coach until the end of the season.
The former England defender led the Cherries to the play-offs with a sixth place finish, setting up a semi-final with Brentford. They took a first leg lead, but eventually lost 3-2 aggregate as the Bees later sealed promotion. Parker was then announced as Woodgate successor that summer.
Given he would still be pretty familiar with Bournemouth’s squad, club officials may decide he’s a safe enough pair of hands – for now at least. However, his record with Middlesbrough was pretty dire, winning just nine of 41 matches.
Clubs managed: Bournemouth (interim)
Former Premier League midfielder Gary O’Neill joined Woodgate’s coaching staff in February 2021 and has since been elevated to interim manager in Parker’s absence.
It’s his first crack at such a role, having previously been an assistant manager to Barry Lewtas for Liverpool’s Under-23s. It seems unlikely Bournemouth will give the 39-year-old the keys to their entire Premier League season so early on, but clubs have made stranger decisions in the past.
O’Neill enjoyed regular Premier League football as a player with the likes of Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, West Ham and Norwich, eventually retiring in 2019 after a solitary season at Bolton.
Clubs managed: Hovding, Fyllingen, Fyllingsdalen, Asane, Bodo/Glimt
Kjetil Knutsen is the manager responsible for putting Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt on the map, and that is no easy feet.
He was promoted to manager in 2018 having served as an assistant to Aasmund Bjorkan and led them to their first ever national league title in 2020, losing just one game along the way.
That gifted them a pathway into Europe via the Europa Conference League and they would claim the immortal scalp of Jose Mourinho as they smashed Serie A side Roma 6-1 in the group stages. They reached the Champions League play-off round this year, being defeated by Dinamo Zagreb to drop into the Europa League, where they will face Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven and Zurich.
John Terry has been floated as a potential target as he looks for his first manager role, while former Switzerland and Bordeaux boss Vladimir Petkovic has also been linked. Scroll far enough down the odds lists and you’ll find old Cherries favourite Harry Redknapp, but that just seems to good to be true.
