The Athletic FC

Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Ayo Akimolere.

The managerial merry-go-round has started up again.

The latest mover, Andoni Irola, who is leaving Bournemouth at the end of the season.

So what next for Irola and the cherries?

And how will his move impact the managerial

market? All right, in with us for this one. We're joined by the athletics, David Ornstein,

and the athletics, James Horncastle as well. Well, David, we exclusively broke the news yesterday that Irola will be leaving

Bournemouth at the end of this season. In three years on the South Coast, he's made the

cherries into a really solid yet entertaining Premier League side. They are currently 11th in the

table and he's also done that, losing lots of players as well. Why is he going now?

I think he probably felt that it was the end of the road and a good time to take his next step.

Three years, they did fantastically well. He came pretty much unheralded, certainly in Britain

Premier League from Raya Varkano. And it was actually a bit of a

testing start. Didn't look like it would necessarily go as well as people expected. And it has.

It's unfolded spectacularly. And, you know, it hasn't all been plain sailing, but his reputation has been enhanced, as has that of

Bournemouth. Their standing has risen. And credit to those who appointed him at the time,

obviously Bill Foley's owner, Richard Hughes was sporting director before moving on to Liverpool

and since the new sporting hierarchy of

Tiago Pinto and still with Bill Foley, of course, at the top as chairman and owner, have taken

things on. They've worked really well. They've recruited excellently. They, as you say, have lost

players but raised great profit for them and replaced capably.

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